The LATi 2016 Showcase was an outstandingly professional and polished event in large part due to the striking brand identity produced by Crayfish Design.
The aim of the ‘From Earth to Space and Beyond’ showcase was to give LATi’s supporters and the local high-tech, science and engineering community a special occasion to mark LATi’s 20th anniversary.
With the backing and support of Loughborough University and Charnwood Borough Council, LATi started planning a major event to be held on the first day of Leicester Business Festival. The target was to have up to 40 high-tech exhibitors, and over 100 attendees.
LATI extended an open invitation for the high-tech community to attend an initial planning meeting to decide on the theme of the event. Jim McEwen, a long-standing LATi member and Director of Crayfish Design, offered to provide a bespoke brand identity for the event.
John Duncan, Chairman of LATi says, “We were delighted that Crayfish Design offered to produce the visual concepts and branded material for the event, as we would not have been able to achieve this level of professionalism without their help. When Jim offered his support, we expected a simple logo and branded material. But, were blown away by the concepts presented – and the thought that had gone into the project.”
The LATi Board unanimously agreed on a design concept, and gave Crayfish Design the go-ahead to run with the project. LATi manager, Gillian Hunter says, “It was clear that Crayfish Design were inspired by the ‘From Earth to Space and Beyond’ theme. They also understood what we wanted to achieve and the market we wanted to attract to the event.”
LATi wanted something that was representative of the diverse LATi community, which includes space science and engineering, automotive, industrial design, bioscience, life sciences, energy, materials science, information technologies, and business services.
Gillian Hunter, LATi manager says, “The design idea Crayfish Design presented was spot-on because it drew on LATi’s existing identity to represent the community who’d be exhibiting and attending the event. The ‘i’ in the LATi logo, which represents a human figure, was used to create a circular image that looks scientific and high-tech – and has an engineering feel to it. It communicates who we are simply and powerfully.”
“The resultant design is a prefect representation of who we are. We believe the design will be re-usable, providing a strong identity for future events.”
Jim McEwen, Director of Crayfish Design says, “The design was styled to reflect the three different elements of the theme and a deeper understanding and insight to science and technology – from the subatomic particles of the earth represented by a particle collider, the iris of an eye providing visible focus, through to a space hub formation with outreaching connections. Colour was also used to reflect the theme with yellow and green for the earth, blue and deep purple for space through to the red warmth of distant suns.”
Crayfish Design created a wealth of material from these initial design concepts, including web banners, digital material, a movie to promote the event around Loughborough University and other local innovation centres, social media imagery, event posters, PowerPoint templates, name badges, banner stands, postcards, give-aways, and an animated sequence which was played at the start of the event.
The branding tied every part of the event together from promoting the Showcase to presentations on the day. The branded material was widely used on social media, on blogs and third party websites. Exhibitors also made use of the branding in their own social media activities and blogs, helping to spread the message with a bit more impact.
Gillian Hunter adds, “The animated sequence was a wonderful surprise: it showed the design imagery unfolding, telling the “earth to space and beyond’ story in visual form. It cleverly set the scene, creating an exciting introduction to the conference.”
The benefit of working with Crayfish Design on this project was their attention to detail and careful project management, says Gillian. “Creating material for an event is never as simple and straight-forward as it looks, but it all ran incredibly smoothly. We were thrown a few curveballs. However, they took all the amends and changes in their stride. Nothing was too much trouble.”
John Duncan says, “Thanks to Crayfish Design, we were able to deliver a professional looking event that the LATi community and our supporters were proud to be associated with. We wouldn’t hesitate in recommending Crayfish Design for brand identity and design projects.”