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FutureBrand helps promote local and indigenous designers across the globe
Indigo is an international programme that provides a platform for Indigenous design by Icograda, the world body for professional communication design, in partnership with Australia’s National Design Centre. Indigo offers opportunities for local and Indigenous designers across the globe. As designers work within a global context seemingly without borders, Indigo provides a platform for evolving creative expressions that shape the formation of national cultural identities.
As its sponsorship contribution to Indigo, FutureBrand created a brand identity and website design concept. The website was developed by Monash University. “We felt that the identity for Indigo should represent Indigenous cultures from around the world without referencing any specifically, and then to interpret them visually in a way which is both contemporary and unique,” said Darren Ledwich, Design Director at FutureBrand Australia. “The final brandmark, with its classical font forms colliding and cropping to create intriguing new shapes, is stacked to read as a collection of syllables. The result is elegant and fresh, and hopefully invites the kind of questioning Indigo seeks to promote.”
“Indigo seeks to understand what makes design distinctive to its home, the connections to the place where it is made and for whom it is made,” said Kathy Demos, Director of the National Design Centre. “To address this, we have set up a network of designers and a series of projects that explore its meaning and interpretation throughout the world.”
“Given FutureBrand’s focus internationally on country and place branding, Indigo, with its examination of cultural identity, was relevant and inspiring,” said Tim Riches, Managing Director of FutureBrand Australia. “In the local operation we have worked with many brands that express elements of Australian identity – most notably in a very successful collaboration with the Jumbana Group as part of our brand work on Brand Australia with Tourism Australia a couple of years ago. Our belief is that the sense of perspective and authenticity of response to the experiential brand concepts inherent to country branding create a compelling opportunity for Indigenous participation in this facet of brand practice. And Australia has traditionally neglected this unique contribution to its detriment – which shows up quite clearly in our Country Brand Index study. In the international arena, we expect our Indigo involvement to create unique opportunities for Indigenous designers, our own creative teams and our clients.”
www.indigo.org.au
