Duplicity to restate:
Duplicity Theme
In todays media, we are so desensitized by the aesthetics of what is being produced that we end up losing the essence and deeper meaning of what's actually being communicated. How can designers make the appearance of a message influence you to make one conclusion over another? This conference will inspire you to dig beneath the surface and explore different techniques of how typography can influence perception and create a deeper layer of meaning. From 2-dimensional ambigrams to the 3-D realm of environmental signage, the theme of this years typographic conference will make you look at typography in a new perspective and find multiple messages within a singular form. Duplicity has the motivational power to ask yourself "how can typographic form communicate or enhance the depth of content in my own work."
The Conference Structure
Held at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, we chose this location for its multiple levels and modularity to host different types of activities: an ampitheater for lectures, gallery space for work to be hung and vendors to present, class rooms for workshops, cafe and kitchen for refreshments, and an outdoor lawn for exterior activities and event space. Our conference deals with multiple elements typographically on many different levels. Typecon 2012 is broken up into a three day conference where the intensity levels of the workshops and lectures progress each day. Broken into two sections of 2D and ambigrams, and the other being 3D environmental typography, this conference orchestrates an incredibly inclusive educational experience for attendees.
The attendees have the choice to cross between the duplicity of levels and subject matter throughout the conference.
Graphic Standards:
We started our identity with a logotype, we tried to build this custom logo typeface out of geometric forms that gave a similar appearance to my 3D experiments which creates depth, and also utilizing those geometric shapes that could work in different directions and orientations to reflect the turning abilities of Lances ambigram experiments. I've researched the Colorado designer Alvin Lustig and utilized his process of taking small sections of typographic letter forms and reproducing them into graphic elements or patterns. This worked quite well in the diamond shaped patterns I've designed that have overlaying transparencies to create a false 3D depth. While I cut small sections of the letter forms out, Lance used the entire letter to create some interesting graphics and patterns that adhere to his ambigram modularity. So our patterns have direct reference and construction from our type face Duplicitous.
We have also created a 2D representational icon of a 3D looking letter D, that coincides with the logotype. This icon is used throughout our campaign to signify a sense of curiosity of whats beyond. This mask shows different layers of letter forms and graphic elements going back into space from the flat surface of the page.
Minimizing the entire color wheel, we chose to use 3 energetic colors of green, blue, and orange to have a fresh energetic feeling and transition from two extremes of the 2 and 3D realm.
Our typeface choices are as follows: Letter Gothic for our subtitle "TypeCon 2012," Universe for most of the headers and title work throughout the campaign for its versatility of condensed to expanded, Helvetica Lt for body copy work, its easier on the eyes than helvetica and also has more variety throughout the family, and then there is Duplicitous, the Typeface which Lance has created and I have art directed from time to time which is thought of as a nice amalgamation of the two of our experiments.
The Artifacts Brief
We wanted our artifacts to have some sort of duplicitous nature to further iterate our conference theme. Most of our artifacts diminish the line between poetic and practical, to create a new convergence of both elements clearly.
Name tags: This artifact fulfills the practical in two ways. We need name tags for immediate recognition of staff member to seek information, records for registration, and also for networking purposes. Our solution for this was to make a perforated stack of social networking cards that could easily be ripped off your lanyard to give your information to a potential contact. The front of the card displays your name and is color coated: Orange for professionals, Green for students, and Blue for Staff. The back of the card is left with a light pattern so you can write down whatever type of contact info you would like your new design contact.
Invitation Mailer: This is one of the only pieces in our campaign that fulfills the practical, persuasive, and the poetic. It is an advertisement to entice viewers to come to the event, it lists important information to practically give someone an idea of what this conference is about, and its just plain pretty to look at. Following the duplicitous nature, the mailer is a six panel old out invitation with perforated business reply info, a conference overview, and the back side is a keepsake poster. This three in one piece is what guests will get several months out from the time of the conference.
Venue Banners: -The balance of poetic and practical has to have equal distribution. For our banners we thought in the the third dimension and gave multiple planes to the banners by turning it into a self-revolving triptic. A tri panel banner that gives poetic buzzwords and practical directional information, this piece although disguised as a poetic product, really has underlying elements of philosophical event information. These large format banners would be hung in the entrance and main hallways of the Nelson to create an atmosphere of duplicitous bewilderment.
Lap Top Case: - Decorating something as common as a t-shirt, isn't very practical, but does serve the poetic nature of a souvenir. We wanted to design something that has more practical function to designers. A laptop case with a dual graphic liner seemed to be the right solution to our problem of swag or a souvenir.
Event Schedule: - An iphone app was our idea to create a practical artifact that was screened based.
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