Author: elisabeth.seiler

Introduction

If you’ve been on TikTok or Instagram lately, you’ve probably seen “Blokecore” (even if you didn’t actively notice). It started with kids wearing vintage 90s football jerseys to the pub, but it has evolved into a massive obsession with vintage sportswear, and specifically the racing jacket.

In my early design days, I was taught that a brand is a logo, a color palette, and maybe a catchy slogan. But as I’ve dived deeper, I’ve realized that’s just the surface. Somewhere along the line, I came across the term Cultural Branding.

Kicking off the new year, I visited the National Gallery during my visit to London. The museum visit was a deliberate contrast to my otherwise strongly contemporary design projects.

I designed and produced goodies (giveaways) for our exhibition (again, together with my partner in crime (@Karre)). This process initially seemed like an organizational task and more about decision making, but it developed into an quite interesting research impulse.

Last November I attended a trade fair (SPS Nürnberg) as part of my work, where I was responsible for creating content on-site. Unlike long-term design projects, this context demanded immediate decisions. There was no time for extended iteration & decisions had to happen right away.

As part of the “Klanglicht” project, I developed (together with my partner in crime (@Karre)) the visual design for the FH Vertigo project. This project was particularly influential for my design and research focus, as it works strongly at the interface of space, atmosphere, and identity.

Let me be honest: walk to any local race track or sports club and you’re hit with a very specific aesthetic. It’s (mostly) loud, it’s bright colors, and it’s covered in many many different sponsor logos that all seem to be fighting for your attention. Ive once read somewhere that’s its “engineer-chic”, but that also might be a TikTok term. In the end, it’s functional, but it lacks direction.

Thoughts on Gamification, Space, and Engagement

At the beginning of November, our study program visited the CoSa Museum in the Joanneumsviertel Graz to explore different approaches to gamification. I ended up finding the visit surprisingly relevant—not only for our current gamification project, but also for my own interests and future research directions.

Even though most of us (communication designers at least) have probably already visited this exhibition, I still wanted to include into this research reflection.