GDFS:
A collaborative identity for Graphic Design Festival Scotland explores process and dialogue.

Award:
Poster Award SDA 2019
Graphis New York Poster Gold 2019

Blurred foreground focuing on man with Graphic Design Festival Scotland poster behind him

Outdoor signage for Graphic Design Festival Scotland created by Freytag Anderson

Our new identity for Graphic Design Festival Scotland was designed in collaboration with Warriors Studio and explores the process and dialogue which unfolds as ideas are developed and visualised.

Project summary

Strategy
Corporate identity
Print
Mentoring
Website

Approach

As the collaboration got underway, the concept for the identity became clear. The festival is a place for design and creative expression. As such we realised that the identity should be about capturing the process of design experimentation.

We began to document everything we did. Saving art boards, recording Skype conversations, emails, and even going so far as taking screen recordings as we worked.

The collaboration initially produced 20 posters, a number which grew as the project developed. We asked the design community to contribute by designing their own posters. Our aim was to create something more than a functional festival identity. Something which was living, evolving and representative of the raw energy and creativity that the festival provides. The resulting work is a chaotic, noisy and provocative identity that still manages coherence across the whole project.

The annual festival takes place at The Lighthouse Centre for Architecture and Design in Glasgow. The International Poster Competition saw 3443 entries from 72 countries submitting work, shortlisted to outstanding talent.