The new identity for Graphic Design Festival Scotland was designed in collaboration with Warriors Studio and explores the process and dialogue which unfolds as ideas are developed and visualised. Each year Warriors Studio works with a different design studio on the identity for GDFS with the intention to keep the festival’s presence fresh and progressive.

As the collaboration got underway, the concept for the identity became clear. “We realised that the festival itself is a place for design and creative expression and experimentation of ideas and the identity should be about capturing that very same process,” says Greig Anderson, co-founder of Freytag Anderson. The team began to document everything it did while working on the project; saving all of the art boards and everything it designed as well as recording Skype conversations, emails and even going so far as taking screen records as it worked.

The collaboration initially produced 20 posters, a number which grew as the project developed. We also developed an area on the GDFS website that allowed visitors to design their own poster which was then voted on to be included in the final print run.

 “We wanted to create something which is more than a functional identification tool for the festival, but something which is living, evolving and can represent the raw energy and creativity that the festival provides,” says James Gilchrist - Warriors Studio.

The resulting work is a chaotic and noisy identity that still manages coherence across the whole project. Images are layered and cropped and grid lines remain unhidden. The 2016 identity uses a single weight of GT Walsheim (regular) that provides a constant and the recurring blue and white colour palette makes sure that the location of the festival is abundantly clear.

The festival took place over the week of the 17th — 23rd of October at The Lighthouse Centre for Architecture and Design in Glasgow and the International Poster Competition saw 3443 entries from 72 countries submitting work, shortlisted to outstanding talent.

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Client: Graphic Design Festival Scotland
Role: Design, strategy, mentoring
Discipline: Exhibition identity
Collaborators: Warriors Studio
Photography: Stephen Hughes
Website:  Infinite Eye
Press: Grafik / It's Nice That / iDN / British Council
More info: Contact studio@freytaganderson.com