Project Overview
‘The Floating Eye’ was the curatorial theme of the Sydney Pavilion in the Shanghai Biennale, the largest international art event in mainland China, attracting over 8 million visitors. The challenge was to convey the theme of varied perspectives of the city’s transforming reality observed through its demographics, geography, history, politics and society.
The Sydney Pavilion identity had to create stand-out and recognition amongst hundreds of pavilions, whilst appealing to an international audience. We built a visual language of symbols, combined and intertwined through a shifting graphical lens interpretation of the viewer that avoided the need for wordy articulation.
Project Commissioner
4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art
Project Creator
Team
Jason Little - Creative Director
Michael Boston - Design director
Alexis Waller– Senior Designer
Sam Byrnes – Senior Designer
Sam McGuiness – Designer
Erin Hoffman – Designer
Project Brief
How do you create standout and awareness amongst a multitude of international Pavilions? How can a the complex theme be conveyed to showcase the work within, and yet maintain a level of accessibility for an international audience?
Our brief was to create an identity for the Sydney Pavilion that would capture people's attention and create a memorable experience that would support the theme and the work.
The identity would need to work across wall graphics and signage, invitation, exhibition collateral, catalogue and merchandise.
Project Need
‘The Floating Eye’ theme encompassed the varied perspectives of the city’s transforming reality observed though its demographics, environment, history, geography and society.
We built a visual language of symbols, combined and intertwined by a shifting graphical interpretation of the lens of the viewer.
With shape and colour expressing the theme, the identity overcame any language issues for Chinese and international visitors, and avoided the need for wordy articulation.
Design Challenge
Our key design challenge was developing the identity to work in China from our studio in Sydney without being able to physically see the location due to tight timeframe and budget. Information on the location was also incomplete, and how the pavilion would fit within the greater context of the biennale.
The project took place in a matter of weeks, from concept to production. We were fortunate to have a great client who worked with the suppliers in China, enabling us to deliver on time and budget with minimal fuss.
Sustainability
The Pavilion took place within an old run-down building, re-used and given life as the exhibition space. Sustainability was also achieved by sourcing and printing all materials locally in China.
Graphic Design - Identity and Branding
This award celebrates creative and innovative design in the traditional or digital visual representation of ideas and messages. Consideration given to clarity of communication and the matching information style to audience.
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