Crafting Key Visuals for Pakk Taii Design Week 2024
เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 months ago
Crafting Key Visuals for Pakk Taii Design Week 2024
The annual design festival of Southern Thailand, Pakk Taii Design Week, returns this year with the theme “The South’s Turn, Get Excited!” The first impression of the festival is undoubtedly the Key Visual (KV), which communicates the main concept of the event. The importance of the Key Visual lies in creating a memorable image that conveys the theme or concept of the festival through graphic design on posters, brochures, billboards, and various online artwork. This year, the young and dynamic design group SoulSouth Studio has been entrusted with designing the Key Visual for Pakk Taii Design Week.
The core Key Visual concept of SoulSouth Studio is to utilize the assets and resources of Southern Thailand, particularly the sea, mountains, and cultural heritage, including the multiculturalism of Chinese, Thai, and Muslim communities. They interpret the meaning of “The South’s Turn” as a return to the South and a demonstration of Southern potential, or “Your Turn,” meaning “It’s your time to shine!” through graphic design.
They interpret the key elements of the 14 Southern provinces through 14 geometric shapes or blocks, aligning with the exact number of provinces. The color palette is inspired by local Southern cuisine, such as Gaeng Tai Pla (fish kidney curry), Gaeng Som (sour curry), and Gaeng Kua Gati (coconut milk curry). They also incorporate geographical elements like the sea and mountains, for example, designing the letter “S” in a font that resembles the curling waves of the sea, symbolizing both “returning” and “departing” (from one’s homeland).
Furthermore, SoulSouth Studio’s design work often evokes a memorable image of colorful, refreshing, and vibrant graphic design. They jokingly say, “We’re… wild, but refreshing,” which aligns with their serious approach to creating the Key Visual for Pakk Taii Design Week.
A few years back, a diverse group of individuals came together to transform their hometown into a vibrant and colorful city that many would remember. This group, known as “YALA STORIES,” collaborated with designers like SoulSouth Studio to enhance their branding and Key Visual (KV) with fresh, lively colors.
This year, SoulSouth Studio has once again taken on a major project for Pakk Taii Design Week, scheduled for August 17-25, 2024. They have designed the festival’s Key Visual after months of brainstorming, resulting in a design that everyone agrees on.
SoulSouth Studio is a design group and studio offering branding consultation, event planning, and exhibition organization. It was founded by Kareem-Abdulkarim Pattanakul and Pao-Fawzi Sa-ard while they were in their fourth year of university. The studio has worked with brands like ThaiHealth, TAT., UNICEF for every child., a.e.y.space, and BUSAN International Film Festival. Currently, SoulSouth Studio has five members: Kareem-Abdulkarim Pattanakul, Pao-Fawzi Sa-ard, Meena-Ameena A-rae, Dean-Nuradeen Gaso, and Fit-Hafis Gaso.
SoulSouth Studio describes Key Visual as the primary element that creates a lasting impression in communication. They compare it to a class leader who guides the direction and ensures cohesion, while also weaving a narrative that aligns with the given theme. Key Visual utilizes graphic design mechanisms to communicate effectively, aiming for clarity and dynamism while incorporating subtle nuances and deeper meanings.
The Return
The main theme of this year’s Pakk Taii Design Week, “THE SOUTH’S TURN, Get Excited!”, highlights the phenomenon of young Southerners returning to their hometowns to rediscover their roots and collaborate on diverse creative projects. Soulsouth Studio interpreted this theme as a concept of “Southern-ness” or “The South,” representing a return to one’s roots and developing their hometown in their own unique way.
The poster for this year’s Pakk Taii Design Week features a graphic design with 14 sections, representing the 14 provinces of Southern Thailand. This symbolizes both a return to and a departure from one’s homeland. “We wanted to design a Key Visual that embodies International SoulSouth, so we interpreted the themes of ‘Southern’ and ‘The South’s Turn, Get Excited!’ For example, people returning home to develop the good things in the South. Initially, we came up with four designs, some modern, some traditional, and some that completely missed the mark. We eventually settled on the one you see now,” Pao explained.
Kareem explained, “The Key Visual is divided into three simple layers. The first layer represents the ‘past,’ which is the background of the Southern people. The second layer is the ‘present’ of that person, and the third layer is the journey of returning to develop their hometown in the ‘future.’ We use elements that represent the South in terms of religion, clothing, and culture, but we didn’t want it to be too literal, so we simplified them into geometric shapes. We didn’t touch on religion, but focused more on culture, trying to mix it up in every area or province of the South, not just one particular culture.” Meena added, “If you look closely, we’ve designed the Key Visual on the poster into 14 sections, representing the 14 provinces of the South. You can see it as a journey of returning and leaving, or as the baggage of someone who has just returned home or left home. Or the first letter, ‘S,’ from the word ‘SOUTH’S TURN,’ which translates the Key Visual into a swirling motion of the waves in the sea.”
The SoulSouth Studio team further commented that the Key Visual is not just about the concept; another important aspect is the “function” in the design, which needs to be very creative. They incorporated SoulSouth’s identity, such as using a colorful palette that looks refreshing. The “colors” in this design also have hidden meanings related to the “South.” For example, “yellow” comes from “coconut milk curry,” “orange” is the color of the curry paste used in Southern sour curry, “dark brown” is the color of “Gaeng Tai Pla” (fish kidney curry), “blue” represents the sea, and “brown” represents the mountains and the earth. The elements are diverse, encompassing ethnicity, culture, regions, and areas of the South.
Continuing on…
This year’s Pakk Taii Design Week differs from last year’s in that it has expanded its collaboration to include both local and non-local designers, unlike the previous year when it focused solely on designers within the Southern region. This aims to foster the exchange of new ideas, both from the perspectives of outsiders and the familiarity and expertise of locals. SoulSouth Studio members took turns explaining that the purpose of this event is to empower communities with cultural capital, providing a platform for young designers to showcase their skills in collaboration with the community. It’s like opening a space for people to freely express themselves and see their work come to fruition. In the long run, design benefits not only individuals but the entire Southern region. It’s like shining a spotlight on everyone, or like small drops of water spreading wide.
“We were always taught that ‘design is problem-solving,’” Kareem added. “For example, designing a space, a learning environment, or symbols (logos, packaging, billboards, posters) that are easy to understand. We are just ‘creating images’ that fit the context to make it as easy to understand as possible.”
Pao shared in a friendly manner that providing opportunities for diverse groups to see the benefits of creative thinking or design helps open up new perspectives.
“Designers are like intermediaries who support creative work in various aspects, depending on the context, such as people, spaces, neighborhoods, communities, cities, and even building structures,” he explained. “It’s like opening a space for designers to showcase their potential, showing that those original things are still there, not gone anywhere, just enhanced with creativity to become more refined and tangible.”
New Possibilities
Returning to the topic of design, the word “design” is often paired with the word “potential” or “possibility.” When SoulSouth Studio received the task of designing the Key Visual for this year’s event, Kareem mentioned that they had to consider “possibilities” first and foremost. Designers must do their homework by imagining the direction the design would take if given this task. They need to become visionaries and translate the brief into an easily understandable visual.
Reflecting on the new possibilities in their homeland, Meena believes that even though the South may not be prominent in terms of creativity, it doesn’t mean there are no opportunities. At least there are platforms to showcase work and people who are interested in this path. However, looking back three or four years ago, there were hardly any opportunities or possibilities in the creative field if they had stayed in their hometown.
Kareem concluded, “It’s like we’re creating new possibilities for people in the area, like potential, like opportunities. We’re like Kerry, a hub where products from various people come together. We have designers who provide knowledge or go into the field to help villagers or entrepreneurs in those areas. Or we could be a distribution center that spreads design knowledge to the public.”
Meena quickly added, “Maybe someone will see this potential and take it back to develop their own hometown.”