Spring 2023
Design a brand system and implementations of it for an existing or imagined conference, exhibition, or festival.
Branding
Typography
UI/UX
Print design
I chose the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival but renamed it to the Steelshire Renaissance Festival for this project. I started by coming up with dozens of potential logotypes. From there, I narrowed them down to three. After refining and building out those three somewhat, I chose one direction to move forward with. I iterated and refined that logotype, establishing a grid system and determining how it would change, and then built out the rest of the system: colors, typography, image treatment, etc. Then I used that system I had established to create a prototype of a mobile app, tickets for festivalgoers, and a poster advertising the event. The brand guide PDF can be viewed here.
My process prior to this project had become so digitized. If I sketched anything at all, it would have been a digital sketch that I immediately translated into a more refined, vectorized version. But because this project started out with such a heavy focus on logotypes, I started brainstorming for this project with pencil and paper. I was more easily able to manipulate letterforms that way. I think this process of slowing down and sketching on paper immensely improved my work—and I enjoyed it more. Going forward, I will definitely be reincorporating a physical sketchbook into my process.
Branding
Typography
UI/UX
Print design
I chose the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival but renamed it to the Steelshire Renaissance Festival for this project. I started by coming up with dozens of potential logotypes. From there, I narrowed them down to three. After refining and building out those three somewhat, I chose one direction to move forward with. I iterated and refined that logotype, establishing a grid system and determining how it would change, and then built out the rest of the system: colors, typography, image treatment, etc. Then I used that system I had established to create a prototype of a mobile app, tickets for festivalgoers, and a poster advertising the event. The brand guide PDF can be viewed here.
My process prior to this project had become so digitized. If I sketched anything at all, it would have been a digital sketch that I immediately translated into a more refined, vectorized version. But because this project started out with such a heavy focus on logotypes, I started brainstorming for this project with pencil and paper. I was more easily able to manipulate letterforms that way. I think this process of slowing down and sketching on paper immensely improved my work—and I enjoyed it more. Going forward, I will definitely be reincorporating a physical sketchbook into my process.