compelling perspectives
Compelling Perspectives is a speaker series that focuses on topics of societal importance. It aims to provide a forum for respectful discourse across a range of views.
As someone who believes that words and dialogue have tremendous power to do good, having this project assigned to me was incredibly exciting.
I’ve developed this (ongoing) series' visual identity and all associated collateral—which spans everything from a website to social media to emails to promotional gfx (print and digital) to environmental gfx (print and digital) and beyond.
Visual Identity
My work began with creating a flexible visual identity system for the series.
“Flexibility” was key—to allow the look and feel of communications to evolve as the series grows to include various kinds of programming over time. The different elements in this system— typography, colour, texture, photography and illustration—can be used in various configurations based on how / where they’re being applied.
Typography
Classical serif and contemporary sans-serif typefaces are paired together to signal the coming together of worldviews.
I established rules around which typefaces should be used for which pieces of information. And in contrast, I allowed for flexibility in application of colour and orientation—so the system adapts to various media and formats.
Colour, Texture and Imagery
Colours are from Lehigh University's lesser used secondary palette—so the series feels grounded in the university's identity, and, at the same time, feels like something new.
Texture and imagery are used to evoke grit— integrating the complex nature of the topics of discussion into the graphics for the series.
Website
The Compelling Perspectives website exists within the framework of the standard Lehigh University template. Only available web-components could be leveraged during its development. As the primary way to infuse a standard templated site with this series’ visual identity was through its visual assets, I conceptualised and art-directed an ambient video for the hero and handled the design and production of all other assets used on the site.
The hero features short video clips that speak to various topics of societal importance. These topics and the specific clips were chosen carefully, so the finished product hit the right tone—serious, but not without moments of joy.
I designed the website’s hero and had the opportunity to art direct Motion Graphics Artist and Video Editor Andrew Zoleta who produced it
Promoting the Series
Compelling Perspectives was launched via social media—with an Instagram story that announced the series and the inaugural speaker. The goal was to leverage this platform to communicate with students and create excitement around the new series. (It worked.)
Other promotional materials included teasers for digital information boards around campus, posters, emails and news stories.
I created motion graphics to promote the series, which features a collage by artist Andrei Cojocaru. (The same collage also features in other collateral for this series.)
At the Event(s)
Environmental graphics and printed and digital collateral created for Compelling Perspectives events.
My sketch for the on-stage gfx.
And me feeling jazzed that the stage turned out the way I designed it (11th hour change to the curtain’s colour not withstanding.)
My Role
Identity design, collateral design (print and digital), animation, art-direction and project management.