Concept, design, and art direction for URGE, a holistic final master’s degree project born from the concept of “community.” The goal was to develop a coherent and versatile identity with a critical and social perspective, resulting in a visual language applicable across various areas of graphic design: editorial, environmental, packaging, digital, and motion.
We live in a time where conformism is a norm. Where the word crisis has lost its meaning as we seem to always be involved in one: climate change, inflation, scarcity, lack of housing, loneliness. Where we’re dictated our ways of living while worried about how our future will be, how unprepared we might be, and how hopeless we already feel. URGE believes in the power of knowledge as a tool for social change, as a way of breaking out of today’s inertia, as a fight against passivity. URGE values the strength connecting to our human abilities and the world around us holds. URGE emerges as a platform that promotes becoming more autonomous and sustainable in our daily life through curated content focusing on innovation, future-oriented technologies and community.
The brand’s visual language is built on three purposes: sparking interest in sustainable practices without resorting to ecological clichés, generating tension and dynamism to emphasize urgency and inspire action, and bridging the past and the future through a minimalist, resource-conscious approach.
URGE is a container brand where content is the true protagonist. It relies primarily on typography – using Aether Mono and TWK Lausanne – as message transmission is its main objective. The brand’s limited color palette is designed to be versatile, allowing combinations to adapt across various formats and surfaces without losing identity. Aether Mono, with its distinctive character, makes the branding highly recognizable, reinforcing the idea of doing more with less. The brand communicates responsibly and consciously, extending this philosophy to the production of physical pieces, as well as the technologies and creators it collaborates with – opting for recycled, upcycled, multipurpose, or functional materials.
Attention is drawn through tight spacing, dynamic layouts, and floating images, which, paired with an unconventional typographic choice, spark debate and create an imperfect, human-made aesthetic with a distinctly modern and technological edge.
URGE’s communication strategy unfolds across both online and offline channels, where impactful messages intertwine with images generated by URGE or curated from expert sources. On social media, motion graphics intensify the sense of dynamism, with sliding compositions that reinforce the idea of progress – moving forward in the pursuit of knowledge and actively driving change.
URGE branches into multiple touchpoints: “Serial URGE” – a philosophical magazine exploring social change through knowledge and debate –, “Hub of URGE” – an itinerant workshop space for hands-on community learning –, “Cantenna” – a DIY kit that turns any can into a Wi-Fi amplifier, promoting both technology and manual craftsmanship –, “URGE.net” – a digital archive housing curated content on self-sufficiency and future-forward technologies – and “The Humans of the Future” – a speculative photo report envisioning a community aligned with URGE’s philosophy.
Developed as the final project for the Master in Visual Design at Elisava, URGE was awarded a Silver LAUS 2025 Students and a Bronze ADCE 2025 Students.
