Ryan Schlesinger


Work

About

GRAADS






Feb 2025  - May 2026
Creative Direction, Identity, Brand, Event, Web

Credits
GRAADS Team: Silvia Alberti, Nadine Khourey, Dan McCurly, Rao Ibtisam Project Description
GRAADS (Graduate Art and Design Symposium) is a student-run, interdisciplinary event where graduate art and design students present creative research, share works-in-progress, and engage in critical dialogue. Held each April, it features exhibitions, panels, and discussions celebrating innovation and collaboration across creative fields and institutions.

My Role
As a founding member, my role involved building the complete visual brand foundation and name The goal was to develop a robust system that could evolve and be handed off over time as graduate students entered and left the program. After conceptualization, my role moved towards asset creation, developing the website, event materials, and promotional assets, as well as organization of the event itself.




BrandGRAADS branding is defined by a simple yet playful nature, the idea being the brand should constantly evolve and grow as new graduate students enter and exit the program and take charge of the symposium. The colors take a very bright, bold, and saturated stance, telling the world to “look at us” as a celebration of graduate design students.

The typography takes a similar approach, using a the Saans family and accompanying monospace font to make a statement in every instance. The added flourishes keep consistent with the playful tone the colors introduce, having enough idiosyncrasy to keep it from feeling corporate, with a personality floor above helvetica, but below a complicated display.

These elements accompanied with the wordmark make for a simple, yet bold brand identity that makes a statement and an impact, and serve as building blocks for a playful system that can be taken apart and put back together for future iterations.













Wonder, Curiosity, PlayGRAADS’ identity is permeated through wonder, curiosity, and play. Graduate work in design is often experimental and innovative, stretching boundaries with technology, craft, and ideas that don’t often live in professional day-to-day design work. Oftentimes these graudate projects are secluded on one campus in one program. 

Through the identity, GRAADS reflects the natural curiosity graduate designers tend to have in exploring the world around them. 
















OutcomesGRAADS’ identity is permeated through wonder, curiosity, and play. Graduate work in design is often experimental and innovative, stretching boundaries with technology, craft, and ideas that don’t often live in professional day-to-day design work. Oftentimes these graudate projects are secluded on one campus in one program. 

Through the identity, GRAADS reflects the natural curiosity graduate designers tend to have in exploring the world around them. 

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