Upstarts 2017

Upstarts is a mentorship programme run by ICAD. It introduces young creatives to the industry, pairing participants with mentors, setting briefs to develop their thinking and providing exposure to the creative industry.

The brief was to develop a meaningful and recognisable identity for the 2017 iteration of the programme.

This response rests on two main concepts. Upstarts is a programme which ‘future-proofs,’ it’s participants and the creative industry. This identity visualises the ultimate future language; binary. The larger square represents a 1 and the smaller, a 0. As such this identity can actually be read, and can be pulled apart and put back together to produce endless solutions. It is also a reflection of the binary structure of the course. The two important elements are the mentor, with their experience, and the Upstart. The 1 represents the mentor and the 0, the Upstart. The final mark reads 1,0, which in binary means 2.

The digital application allowed the elements to move and reassemble, creating new compositions and spelling out new things. This mirrors the nature of the course as participants move around various studios and agencies in the city. It is metaphorical also, reflecting the changing nature of the programme.