Callum stringer
Rainbow Events NI, is a first of its kind fully inclusive festival aimed towards those with additional needs and their families. The project was the brainchild of a parent to a severely autistic teenage boy. Their objective was to bring inclusive events to individuals with additional needs and their families. We were honoured to have the opportunity to work on this thrilling project with them.
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Events | Visual Identity
Background
When a group of final year students at Ulster University approached me to help bring their vision to life I had the same questions and queries as I would with any project.
When they explained the nuances of the task at hand, I jumped at the opportunity to help. As someone who has family affected by additional needs, I was more than happy to contribute to a project like this.
What we did
I first established what was required. This was a unique branding project in the sense that the user you're designing for is not really the user. The actual target audience was more so the families of those with additional needs than those with them.
I listened closely and followed the lead of the students as to what considerations were important to be kept in mind throughout this project.
Introduction:
The task was essentially, to create the countries first all inclusive festival designed to cater for those with additional needs, and their families. It would take a lot of consideration from all involved to create the best experience possible.
The name they had chosen was 'Rainbow Events', this was due to the spectrum of colours on the rainbow, correlating to the spectrum of additional needs people have.
Rainbow Events was a special project. Individuals with additional needs and their families often aren’t able to access events and activities such as festivals or sporting events. So to see an organisation creating an outlet specifically for those who aren’t typically included was a beautiful thing.
I wanted to give the group a few options to choose between. As much as I could consider myself an expert on logo design, I'm not an expert on what best represents individuals with additional needs. The 6 logos above were shortlisted due to their different approaches. You’ll see the use of a sunflower which is representative of hidden disabilities. Combined with the rainbow which has become synonymous with acceptance.The logo chosen was the top left, due to the inclusion of both the rainbow and the sunflower, which the client felt best aligned with their brand image.
Social Posts
This was a project started by University students at Ulster University Coleraine, being in close contact with them meant we knew exactly the vision for the brand that they were keen to create. The first goal was to create the brand, as well as accompanying graphics to be used across social platforms to spread the word, inform, recruit and to also educate.
The brief was: Keep it simple, colourful, bright and featuring rainbows. We made sure to go rainbow heavy on the design, whilst also keeping the look professional. The idea behind most social designs was to have it incorporate the rainbow in the background, whilst also having the information for the post displayed prominently and having nothing taken away from it.
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