Graphic Design Festival Scotland is an international event promoting the best of visual communication. It educates and inspires designers through a programme of workshops, talks, discussions, exhibitions and competitions, building relationships across the world. A place for creative expression and experimentation, our collaboration and the process of creating GDFS's identity captured that same energy while exploring the conventional client/designer relationship.

The teams’ documentation of their thought process became the assets for the poster executions; their initial ideas, sketches; art boards as well as Skype conversations, emails and screen records, visually encapsulating the process. This collaboration initially produced 20 posters, a number which grew as the project developed. An area on the GDFS website allowed visitors to contribute their own; then voted on for inclusion in the final print run. A deliberately chaotic yet consistent aesthetic was established.

The brand essence of the GDFS is its energy, spontaneity and vibrance. The identity is therefore reinvented each year in collaboration with a chosen agency to remain visually fresh and progressive. Previous festivals adopted a consistent brand style approach but with the festival’s increased recognition and success, we felt it was time to re-interprate the event and its identity and create a system to adapt to numerous formats across the festival week. The identity generated considerable media attention and played an instrumental role in raising the profile of the 2016 festival which sold 2000+ tickets and welcomed 30,000+ visitors.