1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair
Reinventing the identity and working on the yearly campaings for this incredibly bold and exciting international art fair.
Sectors
Disciplines
- Brand Identity
- Art Direction
- Editorial Design
- Environmental
- Motion Design
- Print Design
- Website Design
Years
- 2024
- 2023
- 2022
1-54 showcases contemporary art from Africa and the African diaspora. The fair has yearly locations of Somerset House in London, Marrakech and New York. It also holds pop-up fairs in Paris and Hong Kong.
At first, we worked with the team on a rebrand to elevate their communications and move towards a more contemporary look and feel. We were also keen to provide a visual link to the name, 1-54 — 54 countries, 1 African continent. Our response was to create a minimal logo which unifies the numbers, drawing them together to show the sense of togetherness inherent in the continent and in the intention of the Fair itself.
The logo stands confidently on all their collateral, working perfectly at supersizes and smaller sizes alike. From an identity point of view, the brand is characterised by its use of bold typography and playful use of type.
We act as 1-54's design arm, working with the team on all editions of the Fair on incredibly varied collateral, such as invitations, merchandise, signage, website design and a yearly book of over 600 pages consolidating the fairs of that year.
The Fair unifies 54 countries from 1 continent; representing art from Africa and the diaspora. The logo reflects this and also acts a framing device for art, both digitally and physically, as shown here.
At Somerset House in London, the signage system is extended throughout the whole building as a ‘take over’ by the Fair.
A simple system to celebrate the 10 year anniversary for the Fair that came along with the relaunch of the new identity.
We support the team with very wide-ranging assets, including animation for social media.
Each year sees a new design of the tote bag, here using a pattern made from the logo.
The 2022 book is edge-foiled and uses a metallic cover stock to create an impactful silver block.
We work on all editions of the fair, including in the bustling city of Marrakech.
The fair also takes place in New York every year where we provide design support, including environmental design