Human Rights Foundation

Spatial Design, Brand Identity, Motion, Print

Description

The Oslo Freedom Forum is a transformative annual conference that brings together the world’s most engaging human rights advocates, artists, tech entrepreneurs, and world leaders to share their stories and brainstorm ways to expand freedom and unleash human potential across the globe. The theme for the 2017 Oslo Freedom Forum was Defending Democracy.

Challenge

Approached by the Oslo Freedom Forum to comprehensively design all assets for the 2017 conference, YummyColours was tasked with creating a clear, cohesive, impactful visual identity across all conference touchpoints, including its expo site and select public spaces in accordance with the 2017 theme. The project mission was to visually activate the idea that each individual has the power and the solutions to defend democracy.

Solution

To bring the concept to visual life across the city and the Oslo Freedom Forum event sites, YummyColours concentrated the overarching theme into four pillars that encompass democratic ideals: Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Association, Free+Fair Elections and Separation of Powers. A system of red dot icons constituted the main graphic element, where the dot represented each individual as an advocate, a “Freedom Fighter” for democracy. This symbolism functioned as the through-line, tying each activation, project, and visual together as one aspect of the overall narrative concept of defending democracy. The six-day event engaged more than 2,000 participants across its city-wide sites, with more than 40,000 livecasted coverage views. Buzz of the Oslo Freedom Forum garnered over 236 million social impressions and over 300 pieces of individual press

Image shows a road leading to a large building that is lined in navy blue Oslo Freedom Forum banners. The street is filled with people walking in the direction away from the camera and lined in trees.

Image shows a blue-toned image of a person standing in front of a tank (the famous scene from The Tiananmen Square Massacre) with a coral-red dot on the person and text that reads, "This dot represents the individual's role in defending democracy. This dot is you."

Four tall, skinny graphics show dot graphics representing the four titles: Free and Fair Elections, Freedom of Association, Separation of Powers, Freedom of Expression.

Image shows Oslo Freedom Forum branding on elevator doors. They are blue with OSLO FREEDOM FORUM DEFENDING DEMOCRACY written on them, along with white and coral dots.

Image shows the design system for Oslo Freedom Forum, which includes large and small dots using the color combinations of navy blue, coral-red, and white.

Image shows the coral-red spines of four books on a navy blue service.

Image shows a book open on a white and blue striped surface with a navy blue page flipping to reveal a white page that says, "OSLO FREEDOM FORUM DEFENDING DEMOCRACY"

Image shows an open publication on a striped background. There are blue-toned portraits and red polka dots on the pages.

Graphic shows various statistics using coral and navy blue graphics and dots.

Graphic shows coral and blue infographics on a white background.

Image shows people gathered and talking in a space with white walls and curved ceiling. There are red infographics on the walls of the space.

Image shows people gathered around OSLO FREEDOM FORUM column structures.

Screened between forum sessions, a series of interstitial animations was rendered to illustrate the pillars of democracy: Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Association, Free+Fair Elections and Separation of Powers. Employing statistics, geographic representations of these statistics, and posing solutions to the sorts of inequity that anti-democracy yields, the animations illustrated the realistic importance of the Oslo Freedom Forum’s theme and mission. The visual representations, as well as keynotes and speakers titles, were all consistent with YummyColours’ creative direction, color scheme, and the red dot iconography.

Unmute

For the first time, the forum engaged the public park in downtown Oslo. YummyColours developed a program of activations to involve the civic audience: a live simulcast of the conference; an interactive exhibition, Firewall, contrasting search engine results from Google and the Chinese search engine Baidu; an installation of interactive walls posing provoking questions about democracy, and one that prompted direct engagement with nearly two thousand stickers, which led to the reveal of a message over time. On the forum’s closing night, participants and the public were invited to illuminate the park's central body of water with thousands of floating LED “dots.”

Image showing a kid in the park in Oslo putting a round red sticker on an activation wall that when all the stickers are placed will say DEFEAT DICTATORSHIP

Image shows a close-up of a hand with pale skin placing a coral-red dot sticker on a navy blue wall.

Image shows schematics for 3D installations including graphics pictured elsewhere on this page.

Image shows a 3D installation created using 5 cube in an L-shape. It shows a blue-toned image of a person and says "OSLO FREEDOM FORUM DEFENDING DEMOCRACY," and "The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism."

Image shows a 3D installation that reads, "Oslo Freedom Forum Defending Democracy" and "How many people around the world live in dictatorships or authoritarian regimes?"

Image shows an L-shaped installation that is navy blue and coral-red. It says DEFEAT DICTATORSHIP on it. It's sits on a stone surface next to a statue of human figures and a pond. There are trees in the background.

Image shows people in the dark surrounding a pond. There are many small illuminated blue balls in the pond.

Image shows an arm wearing a black suit and a hand holding two small illuminated blue balls.

The first day of the Oslo Freedom Forum was dedicated to a discovery fair, at which NGOs and Foundations, Independent Media Outlets, human rights advocates and Fair Tech companies shared their knowledge and discussed solutions to the challenging problems that exist in the world today. YummyColours designed the full layout of the expo, including individual booth structures and set-ups, from construction to visual identity, adhering with the color concept and the red dot iconography.