Design Showcase

Creating a new 3D immersive experience and brand Identity

Here is the layered creative process we undertook when creating a new look and experience for our spring graduate showcase. This is a partnership and collaborative venture between our Interior Design, Digital Media Production, and Graphic Design programs. This new experience was inspired by Jennifer our Interior Designer instructor who challenged us to create a more 3D immersive experience. Her vision truly set the tone for our new look.

I think we all set out to create something new while still remembering that the main focus of our showcase event was the interaction between our students and the viewers of their work. That relationship, and setting up the opportunity for a meaningful conversation about their talents, remained the goal of any experience we designed.

We began with ideas from other people, colleges, and galleries

Rethinking our approach and display of student work

Here is how our students displayed their work previously. It was a very positive and interactive experience that did create an opportunity for conversation and interaction. But I was excited about and wanted to try the new 3D immersive approach.

New ideas to ponder and discuss

For my graphic design students, I sketched some initial thoughts and then set them into more detail in Illustrator. I wanted to focus on readily available materials we could build ourselves. Budget is always a consideration so buying premade tradeshow booths wasn’t really an option.

Graphic design students need to display art and design work as well as foldables and mockups. They also need to display a laptop or tablet to showcase their rich media work including web design, animation, and marketing videos.

I was also thinking about the colors of new spring flowers and the renewed growth that spring brings. I thought our marketing material might focus on that renewed feel of nature and spring and how our new crop of graduate students is symbolic of this new growth and rejuvenation.

My initial sketch considered materials we could find at our local home center. They included prefinished natural grain plywood, MDF, hard sheets of pink insulation, round concrete pillar forms, and painting regular plywood. For the color palette, I found a wonderful photo of tulips and a grasslike textured fabric (which could also be wallpaper).

A New Floor Display

This four-sided display (could be three-sided) would show the work of four students—one side per student. I don’t think we’ll need the lights since the Lunda Center has plenty of light.

  • This idea is made from prefinished 3/4″ plywood (using 4×8 sheets).
  • My ambitious idea would be to build these displays in my home woodshop. We would store them on campus in the graphic design area and reuse them each year.
  • The rounded header area on the display would be a student-designed nameplate
  • Students would print their art and design work on thick paper and carefully backroll blue painter’s tape to mount to the surface.
  • The small laptop table would be made from 16″ diameter thick cardboard concrete forms and a round prefinished plywood top to match the square display. The cylinder would be wrapped in green fabric or wallpaper.
  • The colored lights that glow from each table could have a different flower-inspired color.
  • I repeated the green grasslike fabric (or wallpaper) along the base of the display to unify it with the table and marketing material (shown below on this page).
  • The colored lights that glow from the top of each display could have a different flower-inspired color.

The second option is with a table. The table adds expense, so it might not fit into the budget until year three or four.

Materials Needed (Estimated)

Marketing Material Ideas

Continuing to think of our springtime event date, the rejuvenation of spring, and our new crop of spring graduates, I built a color scheme from the photo of tulips. I also applied the grass-textured fabric to each color thinking that I would use these in the design of our marketing material. I didn’t think I’d use all the colors, but the vibrant range was certainly inspiring.

Ideas for a New Branded Look

Trying to create a look that brings all three programs together and feeling included and represented can be a challenge. For the brand identity and marketing material design, I imagined a contemporary look that featured a timeless typeface with a uniquely stylized feel. I also wanted to incorporate the tables’ and displays’ green textile patterns to unify the showcase’s look. I felt focusing on pure design and typography could be a good approach to unifying all three programs. I also drew five icons that represent areas the three programs focus on in their curriculum. We share a lot of commonalities regarding design education.

This look could be the show’s brand identity for many years. Signage and displays are expensive, so creating a brand that doesn’t have to change each year is professional, memorable, consistent, and cost-effective.

I started with a title design:

and then adapted the title, along with other design elements, to marketing material:

The marketing pieces are unified with type, colors, textured fabric, art and design elements, and layout.