Danish architecture firm BIG has designed the 3D graphics that define the identity of this year's 3 Days of Design festival in Copenhagen under the slogan Dare to Dream.
The theme for this year's festival, Dare to Dream, aims to explore how good design can serve an emotional function as much as a practical one.
Copenhagen-based BIG – which is better known for its buildings and urban planning projects, alongside a handful of product designs – was tasked with capturing this ethos in its visual identity for the event.
Rendered in the dreamlike style popularised by 3D artists on Instagram, the graphics feature bulbous cloud formations in the shape of furniture.
These float on a sunset-hued gradient that fades from a bright fuchsia hue, which was also used across key design elements such as logos and T-shirts, to a soft peach reminiscent of Pantone's 2024 Colour of the Year.
"Ask a designer, architect or interior designer, and they'll tell you that they design more than products, buildings and interiors," the 3 Days of Design (3DD) organisers explained. "They design dreams."
The graphic is topped off with the slogan Dare to Dream, written in a bold, dark purple font that diverges from the festival's traditional sans serif.
"For us, it resonated as inspire and be inspired," BIG's lead graphic designer Paula Madrid said in a video about the project. "We see it as pushing the boundaries of imagination."
"Bjarke and I didn't want to lose sight of that inner kid that we have because we wanted to stay curious, without having those expectations that become, in the end, boundaries," she added. "We wanted to push the boundaries and stay 'foolish'."
Madrid, who has previously worked on BIG projects including a recent website redesign and founder Bjarke Ingels' book Formgiving, says the collaboration was born out of a shared sensibility between the two companies.
"We believe that with an array of different perspectives, we can achieve much more than as individuals," she said. "When we all come together, we become a kind of powerhouse. An ethos we share with 3 Days of Design."
This year's 3DD will take place from 12 to 14 of June and is set to be the largest to date, with more than 250 exhibitors hosting events and exhibitions in galleries and showrooms across Copenhagen.
The event has grown dramatically since its first edition in 2013 when it was staged in an old warehouse by four local brands – Montana, Erik Jørgensen, Anker & Co. and Kvadrat.
Highlights from last year's festival included &Tradition's takeover of a Copenhagen townhouse, while the annual Ukurant exhibition saw a woodwork factory into a showcase for emerging designers.
3 Days of Design 2024 is taking place in locations across the Danish capital from 12 to 14 June. See Dezeen Events Guide for information about the event, plus a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.