The VCD Grad Show 2025 was the biggest project I worked on during my time working at Aalto University. I was responsible for developing the exhibition concept, facilitating the open call, designing the visual identity and materials, and bringing everything together in the final exhibition. The process was supported by professors Rupesh Vyas and Arja Karhumaa, my colleagues Laura Rajalin and Sten Heijster, and (most importantly) the graduating students, whose work made the exhibition possible.
The guiding idea behind Portals was to create a framework rather than a focal point. As a graduation show, the spotlight should remain on the students’ work, with the visual identity acting as a supportive structure.
The idea of an “overarching concept” led me to think about arches, and from arches to portals. This felt like a natural fit: each student’s work becomes a portal into their own creative world, and the grad show would be the platform that invites visitors to step into these portals.
When designing the visual identity, I chose to actively involve the students’ creative input, aiming to create something representative of their work and creative identities. Each participant contributed by drawing their own portal, which together formed a collective and shared visual language. The identity, which was built from this growing library of student-created assets, became dynamic and flexible.
One of the key materials for the exhibition was the catalogue, which took the form of a collection of postcards—building on the format used in the previous year’s grad show. This system allows visitors to pick and collect postcards from the designers they feel most drawn to, while each postcard also functions independently, almost like a personal business card for each student.
At the same time, we wanted a way to bring all the postcards together into a single object that could be given to participating students and teachers, something closer to an exhibition zine or catalogue. I designed an envelope featuring the exhibition logo and a cut-out window at its center. Through it, one side reveals a student-drawn portal, while the other shows an image of a project from the exhibition. Which portal and project appear is entirely random, depending on how the postcards are arranged inside.
This approach reinforces the idea of a living, shifting visual identity: there is no single fixed logo, but rather a system made up of all the students’ contributions.
The promotional materials for social media and the printed posters were designed using the same visual identity system.
For the exhibition itself, I created both general information panels and smaller, individual panels for each student, including their name and project description. Each student's postcards were placed next to their work. In addition, Sten Heijster built a large cardboard portal for the exhibition entrance. Together, these elements formed a simple yet cohesive framework that supported and framed the students’ work.
