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Vault49’s new visual identity for Pentawards 2023 competition uses the language of protest and activism to engage everyone in the global creative community in a shared mission to use design to make a positive impact on society.
Pentawards, the global platform and community for packaging design has revealed a new arresting identity for its 2023 competition.
Created by the internationally award-winning design studio Vault49, the new distinctive identity, which launched on February 6th, looks pretty bold and disruptive.
The aim was to transform the existing Pentawards identity into a canvas for change in order to highlight the opportunity the global design community has to use design to shape a better world. Even the Pentawards logo has been ‘hijacked’ to become a piece of stencil graffiti art, symbolic of Pentawards’ ongoing commitment to helping drive positive change across the board through the power of creativity and design.
Vault49 initially fielded creative ideas from across their New York and London studios to develop a concept that draws on graffiti art, protest posters, their roots as a street art collective, and their recent work using design to amplify the message of the Black Lives Matter movement. The final, collaborative result is a design that uses the language of protest and activism to invite global creatives to make their own mark in shaping a better world in a way that feels most authentic to them.
Lucie Mouchet, Design Director at Vault49 commented on how the campaign’s visual identity brings this messaging to life: “We wanted to communicate that any one of us can use creativity to make our mark on society in a positive way or express a desire for change. Our visual identity uses bold colours and typography to reference homemade protest slogans and placards, while the repetition of graphics is reminiscent of the guerrilla art of fly-posting. Many of the designs have been ‘hi-jacked’ with hand-crafted elements like stencil graffiti spontaneously spray-painted on top, communicating immediacy, rawness, and a human touch.”
Adam Ryan, Head of Pentawards, commented: “We love how Vault49’s design for this year’s Pentawards competition is a call-to-action for the global creative community to use their craft to help create a better world. Whether it be through designing more inclusive packaging, innovating in materials that promote sustainability, or using graphic design or smart technology to spotlight important social issues or initiatives, it is highlighting the huge opportunity for designers to help galvanise positive change in consumers’ lives around the world.”
The collaboration between Pentawards and Vault49 is the latest development in their growing partnership. In 2020, Vault49 Co-Founder John Glasgow spoke at the Pentawards Festival about his experiences of entering and working in the design industry before becoming one of the first representatives of the black community to become a Pentawards judge in 2021. This year, John is Co-President of the 50-strong Pentawards jury panel, alongside Chloe Templeman, Executive Creative Director at big fish.
In discussing the new visual identity, John commented: “It was important that the identity not only communicated the positive change Pentawards are helping to achieve across the industry, but that it also felt like an authentic expression of who we are at Vault49. For example, Vault49 was born out of a street art collective and our team still includes screen-printers, graffiti artists, illustrators and typographers. When the Black Lives Matters protests started in 2020, we knew we had to get involved, and designed and screen-printed thousands of posters to hand out at the protests to amplify the messages. In creating this visual identity for Pentawards, we’ve brought our own story, values and heritage together to unite behind a common mission of how design can enact positive change. We hope this will inspire other designers around the world to do the same in a way that feels most authentic to them."
Entries for this year’s Pentawards competition are open from February 6th – March 24th, with shortlisted projects revealed in July and winners announced in a special gala ceremony in November.
Vault49’s identity will appear across all competition materials and communications, including the Pentawards website, social media, competition user and entry guides, newsletters, and animations.
