Foróige (pronounced for-OY-ga) is an Irish youth organization whose purpose is “to enable young people to involve themselves consciously and actively in their development and in the development of society.” Their name is derived from “forbairt na hóige,” an Irish phrase meaning “development of youth.” They actively work with over 50,000 youths aged 10-18 in Ireland. To learn more about Foróige, have a look at their website here.
Foróige Go
The brief was to create a design system for Foróige’s Digital Youth Work programs, which are dedicated to teaching Irish youth about online literacy and responsibility as well as encouraging the development of practical or special-interest digital skills. The design system needed to represent their five digital youth work platforms in a cohesive, fresh, and playful way, with room to grow when they inevitably expand their program offerings.
What resulted is a vibrant and versatile design system that combines energetic youthful curiosity with digital dynamism. Welcome to Foróige Go!
Creating a Design System
Each of Foróige’s five digital youth work programs needed individual identities that would work together under one overarching and recognizable brand. To begin my research, I searched for inspiration from other design systems. I was especially interested in Micheal Beirut’s work for the MIT Media Lab and what Simon Langlois and Raphaëlle Brilliant did for l'école Jacques-Ouellette, a school for the visually impaired. I loved the idea of implied movement through consistent visual forms, and was drawn to creating something kinetic. Encouraged by the director of Language Communications, David Joyce, I began experimenting with Paul Klee’s idea: “a line is a dot that went for a walk.”
After several rounds of ideation and meetings with the client, we landed on the following icons and names for the five existing programs.
Icon
Offers direction in more STEM-affiliated tech skills like robotics, engineering, and coding.
Icon inspired by atomic models.
Horizontal Logo
Program Focus
Provides pointers on online advocacy and how to stay vigilant and safe online.
Icon inspired by a snail’s shell.
Teaches young people how to express themselves via audio production, podcasting, & music.
Icon inspired by a sound wave.
Promotes online immersive communication platforms and clubs as well as e-mentoring tools.
Icon is a loose and bouncy “VR.”
Enables youth to explore digital creativity via animation, storyboarding and graphic design.
Icon implies climbing progress.
