The TU Dublin Graduate Exhibition is an annual event showcasing the work of graduating students across a range of creative disciplines. The primary audience includes graduating students, faculty staff, industry professionals, and potential employers. Secondary audiences include prospective students and members of the public interested in supporting emerging creative talent.
The visual identity for GradX 2026 is built around the concept of the palimpsest. Traditionally, a palimpsest refers to a manuscript or writing surface from which original text has been erased and overwritten, leaving traces of previous layers beneath. More recently, the term has been used to describe a layered record, where histories, experiences, and narratives coexist within a single surface. To fully reveal a palimpsest, hidden layers must be illuminated through multi-spectral imaging, a process that uses wavelengths of light ranging from infrared to ultraviolet to uncover what is otherwise unseen. This idea became the foundation of the identity, positioning GradX 2026 as an opportunity to reveal and celebrate the unseen layers of the shared student experience.
To communicate these layers of connection, we invited students to reflect on their time at university, discussing their learning, experiences, and relationships formed throughout their studies. During these conversations, photographs of students’ hands were captured and subsequently layered together to create a series of composite images. These layered forms became the visual foundation of the identity,symbolising the overlapping experiences, memories, and connections that shape student life.The theme of the palimpsest is further expressed through the use of an RGB colour palette, inspired by the visual characteristics of scanned archival imagery and multi-spectral imaging processes. Applied across the photographic compositions, these colours introduce depth, movement, and energy while creating a cohesive visual language throughout the identity. Dynamic angular forms appear across printed and digital outputs, reflecting the movement and interaction present within the layered imagery.
The identity was developed collaboratively by students, for students, drawing on TU Dublin’s interdisciplinary resources and the participation of graduating students from across the university. It is applied across a wide range of physical and digital touchpoints, including invitations, course publications, exhibition graphics, social media assets, the GradX website, and environmental design throughout the exhibition space.
By drawing on the concept of the palimpsest, the GradX 2026 identity celebrates the collective experiences of graduating students, revealing the connections, conversations, and shared histories that exist beneath the surface. Through print, digital, and spatial applications, the identity creates a cohesive visual narrative that brings these unseen layers into view.
The identity of this year’s exhibition was designed by Visual Communication students Cristina Alegria Llorente, Elli Branigan, Hannah Corble and Justina Kankuwata.
