I (Jerrol) just finished two initial theme variations for my company’s annual convention/trade show and thought I would share them with Creative Curio readers as well as discuss my thought process for how I approached each design. I’ll be presenting my concepts to the decision makers later this week and when one is chosen I’ll be using that look for a whole slew of materials for convention.
If you’ve never designed for a convention, it’s a real blast (and also a TON of work). The best part about designing for a convention is walking through the convention center and seeing artwork you designed everywhere, especially the large format pieces like giant posters, displays, booths and banners.
The Setup
The theme provided to the creative team this year was ‘Boldly Go’. From there we had pretty much unlimited creative freedom to come up with our vision for the look and feel of the convention (a very rare treat for designers). The initial piece being designed is a postcard which is the first piece of collateral that goes out.
I think the phrase ‘Boldly Go’ came from someone in marketing who thought they were being clever because the convention is going to be in Orlando this year and my department has a reputation for Star Trek/Star Wars geekiness… Anyway…
Sci-Fi Theme
I decided to ignore the obvious nudge towards Star Trek because I didn’t want people to think “Star Trek Convention” instead of “Company Convention” and figured some people might get turned off by the nerd factor (in addition to copyright/legal issues). I decided a generic space/sci-fi look would fit the bill nicely.
I wanted to base the design primarily on punchy photography with a lot of color and a high dynamic range because that will give it a lot of visual interest and catch people’s attention in an otherwise crowded convention hall. For presenting the information I wanted an interface feel with a lot of subtle detail worked into the design that wouldn’t detract from the message. To get the look I was going for, I used a lot of glows and transparent effects which gives it that science fiction feel.
Old World Theme
For this design I wanted to present something that was a complete polar opposite from the sci-fi theme. To contrast the amount of detail and color in the sci-fi theme, I decided on an old world explorer/sailing theme based on faded maps and old navigation tools (it was initially my beautiful wife’s idea). I wanted something clean, simple and elegant.
I started with a paper texture and worked a lot of subtle detail into the background. The gold type adds richness which accents nicely against the brown of the map, and because a lot of the visual detail is subtle and located in the background, this design is very light and easy on the eyes. An old astrolabe serves as the focal point. If this design gets selected, I’ll be able to have it printed on a rough faded parchment stock instead of overused photo glossy which will add a really nice tactile sensation to the printed pieces.
The Wrap Up
So far everyone I’ve presented my designs to tend to feel very strongly about one or the other in a pretty even split. Which design do YOU like best?
I think they’re both great - they seem to really fit the brief nicely.
Overall I think I prefer the Old World Theme as its a little clearer and the compass could be quite a nice re-occurring feature in any of the other things you need to design.
The Sci-Fi one is great but perhaps a little too busy? I think my eyes are led all around the picture whereas the Old World one has a much clearer hierarchy.
Love your site by the way. I’m always eagerly awaiting the next post in my feed reader!
I really WANT to like the sci-fi concept more, but as Chris pointed out it is a little busy. Almost rave-flyer-ish you might say. On first look I thought ‘Convention 2009’ was an sponsor rather than the type of event.
The western / old world theme works better overall. You could tie in some theme-parties depending on how long the event is - Cornroast!
Just stumbled on your page! *Bookmark. Unfortunately I’m at work on it so I’m going to browse through your archives when I get home tonight. =)
Cleaning up the hierarchy for the Sci-Fi theme seems to be the consensus. I’ll probably do another round on that design before I present. What will probably do the trick is toning down the background elements and lining up the foreground pieces so there’s a clearer flow.
On a personal level I really like old maps and astrolabes, but I think the sci-fi theme is the way to go. I agree with the comments from Chris and Jamie about the sci-fi theme. I also think the colours in the earth are competing a bit with the text boxes for attention (especially the yellow at the bottom). Also, is the lens flare necessary on the “Boldly Go” logo? It creates a little bit too much light and my eye wants to move away.
I think you’ve done a great job on these themes. Thanks for sharing them with us.
Hi Jerrol,
The sci-fi theme is definitely more legible than the old world style, but Star Trek is just what I think of when I see it. The ‘swoosh’ behind the title looks very similar to a Star Trek badge.
Should you choose to go with the old world option, I’d like to see a little more contrast between the text and background.
I like your idea to print on a faded parchment, and think it will look less ‘tacky’ than the glossy sci-fi route. That said, your department has a reputation for geekiness, so sci-fi is probably more appropriate.
Hope that helps.
I think the “Old World” style looks best, great colours on that one and great textures, I’d personally go with that one.
I like the Old World theme, but the yellow-to-orange gradient type seems a little too “Indiana Jones” for me. Also, the typeface for the actual phrase “Boldy Go” strikes me as being wrong. Besides that, I really like the map and compass, as well as the overall layout and(as others have mentioned) the clear hierarchy.