Dezeen School Shows: a tram system with carriages and waiting areas designed to ensure women's safety is among the projects by students at the Florence Institute of Design International that demonstrate the power of graphic design.

Also featured is a proposal for a healthcare brand to combat negative attitudes to medicine adopted during the covid-19 pandemic and another for a food brand promoting home cooking of Uzbekistan cuisine.

Florence Institute of Design International

Institution: Florence Institute of Design International
Courses: BA (hons) Design
Tutors: Eleanor Ferguson, Saber Naeemi and Emanuele Milanini

School statement:

"FIDI is an international design school located in the centre of Florence, Italy. The Design Research Project studio courses are held during the final year of the three-year graphic design programme.

"The third year graphic design research project is a self-driven body of work generated over a period of 30 weeks, culminating in a final presentation where students are given the opportunity to demonstrate the extent of their understanding and ability in applying design theory in practice.

"Students are required to form a working hypothesis, around which they must focus on delivering a unique graphic design solution to a real-world problem they have uncovered.

"Each project has its unique challenges and particular design angle requiring substantial primary and literary research on the topic.

"The three-year programme offers an in-depth curriculum teaching on all aspects of graphic design, branding and multimedia to acquire advanced skills and knowledge and develop professional practitioners within the international design community.

"The three year study resulted in a validated bachelor degree, BA (Hons) Design, issued in collaboration with the University of Chester."

Farm Road by Alexandra Kasperova

"Farm Road, an interactive board game for children, introduces sustainable farming in an approachable and educational format. Alexandra Kasperova's design creates a visual language for younger audiences to encourage their engagement and comprehension of complex global issues.

"In order to reach her target audience, Kasperova needed to deconstruct the topic of sustainable farming for easier digestion, both intellectually and visually. To do this, she worked with simplified content, a recognisable aesthetic and harnessed interactive play as the teaching method.

"In her design Kasperova introduces a number of crops, colour schemes based on psychological association, devising a system between elements of the game with friendly versus threatening attributes.

"Understanding the impressionability of her young audience, each asset of the game, from pick-up cards to wearable merchandise, is made with the intention of providing an educational perspective.

"Ultimately, Farm Road detangles a complex global issue in order to find the shape of its foundational pillars.

"By doing so she was able to create a tactile and collaborative environment that gives the next generation freedom to be creative in problem solving and encourages them to engage in the world around them."

Student: Alexandra Kasperova
Course: Design Research Project
Email: sasha.kasperova[at]gmail.com

Maftuna by Binazir Nizomiddinova

"Formed from a diverse cultural heritage, Uzbekistan cuisine sits at the centre of the Maftuna's brand mission. Maftuna is an instagram blogger beginning to gain attention for her home cooked, Uzbekistan meals.

"Through Binazir Nizomiddinova's rebranding, the hope is to take her influence global, ultimately helping to preserve the Uzbekistan culture for those who have immigrated and seek the familiarity of home.

"When building out the Maftuna brand, Nizomiddinova considered all aspects of the online and physical brand assets focused on general readability, seamless multi-platform formatting and cultural relevance.

"Through her choices of a bold, geometric typography and by using a symmetrically gridded logo, Nizomiddinova resolves the readability of her brand assets at varying scales.

"Layering on a colour palette with rich tones and varied hues, reminiscent of Uzbekistan's cooking, the brand speaks volumes across her network in one clear voice.

"With this foundation, the Maftuna brand is set up to speak on a global scale while remaining authentic to her purpose and roots."

Student: Binazir Nizomiddinova
Course: Design Research Project
Email: binazir99[at]gmail.com

Antipodean Express by Mariia Gulisova

"In her creation of the Antipodean Express, Mariia Gulisova has designed a world of luxury within the Kiwirail's experience. Traveling through New Zealand's beautiful landscapes, the Antipodean offers a grand escape, immersing its passengers in nature along the way.

"Aligned with this experience, Gulisova's branding sparks a dreamy and mysterious atmosphere by incorporating a dark colour palette and elegant shapes in her logos.

"Her minimalist, yet distinct, choices in colour scheme creates a dramatic contrast against the colourful New Zealand backdrop. This contrast ranges from the black train carriages to the deep navy uniforms with light trim.

"The branding encompasses all on train assets including onboard menus, maps, carriage signage and virtual marketing.

"All assets of the Antipodean Express, physical and virtual, carry the same striking, luxurious impact, creating a seamless guest experience throughout their ride.

"Through her branding Gulisova tactfully creates a face for the Antipodean Express, ultimately bolstering allure and prestige around this timeless experience."

Student: Mariia Gulisova
Course: Design Research Project
Email: 4mariia[at]gmail.com

Tikit by Millie Wenlock

"Tikit is a service built to simplify how we give back to our community. When constructing the brand, Wenlock hoped to combat common marketing techniques used by charities today, which generally centre around the empathy-altruism hypothesis.

"Instead, Wenlock defined each pillar of Tikit with traditional advertising methods to encourage a bright and attractive association with getting involved.

"Knowing that not all who use Tikit will have access to technology, creating physical brand assets, from the distributed Tikits to street posters, was essential.

"Across all assets, Wenlock chose to use a hand-drawn aesthetic for both her illustrations and typography.

"This, in combination with her energetic colour palette, encourages people to understand that Tikit is a human-oriented, friendly service for those who may need help.

"With a focus on creating trust between the charity and donor, Tikit's branding helps create easy communication and validate its pure intentions towards giving back to the community one Tikit at a time."

Student: Millie Wenlock
Course: Design Research Project
Email: milliewenlock[at]hotmail.com

Deprived of Love by Nicolas Mazloum

"Through his creation of the Deprived of Love campaign, Nicholas Mazloum advocates against ongoing child-trafficking and abuse on the streets of Beirut, Lebanon.

"In Beirut, the common experience of seeing children selling flowers on the street, a seemingly sweet gesture, has roots in the systemic trafficking and abuse rings around the country.

"Mazloum approached his campaign timeline into five phases. The first three work to create awareness through education and the last two are devoted to persuading people to get involved and help where they can.

"For the brand identity, Mazloum leaned into the psychology of association and symbolism, pairing this with a transitioning colour palette based on the phase of the initiative. The outcome is an intense emotional journey during the educational phases, deep colours and the use of symbolism with children's shoes, roses and other objects.

"This is followed by a lighter colour palette later in the campaign, accompanying a call to action on how to get involved and help.

"The colour transitions help to shape the viewer's digestion of the information, ultimately looking to acknowledge the severity of the situation while offering hope and a way forward in the end.

"Mazloum was able to translate his vision across physical and virtual assets from posters and merchandise to a website and animation for easy accessibility across the country and abroad.

"Through this campaign, Mazloum aligns awareness and action to create hope for the children of Beirut."

Student: Nicolas Mazloum
Course: Design Research Project
Email: nicolas.mazloum[at]gmail.com

Alex Trams by Aisha El Shamy

"The Alex tram system aims to provide an accessible public transportation solution to the city of Alexandria. In her creation of Alex, Aisha El Shamy focuses on simplicity, legibility and functionality through clear signage and maps during the passenger journey.

"In addition to accessibility, safety for female riders is a founding mission of the Alex trams. Private carriages, waiting areas and graphics were created specifically in the hopes of encouraging women to feel safe and included in the solution.

"El Shamy's colour choices reflect both a historical and modern association with the public transportation in Alexandria.

"Yellow, typically associated with tram systems of the city, offers a common thread between past and present, while contrasting hues of black and white embody the new, high quality experience to come.

"In tandem, the Alex logo shape pulls inspiration from the tram carriages, conveying a sleek and sophisticated structure. The branding seamlessly integrates from passenger tickets to its posters, phone app, staff attire and other accessories.

"The Alex trams represent the future of Alexandria's public transportation by incorporating the city's community – local and visiting – into its design with a simplistic and thoughtful branding structure."

Student: Aisha El Shamy
Course: Design Research Project
Email: aisha.elshamy[at]vml.com

Herban by Stazia Goutier

"Examining how graphic design and medical alternatives can bolster confidence in public health after Covid-19, Stazia Goutier created the Herban brand, inspired by Haitian culture.

"Her research centred around the areas humans struggled most during covid-19, including a growing lack of trust in science, mental health erosion and the large presence of misinformation and triggering graphic design.

"Using transparent design, Goutier built her branding concepts around elements that make Herban approachable and trustworthy to the public.

"The brand offers a range of educational assets available online or in physical form including an encyclopaedia, index cards, plant ID cards and custom Herban Remedy cards.

"All of these elements align to the Herban values of nature, education, inclusivity and transparency. Choosing to use a fingerprint as the logo, Goutier invites the idea of touch and interaction into a post-covid world, paired with a colour palette representing serenity and a typography that roots the brand in her native Haitian culture.

"Together, Herban's concept and branding help to create a transition between the pre and post-covid world, aiding growth in trust and medicinal education along the way."

Student: Stazia Goutier
Course: Design Research Project
Email: staziagoutier[at]gmail.com

Partnership content

This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and Florence Institute of Design International. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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