OAC: Archaeology in future tense
The Oklahoma Archaeology Conference is a biennial conference celebrating archaeological discovery. The conference goal is to bring together the community to discuss current affairs in archaeology and provide an opportunity for people to learn about archaeological research. The 2026 theme was ‘Archaeology in Future Tense’, and my class was divided into teams of two to design the conference materials and logo.
Our Process
For the logo itself, my partner and I wanted to design something that represented community and reconciliation, because for the conference team, these were the two most important ideas that the conference represented. We explored many ways to express this, including showing multiple parts of an object coming together to form a whole picture. We also needed to create a schedule and a digital program that aligned with the theme of 'Archaeology in Future Tense' while being easy to read on a phone screen.
Final Design
My partner and I decided it would be best for my partner to create our logo, map, and covers while I designed the typographic elements. My partner created a logo with two different aspects of archaeology combining to form a picture. The top part of the logo is a network theory symbolizing a network of the OAC community, while the two areas of archaeology coming together to form a picture represent reconciliation.
For my digital program, I created it in a 4x7 ratio to comfortably fit on a phone screen. I used rules to separate information and bold, colorful type to create a hierarchy of information. I used both vertical and horizontal rules within the book to create a timeline out of the program and schedule, hinting at the passage of human time that archaeology studies.