Bronze A' Design Award in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Goes to Joy of Playing Brand Identity by Squared

The international grand jury of the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Squared for graphics, illustration and visual communication design

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 22, 2022 /DesignNewswire/ Joy of Playing Brand Identity by Squared, designed for Balin, has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The result belongs to the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

What the Bronze A' Design Award Means

The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.

More About Joy of Playing Brand Identity

Joy of Playing is a brand identity created for Balin, a company that makes toys for children. The identity covers the logo, branding assets, packaging and the colors and shapes of the toys and characters. The visual language is minimalist, with simple shapes, a reduced color palette and watercolor illustrations. Each toy character has a name and a story, which helps children form an emotional connection. Selected materials include wood, plywood, paper, organic cotton and water and plant based paints.

About Squared

Yana has worked in the field of advertising for more than a decade. Her work has gathered international acclaim from multiple print and online publications and was honored with several international awards. Over the years Yana has gained extensive experience in design and visual communication for advertising and has pushed boundaries with an array of non-standard projects. She has been involved creatively with a large list of local and international brands, among which Audi, Coca-Cola, Henkel, Mattel, Procter & Gamble, Unilever. Her work is characterized by strong concepts, carefully crafted design solutions and cutting-edge visuals with incredible attention to detail.

Award Record

This recognition makes Squared a winner of 1 A' Design Award.

About the A' Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Award

The A' Graphic Design Award is an international graphic design competition recognizing good graphic designs by best creative agencies and designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to graphic designers, communication designers, graphic artists and illustrators from all countries. Typical entries include logos, posters, infographics, brochures, packaging designs and business cards. The awarded graphic designs are published at https://desingers.org/design-category/graphics

About A' Design Award & Competition

Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Winner Page: https://desingers.org/140424
A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/140424
Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!140424
Laureate Profile: https://desingers.org/d/325347

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

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Fact Sheet

The Work

Project: Joy of Playing Brand Identity
Function: Brand Identity
Category: Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
Discipline: Communication Design
Industry: Branding & Advertising and Arts
Colors: Light Sea Green, Gainsboro, Light Blue, Black and Dark Cyan
Images: 5
Client: Balin

The Recognition

Laureate: Squared
Country: Bulgaria
Recognition: Bronze A' Design Award
Edition: 2021 - 2022
Design ID: #140424

Credits

Team: Creative Director - Yana Okoliyska

Design Details

Unique Properties: Balin is a brand offering beautifully crafted toys that educate, inspire and delight. We developed all aspects of their communication: from the design of their logo and branding assets to the colors and shapes of their toys and characters... and then we brought them to life in a series of charming illustrations. Each character has a name and story behind, helping to build an emotional connection with children.
Inspiration: Balin is a brand with purpose. Their aim is to promote healthy active play, develop social and emotional skills and foster knowledge about the environment through fun and engaging play experience. They needed an identity, look and feel coherent with their brand purpose, values and beliefs. That is why we developed an authentic, positive and fun visual language based on minimalistic aesthetics and topped with heartmelting aquarelle illustrations.
Research: The research we performed was not that much design based, but we explored some topics that are related to the brand purpose: Active Play and its physical, cognitive and emotional benefits on children; Social Awareness and how to foster knowledge about environmental issues through play experience, Emotional Intelligence and the importance of social and emotional skills that children of today lack.
Challenge: The hardest to achieve was the balance between minimalism, plain shapes, a reduced color scheme and at the same time giving a positive, child appealing look and cuteness of the products and identity.
Realization and Technology: All materials, as well as for the toys production, as well as for the branding and packaging used are selected from the highest quality sustainable, harmless and recyclable. Wood, plywood, harmless water and plant based paints, paper, organic cotton.
Operation and Interaction: All toy characters have a name and story behind, helping to build an emotional connection with children. They are further brought to life in a series of charming aquarelle illustrations.
Project Duration and Location: The process of creating the whole visual style of product and visual communication was long and exhaustive, starting from mid 2020 and finished somewhere late 2021.
Keywords: branding, brandidentity, visualcommunication, graphicdesign, kids, empathy, emotionalconnection, illustration, craft, design