Responses by Michael Webster, design director, Re
Background: While the Sydney Design Festival has been going for 20 years, it had recently changed its dates from September to March, and needed to announce its new place in the cultural calendar. We were asked by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS) to reinvigorate what design means to both a local mass audience in Sydney and internationally. We worked with the Sydney Design Festival team at MAAS to articulate a bold new purpose for the brand.
Reasoning: Starting with this simple idea of the festival always “pushing design forward,” we developed a brand in motion that visually pushes words forward. This typographic format carried the messaging and visuals for the entire festival. The colors were chosen to stand out from competing events, and to make Sydney feel “painted” in the brand at the time of the festival.
Challenges: MAAS was a great client to work with so there was very little friction. Our biggest challenge was bringing the work to life since there are major budget constraints for the arts in Sydney, Australia. We were able to find innovative solutions to this problem by working closely with MAAS.
Favorite details: The fact that this brand was specifically made for motion and brought to life with projectors and LCD screens within the space. It has also been effective in driving attention, visitors and had a positive response from the design community.
Anything new: We worked with a talented collage artist named Kubi Vasik. It was interesting to learn from him and about his process.
Specific demands: We knew it was mandatory for us to work with the internal MAAS creative team. We were initially unsure of how this might impact the flow of work, but they were absolutely wonderful to work with, and were integral to the progression of the project and how well the finished outcome looked.
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