If there’s one word that sums up Linz, Austria–based design firm OrtnerSchinko’s aesthetic, it’s uncompromising. Cofounded and helmed by designer Wolfgang Ortner and brand strategist and studio manager Kira Saskia Schinko, the design firm has cultivated a stark yet elevated style, often combining minimal graphics with straightforward, unpretentious typography. The pair founded OrtnerSchinko upon meeting by chance and discovering they’d felt similarly about the industry’s work culture. “After … a long time of working in ad agencies, we wanted to break out of the system and create a company,” Ortner recalls. “We sometimes felt totally misunderstood by bosses who were far away from a content-based design scene of which I wanted to be a part.” Now, they apply this content-first practice to work for many clients within the cultural and entertainment arenas, for institutions like museums to brands to magazines. “I would say our studio has two different styles,” says Ortner, “design which is radically minimalistic, clear, professional and based on weeks—or months—of research; and on the other hand, design which does not take itself too seriously but still delivers a serious basis in terms of content or vice versa. However, what you can always expect from us is a solid typographic basis—in all our projects.”