Rainbow is a wood and glass artistic sculpture created by Teji and Yasmina. The sculpture has been designed for the Cessnock Council; they have planned on creating an outdoor cinema within the community. The outdoor cinema plans of having an amphitheatre that will be a place where local events and activities can be held. The council’s goal is to draw in attention with this artistic sculpture and enhance the overall affective appeal of the new space. Rainbow is an outdoor sculpture that takes a curved formation of the word and will be built using wood and glass.

In the design presentation it is clear that there was a lot of thought put into how the design will interact with its surroundings, there are many excellent mock-up images that detail the thought processes taken. These mock-ups detail the types of materials that could be used, positioning of the sculpture and also the different effects that these factors could have on the design. There is also a section where they go through the typographic styles for the static text which shows the level of thoughtfulness within the design, using a typeface called “Puffin Display soft”. This text choice is great as it has a soft fun and bouncy style that really fits with the themes of the sculpture. It is outlined in the project that this text was edited to be flatter creating something brand new and unique to the project.

The sculpture uses static typography that connects with the environment around it. The materials allow the sculpture to change based on factors such as, lighting weather, clouds etc. Both the concept of rainbows and the design are linked to the environment and atmospheric events, the way these events create shadows that also create different typographic forms, bending and waving the static text of the sculpture itself. The sculpture not only uses typography through bending, and waves but it creates motion and blur utilizing a few of the typographic principals in one form.

Overall, this design is expertly executed from the overall concept to the outline of the process and how it all links back to the vision of the council. Having that strong concept where they link the physical sculpture to the space really highlights the success of the design, its unique and will draw in the attention of people who are using that space. They have created something that works in harmony with the surrounds it stands out but isn’t out of place. The design is also friendly for usurers as the idea of rainbows are universal both adults, children and people of different countries and cultures can visually understand the phenomenon of rainbows without having to understand the text. This design transcends the need for language and utilised the typography in a way that many other sculpture designers would not, having the combination of Teji’s architecture skills and Yasminas creative skills they have created a design that cleverly blends the two disciplines together in a strong and effective manner.

Does this work represent you as a designer?

"No not really, it is a different type of design I normally do, I am an architect. Truthfully it has broadened my knowledge of materials and has made me think of letters as not just flat things but brings them into 3 dimensions. It’s going to be impressive and is good that I’m doing an actual project."

What have you done to make this branding different? Why does it stand out against the rest of the designs existing in public spaces?

"Very physical very interactive, it interacts with the surroundings and relies on it. Briefed by council. Takes into account the cultural aspects of the “local”."

It is very clear that both Teji and Yasmina have really put in the maximum amount of thought and effort into this project, the design is clear concise and has a strong concept, that is both targeted to the audience and can be understood by anyone within the diverse local community. With both of their unique set of skills in graphic design and architecture they will be more than capable of realising the final product, creating a meaningful piece of outdoor sculpture for the Cessnock council outdoor cinema space. That will use a wide impressive range of typographic elements within the final project design.