This is the cover of a booklet that I designed for Platform, Edinburgh Art Festival’s annual showcase supporting artists in the early stages of their careers to make and present new work. Platform is usually presented in August, but this year’s festival was cancelled because of the Covid pandemic and Platform was postponed until the end of October: it runs until 29 November at the City Art Centre, Edinburgh. Selected from an open call by artist Ruth Ewan, and curator, Sophia Hao (Cooper Gallery, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design), four artists based in Scotland – Rabindranath A Bhose, Mark Bleakley, Rhona Jack and Susannah Stark – have been supported to create new work for this group show.
Last year, the Art Festival invited me to refresh the Platform identity (which I had originally developed in 2015) to create a new look that draws on elements of the previous designs while offering a fresh new take that highlights the artists’ images. For previous editions of Platform, an 8 page folded leaflet has been the main design focus; this year, I was asked to expand the identity to include a 16 page booklet; exhibition graphics, signage and labels; print advertisements; digital advertisements; and a series of posters.
The cover design includes the circles (taken from the colon that punctuates Platform: 2020) with imagery selected from one of the four artists – in this instance, the work of Mark Bleakley, a black and white video still that I overlaid with colour. I have used two typefaces, Freight Sans Pro and Adelle Sans, selected for their character and readability, and I used different weights of Adelle Sans to create a logo. The booklet is 210 x 165mm and was printed by Allander, Edinburgh, on UPM Fine Offset 170gsm.