Take a look at Vault49’s arresting identity for the Pentawards Competition 2023, featuring bold, distinctive, and disruptive elements.

We’re excited to share more details on the latest creative campaign from Vault49 for our 2023 competition. It displays an identity that uses the language of protest and activism to engage everyone in the global creative community in the mission of using design to make a positive impact on society.

Drawing inspiration from the streets of London and New York deep-rooted in graffiti art, protest posters, and Vault49’s recent designs that contributed to the Black Lives Matter Movement, they delivered an identity that uses the language of protest and activism as a call to the global creatives to make their own mark in shaping a better world in a way that feels most authentic to them.

Behind the scenes at Vault49

Lucie Mouchet, Design Director at Vault49, commented on how the campaign’s visual identity brings this messaging to life: "We wanted to communicate that any one of us can use creativity to make our mark on society in a positive way or express a desire for change." The identity uses bold colours and typography to reference homemade protest slogans and placards, while the repetition of graphics is reminiscent of the guerrilla art of fly-posting. Meanwhile, many of the designs have been ‘hi-jacked’ with hand-crafted elements like stencil graffiti spontaneously spray-painted on top, communicating immediacy, rawness, and a human touch."

Adam Ryan, Head of Pentawards, commented: "We love how Vault49’s design for this year’s Pentawards competition is a call-to-action for the global creative community to use their craft to help create a better world." "Whether it be through designing more inclusive packaging, innovating in materials that promote sustainability, or using graphic design or smart technology to highlight important social issues or initiatives, it is highlighting the huge opportunity for designers to help galvanise positive change in consumers' lives around the world."

Vault49 x Pentawards

Vault49 Co-Founder and Executive Creative Director, John Glasgow serves as co-president this year with Chloe Templeman, Executive Creative Director at big fish, of a jury panel for the Pentawards that has 50 members .

In discussing the new identity, John commented: "It was important that the identity not only communicated the positive change Pentwards is helping to achieve across the industry but that it also felt like an authentic expression of who we are at Vault49 too. For example, Vault49 was born out of a street art collective and we have screen-printers, graffiti artists, illustrators and typographers working in-house".

"We attended the Black Lives Matter protests in New York and London and helped further their message by designing and screen-printing thousands of protest posters to hand out at the protests. In creating this identity, we’ve brought our own story, values, and heritage together to unite behind a common mission of how design can enact positive change. We hope this will inspire other designers around the world to do the same in a way that feels most authentic to them."

For more information on Vault49, visit their website or follow them on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Entries into the 2023 competition are now open. Be a part of the Pentawards Competition 2023 and get your work in front of world-leading designers! Find out more here.