We recently worked on the branding for A Day in the Life Baltimore Design Conference, taking place on Saturday, April 24, 2010 at the Maryland Institute College of Art. In fact, we are a proud sponsor (check out our nifty badge to the left of this post) because this conference is about changing the way people think about design in Baltimore. First we started off with a website that was simple and easy to navigate through, so it looks very clean on your computer screen and is also compatible with mobile devices so someone can pull it up on the go.
When you are designing for an event, you are not just designing a website. You are literally designing a brand! So the elements have to transfer over into web and print advertisements, social media, and printed materials for the day of the event. Since this is an eco-friendly design conference, we created a scene with simple elements that has a natural park feel merging into the Baltimore skyline, with a bicycle (something common used in both environments) bringing them together. Then we chose icons to illustrate a day in the life of a designer. This concept is fun, edgy and creative.
Online Social Presence: A Day in the Life Conference is on Twitter, Facebook and WordPress as a way to promote their event and interact with the attendees, as well as the speakers and the sponsors. When you have a Twitter page or a Facebook page, it is super important for it to have some similarities to your website or the brand you’ve already established. Leave no viewer guessing. See the Twitter page below and notice its similarities in color and design to the website above.
Printed Materials: A Day in the Life Baltimore Design Conference wanted to run a print ad in Urbanite, Baltimore’s premiere chic magazine. We thought it would be a good idea to keep the add simple. One of their icons is the bicycle with the swirls coming off the backside. People can relate to that image even if they don’t ride a bike, they understand what it means to get around and how they move throughout the day. Then we also decided to keep it simple with the copy too. No need for paragraphs! You have to catch your audience’s attention as they flip through the magazine! See the bicycle first, then we sum up in 5 sentences what this event is about, with the words we really want you to see highlighted in a different color.
The committee for this event stretched across the Baltimore region and beyond. Each member interacts within a different realm of professionals and a social scene. And they all have several opportunities to promote the event. When you are out and about, let’s say, at a networking happy hour enjoying a drink with a side of good conversation (or buffalo wings…whatever), do you really want someone to hand you a Save the Date postcard? Where on earth are you going to put that? And you’ll get your saucy fingers all over it! Instead we opted for a Save the Date that is about the size of a business card. Easy to transport, easy to carry around, and easy to tuck into a back pocket or purse for viewing later.
Web Advertisements: To help promote the event, the committee wanted to have some pre-sized branded advertisements that they could offer for interested parties to place on their websites. This was easy and fun.
And this is what we’ve been up to. We can create the same design elements for your next event, or for your company. Feel free to visit our website JWatson Creative, for more information about who we are and what we do.
Special Note: Icons were created by Marnay Harris.
Jess Watson is the CEO & Creative Director of Points North Studio. She's the co-organizer of Baltimore Womxn in Tech, a big believer in Baltimore city, and a pioneer of working remotely while traveling the globe.