THE CHALLENGE

WordCamps are community-organized conferences coordinated by volunteers across the world who are passionate about everything WordPress. The events feature diverse presenters and are meant to bring together casual users, developers, and designers to share ideas, create community and conversation, and learn.

As an avid Wordpress user and designer, I volunteered to help organize Wordcamp Omaha 2015 and was assigned with designing the event's badges. Inspired by this project, I reworked the event's branding and redesigned the website. The website's main purpose was to inform people of the event's date, time, and schedule and encouraging ticket sales.

LOGO & BRANDING

The logo is a take on the WordPress logo, utilizing a lively orange to mimic a sunrise and to reflect the city's vibrant culture. In the foreground is Omaha's skyline featuring quintessential structures including the University of Nebraska Omaha's bell tower, the Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge, Woodman tower, First National Bank Tower, Joslyn Castle, and the Henry Doorly Zoo's Desert Dome.

The clean flat design and use of Gotham appeals to a wide audience and the playful use of orange keeps it approachable and friendly, as the event encouraged WordPress users of all skill levels to attend.

EVENT BADGES

While designing the event badges for the attendees, speakers, and volunteers, I faced the challenge of fitting a wealth of information onto a tiny badge. The head organizer asked me to include the schedule for the two day event, Twitter handles, after party details, and information about Omaha's WordPress Meetup group.

The schedule included three separate tracks, two with sessions taking place concurrently. I opted for a bifold badge that could easily be slid out of the transparent sleeves with the main day's schedule in the centerfold and the second day on the back.

WEBSITE

As a conference to promote WordPress, the event's website was of course created using WordPress. The primary purpose of the site was to inform visitors of the five Ws—who, what, where, when, and why—and to encourage ticket sales. With this in mind, I opted to place all the essential event details above the fold with a clear call-to-action to buy a ticket.

Secondary purposes of the site include access to sponsorship promotion, sessions, speaker biographies, and signups for mailing lists. 

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