Mindscape
Junior project
Spring 2022
Conferences serve as hubs for an intellectual exchange of ideas and a pursuit of excellence, and therefore the experience should reflect those same values. With design and corporate industries exploding with new technology, I was tasked with creating a compelling conference experience.
DEVELOPING A CONCEPT
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After doing some preliminary background research on conference design and the various topics of new tech in the industry (such as NFTs, crypto, blockchain, the Metaverse, climate change, etc.), I began mapping out topics and ideas that the conference could cover by using mind maps and brainstorming. This was to discover an overarching theme and concept.
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The idea of mindful innovation, of consciously innovating and progressing, worked as a great theme for a conference dealing with a rapidly-growing and advancing industry.
DEFINING USERS
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After working towards a concept, I needed to identify the users of this conference to ensure the concept is applied in a way that correlates with the user’s values.
Doing so, I came up with a primary and secondary user group.
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The first user group I defined was business owners. This group is attending the conference to learn how they can apply these new technologies to their industry to elevate their business model and how sustainable the implementation of that technology would be.
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The second user group I defined was industry professionals. These people are attending to learn what trends are coming, and how they can adapt effectively and ethically.
DEVELOPING A BRAND SYSTEM
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Near the end of my work to develop a visual language for the conference, I defined two distinct parts of the brand message. The conference was exploring the landscape of technological advancements as well as being mindful of ethical and practical implementation. I pushed my development further by merging of these two ideas with the Mindscape conference.
CREATING A CONFERENCE EXPERIENCE
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From there, I began creating quick thumbnails for possible touchpoint designs using the brand system I created earlier.
THE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE
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An online platform that provides information and persuades users into attending is what makes the conference compelling. Giving users information through this media allows them to assess it’s value in providing the information that they seek about today and tomorrow’s tech and industry.
Keeping in Mindscape’s focus on the tech world, users can navigate the conference and gather information about the schedule, events, and booths using the app.
PHYSICAL TOUCHPOINTS
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The large-format poster serves as a standalone representation of the conference. It uses a lot of themes and elements from the concept, and is a compelling visual tool to both excite, inform, and extend the conference’s experience. Because this was a double-sided fold-out poster with rotated portions of one side, I used physical prototypes to accurately arrange information in my design file.
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Event badges serve as a way to create connection between users in a way that ties back to the visual concept of the Mindscape conference. Using color-coded badges, attendees can easily be differentiated from speakers.
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By providing users with physical merchandise, we are able to extend the conference’s experience and create a long lasting impact, which makes the concept all the more compelling. Masks come in any color from the color strategy, and use the same design to connect to the visual strategy. Having branded masks available to promote health and well-being reinforces the theme of mindfulness.
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Pins serve as a take-home extension of the event’s concept. Like scouts earn badges for exploring the wilderness, attendees receive badges for exploring the various events and topics at the conference.
THE CONFERENCE ENVIRONMENT
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Interstitials deliver key information about the speakers to attendees, as well as a countdown to when the event begins, to properly prepare them for the event. Using the mobile app, users can scan the QR code to sign in to the event.
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While each booth is an experience unique to that booth’s owner, I still want to make sure they align with the visual concept of the conference by providing simple amenities for each booth to use. The varying banner styles allow those running booths to get banners that connect them to parts of the conference’s theme.
