Global Grad Show
Arts, Culture, and Creativity
2015
Global Grad Show is an exhibition of the most innovative projects from the world’s leading design schools. While at BOND (Abu Dhabi studio) we strategized, developed and rolled-out the brand identity and spatial concept, we as a studio designed, for this world-first exhibition that was one of the main events of Dubai Design Week 2015.
Client:
Art Dubai Group
Services:
Creative workshop, brand strategy, project management, creative direction, art direction, production.
Credits:
Brand Identity and Spatial Design: BOND
Image credits:
Marta Lamovsek
The Global Grad Show, an initiative by the Art Dubai Group, is a year-round programme for university graduates from across the world whose research and impact innovation ideas offer solutions to help solve major social and environmental issues.
Launched in 2015 and now in its eighth edition, Global Grad Show brings together academics from over 70 countries and 500 universities, from the world’s most prominent academic institutions to local colleges in developing markets, in fields ranging from biomedical engineering to urban design and data sciences.
We worked with the curators and content team to develop the inaugural identity for this initiative. Starting with a creative workshop, we developed a series of alternative routes that showcases Dubai’s positioning of showcasing global talent, and we settled on a route that visually showcases the stepping stones one must take, while also showing that Dubai can trampoline someone’s inventions on a global scale.
The Global Grad Show wanted to be a global design brand—it should be scalable to incorporate different events and projects in the future such as consulting, education, workshops, even a cafe. But to begin with, they just wanted to be a Grad Show that uses the network capabilities, diverse population, and great location of Dubai, to be put great projects on the map. They want to become a platform that people respect to get a first insight into the next generation of design, and also for students to want to apply to be part of it each year.
With very limited time and budget we created something great and spectacular as the students and Dubai design week deserved. Creating a platform for and concept for future growth.
The brand identity was derived from the idea of the exhibition being a stepping stone for the featured students. The spatial concept was designed to give people a glimpse into the future of design; the projects were distributed in corridor-like installations, creating a passage that connected the visitor to the future.
Global Grad Show was a world-first exhibition of the most innovative projects from world’s leading design schools. Curated by Brendan McGetrick, Global Grad Show offered an unprecedented overview of the issues and technologies that will shape the future.