OVERVIEW

Over a 5-week project, our team delved into the works of designers like Muriel Cooper and Chris Ashworth, drawing inspiration for graphical experiments that solidified our design principles. These explorations culminated in the creation of dynamic posters, assets, and ultimately a microsites for our simulated client, the Dutch Design Awards.

ROLE:

Visual Design, Research

TEAM:

Luke Do, Justin Yu, Alex Luowan

PROJECT TYPE:

Academic Project, 2023

THE DUTCH CULTURE

The Dutch is known for their very explicit and direct nature. Never sugar - coating things nor refraining from expressing their thoughts, beliefs, culture and opinions.

Their traditions, namely: Zwarte pete (Black Pete) and The Red light District known popularly for sex work are some of their controversial tradition. Despite the blatant racism of Zwarte Pete and calls for change, the Dutch has refused to move on from this tradition arguing that it is an intrinsic part of their history. The world has largely pushed against it, some defend this practice, claiming innocence or detachment from historical wrong stating:

quotes of people saying indiscrimnate

These justifications only fuel racism, perpetuating its existence despite calls for change.

SOLUTION - MICROSITE

In approaching this project, we chose to respond to the Dutch in the same way they speak to the world: In a provocative manner. Showcasing the apparent racism of the tradition they so deny, through a microsite

Although this is not an existing work DDA currently possesses, we framed it as a fictional submission into the Awards programs as DDA

quotes of people saying indiscrimnate

DRAGGING TO UNVEIL

The landing page serves to give context about what DDA stands for. Inviting Designers to embrace new and unconventional means to address societal issues through their work.

ENGAGEMENT THROUGH OBSTRUCTION

By obscuring some parts of the content, we invite the audience to fill out the pieces in their mind encouraging their imaginations and interpretations. Purposely keeping the full video concealed encourage engagement and immerses them into the context.

third line of investigation poster
third line of investigation poster

EVOKING BRUTALITY THROUGH TYPE

To intensify the emotional impact of the visuals, typography was strategically placed and layered, creating an effect akin to an ‘emergent thorn.’ This deliberate choice aimed to vividly portray the brutality and stark reality linked to the subject at hand.

PROCESS - 3 LINES OF INVESTIGATION

We explored 3 forms of graphical experimentation taking inspiration from the work of Chris Ashworth and Muriel Cooper. Each line containing provocative wording and imagery keeping in mind of our aim of provoking.

first line of investigation poster

TYPE MANIPULATION TO CREATE TEXTURE

second line of investigation poster

FRAMING TO CREATE VISUAL NARRATIVE

third line of investigation poster

LAYERING & OBSCURING FOR VISUAL HIERARCHY

LINE 1: TYPE MANIPULATION TO CREATE TEXTURE

first line of investigation poster
first line of investigation poster
first line of investigation poster

LINE 2: FRAMING TO CREATE VISUAL NARRATIVE

first line of investigation poster
first line of investigation poster
first line of investigation poster

LINE 3: LAYERING & OBSCURING FOR VISUAL HIERARCHY

first line of investigation poster

PROCESS - BREAKING DOWN THE POSTER

first line of investigation poster

In this poster exploration, my intention was to strike a near balance between beauty of DDA and the unconventional nature/tradition of the Dutch mainly utilizing white space and the imagery.

REFLECTION

Working on this project felt like a risk for me, but one I was willing to take on. Thinking about the start of this project, I never envisioned it would end up addressing the tradition of the Dutch because the initial intention was just to make a microsite working with the existing submissions.

Being the person I am, I gladly accepted this challenge. I never see works like this in the class room, and “wicked -hard” projects like this are hard to take on. I am extremely glad we did. Thinking back to each presentation in the classroom, it felt like my team and I were the outsiders because of what we were trying to do, but funny enough and as tough as it was, I only grew confident in the project. I’m super grateful for a supportive professor and TA who allowed a work like this in their classroom, continuously allowing us to be challenged and challenging. For me Design should not be “safe”, it should aim to question the norm and play a role in the larger context of society, and I hope when others see this project they are encouraged to take that risk too.