8.17 Photography Exhibition

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This is a brief I got from the University of Derby (UK) on the first half of 2014 where I was supposed to create an identity for the so-called 8.17, the 2014 BA (Hons) Photography Degree Show.

The sunlight takes approximately 8.17 seconds to reach Earth and since photography is light, this was the chosen name.

The third-year students wanted something direct and yet experimental that could convey the idea of the light coming out of a subject and reaching the lens of a camera and the human eyes.

I had decided early on to reference the Russian Constructivist movement in order to highlight the form of my work as I wanted to point out the importance of the path light makes towards us.

I also found out a few contemporary art museums and photography festivals that helped me shape the project.

At this point I had the symbol of the identity defined: the light from the Sun going towards Earth and being filtered by an eye's iris.
After going digital, I experimented with sizes and proportions and ended up chosing a solid and sharp black & white version among dozens of options.

I also wanted to represent the literal context behind the name's idea and simultaneously create an intriguing atmosphere. The negative space in the center has a nice balance with its counterparts in white and with the outer frame.

In order to have a natural, crisp and geometric typography that could flow well together with all materials, I chose Avenir Next in three different weights. With this font the name of the exhibition is able to sustain itself within the concept.

The last main aspect of the identity to be decided was its colour scheme, and for that I chose a morning-yellow with a deep navy blue in order to represent the night sky and the sunray.