Mr. Upside x De Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO)
NWO event Synergy is an annual event organised by the NWO domain Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH). Freelance Event Manager Kim van den Wijngaard of Kimspiratie regularly works for the Dutch Research Council (NWO). She approached Mr. Upside in July 2019 to create designs for the event.
Client(s)
Services delivered
Event Identity Design
Visual Communication Design
Art Direction
Communications Consultancy
The Dutch Research Council (NWO) is one of the most important science funding bodies in the Netherlands and realises quality and innovation in science. Each year, NWO invests almost 1 billion euros in curiosity-driven research, research related to societal challenges and research infrastructure.
Social sciences and humanities
Annual meeting of NWO-SSH
NWO serves science from three domains. Exact and Natural Sciences (ENW), Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) and Technical and Applied Sciences (AES). Each domain organises one or more meetings every year for the rank and file of researchers and other stakeholders. The Synergy conference is the annual meeting of NWO-SSH.
Connection and collaboration
The NWO Synergy conference is a one-day event. It was first organised in 2017. Then the name Synergy was immediately taken into use. The choice of this name symbolises one of the most important objectives of the day: to strengthen the connection and collaboration between researchers and other stakeholders, across the full width of the social sciences and humanities.
NWO Synergy 2020 – 'Changing Societies'
NWO Synergy 2020 took place on February 6, 2020. Each year a different theme is used to shape the content of the event. This year it was 'Changing Societies'. To visually support the theme, a different illustration is also designed every year. This illustration communicates the current theme, ensures recognition and brand experience and is used in all kinds of communication media.
The world is continuously in motion. SSH research should go along with this.
More layers
Interaction
The Synergy theme has multiple layers. The world is constantly in motion, SSH research must move with it. Social issues influence the research, but the results of scientific research also affect society.
Goals
The event has several goals.
Making visible the excellence, innovation, social relevance and concrete contributions of SSH research to social issues
Connecting conference participants
Sharing information from NWO and gathering information as a source of inspiration and adjusting policy and funding
Growing Synergy as a Conference; increase in participant numbers and in active involvement in programming
Increasing the involvement of young and leading researchers
Target audience
The main target group is formed by Dutch scientific SSH researchers (from assistant-in-training to professor). This is a heterogeneous collection of disciplines within broad sectors such as economics, legal science, social sciences and humanities.
Another target group is the civil society organizations involved in SSH research. SSH wants to bring researchers and knowledge users into contact with each other. This relates to other government authorities, practice institutions, companies and research organisations.
Art Direction and Visual Concept
Logo adjustments
NWO Synergy 2020 required the following:
The Synergy2019 logo had to be adapted to a 2020 version.
There had to be an illustration, specifically for this year and this theme.
A website header had to be adapted and
some posters designed
No reflection of the message
Being a Freelance Brand Identity Designer, I had some ideas for a better logo, so a new logo was also proposed. And accepted. The main objection to the old logo was that the concept and message of "synergy" was in no way reflected in the look of the wordmark.
Mr. Upside therefore proposed a new logo in which 'synergy' is communicated more clearly and prominently.
Illustration
The most important part of the project was developing a creative concept. The desired illustration was a visual representation of this creative concept.
This vision, this concept, had several 'ingredients'. A descriptive keyword was defined for each 'ingredient'.
Change
The theme, 'Changing Societies' is mainly about change. Change is by definition not static. In addition, the purpose of the event is to “connect” and “interact” between participants. These are also dynamic concepts. The illustration should therefore represent 'motion'. Literally, through animation. Or figuratively, through a dynamic appearance.
Helicopter look translated to a map
Modular
The theme, 'Changing Societies' is also about society. Society is a complex whole with many parts. Each part affects the other parts. The large number of influential parts is reflected in the illustration as a 'composition of separate parts'. Many smaller parts make a whole. But can also be grouped. And those groups, modules, are in turn influenced by each other.
So a modular structure.
Research
The research supported by SSH has an impact on society. At the same time, society influences research. The illustration should visually communicate 'investigative' and how research and society shape each other.
Floor plan / map
Although the Synergy conference will 'zoom in' on the content, it will also 'zoom out'. Show a bird's-eye view of the current status, new 'routes' and unexplored areas of the field. This helicopter tin can be visually translated into a map. A map in which discovered routes are shown and new directions are taken. The illustration could therefore have a visual reference to a map.
Colourful
The large number of components (of society, of SGW and of the event) raises the question of how to distinguish and structure these collections. A proven method is the use of different colors. Each part, or group, can be made recognizable for a unique color. Color also provides a positive and dynamic appearance.
Abstract
Because the theme and SSH research is so broad, it is inconvenient to choose a figurative form. By definition, it is too descriptive, too focused on a few parts and will therefore never cover the broad spectrum. An abstract form, or rather an abstract pattern, provides an emphasis on the multitude of subjects, on the 'helicopter view' and ensures extremely usefulness in all communication expressions.
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