Living+
Visual Identity for new cultural platform
We were recently tasked with creating an identity for Living+, a cultural initiative founded by socio-cultural initiator Jacquill G. Basdew.
Living+ makes use of arts, culture and intergenerational dialogue to bridge the gap between complex public health themes and younger audiences, making these subjects more engaging and accessible.
Its first season, Memories in Motion (2025), centres on the lived realities and emotional legacies of HIV/AIDS with a curated month of performances, exhibitions, youth-led interventions, rituals and storytelling programmed across Amsterdam.
Memories in Motion invites a new generation into a living archive of survival and solidarity, asking them to carry it forward with intention, care and urgency.
We developed a brand strategy and visual identity to embody this vision.
The brand's identity is rooted in the Caregiver and Creator archetypes, delivering a tone that is warm, wise and encouraging - like a loving elder.
We worked closely with the client to workshop ideas and reference points to get the tone right.
It was important to balance the seriousness of the subject (HIV/AIDS for the debut season) with visuals that engage with the young target audience.
Early hand sketches explored the notion of Memories In Motion (the title of this debut season of programming) and developed into the head icon, which features a subtle L+ in the neck and eye areas.
The final head icon was preceded by many different head sketches, which when taken together represented a sense of diversity in people which we sought to engage with in the project. This also gave the brand an intimate and inviting feel.
The family of heads are seen together in an animated loop as part of the project launch.
The typographic style is inspired by the graphic language of campaigning and is designed to appear both serious and informative while incorporating cues that feel relevant to an audience whose feeds are dominated by streetwear culture.
With many graphic outputs focused on communication of events, we devised a typographic style that was bold and clear despite being loaded with information.
The fonts used are:
Alfredino Tuttocurvy + Semimono (Supernulla)
DM Mono Medium (Colophon Foundry)
The core pink colour used for this first season of Living+ was sampled from the Silence = Death logo featured in faded archival imagery from the late 80s provided by Amsterdam's Stadsarchief (City Archive).
The colour's origin links directly with Memories in Motion's focus on HIV/AIDS, while the faded hue speaks to the concept of memory fading over time; looking back to look forwards.
The final visual identity centered on an editorial design-inspired presentation using imagery from the archives of Amsterdam's Stadsarchief and Rijksmuseum, carefully selected by curator and Living+ founder Jacquill G. Basdew.
We achieved a visually compelling Identity for Living+ that delivered clear communication, and visuals that are flexible for future seasons of programming, whilst ensuring the tone of the brand was reflected in an authentic way.