While working at Blue Ion, I was pointed creative lead for FAB, an exclusive event for women in hospitality that aims to help inspire and empower women working in the Food & Bev industry. I was assigned to create an overall design direction that was executed through print and digital materials. This included design assets that were then passed along to printers and programmers with whom I worked alongside to ensure the intended creative direction was fully realized.
DISCOVERY & EXPLORATION
The client initially came to Blue Ion looking for consulting and development of the 3rd annual FAB conference. The event date, location, and building had already been determined, our task was to develop a conference theme that could transcend to print materials, digital marketing, and conference merchandise. The goal was to utilize this year's event space to create a fully immersive brand experience that can also be translated into a digital experience for web and social.
PROJECT TYPE
COLLABORATION WITH COPY DIRECTOR, WEB DEVELOPER, AND PROJECT MANAGER
TIMELINE
SEPT - JUN 2019 (16 WEEKS)
Process overview
We began by brainstorming internally to develop various themes that would best represent the FAB ethos. What we determined that embodied this year's FAB conference was, “Inspire, Empower, Uplift ”. This tagline became the central idea of where visuals would explore.
Creative research began by developing a visual mood board that showcased various styles and ideas that were in line with the tagline and ethos. Our conclusion was inspired by the colors and shapes of butterflies. Additional inspiration was drawn from the artwork of Alexander McQueen and Damien Hirst. We felt that the eclectic world of a woman in Food and Bev needed to be represented by something inspiring, beautiful, and purposeful, the butterfly represented that. The use of vibrant colors and complexed wing patterns would allow for a unique and memorable design palette for FAB.
Final Design Solution
I approached this concept with multiple iterations of butterfly collages, this depiction ran through various arrangements and levels of detail based on clients' feedback. Through this exploration, we were able to successfully deliver what became an abstracted depiction of the butterfly collage. This abstracted graphic was used by our lead programmer in a kaleidoscope effect that was created in HTML, this effect distorted my original graphic, further abstracting the image into what was approved and used as the final 2019 FAB conference graphic.
The final graphics were used in various situations of print materials, brochures, badges, and signage. Each speaker gave presentations on various stages that used the butterfly pattern as backdrops and podium graphics. This Pattern would later become the animated gradient for digital executions.
WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT
The goal for this website experience was to inform users of all the events and speakers at the 2019 Fab conference. The challenges we faced were figuring out a way to bring large amounts of information to the user in an interactive way. The subtle animations and gradients were essential design decisions that transcended the theme to cohesive experience from print to digital.
interactive rollovers
The objective of the FAB website was to create a completely interactive experience that was inspired by the print materials. Since the majority of users would be using this site before and during the event, the energy of the site needed to reflex the conference itself.
SUBTLE hover animation throughout NAVIGATION.
These animations were utilize from various graphics that had been printed on event materials.