Revolutionizing Exhibition Identity: Dressing The Screen

Roma Lazarev & Co's Innovative Approach to Exhibition Identity Design

The main inspiration behind Dressing The Screen was to encapsulate the dynamism and magic of film through static imagery. This was achieved by leveraging a well-known optical effect known as "motograph" or "scanimation". This effect, discovered in the early 19th century by English scientist Peter Mark Roger, was combined with the inspiration drawn from the experimental photoworks of renowned fashion photographer Erwin Blumenfeld. The result was a special font and a system that perfectly mirrored the nature of the exhibition.

Dressing The Screen is not just another exhibition. It is an international British Council exhibition that toured in Moscow, Brazil, Thailand, and Mexico in 2014. The bilingual identity of the exhibition reflects its high-fashion and moving image nature, and pays homage to the pioneering role that Great Britain played in the development of fashion film.

The "motograph" or "scanimation" technology was the cornerstone of this design. An overlay with stripes was placed over a specially processed image and slowly moved, bringing the image to life. This technology was used in outdoor advertisements, wayfinding, and invitation design as well. The design team, consisting of Roma Lazarev, Vlad Poliakov, and Kir Khachaturov, created the font and imagery using this technology.

The design was realized in various formats including A1 posters, 150 x 70 mm invitations, and A5 brochures. The design tags included identity, exhibition, fashion film, b&w, and animation. The "motograph" technology was used in animated outdoor advertisements. When people passed by, the advertisement came to life due to the continuous change of viewing angle. The same concept was applied to the invitation. As the invitation card was pulled out of the envelope, the word "invitation" transformed into the Russian "приглашение".

The project started in January 2014 and finished in March 2014. The design team conducted extensive research to find possible connections between fashion and filmmaking, and looked through their history. They also studied the experimental photoworks by Erwin Blumenfeld, and Peter Mark Roger’s breakthrough, which played a significant role in the history of film.

The design was not without its challenges. The brief was to create a bilingual identity for the exhibition, reflecting its high-fashion and moving image nature. Expressing the dynamics and magic of film with static imagery was a complex task. However, the team overcame these challenges and created a design that was awarded Platinum in A' Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Award in 2015. This award recognizes world-class, exceptional, and highly innovative designs that showcase unmatched professionalism, genius, and contribute to societal wellbeing.