Key Visual is an important part of creating an impression and communicating the idea behind Bangkok Design Week each year. This year people have been through a lot and the city has been hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis. Another important mission, in addition, is the Key Visual needs to ‘awaken the positive energy from the past year of hopeless atmosphere and replenish it back to life.

 

Ped-Pakpoom Lamoonpan, a Thai graphic designer who had lived and worked 12 years at a graphic design company in Japan before he decided to fly back to Thailand. He then establishes his own graphic design studio Routine Studio, which worked on a variety of projects like a book cover for ‘Architec-ture’ (อาคิเต็ก-เจอ), Untitled Case and many more from Salmon Books Publishing, ‘Snap’ movie poster, and Visual Identity designs for many festivals like Taiwan Documentary Film Festival in Bangkok 2018 that many probably recognise his graphics by the lively colourful and fun graphic beats in addition to cute and cuddly characters. That is the reason why the festival has chosen him to design the Key Visual to replenish people this year.

 

Although he has been in the field for a long time, getting to work with Bangkok Design Week 2022 still stirred up excitement. Because communicating the “Co With Creation” idea through visuals for designers, creators and the masses to understand the message is pretty challenging.

 

Awakening the Lively Energy

For the past 2 years, Covid-19 has been with people around the world causing creators to lose their creative steams. The BKKDW team and Ped both know that the first thing we have to do is create hope and boost the atmosphere suitable for creativity back again.

 

“When I first received the brief and found out the theme was ‘Co With Creation’. And the festival’s goal this year is to become a platform that creates an atmosphere for creativity. I went and researched what I could do. When thinking about the name, I want the participants to think of the ideas of ‘connection’ and ‘helping each other in creating things to tackle the issue of economy and quality of life, from both the creators, the communities, or even the entrepreneurs. So I want to create work that people can see and see the diversity in the main visual.

 

“Many components in the work like the letters C O W I T H that were made into images, having a diverse style then we do something with the space to blend it. The minute components that show connecting the dots in different places. It’s like positive charge energy that supporting the Bangkok Design Week as a platform this year

 

“So when we started talking about the tone and direction, I thought it should be something refreshing with more positive energy than other years. Making the atmosphere more cheerful for the audience. I thought creating this atmosphere would be good for creativity after the long gloomy Covid period. So it’s where the overall design in the poster comes from, I want the audience to feel the freshness, bring in the fun and openness if there’s talk on adding or work on other serious issues.”

 

The Colours and Age Challenge

Sketches of graphic element components and colour combinations prior to the final Visual Identity version used in Bangkok Design Week 2022

 

‘Yellow’ is the colour that people recognise from Bangkok Design Week every year. The next challenge is creating freshness and liveliness but keeping the recognisable image of the festival.

 

“In the part of colours and colour selections, I received the brief to keep the yellow for the on-site works because it is efficient in telling directions. So I started with yellow as the main colour with the frame that used to form a letter D from Design, creating the main logo for the theme and slowly tuning the colours to find the complementary pair. The colours cannot clash and be easy on the eye, I think the black-grey colour pair compliments yellow well and other colours can be added easily. The main point in colourwork is that people should be able to understand that they are part of the same work at a glance. This is a detail-oriented and time-consuming task but when it’s put into use, especially landscape works, the colours pairs that are selected will help make the works standout”

 

Ped told us that “one of the important challenges is the issue of making a fun and fresh work without making it look too childish because this visual is going to be used as components in the exhibitions for several designers. Like the objects in the work even though they look independent from each other and have their own character and look alive but I did not make it obvious by putting eyes or framing the face. I tried to design it in geometrics forms so it looks more about the design week.”

 

Every Detail is a Tale

The key of graphic design is communication through visuals for people to understand. Both what is on the page and the subtle hidden message. Every detail in the work has its own content and communicates on its own.

 

“Details are added to make the work have more texture, more than just a form of letters. Like letter C, I made it to have dots that look connected to play on the concept of ‘connection’ and ‘helping each other out. If that detail is taken out, the work would be a bit bland. But the audience does not necessarily have to do the job of deciphering the code. I’m just trying to add something to the still image, creating movement in the imagination for the audience. And creating work that can be taken to create motion graphics on other media like digital as well. Like the dot on the I, the idea was having it come out of the box or the H that has grids looking like a design draft plan and most importantly the secondary components that float around helps create movement and emotion in the work.”  

 

Co With Hope

Atmosphere inside Routine Studio. The space where Ped works with his partner Yoon-Payoon Worachananan

 

The most important part for working designers is that the work is successful as hoped. But success is different from person to person and from one work to another. In Ped’s view the success of this work is the ‘positive energy’ he wants to pass along to friends in the fields and anyone who sees it. Because in the end, the important thing people cannot live without is hope for a better future awaiting us.

 

“Normally, when I work, I will have set a goal in emotional aspects as well. I want people to see our work to feel certain emotions, what emotions do I want readers to remember the books by. For this work I want people who participate and visitors to feel positive energy, giving strength to look forward to the future. After the struggles, everyone faced with Covid-19 which is a factor that is out of our control. With this work I want to invite people to start seeing the future, seeing ways to continue growing and have hope from the design work.”   

 

 

Other works by Ped include book and print covers, CD covers, and visual identity

 

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