Ctrl+
Ctrl+ is RMIT’s Communication Design Collective, organising events and creating resources for students.
I worked closely with Ctrl+ as a volunteer for 2 years during my studies at RMIT.
From 2022 I worked with them creating social posts, merchandise, recruitment posters, organising events and concluding in heading up the creative direction for their first clothing drop, “Breakdown in Progress”.
Below is some of the collateral produced over my time at Ctrl+ and an exploration of the approach I took creating the merchandise.
Brief
Engage and support Communication Design students at RMIT by designing collateral for Ctrl+.
Breakdown In Progress
In 2023, Ctrl+ members were in need of merchandise. Myself and Marcus Saunders, another member of the collective, got to work designing T-shirts and jumpers.
The designs we came up with have been highly regarded in the Design School and RMIT as a whole.
Marcus came up with the concept of a peeling orange, revealing its layers underneath. I took this concept and got it print ready. In addition, I added a collaborative theme to the work, featuring multiple cursers and familiar Adobe UI elements. Creating a design that was vernacular to the School of Design students.
I made sure to know the target audience through and through to create the most appealing design possible, not just in its visuals but also how it was created.
Given that the clothing would be released at the end of the year, during exam season, I knew that alot of students would be in a certain state of mind. That’s where “breakdown in progress” came from, referencing the breaking of the orange and the impending due dates.
The clothing was printed by my good friends at OPM Design and sold at Ctrl+ hosted markets, selling out within 2 events.
Tap the video to pause.
Photography: Karisma Fung
Models: Victoria Aitken, Marcus Saunders, Felix Toohey
I was tasked with coming up with a creative direction for the marketing and photo shoots. As usual with Ctrl+, oranges were an important element to include.
I started by thinking of locations. I wanted a blue hue to complement the oranges. This led me to using a pool, it would give the shoot a summer feel, emulating the style of Pelle Cass.
We used a friend’s pool and threw a dozen oranges in, I then asked the models to jump in and improvise.
For the second photoshoot, we used Victoria Market and took photos at fruit stands.
Photography
Photography: Karisma Fung & Felix Toohey
Models: Victoria Aitken, Marcus Saunders, Bella Chen, Hayley Gu, Marisa Tuangthong, Ashley Nguyen, Felix Toohey
Posters
To entice students to join the club, I was tasked with coming up with a series of posters. The clubs mascot, an orange, had to feature prominently. I decided to lean into this when creating the first concepts.
I wanted to show that the club allowed students to be themselves and push boundaries not possible in the classroom. I did this by utilising real oranges, well, tangerines in this case (alot easier to peel). The fruits are simply experimenting and proud to do it.
The posters were designed to be A4 and were put up across RMIT.
Ctrl+ Style Guide
Every month Ctrl + changes its style guide to give committee members a chance to show off their creativity. The style guide is primarily used for social media posts.
In March 2023, it was my turn. To create the new style guide, I took inspiration from my own work. A previous poster I had done for the club and a personal poster, ‘Damn, That’s Crazy’.
The style guide has to be easy to understand and create with as other members will be making designs with it too.
Felix has been a joy to work with, from his tremendous design skills to his infectious humour. Beyond being an excellent designer, Felix was a valuable team member.
Marisa Tuangthong, 2023 President, Ctrl+