Xin Zi Hoo

Communication Design

Designer from Malaysia currently based in Melbourne, passionate about art direction, branding and advertising. I had the opportunity to dabble in the agency life for a year at GREY prior to pursuing my degree. There, I was a designer for the Unifi account, Malaysia’s largest internet service provider. While contributing to the day-to-day designs for Unifi, I actively participated in pitches and initiatives for brands such as KFC, Ikea, and Telekom Malaysia.

During my time at Swinburne, I was thrilled to bag five finalist awards at this year’s AGDA awards.

At the end of the day my passion lies in creating beautiful work that is fuelled by strategy and critical thinking.

Good & Fugly - Branding

Brief:
Good & Fugly brings fresh and flavorful reject produce straight from farmers to homes across Australia. They seek a brand update that resonates with the unapologetically quirky nature of their fruits and veggies.

Solution:
A distinctive wordmark logo using potato stamps was devised, capturing the quirky essence of the brand. This wordmark was combined with vibrant colors, witty copywriting, and engaging imagery showcasing the 'fugly' fruits, all working together to boldly convey the brand's voice: "We’re fugly, so what?".

Mr.Gadget - Branding

Brief:
Mr.Gadget, a gadget accessories store providing a wide range of affordable products wanted a brand refresh that would communicate with the younger generation of 16-25 y/o.

Solution:
The main elements of the Mr.Gadget logo is the toggle switch icon and two overlapping faces. This expresses the joy and excitement that is “switched on” when shopping at Mr.Gadget. To bring the brand to life, the logo is adapted in various ways, creating a vibrant and playful assortment of supporting graphics.

XINZI - Self Branding

Brief:
Design a personal brand and print portfolio that showed my growth and journey as a designer.

Solution:
Light and dark, intertwined and inseparable, coexist harmoniously. Within light there resides traces of darkness and conversely within darkness there are glimmers of light. I used the idea of light and darkness to represent my acceptance of my ups and downs as a creative.

Last Days of Detroit - Publication

Brief:
Design a mini publication for the book “The Last Days of Detroit”. The book is a vibrant and authoritative sweep through the history, present day and future of an iconic city and its people.

Solution:
In recent years, Detroit has emerged as a prime destination for graffiti artists. This phenomenon is intimately tied to the city’s stark reality where one in every five structures are in a state of disrepair.
I am harnessing the essence of this urban art as it thrives within the very core of American street culture. While I draw inspiration from graffiti, I aspire to infuse a sense of structure into the designs by employing grids. The fusion of graffiti’s free-spirited energy with the controlled order of grid-based designs is a reflection of Detroit, a city where artistic freedom flourishes now amid the enduring structures of its industrial past.

XYZ - Campaign Rebrand

Brief:
ABC Friends an NGO that works to promote the value of the ABC as Australia’s independent, public media broadcaster has concerns about support for the ABC in the future. The challenge was to rebrand ABC Friend’s “New Gen Initiative” to target Generation Zs living in Australia.

Solution:
XYZ is the proposed rebrand name for the “New Gen Initiative”. The logo was inspired by building blocks we used to play with as kids. This suggests that ABC is constantly evolving and developing as building blocks are used in childhood play to foster creativity and learning.

Acknowledgement of Country

The School of Design and Architecture respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners and knowledge-keepers of the lands, waters and sky that surround us, where we work, learn, create, communicate and make place. We recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded and this always was and will always be Wurundjeri Country. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who continue to make a better world through design.

We extend our acknowledgement to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, students, alumni, real-life clients, and knowledge keepers, who have contributed to our own education diversity and growth. We will continue to ensure that staff and students respectfully honour ancestral connection to Country and Place in everything that they do.

We are dedicated to the notion of design to make a better world and we acknowledge that making tools, shaping place, sharing stories, making meaning, wayfinding and collaborating have long been and continue to be both central and integral to First Peoples' cultures. We recognize that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ cultural contributions have continued relevance to design practice and commit to: reconciling ancestries of design and contemporary practice as well as pursuing culturally and professionally appropriate ways to engage with a diverse population of colleagues, industries and clients. In a time of treaty-making and voice we understand that there are overlaps between caring for Country and the sustainable production of goods, services, experiences, products and buildings.

Guided by the principles of respect, reconciliation, and reciprocity we undertake to indigenising and decolonising design practice by dismantling colonial structures and challenging biases that have marginalised Indigenous voices and design.

As students of SoDA you will be given opportunities to both engage with and educate yourself in Indigenous creative practices and cultural protocols through a lens of inclusivity, diversity, respect, mutual understanding, inter-cultural dialogue in all aspects of design practice. Indigenous people have been telling stories, making tools, and connecting to Country through visual media, placemaking and place marking for more than 60,000 years and these practices are part of an ongoing, evolving and live tradition.