CADAF (Crypto and Digital Art Fair) is a platform co-founded by Elena Zavelev and Andrea Steuer and co-curated with Jess Conatser of Studio As We Are, with the goal of creating a marketplace that is transparent and equally beneficial for digital artists, curators, and collectors. CADAF produces numerous educational programs and exhibitions each year, the centerpiece of which is Digital Art Month. Launched in New York in 2020, Digital Art Month has since expanded to Miami and to Paris, becoming the premier global festival for fine digital, augmented reality-based, and video art.
Studio Loutsis designed the branding for the inaugural Digital Art Month, including the print materials that constituted the exhibition, posters, digital assets, and social media. The challenge of this project was to create a physical infrastructure for artwork that otherwise does not exist in physical space. Studio Loutsis created a bold, dynamic brand for the festival, supported by a wayfinding system that streamlined navigation and encouraged exploration throughout the city. We created groupings of artwork within the larger exhibition by representing each neighborhood with a unique color on the exhibition map and in posters and signage.
We took our inspiration for the visual identity from the QR codes that, as the means for exploring the artwork, were fundamental to each design. Our team extracted the modular unit that makes up a QR code to create a custom typeface. By echoing the QR code throughout the entire design system, we effectively placed the art front and center and created a cohesive visual language.