Cactus and Succulents Exhibition Design by Veronika Potapova

Treasures of the Atacama is an exhibition of cacti and succulents, which is held annually at VDNH. Visitors to the fair can get acquainted with the agricultural techniques of growing the main types of succulents, get acquainted with the novelties of breeding, as well as ask any questions to professional exhibitors. Moreover, some rare plants are available for purchase in private collections.

Naming of the event
Atacama is a desert, which is one of the driest places on the planet, where only cacti can survive from plants. The flora of the world’s driest desert is strictly limited by the time frame between September and November when heavy rains occur in the desert. At the same time, the rapid, but short-term flowering of local cacti begins, storing moisture for a long year. This phenomenon is called a «blooming desert», and this is a real treasure in such a lifeless area.

Pictograms
Pictograms of plants were developed based on real species of cacti and succulents presented at the exhibition, for example, Echinops, Opuntia, Astrophytum, Lophophora, Haworthia, Sedum and Echeveria. The use of pictograms in this style is very convenient for further branding of the exhibition, they can be used as stickers on pots, bags of seeds and fertilizers, or for the design of stands and navigation (so it will be immediately clear which types of plants are represented here).

Pattern
Based on the pictograms, a pattern was developed that logically repeats the principle of growth of plants of this group in natural conditions, so each carrier with this pattern looks like a small map of the distribution of species.

Color palette
The palette consists of classic colors associated with plants, including cacti. The juiciest and brightest shades were chosen so that the promotional campaign of the exhibition would stand out against the background of the city, as well as brand the pavilion at VDNH, and it would be different from many others.

The project was created by Veronika Potapova at the HSE School of Design, 2023.
Tutor: Pavel Borisovsky.