Take A Closer Look:
The Goal
For the TEDxOhioStateUniversity 2020 Main Event: Magnify, we had a lineup of 12 speakers who gave talks about a variety of subjects in front of an audience of about 1000 people.
The design team was in charge of creating the Magnify brand identity and all related components. This included stage design, audience engagement activities, team T-shirts, programs, and promotional material.
I worked specifically on stage concepts and related graphics, as well as audience engagement activities.
The Stage
After the team had established the Magnify identity, the next step was to come up with the stage design. We started by presenting sketches for possible concepts. My main stage concept focused on creating sets of icons for each speaker, related to their individual talks, that could be projected on the stage above them. This is the concept we ended up using.
After establishing this as our stage concept, I was put in charge of creating 12 icon sets, one for each speaker, that consisted of icons related to each speaker's talk. I worked with the speaker coaches to identify points in each talk that could be translated into relevant visuals.
These icons were then individually animated by my fellow team member, Nick Romanowski. The animated icon sequences were used for the commencement of the event and the introduction of each speaker as they entered the stage.
Below is the talk given by speaker Hasan Kwame Jeffries, featuring his animated intro at the start of the video. Additional talks, including intros, can be found on the TEDxOhioStateUniveristy - February 22, 2020 youtube channel.
Audience Engagement
Using these icons, I then created 12 interactive posters for audiences to interact with before, during intermission, and after the event. Each poster focused on a specific speaker. Heavy pink text was layered over each individual's green icons. When audience members looked at the posters through a pink "magnifying glass" lens, the text faded to the background and the icons beneath were brought to the foreground.
Additional Use:
The icon sets became a key element in the Magnify brand identity - used on flyers, programs, social media promos, and team T-shirts.
