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Sydney Zoo

Photoshop, Illustrator, Substance 3D Stager, Dimension, After Effects,  InDesign
#MotionDesign #DigitalDesign #Illustration #SignDesign


My experience working with Sydney Zoo was quite interesting and educational. The workload was quite intense despite only being a month into the new year compared to what I’d had heard it would be like working at design agencies. I had the opportunity to work with major clients outside of Sydney Zoo, such as Marvel and Bluey, which was something I was not expecting.  And with Glow right around the corner, I had my hands full with a range of different tasks from designing the maps, to creating 3D mockups for presentations. Other than the fast pace environment, however, the actual work was rather easy.

Marvel

Draft Promotional Animation




Having to follow both Sydney Zoo and collaborating brands’ branding guidelines was something I found quite challenging and restricting. At times, the collaborating brands would only allow Sydney Zoo to utilise one specific image in one specific way, anything otherwise would be rejected immediately. 

I didn’t have to design things from scratch, just use existing templates and assets to create whatever the brief asked of me following strict guidelines of the existing style guide. While this did save time, I felt shorthanded at times, limiting myself to constraints set by someone else, I couldn't be as creative as I wanted. Nevertheless, this was something I would have to come to terms with irregardless of who I worked for. Hence, this experience was valuable. 

However, as I kept experimenting, these limitations became opportunities of their own which I had a lot of fun playing around with!

Event Map +  Icons





Email Assets




Road Signage










Bluey





Social Assets:



Baby Orangutan Signs

The very first task I was assigned to was designing new baby Orangutan signs that the zoo was in need of. The location of the Orangutan habitat was next the bathrooms and around the corner, where it was not getting the traction it deserved. Hence, the need for new signages along backdrops in hopes to change the scene.




As my very first task with the zoo, I first made it a point to making a mood board of what the signs should intake. This included past signs created, a select version of colour scheme taken apart according to the style guide, assets, placement, and types of hero images to be included on the signs. Once this was done and approved, and put together a draft layout of the general placement shapes and the typographic placement along with hero images. 

I then started to look for specific hero images of baby Orangutan’s which could potentially be used for the signs. During this search, I realised this was not an easy task due to it being a niche topic of search. According to the feedback and insight gotten from my supervisor and senior designer in charge, I was told to find emotive images emphasising the eyes and facial features to help capture the attention and form an emotional connection with the audience. While I found this quite insightful and educational, it was quite the task to find such images, however, with perseverance and lots of dedicated time towards a meticulous scour through the web, I was able to find a few satisfactory hero images to be used for the signs. 

Glow

3D Domestic Violence Mockups



With the rising domestic violence against women becoming a national crisis, Sydney Zoo wanted to help spread awareness with The White Ribbon and  “shining light on domestic violence” wrist bands which would be given to consumers as a token if they chose to donate to the cause at their major light event GLOW. I was given the task of mocking up these products in-situ to be used in the presentation as a visual aid for the higher ups and current and potential future partners. 

For the lightboxes, I used Adobe Photoshop to edit existing photos of the lightboxes taken at the 2023 GLOW event last year and changed the text, logos, and information to match the 2024 GLOW brief.


As for the wrist bands and ribbon, I used Adobe Illustrator to create 3D shapes, Adobe Dimension to further enhance the objects with respective materials and lighting, and lastly 3D Substance Stager to stage the final object into a professional setting. The White Ribbon in particular was a bit of a challenge with having to stage it into a specific image provided by Sydney Zoo which meant having to use the right perspective and lighting to complement its surroundings which I was not familiar with yet. However, with perseverance and support of my supervisors I was able to achieve a successful outcome within a few hours suitable for the presentation mockup. 

Adding appropriate material and lighting to the object in Dimension

Staging object in Substance Stager with appropriate perspective and further lighting

Event Map

Final draft event map for GLOW showcasing the icons for each exhibit I designed using Adobe Illustrator.



Motion Graphics

Kinetic typography motion graphics concept 2 draft for GLOW’s promotional advertisement campaign to be aired LIVE on TV and social media such as YouTube Ads.







       

I acknowledge the Darug Nation as the traditional custodians of the land on which I live and work and pay my respects to elders present and emerging. This always has, and always will be Aboriginal land.