Preamble:
For this project I had the privilege to work with Vienne Seto, Together we successfully created the winning concept for the 2022-2023 Bachelor of Design year-end grad showcase at Conestoga College.
Challenge:
Every year, the graduating class from Conestoga College’s Bachelor of Design program, Hosts a year-end grad show to exhibit the work they have made over the four year period. The graduating class hosts a competition for second year students to generate a visual representation of their theme, through a series of cohesive exhibition collateral. This years theme was “Baseline”, which to them, represented the non-linear progression of their skills and growth of their skills as designers. In contrast to previous years the students had a very specific vision:
Client Brief:
" Baseline focuses on the growth and progression of our skill development. Over the last four years, we’ve developed a foundation of skills, starting at our baseline, and are currently specializing. Objectively, the baseline is a point of reference that expands on the idea of the growth of skills. This growth is nonlinear, taking the form of peaks and valleys."
• Focus on the use of light colours.
• Avoid “dark mode” colours and clichés.
• Play with texture, lines and techniques such as trapping (overlapping colours) when printing.
• If the grad show is in person, we’d like budget-friendly ways for the print collateral to stand out.
Solution :
Vienne and I set out to create this series embodying an experimental creative process to achieve a visual aesthetic in line with their strategic brief. We used collages as the primary medium as we felt it best reflected the client’s desire for experimentation with texture, colour, and lines. The Collages were made up of fragments taken from math and statistics textbooks to further suggest exponential growth. To create dynamic compositions, the collages were edited into three digital topographic map designs that represent "peaks and valleys". Using clipping masks, each composition blended two contrasting collages to evoke a sense of controlled chaos, once again representing the nonlinear progression of skills.
Logo Design:
The contemporary logomark is an abstraction of the ideas reflected in the client brief. The logo appears to be an X inset tightly into a square but is a deeper representation of a graph. The negative space represents a graph’s x and y axis and the cartesian plane. The use of graphs and mathematics is symbolic of the physical plotting of nonlinear peaks and valleys. The logomark was paired with The Mundial typeface for its simplicity and legibility to balance and contrast the chaotic nature of the artwork. The type set in lowercase is used to have a grounded appearance. The I is flipped, turning into an exclamation mark, reflecting the excitement and celebration of the graduate’s development of skills.
Closing Notes:
In collaborating with Vienne Seto, we take immense pride in our success in crafting the winning brand identity for Conestoga College's 2022-2023 Bachelor of Design year-end grad showcase. Our poster campaign, a core component of this project, was not only successfully published for the event but also served as the foundation for a comprehensive suite of branding guidelines. These guidelines extended their influence to various other elements added by the graduating class, including their own Instagram advertisements and the official website. Featured are our original concepts.
