Once Los Angeles-based studio Sing-Sing (the duo of Sean Pecknold and Adi Goodrich) was named the Communications Designer for this year’s Exhibit Columbus, their first task was to create a visual mark for the 2024 Symposium in October. With just a week to work, they studied the Exhibit Columbus style guide and developed a series of color combinations that would serve as the foundation for the design.

The pair, who regularly study the work of color theorist Josef Albers, began (as he might have) with a series of subjective color studies. First, they created a set of three-color combinations using a primary, secondary, and tertiary color, arranged in a circle-inside-a-square with a dot on top. Next, they explored the colors as three equal stripes, then as two, closely observing how the colors interacted. The resulting combinations reminded them of Alexander Girard’s textile patterns and prompted them to dig deeper into his fabric designs. This exploration eventually led to a simple mark: bars of color intersecting in a star formation, symbolizing the symposium as a meeting point for diverse minds and ideas in Columbus.

After the symposium, they continued to build on their exploration of color and shape throughout their Communication Design work.

Their two-color, two-shape system first appeared as a poster for the Design Presentations in February, then as signage for each of the architects and teams featured in this year’s exhibition.

“We see the graphics as an alphabet of shape and color that we can use in an improvisational way,” said Goodrich.

The final graphic system appears in several forms throughout Sing-Sing’s work, including installation signage, printed ephemera, animation, and a custom Sing-Sing installation.

Goodrich and Pecknold designed custom signs for each architectural installation using the two-color, two-shape language. Each sign includes information about the team or architect, a description of the installation, and a QR code that links to a custom animation created by Sing-Sing.

Pecknold, an animation director, developed 13 original animations in collaboration with Australian 2D animator Will Pietsch and Berkeley-based musician Mikey Maleki. These animations bring the communication design to life through color, movement, shape, and sound. Visitors can scan a QR code on each sign to hear the team speak about their work while the animation plays on loop.

The animations reflect this year’s theme, Yes And, by allowing playful abstraction to guide the visuals rather than relying on literal representation. Pecknold provided rough storyboards and then trusted his collaborators to interpret them through custom music and improvised animation.

Inside the Visitors Center and during opening weekend, the full set of animations will play on a continuous loop for visitors who want to experience them as one complete piece.

“Our project is additive rather than subtractive,” said Pecknold. “What we like about the Yes And theme is that one thing builds on another toward a non-specific endpoint—a continuation of the journey and the flow of life.”

Sing-Sing is a multidisciplinary studio whose work spans set design, commercial interiors, films, animation, and music videos. Their impression
of Columbus?

“This is a great glimpse of such an interesting city, one that preserves a shared heritage and appreciation for architecture, while also being excited to evolve that legacy into the future,” said Pecknold. “There aren’t many places like that.”