Building A Foundation For DMV Community Recovery & Wellbeing

After years of loss and reflection from the global pandemic, civil unrest, and escalating woes of the world – DCDW 2022 was ready to celebrate community, resilience & openness to life.

Designing in resilience together was inspired by the original intricate maximalist–nature– and the region’s conductors of change. This campaign zooms in to highlight individual contributions and out to see how their outcomes contribute to the larger ecosystem.

This campaign links the region’s broad spectrum of DMV designers, from graphic artists, inventors, creators, leaders, and explorers alike, to join forces and bring unparalleled solutions to the community.

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AIGA DC - DC DESIGN WEEK 2022

DC Design Week (DCDW), from AIGA DC chose Brllnt as their partners to bring their 14th annual week-long event to life for the area’s design community.

The DCDW team sought to ignite the resourceful, supportive spirit of our community, as they welcomed over 1,200 designers and makers to co-create intentional spaces for recovery and wellbeing. This project included the full development of the DCDW 2022 visual identity, narrative, and deployment strategy to equip partnering facilitators with the tools to execute a consistent design identity throughout all events.

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Sourcing Inspiration From Nature

Inspired by mycorrhizal fungi, whose system of deeply complex, many-networked roots make their ecosystem healthier, we found a powerful representation of resilience in nature. Their myriad of connections were the perfect embodiment of the spirit of the DC design community– a community of individuals that make their ecosystem healthier and more connected by their very presence.

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Visualizing Resilience

Designing in resilience together, developed in partnership with Scrap Strategies, sought to find visual and narrative links between connectivity and community. Through research and collaborative working sessions, vibrant, joyful colors and organic shapes come together to create an inviting space that cultivates creative thinking for event attendees.

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Creating In Partnership

Building a visual identity with various partners always calls for communication and collaboration. After the initial identity development, design assets were handed over to the DCDW team for execution. Brllnt continued to be a resource for grounding the concept as individual designers brought strong personal lenses to their work.

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Putting Accessibility At The Forefront

Brllnt produced a visual identity style guide with colors, typography, and graphic elements. Then we continued collaborating with the team on building accessibility to all of the brand elements.

The commitment to universal readiness continued through the delivery of a graphic element library for use in digital products, zoom background concepts for virtual attendees, swag concepts, social media templates, and presentation deck template.

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Image courtesy of Brllnt and DC Design Week

Image courtesy of Brllnt and DC Design Week

Image courtesy of Brllnt and DC Design Week

Image courtesy of Brllnt and DC Design Week

Designing in resilience together’s impact is yet to be realized. DC Design Week 2022 will join again in-person October 14 - 21. Visit dcdesignweek.orgto get your tickets.

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This insight was originally published as part of Brllnt’s case studies and written in collaboration with Scrap Strategies. See original post on the brand's visual creator site here.

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