The idea that culture spreads, changes and evolves as if it were a living ecosystem shaped by people, has articulated the advertising campaign for the Barcelona edition of OFFF, the international festival of creativity, art and digital design that was held between April 16 and 18. Created by Uncommon Creative Studio, it takes the concept to its maximum expression by using the biological material of the creative community to give life to an entire visual universe.

Titled “What We Make It”, the campaign explores culture as a result of the exchange of ideas, references and perspectives of many, not just a few; and that, like life itself, can occur under the appropriate conditions of collaboration. The organization of the festival has sought to convey, in parallel with what the event itself represents, that collaboration is the method and not the result; and that when minds come together to talk and experiment, new ways of seeing and understanding the world emerge.

The universe of chemical research has been chosen by the agency to express that vision, and shape the graphic identity of the meeting, which has been created using laboratory materials and growing biological cultures extracted from the creative community itself. As explained by Uncommon, they invited professionals from the sector to their studios in London and New York for a series of sessions in which, in addition to sharing ideas, they say they collected fingerprints, fibers and fluids from doorknobs or cups to turn them into a design system.

The collected samples were shared with “bioartist” Dasha Plesen, also known as “Mold Queen” for using bacteria as artistic material. Grown in laboratory equipment, these germs have been the basis of a series of shapes, textures and patterns that have been combined with a color palette inspired by the most vibrant tones of nature, to create a visual language that reflects the diversity, unpredictability and vitality of the creative community.

This cultivated living ecosystem is the protagonist of the striking graphic pieces that the event has promoted through social networks and other media. The posters showed the OFFF logo, the dates and place of celebration, and the claim “Come get cultured”, in a play on words between the terms “cultivar” and “culturize”.
In addition, a piece has been created in which the festival logo takes the shape of a Petri dish, reinforcing the idea that the creative community develops and grows within the framework of its proposal.

The typography of the campaign, called Hyphae, is inspired by experimental and biomorphic letterforms in line with the creative concept of the campaign, as well as modernism, a cultural movement that had a strong presence in Barcelona between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
It has been seen in all contact points of the festival, from social networks, to the programming agenda, to the decoration of rooms.

In addition, the visual system has also materialized in a collaboration with the ceramic studio Hal.Project, which has created 100 ceramic Petri dishes for the speakers and speakers of this edition of the festival in Barcelona.

“What We Make It” puts human talent at the center of the message and conveys to professionals that the campaign, instead of being directed at them, is born from them. The festival claims that it is a celebration of authorship and the power of creative exchange and collaboration. And in an increasingly ephemeral market in which artificial intelligence is gaining presence, it communicates that the industry is made up of people and its future can be built together.