A fitting home

As the peak national organisation representing the communication design industry, AGDA recognises the best creative work across the country at its annual AGDA Design Awards event.

When the 2018 awards were announced in Melbourne, it was the perfect moment to re-establish the city as the rightful home of graphic design in the country.

Peninsula, the chosen venue, was a prestigious waterfront event space inside a heritage-listed shipping container, featuring lavish proportions, an expansive ceiling, and a spectacular 660-metre-long chandelier.

Weave’s opportunity was to develop an event concept that would both fit the AGDA brand and pay homage to the host city.

This event brand needed to make an impact and stimulate excitement across pre-event promotions and printed collateral, then confidently deliver on its promise with dynamic screen content throughout the ceremony.

The opening video was the precise moment to set the scene for the evening, and celebrate the design and communication disciplines that would be on show during the event.

Creative execution

Through the use of cell-animation, we created a raw and gritty event brand that sought to capture the energy and urban essence of the host city, while creating a tension with the luxurious event space within which it featured.

Radiating from the iconic AGDA awards triangle motif, the opening video brings to life the industry’s diverse design disciplines – from publication to packaging, and motion design to spatial design – through a series of vibrant abstract shapes.

The project was a labour of love. Each frame was painstakingly hand-painted with Sumi ink, photographed, then meticulously compiled to creates a seemingly unpredictable, energetic movement.

The abstract shape animations were then reworked as ‘Award stings’, which were presented at the introduction to each award category throughout the evening, injecting moments of high-energy monochrome mess into the proceedings.

Execution  

Weave’s event brand concept set a Melbourne-esque tone for the evening: hailing the city’s flourishing creative arts culture, its grungy pub-rock scene and its year-round, dressed-in-black fashion aesthetic. From concept to execution, we set the tone within the luxuriously appointed surroundings to showcase design industry excellence from every carefully choreographed angle.