"For this year’s Student Awards, we wanted to create an identity that resonates with students both in the key messaging and as an aspirational visual design solution," explains Ross Chandler RGD, Creative Director at Becoming Design Office Ltd. "To do this, we worked with the most basic element possible. We spray painted the 'S' and ‘A' (for Student Awards) as the basis for the logo and also the key graphic for the visual identity system."

Spray paint speaks to raw, creative expression and is a non-digital medium, which the team at Becoming Design believes is an important part of design education. Spray paint rooted in street art culture (tagging and bombing) is a rebellious medium used by artists to make their mark upon the world. This is ultimately what students are working hard to achieve after graduation.

The shape of spray painted letters with the spattered edge, organic patterns and gradients provided a wide range of beautiful graphic elements which aided in the story telling. These graphic elements are used in two ways. One is a headline treatment, where the spray paint covers part of the key message used to communicate the emerging or uncovering of new talent with headlines like “Stand out” “Be seen” “Make your mark”, etc. The other treatment caters to more practical messaging, which is placed over top of the spray painted graphics for messages like “Win cash prizes” or the names of Award recipients and sponsors.

"We originally created the spray paint effect using Procreate. Once we had resolved the idea for the identity system, we knew we wanted to use the real paint medium. But we didn’t know how easy it would be to control and then to translate the physically-painted assets into a digital medium. It took a few attempts to get it right, but eventually we got there. The less on is: Do do not be afraid to try something that may fail. It may fail. But it may also produce highly successful and unexpected results," offers Ross. 

The team at Becoming Design was amazed to see the amount of utility they were able to draw from with such a basic graphic system. It served as a good reminder to them that a well-resolved idea doesn't need loads of assets to create a successful visual identity. "My favourite part of this identity is the dual function of layering. One option that slightly hides and reveals key messaging. And another option that runs underneath and supports key messaging. It is so simple, but it works so well," says Ross. 

For students enrolled in graphic design and related programs across Canada, the RGD's 2022 Student Awards will open for entries January 7 with the entry deadline of May 20. Through the Student Awards the RGD will distribute more than $15,000 in cash and other prizes in recognition of design excellence.

Click here for a list of the 2022 Student Award Sponsors