Umbel
Event Design + Art Direction + Motion Graphics
Umbel is an Austin based tech company that focuses on ethically acquiring data in order to help its Sports and Entertainment clients reach their fans with engaging content and activations.
I have worked on a multitude of different projects while employed there, and some of my favorites are the work I completed for our SXSW RePower event This event took place during the Sports portion of SXSW 2018, and kicked off with an exciting panel about Sports in the tech industry, and later our office became a place to not only recharge your devices during the SXSW events, but a place to relax and recharge your body as well.
Welcome Screens
Below are screens I designed that were projected at the entrance to our office. The left screen instructs guests to use either the QR code or url to check in to the event as well as the Umbel Live web app we developed and the right screen serves as a brief description of the event and is paired with an animated illustration of the Seaholm building that I created, which I have included a gif of in the image above.
Umbel Live App
Before our developer began working on the Umbel live app, I mocked up all of the screens as well as an animation of how I wanted everything to animate. This was a lot of fun to animate and it very effectively conveyed the intended design and function to our developer.
My concept for this app is that users, once checked in and authenticated through Facebook, are added to a unique data set that we could pull facts out of both for entertainment purposes and to show the power of Umbel's primary product and its ability to gather likes and affinities from Facebook data. The app is projected to multiple television screens in the space, and when users log in or tweet using the party's hashtag, there is a notification on the screen. Photos uploaded to twitter or taken in our office space would populate the gallery portion of the app.
Trading Cards & Posters
Everyone loves swag, right? We had plenty to give away, but nothing specific to the event. When brainstorming, I came up with the concept of taking our product's major selling points and turning them into trading cards. We would personify each product feature into a character and instead of listing player stats, each card would include a fun (and occasionally punny) description of the corresponding product feature .
In this project, I came up with the concept, designed a rough layout and prototype, then art directed our other designer, Kelsey Meurer, as she came up with the visual character concepts and illustrated them. We both finessed the final card design to completely marry the illustrations and design together.
The team was so excited about the cards that we were asked to design a few posters in order to transform the space a bit more, so we did! Like with the cards, I designed the initial layout before handing it off and art directing our other designer toward the final design.
Photobooth & Custom Avatars
Another fun activation at the event was a photobooth we set up to allow guests to take selfies and receive a custom avatar in our brand's illustration style. I designed the microsite that the form lives on, and art directed our designer in her design of the signage for both the photobooth and templates for the deliverables. Below is one of the custom avatars I created in a set of the three images each user would receive in their email.
The avatars were not only a big hit among our guests, but our employees were also very excited to participate and receive custom avatars! This event was a great opportunity to see users interact and get excited about activations and designed collateral in person, and I am so grateful to have experienced it!