When a prestigious art school celebrates a milestone, it should be impossible to overlook. This was the challenge presented to Bleed when tasked with crafting the visual identity for “Radical Collective,” the 50th-anniversary celebration of the University of Art Linz. This anniversary spanned a year-long series of events across the city, inviting the public to reflect on 50 years of dreams and innovation and to catch a glimpse of what the next 50 years might hold. The celebration featured collaborations with local museums, students, and alumni.

The identity is perhaps best symbolized by the use of dots, each representing a student, a work, a moment, or a group, which can be combined to create something new. This element became a versatile and distinctive tool, empowering students to extend the identity and design their own visuals for various associated events.

50 years ago, the art school in Linz — founded in 1947 — was promoted to a university. This had to be celebrated, and a good celebration deserves a good motto. Our motto became "Radical Collective," pointing to how the jubilee, and the students who shaped it, have, through 50 years of constant reflection and renewal, formed a radical art community. In 2023, the jubilee increasingly involved the audience, including the art and cultural scene in Linz, explains Alexandra Furtner, Communications Director at the Art University in Linz.

The maximalist identity prioritizes the collective over the individual, illustrating how students together form a radical art collective. For Kunstuniversität Linz, it is the shared passion and respect for art that unites the students and their environment. With this in mind, we aimed to create an anniversary identity that, like art itself, bridges the past, present, and future, connecting students and ideas across generations. As the concept of the “Radical Collective” gained traction throughout the anniversary year, it added vibrancy to an already colorful program, which included performances, artistic interactions, presentations, discussions, symposia, exhibitions, and much more.