Armonía - Music for Inclusion
“Through the learning of arts and/or music the Project looks to accomplish the recognition of individuals and their diversity to explore their potential and help them through the inclusion process in the post- conflict Colombian society.” Antonio Suárez Albarracín (Project Leader) Concept and design development of branding and an online platform for a program that stimulates inclusion for Colombian ex guerrilla group members through musical learning. The platform will serve as an information site for the Project that is being developed in Colombia and will be a bridge between the protagonists of the conflict and people outside of it. The result aims to become an example for socially responsible design focused on cultural and social development.
I was approached by the leaders of the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra, they needed a digital/online presence of their project. The developed project is presented here as my thesis for the Bauhaus Universität Weimar - Master in Media Art and Design. I decided to use branding principles to enhance the project, the process started with the Branding aspect of the project: naming, logo design, font and color selection. The conception of these where facilitated by my knowledge of Colombian culture and my desire to make part in the building of Colombian peace. The name Armonía was selected because of the various meanings of the word 'harmony', in music and in life the combination of things that when united agree with each other and are pleasant. The selection of color is inspired on the Colombian flag: yellow, blue and red. The intention is to set the context of the project in the country in a casual way, there is no intention of making al patriotic message but to enhance the meaning of the visual concept. After creating the identity for the project the conception and design of the interactive website followed. It is a direct response to the missing digital presence for the project in Colombia. The site has three fundamental objectives that compliment the project: informational, blog, and interactive. Based on the surrealist creation game ' cadavre exquis', the interactive platform looks to create a community interested in learning and the exploring Colombian traditional rhythms.
At the prototyping face I mostly use pen and paper to start with sketches later I move to digital format with Illustrator and enhance it with Photoshop. The interactive prototype is made with html5 and used a Javascript library called Tone.js.
The project has received a lot of support; it is a difficult topic for native Colombians but necessary. Using culture to support the peace treaty is a growing phenomenon and I hope and will continue to work for it. During the research phase for the project I learned a lot about art and cultural projects used in post-conflict situations, most of this projects work to relief and help with peoples lives. I am a true believer that culture brings us together and helps us develop fulfilling lives.
This is an ongoing project and the images used for the screen prototypes are original R. Avedon portraits. The style in photography are what is being proposed of the finished site.
I really love the color that you used!