(Credit: Jennifer Cheung)

Jennifer took the lead on the task of designing this year’s 88 Day Countdown brand identity. The 88 Day Countdown is an event that celebrates the conclusion of a four-year-long chapter of the graduating class. This year, she decided to put a personal spin on the 88 Day Countdown brand identity, inspired largely by Asian artists and graphic designers. When brainstorming the 88 Day Countdown brand identity, she drew upon the work of Japanese designer Kenichi Minami, who creates unique custom typefaces for Chinese and Japanese characters, blurs the line between language and art. Like Minami, Jennifer wanted to play with the composition of the characters, pushing how they are meant to be traditionally read.

The 88 Shanghai Countdown logo, designed by IMA student Jennifer Cheung from graduating class of 2022. (Credit: Jennifer Cheung)

Jennifer wanted to create a logo that was straightforward, yet memorable and meaningful. Designing a brand identity for an event that sends off an entire cohort of students was a daunting task, compounded by her desire to create something that her peers would look fondly back at. By developing a logo composed of few simple but striking elements, she succeeded in generating an aesthetic that had just the right amount of sophistication.

She began the process of designing the brand identity during winter break of 2021, trying to perfect a vision that had not yet entirely materialized in her mind. Not wanting to reuse the classic NYU violet that students had become accustomed to, she decided to add a splash of vibrant green. She says that “this was the moment it all came together!” The striking interjections of yellow-green words augmented by the interplay of rounded and sharp edges suffuses the design with a sense of edgy futurism, representing the mixed emotions accompanying the graduating class’s unforeseeable future.

Jennifer first fell in love with art as a child. A young Jennifer started drawing the moment she could pick up a pencil, escaping into the world that she created on a canvas. In 2018, she walked through the doors of NYU Shanghai, where she decided to take a chance to become an interactive media arts major.

IMA first started in the interaction labs of NYU Shanghai, with eight students coming together to explore the technical side of art. With the computer as their canvas, Jennifer delved into graphic design, motion design, UI/UX design, and more, guiding her towards her calling in the art of visual communication. By combining the lessons she learnt in class with her panoply of experiences as a graphic designer interning at prestigious companies such as Glowbar, Jennifer learnt that the key to success was simply to create art that tells stories.

Jennifer had to tell the story of 250 different, yet intertwined lives, for the 88 Day Countdown. As such, Jennifer included the final aspect of her design. These bulbous semi-circles radiating from the logo and permeating the different facets of the brand ecosystem tell the story of the interconnectedness of the class of 2022 despite being physically separated by the pandemic.

The stage backboard which includes bulbous semi-circle designs radiating from the centralized logo. (Credit: Jennifer Cheung)

For many, the pandemic is finally drawing to a close, with vaccines allowing for close contact and return to physical congregation. However, for the NYU Shanghai students, many are still scattered around the world, waiting eagerly to go or return to China. A group of graduating students remain stranded half-way across the world, and will instead be donning their violet mortarboards in the NYU New York or Abu Dhabi campuses. These semi-circle motifs represent how the class of 2022 has been separated by the pandemic, torn between two opposite sides of the globe, but nevertheless part of a unified whole. They are linked not by geography, but in violet spirit.

As a senior, when asked what word of advice she would give, she had just three words.

“Know your worth.”

Though this is often associated with a demeaning connotation, Jennifer believes that that simply is not true. Everyone has their own individualized histories, with unique talents, skills and experience that cannot be replaced.

As she enters the workforce, Jennifer often reminds herself of her own advice. Like many of her peers, she is job hunting. She said, “aspire for what you deserve. Don’t settle.” The world outside of college is daunting and terrifying, but, as evident from the resounding send-off, NYU Shanghai will always remain a pillar of unyielding support, guiding the class of 2022 long after their imminent graduation in 88 days.