Event Design: TIBCO NOW 2022 Conference Branding

I was the lead designer for the branding of TIBCO’s 2022 user conference, TIBCO NOW. This was both an in person and virtual event. I was responsible for the overall visual language and style guide, as well as print and digital assets. This included social and email, sponsorship PDF, badges, swag, conference booths, and other supporting assets.

Stakeholders: I collaborated with the design team and partnered with the events team, third-party vendors, the web team, and the content team.

Challenge: The theme of the conference was “Everyone. Everywhere." The idea that the world is connected through data. Since this was to be in person and virtual, I needed to ensure that the design would be able to carry over from digital to print—working for large and small scale deliverables.

Solution: Starting the design process, I knew that I wanted to create a stylized version of the NOW logo as I had done the previous year.

I ultimately decided to focus on the design that was the most unique compared to what we had done in the past and that would offer me the most flexibility.

TIBCO’s approach to large-scale conference design was not standard one-size-fits-all. We were often challenged with creating fresh, one-off visual languages to fit the current theme. Because of this, I was able to explore a more unique color palette outside of the standard brand colors.

I really wanted to explore a more bold, energetic color palette, something unlike anything we’d done before and completely different from the dark color palette we used the year before.

Final TIBCO NOW 2022 logo

The final concept represented the idea of connection in an abstract, less conventional way.

The individual rectangles become connected, part of a whole, by creating the NOW. The idea of connection is further reinforced through the overlap. These geometric pieces in the logo also offered the opportunity for design to be varied and flexible, but still look and feel consistent.

Choosing to take a more abstract approach led to some challenges. During the design process, another designer presented a concept that included an illustration of the world. Once this was introduced, some stakeholders felt that any concept without it would not convey the theme effectively.

I had to find a way to satisfy this need without compromising the design too much. Ultimately, I expanded my design to include a photo-based approach for the world—using the rectangular pieces from the logo as masks. To tie it further to the branding, I opted for duotone style imagery.