McNulty Foundation

The challenge: The McNulty Foundation asked Natsumi Nishizumi Design to design the marketing materials for the Socrates Colombia Seminars. In partnership with the Aspen Institute, this was their first time in Cartagena, Colombia.

The solution: Cartagena is a port city located on Colombia's Northern Coast facing the Caribbean Sea. It has a mix of old colonial-style architecture and structures with a more modern flair. Incorporating some of the design elements from the prior year’s marketing materials made it a unique project for me.

A bright color palette is one of the iconic symbols for this location, reflecting the traditional architecture and the vibrant colors found in the local culture. I integrated the bright colors with the brand colors of the McNulty Foundation and Aspen Institute. I created new graphics using beautiful-colored gradations.

To maintain brand consistency, I incorporated design elements from the prior year’s event. The previous design used a more random sampling of geometric shapes. I used the geometric shapes to create a modern cityscape with bright colors. To reflect Cartagena’s location on the Caribbean, I wove together the blue and green geometric shapes and positioned them below the cityscape. The blue and green colors also served to incorporate the Aspen Institute’s brand colors into the design.

The final result was a clean design using bright colors and geometric shapes, reflective of both the culture of Cartagena, Colombia as well as maintaining the integrity of the McNulty Foundation and Aspen Institute brands.