last week we joined Nina Zulian at supperclub, where she won a prize for a competition she participated in as a part of her internship at mannschaft.
purpose of the competition was to design a “cards welcome” sticker for American Express with the theme Amsterdam DNA. 15 designs were selected for the second round, where each designer had to present their concept to a jury. last thursday at supperclub, four winners were selected from the final 15. in december, the winning designs will be used by stores accepting American Express.
we think the presentation Nina gave best describes her concept:
I’m Nina, a graphic designer from Brazil, and I have been living here in Amsterdam for a year and a half. I designed this American Express Sticker during my internship at Mannschaft, a graphic design studio in Amsterdam. They participated in this project by helping me think about design solutions and giving me feedback. From that partnership we combined two different points of view: the Dutch perspective and my foreign perspective. This collaboration was very important in guiding me to define and design the Amsterdam DNA.
My concept is: Amsterdam – the windows of cultures.
When I arrived in Amsterdam, I was really impressed by the urban landscape: old buildings, the canal, the windows and the light reflecting in the canal’s water. You can always see inside in the shops, houses, offices: all through the windows. Each culture, each house, each shop you can try to identify the personality just looking the window’s details. They have strong shapes and colors. Just walking in the street you are part of this life for seconds. In the night the lights from that house become part of the landscape, showing colors and life.
How I can show that feeling? and express that feeling for for everybody?
I did a abstract design using the Amsterdam scenery as my inspiration. Using the geometric shapes, I designed the environment with strong forms that every person can connect to. it was important to me that the interpretation be universal and every culture can identify the forms. I use friendly colors so the design was warm and expresses the different types of life, friendly family homes and inviting shop windows. But to attract the attention of the viewer, I also made the colors vibrant.
The shapes and colors combine to become the typical Amsterdam setting: the window of cultures!
the jury consisted of Kunstenaar van het Jaar 2010 Ans Markus, Vice-president Merchants van American Express Marjolein Gerritsen, grafisch ontwerper Herman van Bostelen, Peter van Kuijk van Ogilvy Amsterdam, Janine Fluyt, hoofd PR en Voorlichting Van Gogh Museum en Bert van der Leden van de Supperclub in Amsterdam.
News articles:
Winnaars Amsterdam DNA Ontwerpwedstrijd, Adformatie