Maria Thaddea
Bachelor of Design, 2nd Year
The brief
Design and develop a new visual identity program that best represents your chosen organisation; applying said system consistently to a range of collaterals.
Student reflection
Described as the lovechild of circus skill and spray paint, ‘Circus Monoxide’ gave me the perfect opportunity to explore ways to integrate the highly expressive nature of art into the more pragmatic side of design.
As designers, there is often this stereotype or worry that our designs focus too much on aesthetics and are often impractical and unrealistic. Due to this, I wanted to make sure that this identity system, although heavily influenced by graffiti tags, had a strong underlying system that would provide practical sense and liberty behind the madness.
With this rebranding project, I wanted the final identity to stay true to the organisation. As I strive to contemporise the brand, I did not want them to lose their rambunctious punky attitude.
The whole branding system pays homage to Monoxide’s origins with references to spray paint and hazard stripes. Throughout the design process, I also made sure to keep graffiti’s possible negative connotations in mind. As Monoxide is a highly collaborative studio, it was essential to me that the final product was not too grungy to make sure that their visual identity would not deter future collaborations.
Acknowledgement of Country
UNSW School of Art & Design stands on an important place of learning and exchange first occupied by the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples.
We acknowledge the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land that our students and staff share, create and operate on. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend this respect to all First Nations peoples across Australia. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
