Haute Glue 2026
ToolsAdobe Suite, Figma
Time / Team12 Weeks, Winter 2025
Design Director
In collaboration with Jolie Booth, Nora Sweeney-Gladen, and Merlin Enriquez
Project OverviewHaute Glue is a student-run fashion and performance showcase at Carnegie Mellon, founded in Spring 2025. This year, I worked with a close-knit team of organizers to grow the event into a larger platform for creative visibility, culminating in a show with 200+ attendees. Centered around the theme Everything But The Kitchen Sink, the event celebrated unrestrained creativity. As Design Director, I developed a flexible visual identity system spanning print, motion, and social media, capturing the eclectic spirit of Haute Glue.
Visual Language
Wordmarks, Type, ColorHaute Glue’s brand is built around a flexible system of rounded, pixel-based assets. Their motion is inspired by the behavior of glue: they merge, expand, and contract. Varying widths of GT Standard anchor the system. At wider scales, the typeface’s stout letterforms echo the rounded pixel assets.
Digital
Intro PostsIn promoting the show, Instagram was key in reaching our audience. I designed intro posts for all 15 Haute Glue team members, including organizers, performers, and fashion designers. Each post incorporates the design system's motion language: frames built from pixel assets ooze in and out, much like glue.
A toy horse we found at our team portrait shoot became Haute Glue's de-facto mascot, turning up across the show's promotional materials.
Print
HandoutsOver the course of the project, I designed a range of print materials to promote Haute Glue: from posters inviting creative participants to open calls, to promotional valentines, to the programs handed out on the day of the show.
Trifold ProgramsDesigning the show's program was a unique challenge. Budget constraints limited it to a single printed sheet, so I designed a trifold layout that held a brief history of Haute Glue, descriptions of all 15 acts and fashion lines, and credits for the whole team. We printed 200 programs, all of which were picked up by the end of the night.
2026 Show
Closing ThoughtsHaute Glue is by misfits, for misfits. The show began in 2025 as a small fashion showcase at the Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts. When a group of interdisciplinary creatives and I recognized the lack of a dedicated platform for avant-garde work on campus, we took the reins and helped grow Haute Glue into something with real impact. What started as a classroom-scale project evolved into a public event featuring over a dozen artists.
Designing the identity for Haute Glue has been especially meaningful because it supports a mission I care deeply about: creating space for experimental and emerging creative voices. The avant-garde deserves a platform, and artists working in these spaces deserve opportunities to share their work regardless of experience level.
This show would not have been possible without the leadership of Jolie Booth, Nora Sweeney-Gladen, and Merlin Enriquez, along with the many creatives, builders, thinkers, and organizers who brought it to life behind the scenes.