IMPRINT 2026 was a visual identity proposal for the Design + Media end-of-year exhibition/forum at Aalto University.

The idea started from thinking about how the exhibition itself could be displayed. Instead of simply hanging individual posters on a wall, I wanted the graphic material to become part of the space. This led to the idea of long, continuous printed strips draped over rods, almost like one extended piece of paper running through the exhibition.

From there, the receipt became the main reference: a proof of record marking the end of the academic year and indexing the work, names, materials, and traces left behind by the programme.

The visual system translates this into elongated, receipt-like formats rather than conventional poster dimensions. OCR-A, IBM Plex Mono, strict vertical layouts, index structures, and a handwritten layer form the basis of the identity. The technical type and personal handwriting create a tension between institutional record-keeping and individual presence.

Exhibition posters, name banners, project tags, and material indexes could all become part of the same continuous paper system, turning the exhibition into both a display and a record of the year’s processes, materials, and collective production.

Selected brand book pages and implementation images are shown below. My contribution focused on the concept, visual direction, and brand guideline system; some final poster applications were produced by the exhibition team using these guidelines.

Image 2 and 4 by Florencia Yeh.