TRASNPARENTDESIGN EXHIBITIONTitled Transparent, the 2023 Graphic Design BFA Cohort Exhibition at CSULB focused on highlighting each student and being transparent about the realities of designers. Fully produced, directed, and funded by our class, this event was a culmination of our careers as graphic designers thus far.
In producing this event, I acted as both an Art Director and the Environmental Lead Designer. As an AD I oversaw the overall design direction of our system, but my main responsibilities were managing, directing, and producing the environmental design for the exhibition.
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IN A NUTSHELLEVENT OVERVIEWBranding
Environmental Design
Art Direction
Product Design
Split into 3 areas, the exhibition had a main gallery space for designer booths, a secondary gallery for art installations, and a courtyard for merchandise and chatting.
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PRINTED ASSETSAs an extenstion of the tasks assigned to the enviornmental team, I designed and produced the borchures for our event, as well as the identification lanyards for designers and staff.
INSTALLATIONSAs environmental lead I directed and supervised the design and production of the three art installations at our show.
WORK WEHATE WALLThe Work We Hate wall was a way for our designers to be transparent about the design process and their growth. By displaying old drafts, failed projects, and general work we disliked, we wanted to communicate the patchy and not-so-glamorous road of developing our design skills. You have to make mistakes before you can grow.
DESIGNER PAYTRANSPARENCYAs an early designer, your first few jobs are never going to be the dream you envisioned. Either with underpaid work, unpaid internships, or even the prospects of being paid with “exposure,” we wanted to display this rough reality by exposing our previous positions and their pay.
ADDITIONAL BRANDINGWhile acting as Art Director, I was also involved in the creation and design direction of additional branding and printed assets for our show.
DESIGNERCOHORT ZINEDesigned for merchandising, this collective zine was a representation of each designer’s personality and style. Each page told the story of a time when we all have failed in the past, designed as expressive typographic compositions.
MARKETING/POSTER SYSTEMTo promote our show we created a poster system. Given the prompt of conveying transparency, each designer had the opportunity to express this concept in their own way, granting a diverse array of photography styles that remained consistent with our general theme.
