John Espino · @jkspn - Ateneo College Days 2013 Branding

As part of the SAMAHAN Creative Team from Ateneo de Davao University, I spearheaded the concept, design and execution of the Ateneo College Days 2013 (an annual multi-disciplinary event by the university) branding and publicity materials. This was an attempt to provide a basic design guideline and language for all the materials to be used in the event, for my team and for other teams.

The brief was to create a brand identity for the main event itself and its major activities, and to create representations of the nine university department* animals. And in addition, produce posters, tarpaulins, banners and different materials for the publicity and staging of the event and activities.

In addition, the team was tasked to provide video coverage and create event videos.

*DEPARTMENT - ANIMAL

Accountancy and Accounting Tech - Griffins, Business and Management - Vipers, Computer Studies - Chameleons, Humanities and Letters - Phoenix [and Philosophy - Owls, then not part of H&L], Natural Sciences and Mathematics - Falcons, Social Sciences - Dragons, and Schools of: Engineering and Architecture - Tigers; Nursing - Panthers; and Education - Sharks

One of the first goals we had for the design language was to create a highly scalable and customizible design that could accomodate different use cases. Because of this, we opted for a highly minimalist approach in the design of the animals and in the colors used. In the creation of the color palette, contrast between the division colors was prioritized. These is little to no color gradiation, only used as shadow or vignette elements to establish depth.

For the layout we opted to use geometric shapes, specifically hexagons, to construct the materials. Having a fixed-shaped-layout grid allowed us to create tiled and/or interlocking designs.

To complement the geometric intentions of the layout and the punchy contrast of the colors, we opted to use a highly geometric--say mechanical--font: Gotham. For the main branding elements we used heavier members of the font family, while for much of the detailing we used lighter members.

On the logotype, we meant to have something that could be easily incorporated in all of the materials from within the team, and even with materials from other teams that could have a different design language.

The main concept is that of a banner--a waving banner with folds. The focal element of the logotype are two rectangles bearing the words 'College' and 'Days', hollowed out. The design of the rectangles, with one rectangle (left) on top of the other (right) meant to indicate movement. The other two words, 'Ateneo' and '2013' are outside of the banner element, aligned right and left, respectively, with the words inside. This was an attempt to balance the logotype visually and aesthetically. As a final touch, the logotype was put at an angle, again to indicate movement; but also to infuse tension and interest.

The logotype was set in a solid color, which can be set according to the department colors or in case of the overall event publicity materials, set in white to stand in contrast against colorful backgrounds.

The Cheerdance and Dancesport Competition, one of the highlight events of the Ateneo College Days, uses a tiled background with hexagons and the department animals. The text is set in Gotham, and styled with gradients to simulate a spotlight shining down on it, with the shadows against the background.

This was the main event schedule tarp, optimized for legibility from a distance. Hence, text was still in Gotham, however in black color and against a primarily white background with interlocking hexagons of different shades of gray.

The following were the teaser posters published two weeks before the festivities started. The department animals were illustrated in Adobe Illustrator by Jon Von Louie Dagaang, another member of the SAMAHAN Creative Team.