Additional Figures - End of Year Branding - Collaboration Brief

For the figures holding up the type, we decided they should look simple and bold but with some character. I researched into Keith Haring and his style of figures, I liked how they appeared like ordinary pictogram shapes, but with added character and uneveness. I wanted to achieve an element of this in my own designs. I particularly took note in how the feet of the figures looked. By giving them curved feet the figures feel more characterful and humanistic.

After some development and refinement, I came out with several figures that look almost like Otl Aicher pictograms, but with elements of character. They needed to be simple and understandable so as not to distract from the type design. This was a style choice too, if they had been made too illustrative, it might have confused the branding. I used pictures of myself in order to make sure the refined figures still resembled natural body shapes.

Once these were designed they were sent to Megan to be placed in the final compositions, there was some dispute about how they should be arranged and if the sizes should remain consistent to fit within the typeface. However, this was eventually resolved with some compromise and although the outcome was not entirely what I envisioned, it still worked well. One thing to consider was that the brief suggested an image based outcome, illustrative characters may not have had the right tone or image that the university is after.