Who Are We?

Something that has always bugged me about my time in CD at CIA is the lack of a department identity. I never really understood how something so integral to a communication design education could be absent from the institution teaching it. I thought the saying went practice what you preach? Not preach and do nothing.

If you were to look at some other, well-respected art and design schools such as Pratt, SVA, RISD, or Art Center, they all have a unique identity that was created for their Communication and Graphic Design programs. They are all fairly similar, containing a clear visual differentiation from their respective institutions, websites, and events that are regularly held and documented. I have always been put off that we at CIA aren’t included in that list. We have the potential to be the greatest on that list, yet no one has ever seized the opportunity to do so.

The importance of creating an identity for a community is important on so many levels, and even more so when applying it to the goal of culture creation. The members of the CD community need to have something they can relate to, something they can call their own and something they can contribute to. It needs to be something that inspires emotional connections and provokes interest inside and outside of the community. It has to serve as a vehicle for integrating interactions as well.

I spent the first half of the year getting to know this community more in order to find out who they are and what sort of things they feel represent them. To make something that is purely my interpretation would be wrong. I am just one member of the CD community, and in the end an identity for a community is a representation of all the people who are a part of that community. It must be able to represent the past, present, and future of the community.

Break And Make

By spending a semester getting to know my community I was able to discover that everyone is very different. We all have some things in common such as an interest for design, and creativity, but we all have our own personal identities. It is very important not to disrupt someone’s personal identity, or to give them an identity when creating one for the community. Their identities are what the community’s identity is contingent upon. The community is a representation of all us, together. Our identity is a message. We are lucky to be the people who have the ability to create a visual representation of that message. As long as we keep to that message and evolve our visual identity, we will retain our personal identities while contributing to our community.

So how can you possibly create a visual identity for those who are so unique themselves? Make something that is meant to be broken.

By broken I mean something that can change noticeably from the original while still maintaining a connection to the original aesthetic and message. The visual is something that should be interpreted based on the situation and used accordingly. As designers we have the knowledge to remake the visual identity in the best way possible.

Please Break This

Based on the assumption that the community will follow the “break and make” rule that I just established, I designed a very bare bones visual identity for great things to be made from. It is simple, has no restrictions in the hands of a designer except do what makes sense. This is where it starts.

The visual identity I have laid the groundwork for has only three things: 1. A simple logo mark; 2. A typographic treatment for the identity; 3. A color palette. These are the building blocks to start from. These can be paired together in any iteration, or used to break and remake the identity.

There is no rule for pairing other typefaces other than it must function and look appealing. The color palette can be added or subtracted to based on use. We cannot alter something to the point where the integrity of the message is lost or subdued, and we must always maintain visual excellence in this identity’s usage.

How I've Already Broken It

I spent a long time getting to the realization that not one symbol can represent the CD Community. I went through what feels like a million iterations that in the end were all really the same message broken into different visual representations. To illustrate what I mean by break and make, here are several of my “broken” versions of this identity.

The Full Potential

Remember way back in Chapter Two when I mentioned the CD Community not capable of rising to its full potential, well I would like to define that now since the identity of this community is built around our values.

I have noticed that many of the members of the CD Community don’t really rely on their studio mates and faculty for feedback as much as they should. I feel that they are missing out on what could take their work to the next level because of this. I think if there were a message that explained to students the benefits of being in his small community and how it functions, they would be more open to utilizing their community. Here is what I have come up with:

The CD Community is built on a cultural experience that stresses the importance of interaction through communication, collaboration, critique and passion. This group of young designers will develop skills as leaders and a deep passion for design by graduation. These qualities will allow them to form healthy relationships with their coworkers and clients, as well as cultivate a strong portfolio that lands them the well sought after communication design jobs.

This new cultural experience I am designing for is built on being comfortable in your surroundings and with your peers so that everyone can experience personal and professional growth. This message has the intent of boosting the image of the community internally and externally based on the relationships made, work created, and opportunities that are presented to those in the community

This Is CD

This identity has been created for this community based on what they need and is just the beginning to figuring out what the CD community will be. The identity can transcend and connect our interactions both visually and through the values associated with it. When embraced by a member of the community, this identity can create an emotional connection to the community and its purposes. These connections are what ties together an experience.

And then there was Chapter Five: Let's Get Together..