In botany, the term offshoots signifies the young shoots of either crops or ornamental plants. In order to cultivate them, they are put into earth covering them just enough so that the top end of the offshoot remains exposed to light. While the lower end soon starts to grow roots, the top end will also grow and flourish. Although the young plant is genetically identical with the mother plant, it is now an independent entity. If soil, light and climatic conditions are good, the offshoot has a good chance of stable and healthy growth.

The corporate design for a touring exhibition of the Huasen Architects company was inspired by this metaphor from nature and communicates that its headquarters is developing branch offices in several Chinese cities. The perforated Chinese characters are inspired by the LED indication system of the exhibition. Just like the symbols there, they are here expressed though dots that also refer to the “seeds” in the title, seeds that multiply into something bigger. The dynamic corporate identity system, realised in the exhibition through LEDs, shows on the communication media as a texture consisting of punched holes forming Chinese characters. Some of them are positioned to extend beyond the edges of these minimalist design posters and, when the posters are set side by side, can be read as a whole. The idea behind this was to symbolise the endless extension of a city.

client

Huasen Architects, Shenzhen
[www.huasen.com.cn]

design

SenseTeam, Shenzhen
[www.sensebrand.com]

creative direction/art direction

Hei Yiyang

graphic design

Hei Yiyang, Li Junrong, Peng Jun, Yuan Wei