EXTRA-CURRICULAR - 2019

Hack Western 6 - Build Your Moonshot

Bridging the gap between digital and physical hackathon design for 500+ attendees

See The Recap Video

Problem Statement

How might we create a Hackathon brand that lives in a digital and physical environment?

This was the question that our small team of 4 asked ourselves during our very first meeting. Our end goal was to create a cohesive narrative that the user would be able to follow from the signup process right up until the event day.

I also wanted to bring my personal experience with motion design and videography to build a new option for branding.

Our planning board after our 2nd brainstorming session

Whiteboard with planning notes

Planning

With the creation of moodboards, our team was able to start painting the picture of what we envisioned the brand to look like.

Our group consensus was that the hackathon would be geared towards hackers of all skill levels while also trying to bring some representation to three different streams that we wanted to implement: Business, Technology, and Design

A moodboard that was presented

Whiteboard with planning notes

The Solution

Build Your Moonshot

Using outer-space as the medium, we decided on pursuing a story-centred approach centred around the idea of being able to create your dreams, or Moonshots.

For the look, we opted to incorporate the purple colors found in Western University's branding and infuse it with orange hues to create a calm, yet mysterious feeling.

Within the venue, we hand-crafted several cutouts of our illustrations to hang from the roof. We also purchased glow in the dark space paraphernalia to leave around the building. The item I was most proud of, however, was the usage of RGB strips strategically placed underneath staircases and archways to cast various colors throughout the space to set the mood.

On the video branding side, I designed a video system that incorporates depth through the strategic usage of layer blurring depending on the "height" of the virtual object.

The Design System

A view of the final design choices made by the team

Hack Western 6 Opening Ceremonies

A Collection of Posts and Graphics

A view of the final design choices made by the team

Conclusion

In all, I was proud of what our team was able to accomplish together. As my first time organizing an event at this scale, I learned a lot about working within a team and designing for people in mind. I also had the pleasure of working on logistics and planning to ensure that the even ran smoothly for all the attendees.

What's Next?

In my second year of being on the Hack Western team, I am excited to continue my work and take on the role of Design Lead! My team is already hard at work building the brand for Hack Western 7. Check back for more updates soon!

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