We talk to Halisten Studio about ex libris, the creative industry and their inspirations.
Based in Budapest, Halisten Studio has gained notoriety for their ex libris (bookplates). We caught up with them to find out more about their work. They also furnished us with the most comprehensive list of their inspirations that we have ever been given on Creative Chair.
You can see much more work from Halisten Studio on their Behance page.
Could you tell us a little bit about Halisten Studio and what you do?
Basically, we are five good friends from art university, working together in a graphic design studio. We were established almost two years ago now, as a team of five freelancers. There is no hierarchy; we discuss everything together. We do both team projects and individual commissions, because besides teamwork, preserving everyone’s own style and identity is also an important aspect for us. We love to do everything related to graphic design and typography. Illustration is one of our main fields, we are specialised in traditional methods in manufacturing and design.

How do you find that the process of designing bookplates/ex libris varies from designing logos?
The main difference between the two is the purpose of usage. The logo must be optimised for multiple sizes, layouts, colours, a wide range of surfaces, while ex libris is only made for one specified size, it only has to work as a rubber stamp. A logo represents a whole brand and usually made for commercial purposes, whereas bookplates are for personal use. We try to compress the user’s personality in one symbol, but it is more like a simplified illustration, with usually more attributes included than in the case of a logo.
The 37th 366 Award goes to Halisten Studio for their outstanding creative work.
Some of your projects have been featured on Behance. Has this added exposure helped to generate new business?
Sure, it brought us new clients. The Behance main page feature generated most of the attention, and it is an interesting reflection to the previous question, many clients commissioned us for a logo design because they saw our ex libris collection. We also have a couple of other features in different Behance collections, which is good, we love the little star badges!
Who or what are some of your greatest inspirations?
We have many, really it’s hard to choose. There are a few of them
The source of our soul, the faith in our heart, the star in the dark sky, our teacher Márton Juhász
Illustration Inspiration:
Comics Inspiration:
Typography Inspiration:
Branding and Editorial Inspiration:
Finally, if you died and got reincarnated as a song, what would that song be?
The Beatles: All Together Now