RISD Playground

Identity Design

For Design Studio I with Minkyoung Kim

Poster series + identity for a theoretical “RISD Playground” event promoting fun, leisure, and self-care amidst a stressful school environment. I drew on a combination of psychedelic patterns and childhood associations with play to create a colorful, slightly-nostalgic feeling of fun targeting Gen-Z undergraduates.

I chose to pair Type High—an expressive, psychedelic display type by Ben Zerbo—with Circular—a geometric sans-serif that “marries purity with warmth” by Lineto. This combination captures both the excitement of play and the deeper commitments to self-care and relaxation. Expanding the visual identity of my posters across a variety of formats forced me to reconsider how the identity translated across different scales.

Because the type treatment in my posters relied on variance, I had to strike a balance between variance and continuity across smaller-scale collateral, where the limited area favored consistent, iconographic imagery. These smaller scale collateral preserve the contrast between the two typefaces present in the original posters.

I also designed an identity logo reminiscent of the iconic RISD seal that suggests a playful smiley face. In addition to smaller scales, this logo also works at larger scales that invite more iconographic designs.

I created the poster backgrounds through collaging shots of ProvWash’s interior, the event locale, with shots of other nearby RISD buildings.