GRAFFICITY
Brand Identity
Strategy & Research
D: Ze Feng
GRAFFICITY is a brand that seeks to rediscover the beauty of urban aesthetics by inspiring people to explore nearby city graffiti. It celebrates graffiti, an art form that thrives in the cracks of cities, showcasing its controversial yet captivating nature.
GRAFFICITY is a virtual branding project initiated by me.
GRAFFICITY is committed to promoting graffiti as a legitimate form of art, strictly distancing itself from any illegal activities associated with graffiti. In its branding strategy, GRAFFICITY actively seeks partnerships with communities and governmental bodies, and is planning international initiatives, including graffiti festivals, to celebrate graffiti's aesthetic spirit. These efforts are designed not only to counteract negative perceptions of graffiti but also to cultivate a broader audience base. By doing so, GRAFFICITY aims to elevate the status of graffiti, highlighting its cultural and artistic value while fostering a more inclusive understanding and appreciation among the public.
IDEA/CONCEPT
Graffiti is an art form that thrives in the hidden corners of cities, showcasing its provocative yet mesmerizing essence. With a deep passion for graffiti and street art, this brand has been established to rekindle the allure of urban aesthetics, encouraging individuals to embark on journeys to uncover nearby city graffiti.
APPROACH
Inspired by Los Angeles, the city renowned for its vibrant street graffiti, GRAFFICITY is born from a deep exploration and appreciation of graffiti as an art form—celebrating its freedom, creativity, and distinctive use of vibrant colors and rich fonts.
GRAFFICITY serves as a platform to promote graffiti art, and, in doing so, it consciously chooses a core logo/word mark that prioritize adaptability. This decision reflects a strategic move to embrace a more neutral style in font selection and color choices, allowing the graffiti art itself to stand out as a dynamic design element throughout the visual system.
By doing so, GRAFFICITY captures the essence of graffiti's individuality while maintaining a versatile branding approach that can engage a broad audience.
GRAFFICITY's brand strategy is centered around three key functions: urban graffiti exploration, fostering a community of graffiti artists, and providing an offline graffiti experience. These functions define the core of the GRAFFICITY app, tailored to cater to graffiti art enthusiasts, travelers, and artists. The main audience is at the heart of our design process. By conducting in-depth research into their unique needs and pain points, GRAFFICITY is committed to developing and enhancing a suite of features that not only engage but also add value to their experience.
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Beyond its brand and app, GRAFFICITY aims to elevate the art of graffiti on a global scale, which led to the conceptualization of the Graffiti Week event. This event is not just an initiative; it's a strategic component of GRAFFICITY's brand strategy, designed to invite the general public into the graffiti art community. This move is particularly disruptive, acknowledging and challenging the common perception of graffiti as merely an act of vandalism.
In line with this, the promotional campaign for Graffiti Week draws heavily on the vibrant colors and typographic diversity characteristic of street graffiti. The design guidelines for the festival's promotional posters and materials are rooted in archive and elemental collection, coupled with urban exploration. This approach not only celebrates the essence of graffiti art but also serves as a bridge, connecting the public to the art form in a way that is both educational and engaging.
In the envisioned brand strategy for GRAFFICITY, the next 3-5 years will witness the creation of sizable VR graffiti experience centers on a global scale. These venues will offer the public opportunities to engage in virtual experiences, receive graffiti instruction, explore artist exhibitions, and participate in various related activities.
