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Design of the week
Facebook can sometimes be quite an anonymous organisation – all huge offices, data crunching and big PR announcements – so it was really refreshing when the company responded to me last week out of the US to explain how real humans created its beautiful Africa Day graphic. Even more surprising was finding out that it worked with South African designers to make it, and that, together, they used old-school hand techniques such as paper cutouts before turning it digital.
Austin Petito, Facebook’s art director, explained the process: “People come to Facebook to share and talk about events and moments happening in their community and the world around them, so we started sending people messages on important days because we feel like we can make it easier for people to connect during these moments. Now, we are experimenting with new ways to highlight new moments that our community might not know about.”
Alongside the South African team, Facebook looked to this year’s Africa Day theme, described by the African Union as Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in Youth, to create the layered image. In it, two hands hold a mound of soil out of which an African continent made of vines grows. All earthy tones, with uplifting greens and clean, bold line work.
“In this graphic, we wanted to highlight the hands of youthful people literally supporting the ‘growth of Africa’s future’. Since this day is about unity, reflection and community, we wanted to make the people celebrating feel a sense of pride and recognition,” Petito said.
What’s it like being an art director at the groundbreaking company?
“It’s an honour to be able to use visual communication to speak to the world on behalf of Facebook. While this is just one illustration of many, celebrating Africa Day is an important part of connecting the world, and it’s great to be a part of that.”
