Making an impact through design.

At Goldi our vision is to create experiences where everyone can feel included, inspired and connected. So I jumped at the chance to share my views in October at the Museum's and Galleries Queensland 2024 'Belonging' Conference.

The following is transcript of my talk about ‘making an impact’ through design:

After almost 30 years of working as a designer, I have really got to know what I enjoy, what I’m good at and what gives life meaning.

To me, working in arts and culture offers me an opportunity to do plenty of that, and to work with some amazing people.

At Goldi we specialise in exhibitions, wayfinding signage and branding. And we have been lucky enough to work with a range of large and small organisations on a number of branding and exhibitions projects over the years. In 2023 alone we contributed to 14 exhibitions in Queensland.

A few examples of projects we have worked on more recently, include clients like Museum of Brisbane for Margot McKinney and more recently Rearranged, Queensland Museum’s Insect Agency, Ipswich Art Gallery Kids Clay Studio and The Good at The Condensery. The work is across brand identity, marketing, exhibition design and graphics, and publications.

Just as our work goes deeper than pure visual design, for me the business and my career has always been about more than just making money. I am sure for many of you it is the same.

Working in the arts and culture sector offers us the opportunity to fulfill our mission of making a positive impact on individuals, businesses and communities via purposeful design. This means it’s not only about the audiences, it’s also our own team, our collaborators, our clients, their staff, the organisation and the wider community.

This means, I am very interested in telling stories and presenting things in a way that resonates with people and makes them feel like they are seen, heard and understood.

To me this is what fosters connection, and essentially creates a sense of belonging. That is where impact can be made.

So today, I am not going to talk about font sizes and colours, although that is an important part of design, and making things inclusive, but to me, what I'm talking about is much more than traditional graphic design.

I want to talk about designing experiences.

But why experience?

Today we are a society driven by experiences. It’s an expectation these days. And I know for many of you, you are probably thinking… yes that’s exactly what my job is! But, I want to give you my take on it and show you how it connects to design and design thinking.

The way I see it is, every moment is an experience. Every interaction is an opportunity to use design to impact that experience.

Let me explain.

I would like you to think about a good experience that you've had lately. Actually make it a great experience.

How did you feel?

I'm thinking, snorkelling in the Whitsundays. Hiking a mountain. Or catching up with a friend you haven't seen for a long time, and having a great conversation or a big laugh.

Let’s think about what is going on in that moment?

There is a chemical reaction happening in your brain and your body. Maybe an adrenaline rush. Or a hit of endorphins.

There's emotion and feeling. There is sensory stimulation. You might feel inspired.

Perhaps there is a shift in your brain in how you think about things. The experiences is engaging your feelings, senses and thoughts.

This is the thing that we want to achieve.

For us the brands and environments on which we work are an opportunity to create experiences that do that very thing.

That move people and shift their thinking, about the brand or subject, or perhaps how they see themselves and the world.

And if we can use design to do that, we have connected with them on a deeper human level. We have created a meaningful experience that truly makes an impact.

To me this is the essential transformative power of design, and thinking about design as creating experiences.

Experiences that have the power to foster belonging, deepen understanding and visually inspire.

This idea about designing experiences underpins much of what my team and I do at Goldi. This has formed our experience framework, which we use as a guide to how we tackle every design project. It's more than traditional graphic design.

I’d like to just touch on what this looks like… for those who like a good Venn diagram.

Our design methodology follows a standard process moving from strategy through identity and implementation or as we call it creating presence.

Moving counterclockwise, we start with strategy to get clarity on your who, what, why, to really understand your audience, your personality and how you should be positioning your brand or exhibition.

This then enables you to create a powerful visual identity and voice, that is then implemented across physical, digital or interactive outcomes to maximise your presence.

All together these form the basis of a brand or exhibition, and when done well, where they meet at the centre form a holistic experience.

The beauty is always in the intersections of these things.

Where your killer strategy meets your identity that is on point, and authentic, you will connect emotionally, and where I see the opportunity for belonging.

When your identity is sorted, and you implement it consistently across all areas of presence you make a sensory impact on a person and inspire them visually.

Then the third intersection is around how your strategy and your presence come together and is where you can actually shift people's thinking. You can deepen their understanding, which helps give the experience meaning.

So these elements all together make up that meaningful and memorable experience that we hope is the outcome.

And every time we are intentional in our design and consider all these aspects we can make a difference, towards that bigger goal of helping people feel included, inspired and connected.

So now I would like to share with you five strategies and examples to hopefully inspire you to think about the concept how design can create experiences when you're doing your next project or working with designers.

1. KNOW YOUR PEOPLE

So as I mentioned, one key part of strategy is understanding your audience. But I’m sure you would agree it is pretty hard, to understand ALL of the audiences you might encounter.

"We don't see things as they are. We see them as we are." Anais Anin

I love this quote. Essentially, I see that it’s reminding us that everybody comes with their own preconceptions, bringing their own experiences, their own ideas, their own bias. Different levels of knowledge and ability. They have different expectations and habits. When we aim to be truly inclusive, we need to try to think about all of them, or as many as possible.

But at the end of the day, we need to know the focus on a target audience, and we need to consider and design for them. But hopefully not at the cost of everyone else.

We recently did this desktop study of different visitors to a museum, which has quite a diverse demographic, and we identified key groups by their patronage and influence. It ranged from pre-school age kids to aficionado subject experts.

We then added a layer of how people might navigate the space while they are there. From winging it, to just here to play, to reading everything or following a guide. Everyone is different. The key was to makes sure we considered it all before focusing on the most relevant. This type of study informs our design strategy and how we might consider what we do in the presence stage.

Essentially it comes back to not assuming that everybody's on the same page as you. Be real about that. You cannot ever know how every person is going to react to something, but if you consider approaching it in an open way, using guidelines around accessibility, inclusivity and diversity you will usually find you need a multi-pronged or layered approach.

One that covers digital, physical, interactive outcomes, and really meets people where they are at.

Storytellers exhibition from a few years ago at Museum of Brisbane was a pretty successful exhibition and a great example of a multi-pronged approach. It has many layers. Internally, we all called it the octopus, because it had so many things going on.

It was based on short stories and historical events. It used many storytelling components. It had interactive elements, objects, art, projection, audio and immersive illustration to tell those stories. It appealed to lots of different people on different levels. With it’s layers it was very inclusive, crossing age groups, abilities, knowledge.

We told the full story, parts of the story, cross-referencing it to history and places, and then let them interact, in their own way.

So whilst designing for everyone can be overwhelming, by being clear on your strategy for how you might tackle your target audiences, you will be on the right track.

2. BRAVERY WINS HEARTS

I believe that creativity knows no bounds, yet sometimes clients are hesitant to push the boundaries and try something new. This fear can hold them back from making the most of their opportunity to make an impact.

From my experience, playing it safe might feel comfortable, but taking risks is what wins hearts.

It might feel challenging in this world of judgement, but when we are bold, or take risks we enhance not only the creativity of the design outcomes, but we open up the unique connection and belonging with the target audience, as they will feel and see that you are being authentic and brave.

Again, it come back to our strategy and being clear on our own unique personality and positioning. This is where creativity is borne.

The Condensery is a really great example of this. We worked with Rachel Arndt, the previous gallery direction, on their new branding. Although it was endorsed by Council, they certainly took a risk as a small regional council gallery.

They wanted to think big and bold and not be worried about appearing too overly confident. So, we worked with them with our Brand Rocket process to create a clear strategy and voice for the gallery that is memorable, bold, and exciting, but also flexible.

We workshopped a strong manifesto and personality that speaks to the kind of experience they are creating there with their bold and contemporary programming.

We are really proud of this outcome. And it is still going strong.

3. IMITATION STIFLES CREATIVITY

I firmly believe that imitating others only confuses you and your audience and often completely misses the mark. Oscar Wilde's famous quote, is often (sadly) truncated to sound more positive on imitation. But what Wilde is actually identifying is that that while imitation CAN be flattering, it rarely leads to genuine greatness. I know it can be challenging to not be seduced by trends, and believe that when you see something working it will also work for you.   But, when we imitate rather than originate, it leads to unnecessary confusion and in fact stifles creativity. People will always respond better when they feel you're genuine. Authenticity shows that you are confident, and thinking about YOUR audience's needs and interests, not just following trends. When you are genuine, it's easier to try out new ideas and evolve naturally, making what you do, more impactful and memorable.

Another benefit of not imitating (and also being brave) is that perception will connect better with the reality. For example, each of these exhibitions for Ipswich Art Gallery gives a clear taste of what to expect at the exhibition. The range of identities shows that for one gallery the design doesn’t have to fall into a certain style, although there are some common elements. They are also not trendy or conservative. But each is authentic. It reflects the subject. And I consider most of them pretty original!

4. BE OPEN TO THE UNEXPECTED

On some projects there is often an uncomfortable phase near the beginning where there are too many ideas, so many that you can’t see the wood for the trees. Or too few and you feel blocked. Quite often your best intention to solve a problemby yourself orin  the way you always have can result in you feeling stuck and going nowhere.

If you accept that inspiration can come from any source, you will be open to sometimes looking outside of the people you know or the normal way you do things to have a break through.

Being open to the unexpected can often result in serendipitous outcomes. This could be that the new consultant you have never worked with before pushes you out of your comfort zone. Or perhaps it is bringing in a less experienced person to work on a project with a left-field idea.

Storytellers exhibition branding is a great example of this. Where we were into a second round of concept design, after receiving a revised brief. We had been working on it for a while… when we had one great day where ideas flowed and things fell together. We found a font that connected to the Brisbane River, which was a central theme for the exhibition.

And then this illustration idea of these elements from all the stories within the exhibition came to life. A junior designer—who was juggling starting out as as a designer will working as a chartered accountant—kind of pulled a rabbit out of a hat that day and created this beautiful illustration of the exhibition stories.

 It was her first published design job, and it was a huge success. It ended up all over Brisbane and we were really proud of it.

Giving her that opportunity, and being open to all ideas and voices, completely transformed the project...and her career.

5. COLLABORATION CREATES MAGIC

At Goldi, collaboration is at the core of everything we do. It’s not just part of our philosophy—it’s in our culture. We believe everyone brings unique value to the table.

We are not designers that will come with a set style and preconceived ideas about what everything should be, and land that in your lap and say, Here it is!.

We work together. We know that everybody brings value to the table and act as part of the team. In my experience, the most successful exhibitions or brands that we've worked on, have been the where the collaborative power of the team has shone. It is a way to bring inclusivity to both the process and the outcome.

I think that the nature of the arts is we all have plenty ideas, maybe sometimes too many, sometimes they're a little bit out there. But if you think your ideas are out there you should try working with children. Junior Curators Mysterious Realms pulled in 14 kids to collaboratively plan an exhibition using items from the Ipswich Art Gallery collection.

I had the opportunity of working with the junior curators to bring their vision to life for the exhibition. They had some very strong ideas about the theme which was about taking a journey through different worlds.

As you go through the exhibition, you move from one realm to another. We used this idea to create the Mysterious Realms identity based on the their sketches, brainstorming and stories.

The ideas merges dreams and reality through a vibrant and punchy gradient where colours coalesce, blurring the boundaries and make it feel like you are looking into a portal. Each colour represents one of the six realms of the exhibition, and forms the map through the space.

The exhibition design uses colourful wall and floor graphics to differentiate realms, and respresent ideas like pink waterfalls and sunsets and give clues to the underlying stories that connect the works.

The extraordinary result is a testament to the creativity of the young curators and the collaborative team.

So as you can see, who we work with and how we think about the process can really make the difference to making an impact and creating meaningful experiences. 

So if every one of those experiences is an opportunity, we can make the most of these  opportunities by

1. Knowing our audience, but thinking about everyone

2, Being Brave to win the hearts and minds of our people

3. Being authentic, and not imitating

4. Being open to the unexpected

5. and remembering collaboration is where the true magic happens.

In Conclusion

So while these are some great ideas, and I am sure you are already consider much of this in what you do, my recommendation to you is where you can work with designers who are well-informed and intentional about creating experiences. People that consider the full experience from getting your strategy right, to focussing on an authentic identity and then translating that across all touchpoints to create a strong presence.

This will help you to make an impact and craft brands and exhibitions that don’t just engage but invite people to feel a sense of belonging, deepen their understanding, and immerse themselves in the richness of the visual experience.