The Rethinking Society

2020 / 21 Image Revamp

The following blog post traces my personal project to redesign the image of Exeter’s University Rethinking Society. Here, I will showcase some of my aesthetic thought process behind every design; as well as the reasoning behind my decision to rebuild the image of the society.

How it began…

In March of 2020, I was elected to be the next Publicity Officer for The Rethinking Society at the University of Exeter. This is a society where students come together each week to discuss a topic in a seminar-style discussion and pride themselves on promoting critical thinking and the power of deliberation. However, Covid-19 forced students to scatter back home, which meant Rethinking’s weekly vis-a-vis sessions would come to a halt. My fellow committee members wanted to suspend the rethinking session until the start of the next academic year in September. In spite of this, I pitched the idea of evolving the society to have a much more prevalent online presence, as well as having our weekly meeting via zoom. Using my digital design skills, I took it upon myself to create a new image for society - designing a completely new logo, merchandise, and various advertising posters for the recruitment of new members. This would allow the society to survive during times of COVID, as well as provide its members with weekly entertainment during the lockdown; no matter which part of the world they might be in.

Aesthetics

I was greatly inspired by the covers of Orwell's novels (1984 and Animal Farm) designed by the brand OBEY along with a BAUHAUS poster I encountered on Pinterest. I wanted to give society a new feel, one that was compelling but also powerful. I wanted people who were unfamiliar with the society to be drawn to it and want to know more; whilst on the other hand, having the members feel like they form a part of a special and forceful society.

I believe I succeeded in this, since the launch of my online campaign, the number of members in The Rethinking Society has grown exponentially, and, as a matter of fact, when surveying the new members at least 45% mentioned the art and advertising to be a contributing factor to joining the society.

THE INSPIRATION BEHIND

These posters were some of the direct inspiration behind my designs. I really loved the straight and functional lines, shapes and colours in these posters - which give the whole design a very holistic feel. All parts of these pieces, however small or insignificant, serve the overall feel of

This industrial yet holistic feel behind Bauhaus design was something that I was really eager to translate into my designs for Rethinking.