nazca lines
An exhibition concept and identity designed to showcase one of the world’s greatest unsolved mysteries.
This university project challenged me to create a identity and a series of supportive promotional, operational and merchandise assets for the launch of a brand-new exhibition at The National, an imagined science and history museum in Melbourne.
I was keen to land on an exhibition theme that would enable The National to reach and engage with a diverse audience and provide opportunity to combine information, technology and play to create an interactive and immersive experience.
During my initial brainstorming I recalled my gap year visit to the fascinating Nazca Lines in Southern Peru and concluded that the lines had all the right ingredients for a compelling exhibition - visual wonder, unimaginable scale and a mysterious back-story.
Etched into the desert and only fully visible from the air, the Nazca Lines are one of the world’s greatest unsolved mysteries. Created more than 1,500 years ago by the Nazca people and covering more than 500 square kilometres, these giant geoglyph drawings depict hundreds of geometric shapes and figures, including monkeys, hummingbirds, llamas, flowers and trees. But no one really knows why the Nazca Lines were created. With theories ranging from irrigation systems, ceremonial paths, and even a means to communicate with aliens, the lines remain shrouded in mystery.
Designed for people of all ages, I developed the Nazca Lines exhibition concept and identity to step visitors back in time and ask if they can unravel the mystery of the lines and the people who made them.
merit, 2022 Australian graphic design association awards, student brand and identity - range/series
exhibition concept | visual identity | logo design | colour | print + digital ASSETS
> VISUAL IDENTITY
Experimenting with shapes inspired by South American letterforms and architecture and lines and spirals inspired by the Nazca Lines, I adapted the Norwester typeface to create a bespoke exhibition title that conveys the essence of the lines.
The bright colour palette emphasises the Nazca Lines as elements of design, rather than solely pieces of archaeology or anthropology.
Primary title
Secondary titles
Norwester typeface for titles + headings
Montserrat typeface for body copy
Blue #1087c9
Green #13a24a
Yellow #f0cd1b
Orange #ef9b21
Red #ed2027
Purple #7452a2
Black #000000
White #ffffff
Pattern inspired by the shapes of the Nazca Lines
> brand in the wild
The exhibition concept is supported by a series of promotional, operational and merchandise assets. These assets demonstrate the application of the visual identity over a range of scales and print and digital formats.
Interconnected poster series
Pole banner signage
Tram livery
Ticket range
Home of the Nazca Lines in the dramatic Nazca Desert, Southern Peru
Mobile app theme options
The title design works horizontally and vertically
The mobile app features bespoke stretched letterforms
Exhibition guide
Button badges
> the process
After brain-storming the exhibition concept, I developed a moodboard to convey the look and feel of the exhibition through imagery, type, colour, texture and pattern. I knew early on that I wanted to the emphasise the lines as globally significant pieces of graphic design, rather than simply archaeology or anthropology.
With the exception of the pencil sketches to ideate the title design, I deliberately chose to develop this project wholly digitally to counter my natural tendency to combine hand-crafting and digital in my work, utilising Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and XD from the Adobe Creative Cloud suite.
Collating inspirational images into a moodboard
Pencil sketch experimenting with stretched lines
Pencil sketch experimenting with the spiral 'E'
Reviewing digital concepts to select the final logo design
“An excellent poster series and extended promotional material. The development process and attention to detail have answered the project brief in detail at an exceptional level – great work.”
- NC, Mentor, LCI Melbourne