I was delighted to hear about Awamaki Lab, Awamaki’s new program which hosts an up-and-coming fashion designer in Ollantaytambo, Peru for four months to create a collection with native textiles. Awamaki Lab was entering its inaugural season and their graphic design needs included various projects promoting the program and the first fashion collection, designed by Nieli Vallin. Just the concept of bringing native Peruvian textiles to the worldwide fashion design sphere is interesting to me. But that is just scratching the surface. Over the course of working with Awamaki Lab, I gained a greater understanding of their positive social impact. Awamaki Lab adds a new perspective to the uses of native Peruvian textiles and brings a whole new clientele to the Awamaki store, thus strengthening the support to the Awamaki weaving collective by broadening the customer base.
What I find particularly significant about Awamaki Lab’s model is that they do not dictate to the weaving collective what to create. Instead, the members of the weaving collective create their own designs and then sell their textiles to Awamaki Lab, thus keeping the traditional weaving culture alive. Furthermore, Awamaki Lab creates the opportunity for people from other parts of the world to visit Peru and learn about the culture. I find that exposure to new ways of thinking and living is artistically provocative and beneficial. Beyond my attraction to Awamaki Lab’s socially-conscious and innovative culture, I found my graphic design projects particularly enjoyable and fulfilling. This was enhanced by the range of creative individuals all working toward a collective goal, each having our own role, and culminating in bringing our work together in one final production.
My goal in designing the website, lookbook, information postcard, and business card was to illustrate the innovativeness and uniqueness of the company and to complement the work of the artists involved. Furthermore, I wanted to touch on the vibrant and varied color palettes of the textiles, so I pulled the colors directly from the textiles using different palettes in the designs but staying true to the cohesive design elemenbr>
