Thanks to the hurricane Matthew this month, WordCamp Orlando 2016 was postponed to November 12th & 13th. If you’re not familiar with WordCamp Orlando yet, it’s a fantastic local conference focused on everything WordPress. WordCamps are events around the globe for newbies and experienced developers alike. Bloggers, business owners, designers, writers—really anyone who works with WordPress—can attend, learn and have a great time meeting inspiring people. If you’ve attended before, you already know it’s a highlight of the year for WordPress fans.
Since every site we build is on WordPress, we really appreciate WordCamps. We see them as opportunities to foster this great community and give back to it. That’s why we volunteered our design services for 3 years to create the WordCamp Orlando conference brands.
Since a large part of our team is Orlando based, sponsoring the Orlando WordCamp is a great way to support our community.
WordCamps Involve Volunteers… Lots of Them
WordCamps do have sponsors, but most of the conference organization happens because the community gets behind the events. The Orlando WordCamp is one of our favorite local events. We collaborate with the group of crazy talented folks who love to give back to the community—and we always have a great time doing it!
Image credit Josh Hallett.
Here’s a quick rundown the branding we put together for WordCamp Orlando over the past 3 years.
2013 WordCamp Orlando: Classic Orlando Style
Orlando is known for its iconic oranges. So the 2013 branding reflected the region’s most famous fruit. The goal of the branding package was to create a clean, versatile, fresh design that would be reusable. The logo appeared on t-shirts, bags, websites and other collateral.
Going along with the WordCamp theme, we created merit badges representing camping skills. These were a lot of fun to design, and our team really let the creative juices flow. The badge designs reminded us of Boy Scout & Girl Scout accomplishments of our past—contributing to the overall adventure theme of the conference.
2014 WordCamp Orlando: Retro Gamer
The branding for 2014 was based on retro video games. So fun! We created a sweet 8 bit Legend of Zelda map, along with unique retro Nintendo badges. Our favorite parts of the collateral were the stickers and t-shirt designs. The t-shirt designs mimic package design of a vintage video game (bring back memories?) and attendees loved it. A couple years after the 2014 conference, the t-shirt is still what everyone remembers.
2015 WordCamp Orlando: Inspiring Imagination & Magic
WordCamp Orlando 2015 was all about the magic. Our design team created custom illustrations pulling visitors into a mystical forest design straight from a storybook. The iconic orange was carried through the logo—it’s a running theme for Orlando WordCamps, however in 2015 it’s tucked behind a sorcerer’s hat.
We also designed the website for Orlando WordCamp 2015. We kept the fanciful storybook vibe, finding the perfect font and weaving in our design elements. To build excitement for the event, we even shot a promo video with other volunteers.
Design within the Lines: Multisite & JetPack Only
The design challenges for WordCamp are the foundation’s specific guidelines. Since these events happen around the world, the foundation sets the ground rules. Everything created must work within the default WP Theme for the event, and the conference websites can’t use any plugins other than JetPack. Accomplishing really cool design within these constraints requires careful planning, but is totally possible.
Services We Provided:
- Research & Analysis
- Strategy & Planning
- Identity Creation, Branding & Design
- Packaging
- User Experience
- Studio & Production
Our playful branding brought life to the Orlando WordCamp events. Every year was unique, yet each colorful brand fit in with the foundation’s image as a whole.
Hungry for more details? Read more about our branding process in our case study on WordCamp Orlando.