Decode the visuals behind the festival

By: Marie Yuan, Design Assistant

Image by Zag Creative

The theme of this year’s festival is “Code” and we are happy to partner with Zag Creative to create a fun and exciting marketing campaign to bring this theme to life. Code refers to a system of information embedded in linguistic, visual, and sensory forms. It could be used to simplify or complicate the message. In the interest of decrypting the visual codes of this marketing campaign, I invite you to think of your own interpretations of these graphics.  

I see the bright pink and teal colours as a playful tone for the campaign while the tagline “Decode as you see it fit” unveils the theme: “Code”. Looking at the poster, the first thing that caught my eye was the extraordinary glasses with artistic flair. Theses glasses are a visual code for you to solve and understand its meanings. Decorated with colourful paper or flowers, the glasses could be perceived as a piece of art or as a metaphor representing the distinct perceptions of individuals. While the colourful lenses allow us to immerse ourselves in a space where we feel comfortable to be ourselves, they may regulate how we view and think in this society.

However, the best part of decoding at The Works is that there are no right or wrong answers, as long as the message makes sense to you. The beauty of the festival is that we appreciate the uniqueness of each individual’s interpretation and we embrace the diversity of different contexts. We encourage you to join us for the festival and enjoy the process of decoding our many art exhibits.

Image by Zag Creative 

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About the author: Marie Yuan is a designer, illustrator, and pre-service art educator from Taiwan. With a B.D. in Graphic Design, Marie worked as a graphic designer in an advertising agency with a focus on print and digital media in Canada. She is currently studying Education at University of Alberta, majoring in art and design. Her designs involve educational purposes and storytelling with colourful illustrations, hand-lettering, and interactive components. With a passion in how design thinking enhances user experiences and positively affects communities, she aims to incorporate design thinking and creativity in classrooms. With a belief that everyone is an artist and a designer in nature, she hopes to empower students to be lifelong learners and creative problem-solvers.