Mosaic

As the design lead, I knew from the beginning that the Mosaic brand needed to do more than just look cohesive — it had to feel inclusive and representative of our diverse community. The Design and Technology program is inherently multidisciplinary, and our cohort spans a wide range of backgrounds, styles, and mediums. I wanted the branding and website to reflect that range, while also ensuring the process of creating it felt collaborative and intentional.I began by reviewing previous years’ thesis show websites and brand guides. Since the sitemap and general structure were already established, functionality wasn’t our main concern. This allowed me and the team to focus our energy on the brand identity, visual storytelling, and experience design.

To ground our direction in the community’s work, I initiated a call for submissions from all graduating students. I asked everyone to share a checkpoint of where they were in their thesis process — including key themes, mediums, and keywords. I organized and reviewed these responses, and from them, I identified three overarching themes: Belonging, Archive & Time, and Memory.

I divided the team into smaller groups, assigning each one a theme to explore. Each group developed concept directions, titles, moodboards, and color palettes. Once we had five distinct proposals, I facilitated a feedback session and voting process with the broader DT community. Since this brand represents everyone’s work, it was important to me that students felt ownership over the direction we chose.We took the results from the vote — including the most resonant elements across proposals (e.g. the title from one, the color palette from another, and a tagline from a third) — and combined them into what ultimately became Mosaic.

Once the community selected Mosaic as our direction, I facilitated a collaborative design phase grounded in experimentation and collective input. A few team members shared early visual drafts, which we reviewed together. We discussed what worked, what didn’t, and suggested alternatives.We aligned on a core concept: animated, stackable shapes that could evolve and combine into a mosaic — a visual metaphor for the way our diverse projects and voices come together in one show.

We selected a color palette from one of the most beloved options during the ideation phase, keeping the identity rooted in community choice. After building and ideating from that seed, the final visual language included:
- A modular system of animated shapes
- Soft yet vibrant color palette
- Consistent typography and layout grid
This design system allowed flexibility across formats — from the website to motion graphics — while keeping a cohesive brand identity.

As design lead, I entered every meeting with a list of prioritized tasks and time estimates. I asked each teammate what they felt inclined to work on and assigned responsibilities accordingly. I managed progress through regular check-ins, offering support where needed and keeping the team aligned toward deadlines.

For major screens like the landing page, I hosted 30–60 minute design workshops. We reviewed each element together, discussed feedback, and conducted quick votes before I made the final decisions. Once our design kit and style guide were in place, I took the lead on making final design calls across the rest of the pages to maintain consistency and momentum.

The biggest challenge was the tight timeline — we had just two months from kickoff to final handoff. Because of this, I needed to balance open collaboration with swift decision-making. Despite the time pressure, the process remained inclusive and flexible. I’m especially proud of how collaborative and iterative this phase was. I believe people genuinely felt seen and involved in the process, which can be hard to achieve with such a broad and diverse audience. It was important to me that the brand didn’t just represent our work — it represented how we work together.

To ensure a smooth transition from design to development, I prepared a comprehensive Figma file organized by folders, colors, and clear naming conventions. I also put together design kits and visual assets to maintain consistency. Communication with the developer included comments in Figma, emails, and stand-up meetings to keep everything aligned. I also met with the developer early in the process to walk through our design intentions and system. From there, we set up regular check-ins where I provided updates and feedback as the designs evolved. After the official handoff, I’ve remained in consistent communication to support implementation and ensure fidelity to the original vision.

Throughout the design process, I made sure to account for various edge cases, including:
- Collaborative projects that involved more than one student
- Placeholder images for students who hadn’t yet submitted visuals
- Project titles in non-English languages
- Responsive design across devices — we created layouts for phone, tablet, and desktop to ensure a seamless experience across screen sizes
These considerations helped make the site more flexible, inclusive, and accessible to a wide audience.