Phoenix Design Week 2015
ENGAGEMENT DURATION
9-month volunteer position
ORGANIZATION TYPE
Conference Event, Small Non-profit
PROJECT TYPES
Print Collateral Design
Digital Design
Environmental Design
COLLABORATORS
Brand & Creative Direction, Robert Renteria
Photography, Danny Upshaw
Copywriting & Editing, Kathy Morgan
Printing, O’Neil Printing
Bindery, Roswell Bindery
Phoenix Design Week is an annual, week-long series of events to bring together the Phoenix Design Community.
THE SITUATION
When Phoenix Design Week asked me to serve as Design Chair for 2015, I jumped at the chance and embarked on one of the most challenging and rewarding projects we've ever had the honor to have been a part of. The project was an volunteer role, but one that carried responsibility for the execution of nearly all event design collateral over the course of several months. Creative Director Robert Renteria came with an existing brand identity system and a clear vision for where he wanted to take it. My job was to listen carefully, mine that vision, and carry it through every piece of the project.
I love taking someone else’s creative vision, and executing it as if it were my own. The 2015 design system drew from Native American symbols foundational to the Southwest, and the work honored those roots through precise typography, careful use of white space, and exceptional finishing. The program—a black cover with a blind-embossed symbol pattern and exposed green side-sewn stitching—became the defining artifact of the entire system.
The campaign was recognized with a Bronze Addy Award the following year, and the conference program was featured on For Print Only, a highly regarded design publication.
“I’m truly grateful for the role Strong Design played on the PHXDW 2015 team. If it wasn’t for Melissa’s attention to detail, desire to create beautiful work, and her willingness to collaborate on each part of the process the event would not have looked or run a fraction as good as it did. Her ability to support every facet of the design process was invaluable.”
ROBERT RENTERIA
PHXDW 2015 CREATIVE DIRECTOR
The logo and brand system were designed by the event chair, Robert Renteria. It was inspired by the native communities who were the original inhabitants of Arizona and still shape our state today. With the brand identity in place, Robert set me loose to start designing all of the event collateral using the system.
The neon-green stitching on the bindery was a delightful detail on the conference programs.
The system of icons were blind-embossed into the cover of the program.
Another close-up of the conference program covers. Fun fact: This program was featured on Under Consideration’s For Print Only website!
The interior of the program featured black-and-white imagery against a cream background.
The black-and-white photography helped to unite the disparate photography styles.
Dark photography from past events overlaid with the iconography from the event were punctuated throughout the booklet.
The event posters featured photography from around the Phoenix area, taken by local photographer, Danny Upshaw.
Branded matte black water bottles and pin-back buttons were included the the conference attendees’ swag bags.
Both mens fit and women’s fit t-shirts were offered for the first time at this year’s event, featuring the icon system.
