BRIEF
Design an 8 page, A5 brochure for an exhibition series at BICC Berlin. Organised by NGO Better World, its primary focus is improving life on earth. The exhibition is called If Bees Are Few, the series takes a critical look at life on planet earth in the age of the Anthropocene, highlighting the essential role of bees within the global ecosystem.
Mandatories: 2 colour print and inclusion of the BICC + Better World logos adjacent to one another. Must use copy and imagery provided. No obvious bee related shapes please - honeycomb, stripes etc.
APPROACH
Avoiding typical bee related cues, I looked deeper into bee behaviour and considered what I’ve observed watching the honey bees at my house going about their business. I looked to editorial layouts for inspiration and how keywords might be represented visually. Liked the idea of exploring text overlapping images and varying fonts and font sizes to create a strong sense of hierarchy throughout. The cover page and intro pages would have their own unique design, in contrast to the exhibition event spreads, but feel like part of the same holistic design. In order to do this, key elements were repeated throughout the brochure.
For colour, I considered various colour combinations and decided on a complementary colour combination that would achieve good contrast.
EXECUTION
Taking inspiration from the zig zag flight pattern of young bees when they leave the hive and get their bearings, this zig zag device forms an integral part of the design and the positioning of text. The use of a grid was essential to align text and graphic elements in an asymmetrical design.
The front cover type lock up, headings and subheadings, are all treated in a different zig zag fashion, guiding the eye from through the information on the spreads through obvious hierarchy. Body copy is typeset in blocks to allow for legibility and comprehension, however the position of these is diagonally opposite to one another, to create a the ‘zig’ of a zig zag effect.
The font pairing is a bold sans serif (Druk Wide Bold) for main headings with a finer sans serif for subheadings (Anadale Mono Regular - Caps) and body copy (Anadale Mono Regular - sentence case) that PROVIDE DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN THE VARIOUS TYPES OF TEXT .
Rectangular boxes are a graphic element repeated throughout the design to highlight important information such as exhibition dates, opening hours and pull quotes.
The layout of the event information runs over two double page spreads that are the inversion of one another in terms of position of text and imagery and colour combination.
Complementary hues of yellow and purple are the primary colours used and assert a mood of boldness and confidence. Tints of each hue are used to provide flexibility and create variety within the spreads.
To create some differentiation between the sections within the brochure, imagery is subject to a monochromatic colour treatment on the cover and intro pages, while the event page spreads feature a two tone colour treatment.
