Description:

DEBRIEF is Otago Polytechnics’s annual design graduate exhibition. It celebrates the mahi of emerging designers and marks the connection between the present and the future, as students embark on their next creative journey.

Two communication design students were tasked with designing the identity, collateral and spatial design of DEBRIEF 2021, showcasing work across three design disciplines and providing an equitable platform for every graduating student to display their final work. Covid-19 added restrictions with the uncertainty of large gatherings and the need for social distancing that was addressed in the spatial design and wayfinding, onsite and online. A 3D virtual tour was created in event of lockdown. https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=Vxybt49uJBT

The showcase theme was Dreamscapes, with the identity designed to take the audience on a journey through the minds of individual designers, questioning what it is to be creative. Clouds are a feature element of the spatial design, made from repurposed wool offcuts from a local duvet factory, and along with the tagline ‘Open Your Mind’ they engaged the spirit of imagination. The core values represented include sustainability, creativity, innovation, passion and collaboration.

The Debrief logotype draws on the ever-changing patterns of cloud formations and their ability to morph and adapt to context. Using three geometric shapes, that represent the three disciplines, the logo is constructed and deconstructed, stacked and scaled according to application. The exhibition opened with a large LED screen showing a looped animation of the DEBRIEF identity (included in supporting material). The shapes are used repeatedly for wayfinding throughout the physical space, affirming the disciplines as separate identities and as part of the wider school.

Student design work was suspended from frames, joined together to form continuous curves that led the viewers in a one-way flow through the exhibition. Each student had an A0 poster with a hero image, a plinth and a screen to display their work.

The identity was rolled out across a wide range of applications including invites, flyers, posters, catalogue, social media campaign (https://www.instagram.com/debrief_21/
), exhibition merchandise and environmental graphics inside and outside the polytechnic hub. A guerrilla marketing campaign involving blue candy floss was aborted due to Covid-19 restrictions!

For learners whose degree had been a hybrid of onsite and online learning, the DEBRIEF brand connected these emerging designers and their aspirations with their digital experiences in a contemporary celebration of creativity.