Ideafest is an annual event that centers all things creative. With an apt overarching premise to address the times each year, Ideafest 2025 revolved around the theme of “(Cult)ivate the Culture”. A reflection on the concept of culture and community, approaching it as a metaphor: something that forms, shifts, and grows over time. In response to this theme, we used beads as a visual metaphor to represent how cultures start from one individual interacting and coming together, a singular bead strung together with others, to form patterns, narratives, and collective expressions. Evolving through repetition and shared belief to build a larger, richer, and ever complex cultural tapestry.
Repetition, Layering, Mixing, Ordering, and Reordering
The visual approach we developed took on an almost brutalist tone. By using generative coding, we were able to build something systematic from something that is seemingly infinite. This allowed us to flesh out the beads as a metaphor for both individuality and collectivity. Where a single bead becomes part of a larger composition to represent collective identity. Mirroring the “culturing” process, formed from individuals, ideas, rituals, and symbols becoming interconnected.
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*Image courtesy of Microsoft. All rights reserved
