Introducing a new identity for Design Academy Eindhoven

Throughout the academic year the new DAE idenitity will be revealed. The first major application is the new wiki-based website for DAE.

Simone Niquille was selected by the Design Academy Eindhoven community to develop the school’s new identity in 2019, following a series of lectures in fall 2018, in which three invited design studios presented their vision and proposals to staff, tutors and students.

The Identity Manual

The Identity manual explains the identity system: How it can be implemented in different scenarios, the Bachelor and Master programmes, the Readerships as well as internal and external communications. The intention is not to make everything look homogenous, but to provide a set of tools to create a clear sense of family across the different aspects of the school.

The new identity uses the font MAD Sans designed by Belgian designer Dries Wiewauters. MAD is an acronym for Machine Aided Design, the digital design process which inspired Wiewauters’ design.

DAE community

The involvement of the DAE community is essential in the success of the new identity and has been core to the design process.

DAE’s constantly changing, dynamic and engaged student body is its lifeblood. Putting the students at the centre of the process was key to creating a meaningful identity. Niquille’s starting point was to analyse the needs of the Academy’s current students and find out if these could be met in new ways through a new visual identity and website.

To develop the new identity Niquille has assembled a team of designers, hackers and programmers. The team has developed the new identity over the past year in close collaboration with DAE’s communications team. The outcome include a wiki-based website and an archive for all students. More details about these will be announced in the coming weeks.