Queen Mary University of London

Moving Forward Together

Communities have been twinning for almost a century. Yet, what twinnings are, what they do and who they serve remains unknown to most.

Moving Forward Together, a report authored by Dr Holly Eva Ryan, delves into the practice of twinning locations within a changing global context, its ability to foster connections between distant communities, and the benefits and challenges that come with formal and informal partnerships.

In collaboration with Dr Ryan, we crafted a distinctive publication and a memorable exhibition portraying the duality inherent in twinning.

Client
Queen Mary University of London

What we did
Creative direction
Concept
Illustration
Print design
Report design
Print production
Exhibition design

Finding meaningful photos
Working to bring Dr Ryan’s research to life, we sourced and applied location-specific photos documenting international political and social issues.

Tasked with managing production, we “Day Rate icon optimised the project’s funding through our objective selection and division of monotone photos (being less expensive to print) and full colour. In addition to being practical, this combination is also thematic, evoking a sense of contrast and duality.

Black and white pictures are placed side-by-side with colour photos, strategically positioned inside fold-out pages. This print finishing detail invites readers to pause and reflect on what they’ve read whilst providing an opportunity to compare images of lives playing out across twinned locations.

Typography and Lines
Like locations mentioned in the report, our type hierarchy twins contemporary and traditional ideas. For the body text, we selected Minion Pro, a serif based on old-style typefaces, which is highly readable. We juxtaposed it with Acumin, a modernist sans-serif. To this end, the report’s typography codifies aspects of its subject matter.

Clean lines occur throughout, subtly forming connections and divisions between texts and suggesting evolving relationships.

Exhibition design
For the publication’s launch event, we created eight original poster artworks inspired by twinned relationships explored in Moving Forwards Together. Realised in an eye-catching optical art style, they expand on the publication’s design and reference the exhibition space’s vertical cladding.