Afford Nation

PROJECT TYPE:

DesignTo Exhibition presenting research and discoveries at the Institute Without Boundaries.

PROJECT DURATION: 5 Months

MY ROLE:

Design Strategist, Exhibit Design, Ideation, Visualization & Print, Installation.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Our Challenge was to create a tangible exhibition about affordability that engaged a public audience during Toronto's Design Week.

TOOLS & TECHNOLOGY:

Indesign, Photoshop. Illustrator, Sketchup

MISSION

Challenge 20th-century perception of affordability.

VISION

To create equitable access to opportunities.

Research and Concept Development

Key Research Components

Our Challenge was to create a tangible exhibition about affordability that engaged a public audience during Toronto’s Design Week. We Considered the objective and intent that drove the exhibition and outlined what we wanted the audience to learn, see, do, or contribute, as well as what we wanted the audience to leave with.

Objective & Intent

Affordability as a monetary issue alone is false. What we’ve been calling an affordability crisis is actually about a lack of choice. We need to maximize choices and access to opportunities for all, and where choices already exist, we need to protect them. Building an affordable world is about future-proofing everyone against the loss of choice because, in this unpredictable and ever-changing world, any one of us could become the unexpected victim of a painfully unaffordable and unfair world.

Our world is unaffordable by design, both intentionally and not. We designed our way into this mess, which means we can design our way out. It’s time we reimagined ownership, reset the ways in which we understand and create value, and challenged perceptions of affordability. We need to give people access to the choices that can enrich their lives and strengthen their communities.

In creating an affordable world, we are future-proofing ourselves. In summary, we need to:

Show people that the world is unaffordable by design.
Make people understand that unaffordability is about more than just money and it’s ridiculous it hasn’t been solved yet.
Shoe people our policies are too slow to change and our system is broken but can be fixed.
Highlight that affordability is about creating choices and providing access to opportunities.
Change perceptions of ownership and value.
Focus on the fact that this issue is about everyone.

Project Goal

Our goals were to re-frame affordability and make bold statements to inform the public, have viewers experience limited choice, engage with the public and have them join our cause, and show people how we can create an affordable world.

Design Question

How we might build a more affordable nation?

Final Concept

Our concept used a fake political party platform named "Afford Nation: Actually for the People," aiming to challenge and reshape perceptions of "unaffordability."

Our concept presented many ideas for design context around.

The Future of Work
Accessible Transportation
Affordable Food and Housing

Recommended Strategy

DesignTO is Canada's preeminent cultural celebration of design, hosting over 100 exhibitions and events during Toronto's design week. The festival's core mission is to advance design culture in Canada and foster a thriving design community.

Highlights of the exhibition on affordability were strategically designed to engage a diverse audience and leave a lasting impression by encouraging active participation and contributing to a memorable experience. We carefully outlined the goals of the exhibition, specifying what we aim for the audience to learn, see, and actively contribute, which they are,

Affordability is about choice, not money.
Unaffordability is not by accident; it's by design
Affordability is about valuing people over capital
Unaffordability is not just about poverty; it's about everybody

Concept Review

Policies are moving slowly and are not adaptable or responsive. Politics are about power and both a barrier and a tool, and we’re subverting that power to highlight it’s ridiculous and unfair that we haven’t solved unaffordability. Politics is about choice and an opportunity for people to participate.

WHAT

Using a political party to disrupt the ideas underpinning our current systems and point out that if a solution is not accessible, then it’s not sustainable.

WHY

The political structure links our systems and provides a framework for us to challenge perceptions and design our way out of this fucking mess with humour and seriousness.

Platform Rules

Fight displacement, No gentrification
Housing as a Right, Not as An Investment
Value Food as Nutrition, Not Status
Fight Job Loss, Not Automation
Build Transit First, Not Housing

Design Development and Exhibit Planning

We successfully executed branding, poster design, brochure creation, and spatial design projects. Additionally, we crafted furniture and curated a gift shop featuring items such as bags, shirts, and buttons. Our comprehensive approach extended to promoting the event across various platforms, including social media and the website.

Moodboard

Our team creates a moodboard to establish the visual direction, incorporating inspiration from industry trends and the brand's essence. Through collaborative discussions, we refine these elements into a cohesive visual narrative that aligns with the exhibition's vision.

Physical Sketch

Here are a few sketches that depict our approach to showcasing the affordability study in the exhibit.

Branding Guidelines

Our branding guidelines were guided by the following criteria:

Concept: Affrod Nation

Target Audience: City council, Residents, Politician

Key Elements:

Language: Our brand employs robust and compelling language.
Logo:
Colour Palette: We utilize specific colours to evoke our brand identity.
Typography: We adopt specific fonts for consistency.

Physical Prototype

Here are tangible prototypes of exhibit spaces, illustrating conceptual representation through design elements. These prototypes also served to ensure effective communication of the affordability study and design elements

Implementation Strategy

Afford Nation

Poster Design

We crafted various posters customized for digital support and printed them to install within the exhibit space. Examples of these posters are here.

Gift shop Design

We conceptualized, printed, and executed a gift shop featuring items such as bags, shirts, and buttons with Afford Nation designs, all available for purchase to contribute to the exhibition's support.