On Wilderness & Migration
↳ Branding
↳ Spring 2020
↳ Spring 2020
On Wilderness and Migration is an installation of post cards that showcases the various pockets of urban wilderness within Detroit. The themes of the event were twofold: incompleteness and curiosity. These messages encourage the community to explore the hidden treasures of wildlife that lie within an otherwise urban landscape.
A fragmented wordmark was developed in order to indicate the rough, subtractive process that many urban wildernesses go through. As these forests grow, they are cut back down, allowing more life to grow in its place.
These urban forests manifest in a number of unique ways, some forming into grassland, others slowly enveloping the remains of war or destruction, or simply through opportunistic growers that capatilize on abandoned buildings, vehicles, and objects that have been long forgotten. Three stenciled icons were developed in order to categorize these different types of forest: Island, Volcano, and Savannah. Each forest has its own story to tell, and these icons become masking devices that give a sneak peek into what each one entails, inviting the participant to explore even further.
Taking inspiration from the way tape is used within botanical specimen books in order display pressed plants, it becomes a subtle reference in this system that that acts as a framing device for photos, indicates a drawing space for activity cards, and highlights text.
A kiosk containing interactive post cards prompts locals to explore their environment and draw what they see.
