Fifty-nine pieces. Thirteen days.
One brand, built for Cancun and true to SHRM.
A trusted friend and senior leader in SHRM's event coordination team reached out with a tight timeline and a creative challenge. The existing signage concepts weren't quite landing for the space, and with 13 days to the conference, she brought me in to design the complete environmental signage system for their annual Volunteer Leaders' Business Meeting — an invitation-only leadership conference held in Cancun, Mexico.
The brief asked for tropical and celebratory.
The brand demanded professional and credible.
The answer was finding the space between.
I developed three distinct concepts, each interpreting the Cancun setting through a different creative lens. SHRM selected Concept 1 and we refined from there — botanical line illustrations, tone-on-tone blue, a postage stamp border, and a palette that never strayed from SHRM blue.
The shadow and highlight treatments eliminated the need for supplemental lighting entirely. That's the difference between designing a flat graphic and designing for an experience.
Fifty-nine pieces. Eight sign types.
One visual language, consistent from the front door to the elevators to the ballroom.
The SHRM team was blown away. My SHRM contact noted that the designs were remarkably well thought through for the physical space, elegant, tropical without being kitschy, and true to the brand.
After the conference concluded, I was engaged for a second project.