it's in your hands: wildfire awareness campaign

By Madeline Liao, Mel Zaini, Gael Lacar, Jenny Yu

A social awareness campaign regarding wildfires in British Columbia

Three of my classmates and I were tasked with creating a cohesive visual campaign for a prevalent social or environmental issue. We decided to create an awareness campaign surrounding wildfire safety and the issue of wildfires in British Columbia.

the campaign

Targeting families with children within Gen Z and early Gen Alpha, we focused on short, attention-grabbing content that showcased the issue and solutions.Our campaign’s theme focused on safely lighting campfires, employing a hopeful message and telling audiences that there are solutions to the problem that are achievable from the ground.Rather than just push the issue, we wanted to offer a way for the audience to make a difference and impact the cause.

my role

My main role in this project was to create eye-catching and informative social media posts that fit within the campaign's visual language.I also assisted with initial research, writing copy for the campaign and Photoshopping visual elements.

design choices

The message of our campaign puts the responsibility in the viewer’s hands, which we accomplished through the use of a point-of-view composition.All titles have a “singeing” effect, mimicking the fire burning the text, tying together our visuals for different mediums and alluding to the power of wildfires.Also, all visuals incorporate hands in some way to emphasize our slogan, “It’s In Your Hands.” Whether it is a hand holding fire, trees or a firefighter’s hand holding a hose, the hands tie together the campaign.

what i learned

This project helped me to expand my collaboration skills. Working in a group rather than on my own designs, I was able to figure out how to design in a way that fit our collective style and create a visually-cohesive campaign.

the spectrum is wide:
editorial layout

By Madeline Liao

A carefully typeset magazine layout that showcases attention to detail.

This project involved creating an editorial layout for a long-form article, prioritizing readability. The task was to choose a typeface suitable for reading long passages of text, as well as finding ways to break up the copy so it could be easily digested and visually-pleasing.

design choices

I chose Richmond Text, a serif typeface that helps to guide the reader along each word. Each section is broken up with headings, pull quotes and images to avoid long blocks of text.After laying out the text, I adjusted each paragraph to account for leading, kerning and paragraph rags.

what i learned

This project allowed me to exercise my skills in typesetting, taking into account every letter on the page and making sure every element works together and makes sense for the reader.

clef the conductor: mascot concept

By Madeline Liao

A conceptualized mascot for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra's School of Music

This school project involved creating a mascot for an existing organization, taking into account the organization's values, branding and services.

Representing the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s School of Music, Clef the Conductor is a
black bear symbolizing the musicians, instructors and leaders of the institution.A black bear was chosen as the representative animal due to its population in the Vancouver area and wider British Columbia. The black bear is a prominent animal in the area. Compared to grizzly bears, the black bear is known to be less aggressive, which is why it was chosen over a grizzly.By making Clef a more “cartoonish” version of a real black bear, with
less realistic and cuter characteristics, the goal is for him to be inviting and friendly to attract younger musicians to join the school.

design choices

A clash colour scheme of dark violet and a lighter orange was selected due to their symbolism
of creativity and imagination.The dark violet of Clef’s suit as the dominant colour represents his authority and status as
a conductor—the leader of the orchestra. Making it a shade of violet creates a sense of
sophistication and education that is associated with classical music.Paired with an orange tint for the bow-tie and poster background, which represents youthfulness, the poster and Clef become more friendly and social—hopefully inviting viewers to look into and join the VSO School of Music.

what i learned

This project expanded my illustration and concept development skills. I was able to take the characteristics of an existing organization and expand on them to create a personification of their brand. I was also able to utilize my colour psychology knowledge to choose a suitable colour palette for the design.

lexend type specimen

By Madeline Liao

A comprehensive guide into the anatomy of the typefacem Lexend

The task for this project was to create a type specimen booklet detailing the features of a chosen typeface. My typeface of choice was Lexend, a variable font specially designed for reability and accessibility (and the typeface you're reading right now!)

To highlight the typeface’s emphasis on readability and simplicity, I decided on a theme that mimicked one of the first things English-speaking schools teach — how to read and write the alphabet.The booklet incorporates these “guidelines” as the main graphics, in order to showcase the letterforms.

design choices

The typeface’s introductory website and logo use a bright red and white. I wanted to pay homage to it, but darkened the red to create higher colour contrast and added a slightly red tint to the white to make it less harsh on the eyes than pure white.The decision to incoporate minimal graphics was made to allow for there to be more breathing room for the typeface. I used simple shapes to symbolize the geometric nature of the type design.

what i learned

This project allowed to exercise my layout skills and practice preparing designs for print. Considerations of spacing and alignment were critical for this design in order to make sure everything looked right when printing.