Danielle Vernelson
Events
Case Study Highspot Spark Conference 2023
Goal of the project: Every year, Highspot puts on a conference to get customers excited, and make new announcements about the product. They invested heavily in the 2023 event, with multiple stages, breakout rooms, and special networking spaces.
Created while freelancing at: Incite Media
Role: Graphic Designer
Project Details A Multi-Faceted Project
Introduction
This year, I worked as the sole Spark designer on a freelance basis, creating all event printed materials remotely from Colorado for the Seattle event. Since I couldn’t review the location in person, I needed to rely on input from on-site marketing partners, location photos, and print vendor mockup. Due to my deep knowledge of the brand, I was able to meet print deadlines effectively.
Mockups and Final Products
I learned that the Seattle Convention Center had dark carpet and curtains in the background of the large ballroom they would use as a networking space, so we decided that the printed graphics should primarily be light in color, and then the projected presentations could use the full-opacity, darker brand colors. Thanks to 3D renderings provided by the print vendor that I was able to overlay my artwork on top of, my expectations closely matched the final printed results. Take a look at my mockups versus day-of photography:
My Mockup of the Main Stage (Pre-Event):
The Stage at the Live Event:
My Mockup of the Entrance to the Gallery (Pre-Event):
Final Gallery Result from Day-of Photography:
My Mockup of A Breakout Room (Pre-Event):
Final Breakout Room Result from Day-of photography:
My Mockup of Several types of booths that would appear in the marketplace:
Note that these aren’t really arranged in the 3-D Space, I wanted to show what they’d look like side by side.
Final Booth Result from Day-of photography:
Other Artwork I created
These pieces didn’t require a mockup, because they were more straight-forward pieces:
Donation Graphic Walls—These graphic walls told attendees about the different causes they could drop a $5 wooden coin into, allowing them to donate to their favorite non-profit.
Marketplace Stage Backdrop—When not being used by a speaker, this stage would have a projected looping video with notes to customers.
Sparktoberfest Graphic Wall—This 7 foot-high printed wall graphic appeared in a special section of the marketplace called “Sparktoberfest,” where visitors could network, relax, and grab a beer and a pretzel.
Event Program—A booklet with the agenda, floorplan, and other important information.
Results
It was an incredible thing to see the photos from this event and know that, whereas in previous years, we had an entire team of designers creating artwork for this event, this year, I had personally created every single piece of signage. The feedback was extremely positive. The event itself also had great results; the registration goal was beat by 116% and the in-person goal was beat by 122%. Finally, when asked how many stars they would give the event overall, customers rated it 4.5/5. The whole team came away from the event feeling really proud.