Zoo Pictograms

Students were asked to design a set of six pictograms, using physical “links,” in order to communicate animals belonging in the same taxonomic class. Animals are generally grouped into six types. Students had to choose between one of the below six categories:

Mammals
Birds
Reptiles
Amphibians
Invertebrates
Fish

The goal was to successfully communicate the six animals visually, and develop a distinct "style" that creates a consistent visual language, as if all pictograms belonged to the same pictographic family, and have derived from the same design process and system.

Students were asked to follow a similar attitude as if they were designing for an actual client – in this case the Binghamton Zoo – and they had to develop and provide their own design briefs, conduct visual research, engage in documentation of their creative process, and prototype and present their solutions.

* This project was intended to introduce all students to the toolset, functions, and workflows of Adobe Illustrator. More specifically students were introduced to the pen tool, shape-building techniques, patterns, and modular approaches in design.