Visual Identity

Developing a consistent visual style.

Above, Mockup: Some pages from a Q&A 'quick answers' sheet developed through the visual language I worked on while at Kiron Open Higher Education. Mockup layout by Pixeden. Wood background by Ray Villalobos.

Helping Develop Kiron's Visual Language

I worked at Kiron as a visual designer helping develop the organization's visual language. Kiron had developed a brand identity, but wanted to develop a more consistent aesthetic with how the organization shared information internally and externally. Working under the Head of Marketing, I did internal research and analysis to help develop Kiron's visual language: the organization's communication aesthetic. Many of my projects were with colleagues across various departments, of whom I developed communications materials for. Since Kiron had an innovative approach to education, using massive open online courses (MOOCs) for refugee education, I was heavily invested in visually explaining the organization's departments. This was beneficial internally, as everyone had clarification for the different responsibilities across departments, but also externally for possible sponsors and students.

Example Internal Document

Above: I worked alongside the PR team at Kiron to come up with a solution to more efficient interview responses. Kiron representatives would be asked a multitude of questions, so we developed this sheet to provide quick, simplified points to help the staff being interviewed.

I did most of my work under the instructions of, "make it look simple, and design it so people say 'I could've made that'." For most of my projects, I would be told to design visual explanations of entire documents, which could be dozens of pages long. To accomplish this in singular, simple visuals I had to critically assess the contents of every document with their respective department owner. It was often an exhaustive process, but resulted with visual materials that could be used for other documents, presentations, and the website.

Example Diagram

Above: I designed this diagram for the Direct Academics department, and was instructed to visualize several, dozen page documents on the department services. The product of this effort was the above illustration that was used for numerous sponsor, student, and staff presentations.

Before I arrived, there were no diagrams like the above one anywhere in the organization, and most visual communication involved basic charts. There wasn't anything inherently bad about that, but for such an innovative organization; Kiron needed a developed visual language. I designed every visual to be consistent with the brand, through a combination of critical assessment, discussions, and collaboration.

Process Overview

Above: An illustration of my work process while at Kiron. I spent a majority of my time talking with people at the organization, and then designing materials that reflected how the organization saw the Kiron identity.

Upon arriving, Kiron had it's own brand identity and a basic style guide (e.g. fonts, colours, logos). However, there was a lack of visual consistency that represented the brand, which is what I based my process around. Although the project was centred on visual design, the bulk of my work involved just talking with people and experiencing the organization through it's staff. I needed this feedback, because I felt as though it was necessary that every part of the organization saw the visual language as an extension of how they communicated.

Project Reflection

Above: A simple overview of how I reflect on my time at Kiron.

The theme of my time at Kiron was visual design, and the benefits it has on communication when properly designed. I learned a lot about how to work in cross disciplinary teams in a professional context, and about critically analyzing design feedback.

The Kiron logo and brand materials belong to Kiron Open Higher Education.

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