Creative Exchange
2011
Branding, identity system, Typography
Creative Exchange - Visual Identity
What started as a simple Facebook Group, turned out to be an initiative for fostering the creative fields in Macedonia.
What started as a simple Facebook Group, turned out to be an initiative for fostering the creative fields in Macedonia.
- Creative Exchange
- The best things in life are created spontaneously. I guess the best evidence for this is the birth of Creative Exchange.
What started as a simple Facebook Group, turned out to be an initiative for fostering the creative fields in Macedonia. - History
After meeting the photographer Dragi Nedelcevski at TEDxSkopje (which surprisingly has studied in the same class with my mother) I went to visit him and his friends from Photo Club Chkrap in Tetovo, Macedonia.
And if you're a creative person, you know how these conversations go. All of you are mentioning interesting stuff seen on different blogs, struggling to describe them with words (secretly, you know you would kill to have a laptop or a tablet with you and just open the link :).
Since I managed to capture with word only half of the things that have inspired me, I promised them that I will send the links that we talked about as soon as I get back home. So I did. But instead of using the regular Facebook Inbox, I decided to try the (then) new Facebook Groups.
And that’s how Creative Exchange was born as a simple Facebook Group. 
TRANSLATION:: Instead of sending group messages, it’s easier to use the new (Facebook) groups :)- The CX Symbol
Few weeks afterwards, we expanded the group by inviting other friends who were also interested in sharing links with creative content.
With the new members on board, it was time to create a logo for the group: 
The logo is made of 3 characters (C, X and a colon) rotated by 90 degrees.- Visual Identity SystemThe logo was the starting point of the whole visual identity system. By using different typefaces for the same 3 characters, the CX symbol took a variety of forms, but always retained the connection with the original symbol:
- The result was a collection of symbols that represented the diversity amongst us, but also united us under one common theme, Creative Exchange.
- The typography was rotated by 90 degrees in order to accentuate the rotation of the CX symbol. To make things easier to read, I used one of the most legible typefaces, Interstate.
The typeface also correlates with the boldness of the main symbol. 
- The First CX Meet up
Two months later, the first Creative Exchange Meet up was held where we discussed our future plans and talked about how CX can evolve. 
Photos from the first CX Meet up (Photo Credit: Dejan Dzolev)- Few things were agreed on that meeting:
- We will be organizing CX meet ups on a monthly basis where some of the CX members will prepare talks and presentations from their field of work;
- We will be inviting guests from other countries on the same meet ups to join us;
- They will be open to the public and everyone can attend them.
- The Gift Exchange
The CX member, Goce Veleski had a great idea for the first meet up - each one of us was supposed to bring a gift and exchange it with another member from the group. Every gift had an interesting story behind it - whether it was a personal artwork, music album, handcrafted jewelry or a dear book, the emotional value was not left behind. 
The Gift Exchange (Photo credit: Dragi Nedelcevski and Dejan Dzolev)- As my personal gift, I prepared the first ever Creative Exchange poster:
The poster is printed on silver matte paper.
Many people found resemblance between them and the different CX symbols :)
The poster has an empty space at the bottom right corner where the owner of the poster can draw his own CX symbol.
Ivan Filmovski drawing his own version of the CX symbol.- Update:
First presentations
On 16th of April 2011, the first three presentations took place which marked the start of many other future events. The identity was expanded by combining different CX faces with faces from real people. 
- The story continues...
This is only the beginning of the Creative Exchange story. The identity will naturally grow as the group and its activities expand. Hopefully we'll be able to achieve our first goal, to become an organization that will foster the improvement of the creative fields in Macedonia. 
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