Rita Oom

LX Links is a collaborative branding project focused on creating the visual identity for a Design and Architecture Festival called 'LX Links', with the strapline 'Connecting Creative Minds'. It is a networking festival dedicated to building bridges between recent graduates and companies in order to stimulate the growth of the creative industry and the employability rates in the creative sector in Portugal. The project aims to explore a future where graduates have the opportunity to pursue a creative career in Portugal, without only depending on a professional experience abroad.

LX Links logo combines type and geometric shapes, that reminisce to the ‘Links’ word through the usage of the letters ‘L’ and the combination of the same, creating the area code for Lisbon, ‘LX’. Through the combination of the shape, name ‘LX Links’ and the strapline ‘Connecting Creative Minds’, the festival’s logo represents the importance of the connections generated at the festival.

#DangerInMind is a road safety campaign created as part of the Re:act program, which challenges university students to raise awareness of road safety issues and change behaviour among 18-25 year-olds.

London has the highest pedestrian concentration in the world with 51% of people moving on foot in just 9% of the road space. In addition, during the last decade, pedestrian causalities increased in the UK when compared to other nations. As a result, the aim was to create a campaign that raised awareness of the risks of pedestrians being distracted while on the road.

The tone of voice is humorous and the strategy uses a potential danger in an absurd shape (e.g. wasp) that relates to the real danger – a vehicle – which also takes an absurd shape (e.g. Vespa). Using a series of 7 seconds' gifs, the message asks pedestrians to 'pay full attention to your surroundings to be safe on the road' by 'keeping the danger in mind'.

The aim of this project was to create a moving image piece to be shown in a shop window that generates a meaningful, selfless message, beyond the corporate needs of the company offering the space.

This project is aimed at the 2 million people who travel into London’s zone 1 each day. It is displayed near London’s busiest tube stations: Victoria and Oxford Circus. These stations belong to Westminster’s borough, classified as one of the worst areas for homelessness in London. In addition, it is displayed on a low screen, forcing people to look down because if it was merely an homeless person, they probably wouldn’t.

“It’s not that people are bad, but if we make eye contact, or engage in conversation, then we have to admit they exist and that we might have a basic human need to care. But it’s so much easier to simply close your eyes and shield our hearts to their existence.”

Homeless people are not invisible. Show the individual you care; Make them feel they matter; Provide the encouragement they need; Always do eye-contact and smile :)