Hoopla
Brand Identity Design / Brand Name / Logo System / Merchandise
Client: National Gallery of Victoria (NGV)
Industry: Arts, Culture & Public Heritage
Services: Public Museum Exhibition
Year: 2022
(Concept project — not commissioned by or affiliated with the NGV.)
Brief
Develop a brand identity for an upcoming exhibition exploring the history, evolution, and cultural impact of advertising. The exhibition would showcase advertising across print, audio, and film, celebrating its creativity while encouraging visitors to critically examine its influence on consumer behaviour and society. The project included naming, visual identity, colour palette, and supporting merchandise.
Process
The identity was built around the tension between advertising as both communication and persuasion. This led to the name Hoopla, a word used to describe exaggerated publicity or unnecessary fuss, an apt reflection of advertising's tendency to amplify the ordinary in order to attract attention.
A mood board was developed exploring the visual language of advertising during its mid-century boom, drawing on 1950s and 1960s advertisements, retro-futurism, bold display typography, and vibrant colour palettes. These references informed a graphic system designed to feel energetic, optimistic, and impossible to ignore. The visual direction focused on recreating the attention-grabbing qualities of advertising itself, while simultaneously encouraging viewers to look beyond the surface.
Outcome
The final identity positions Hoopla as both a celebration and critique of advertising history. A bold red palette and commanding typography reference the urgency and visual impact of traditional advertising campaigns, while layered graphic elements represent the multiple narratives that often exist beneath promotional messaging. Applied across exhibition collateral and merchandise, the identity captures the energy, nostalgia, and cultural influence of advertising throughout the decades.
