Gold Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design · 2021
Cut and Paste Branding
- A' Design Award 2021 Gold Winner in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
- Awarded April 15, 2021
- CLIENT: Lisa Winstanley
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 75,635
- Verification code 3C7B6B26C1 · Verify this award
About Cut and Paste Branding
This project toolkit, Cut and Paste: Preventing Visual Plagiarism, addresses a topic that can affect everyone in the design industry and yet visual plagiarism is a topic that is seldom discussed. This could be due to the ambiguity between taking reference from an image and copying from it. Therefore, what this project proposes is to bring awareness to the grey areas surrounding visual plagiarism and position this at the forefront of conversations around creativity.
Within the tradition of comprehensive visual identity programs, Lisa Winstanley's Cut and Paste Branding exemplifies the contemporary movement toward print-centric brand systems that celebrate material production and tactile engagement in an increasingly digital landscape. The project demonstrates exceptional command of systematic design thinking, wherein a deliberately constrained palette of coral-orange and ultramarine blue complementaries generates visual impact while supporting immediate brand recognition across diverse applications. The designer appears to engage with conceptual dimensions of originality and creative attribution through fragmented halftone portraiture and provocative textual elements, suggesting a sophisticated meditation on authenticity within creative practice. Technical accomplishment manifests in the careful calibration of typographic scale and weight across formats, the precise registration of color printing, and the thoughtful consideration of paper stocks that enhance rather than merely carry the visual content. The inclusion of analog implements—rubber stamp and pencil—amid the printed materials introduces a self-referential dimension that acknowledges the physical processes underlying even the most refined graphic production. Compositionally, the flat-lay arrangement transforms functional collateral into an aesthetic statement, the diagonal intersection of colored surfaces creating a stage upon which individual pieces perform both independently and as ensemble. The mathematical notation appearing on select pieces invites interpretation as commentary on creative synthesis, suggesting that collaborative or iterative processes yield results exceeding their individual inputs. One might observe how the fragmented portraiture, with its deliberately obscured features achieved through halftone dissolution, could reference broader conversations about identity, representation, and the transformative nature of design intervention. The viewer is invited to consider how a visual identity system functions simultaneously as practical communication tool and as aesthetic object worthy of sustained contemplation.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- This project addresses a topic that affects everyone in the creative industry at some point in their career. Yet visual plagiarism is an issue that is seldom discussed, perhaps due to the ambiguity between taking reference from an image and copying from it. Rather than preach morality, what this project provides is awareness; enabling participants to make informed choices. The collaterals were created to support an active learning workshop with the main aim to provide a platform for discussion
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The book is A5 with a bespoke die cut folder at the back which contains the folded A3 poster, A6 4pp activity, die cut bookmark and kiss cut sticker sheet. These are all housed in a bespoke die cut outer folder which also contains an A5 notepad and pocket for 5 A6 postcards
- Tags
- branding, logo, book, poster, stationery kit, postcards, stickers, bookmark, workshop
- Production Technology
- This project was printed on RJ Maple bright stock of various weights dependent on the item. The outer folder is a bespoke die cut as is the 36pp book which contains a double sided poster, bookmark, A6 postcards and sticker set. The stationery kit is custom designed and contains pencils, paperclips and a sharper to complement the custom note paper
- Design Challenge
- The design utilises the existing colour palette and fonts of the University brand, alongside culturally appropriate imagery and rich, real-world examples of visual plagiarism, homage, pastiche and parody. The notion of a cut and paste visual culture is present throughout, as a reminder for participants to consider ethical intentions as part of their creative practice and the secondary, juxtaposed theme of ‘copy cats’ is playfully illustrated; humorously referencing this common idiom and introducing a more palatable lightness to a somewhat serious topic.
- Project Duration
- The project was launched in January 2020 at the School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
- Operation Flow
- This project intends the user to fully interact with each component of the pack. The book is intended to be a tool for sketching ideas, writing notes and experimenting. The postcards are designed as case studies for discussion and debate. The A6 activities as practice based and require users to ideate and experiment. The stationery set facilitates this interaction and the outer folder provides a study container to house the full kit.
- Research
- To support an active learning workshop, print collaterals were developed including, an outer folder, a 36 page book, bookmark, posters, postcards, stickers, a notepad and a custom designed stationery kit. The brief was to create an integrated design system which would appeal to a target audience of young Singaporean designers, to guide them through complex topics via an active learning pedagogy.
- Inspiration
- The designs were inspired by constructivist layout with rich, culturally appropriate imagery and bold, angled typography. The brief was to create an integrated design system which would appeal to a target audience of young Singaporean designers, to guide them through complex topics via an active learning pedagogy.
- Image Credits
- Photographer: Lisa Peh Jiaxian
Film: Eugene Lim Ming Zheng - Patents
- Copyrights belong to Lisa Winstanley, 2020