AGDA Presents:
Fresh Air
A studio exercise in creating a visual identity and style guide for the Australian Graphic Design Association's 2023 Design Awards Show. (Created in Adobe Illustrator for Graphics 2 class, February - March 2023)
Project Brief
For this student project, I developed hypothetical placemaking for the 2023 Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) conference. This consisted of a logotype and branded materials, including a 6x3 meter entry wall, the cover of an A5 exhibition guide booklet, an interior spread of the booklet showcasing a designer in the AGDA hall of fame, and a lapel pin. To generate our theme, we were prompted to respond to, “design is…”
What I Created
Design is nothing without its users. However, AGDA’s focus is on the creators – it exists to ensure the design industry treats its workers fairly. I knew an appropriate identity needed to touch on the experience of both parties, so I named the exhibition Fresh Air.
For both makers and users, design is Fresh Air: enlivening, energetic, and electric. For makers, design is an industry in the throes of reform, moving from an undervalued profession to one that is well-paid, ethical, and valued. For users, design provides the delight of a good user experience, the excitement of an interesting product, and the flow state of a world so well-designed that it warrants no second thought.
The identity channels the sense of surprise, awakening, and delight the design on exhibition provides. The electric colors and radiating waves channel flowing energy, while the warping title text and instances of slightly tilted body text provide moments of the unexpected, piquing the viewer’s interest and pulling them into a firsthand experience of the serendipity they can expect from the showcase. The importance of both users and makers is represented in the lungs logo, in which one lung stands for the makers and one lung stands for the users. They work best when working together, filling the world with the renewing power of design.
Takeaways
This project provided me with three valuable kinds of practice. One, it let me further practice developing and applying a visual identity system as well as working with the needs of a client. Two, it was a good exercise in performing research on a company's history and values to inform the direction I worked towards, and three, it let me practice iteratively working and reworking the concept in response to client feedback.
Additionally, it prompted me to consider that at times, you as a designer may know more than your client about what they want. Throughout this project, I struggled with the contradictory and confusing feedback I received from instructors. Once I found the confidence to push aside the suggestions and just produce iterations based on the project brief and what I thought would work for it, my professor began responding much more positively to the project.
Process work
Brainstorming
Once I had done enough research to be familiar with AGDA and its values, I began brainstorming about visuals by taking a walk with my sketchbook and drawing inspiration from the typography I saw used in window displays and signs, as well as bouncing around different ideas about the phrases that could be used to complete the phrase "design is..." in different styles of typography.
I initially gravitated towards calling the show "click", calling to the idea of when an idea clicks and suddenly makes sense, to describe the feeling designers have when realizing a good idea or that users have when interacting with good design. My professor liked the sharpness and playfulness of the click visuals but preferred the ring of "AGDA Presents: Fresh Air", so I chose to respond to it as I would client feedback and continue developing in that direction instead.
Idea Development
I did most of the idea development in my sketchbook rather than in Illustrator. I played with the motif of oxygen molecules but ultimately went with the lungs logo as feedback indicated it was more clear.
I had far fewer opportunities to ask for feedback throughout this project than I have in the past, so I struggled with the color choices for the identity, not being able to bounce ideas off my peers. I did know I wanted to use a color scheme that harkened to the identity's electric and awakening theme, so I gravitated towards a bright yellow and orange color. I decided to include the blue to balance the two bright warm colors.
