Colour
Bright, because the room needed confidence
PMISAC's own blue and orange were already positive, so the palette drew from them rather than arriving as a stranger. Light beige and reduced opacity added the movement.
Brand Design
Case Study
PMISAC
'22 Professional Development Conference
The objective
Forward momentum, without pretending the gap had not happened
The Professional Development Conference is PMISAC's annual event, hosting its members alongside Alberta's project managers who come to discuss, learn and build their skills in the industry.
In 2022 we were asked to build the conference brand, the first after COVID cancelled the previous year. It had to speak of forward momentum while acknowledging the past, and it had to do that in a room still carrying the previous two years. Colour, type and one mark had to say it before a word was read.
The identity
Three decisions, in this order
Typography
Clean lines, not a raised voice
The audience leans to simplicity, so brash was the wrong register. Averta gave Helvetica's clean lines with a real change in presence between weights. Semibold leads, Light supports.
Logo
Circles for the past, circles for the future
Outlined circles on the left are the past, present but not heavy. Solid ones opposite are the future, and the transparent right circle takes the colour of whatever sits behind it. A rotated chevron carries the momentum.
The campaign
Where the brand had to prove it worked
A conference identity is tested by the number of jobs it has to do. This one ran a call for speakers, an attendee promotion, a run of speaker announcements and the sponsor recognition, each on a different background and each still recognisably the same event.
The transparent circle is what made that possible. It takes the colour of whatever sits behind it, so every asset could change ground without the mark being redrawn. The campaign also carried the brand past PMISAC's own membership, which is where a conference finds the people who have not come before.
The result
What the brand did
The board and the attendees took to it
The brand was well received, and the reaction was to the conference rather than to the design, which is the right way round.
Attention moved off COVID
The theme kept the conversation on what was ahead, at a moment when the previous year's cancellation was still in the air.
Reach went past the membership
The social campaigns let the brand breathe in places PMISAC's own list does not reach.
The system held across every asset
One palette, one type family and one logo carried a call for speakers, attendee promotion, speaker announcements and sponsor recognition without strain.
The brand drew attention to what lay ahead rather than to the conversations about COVID that were sitting in the air at the time. That was the whole job.
Our other studies: user acquisition, fractional CMO and AI marketing integration.
The curious questions
Frequently asked questions
The full brand identity for PMISAC's 2022 Professional Development Conference: colour palette, typography, logo and social media campaign, built around a future forward theme.
To build a conference brand that signalled forward momentum while acknowledging the past, for the first Professional Development Conference after the previous year was cancelled by COVID.
The palette drew on PMISAC's existing blue and orange, adding light beige and reduced opacity for dynamism; typography used the Averta family, Semibold as primary and Light as secondary; and the logo used circles, outlined for the past and solid for the future, with a rotated chevron for momentum.
The brand was well received by the board and attendees, kept attention on the future rather than COVID, and the social campaigns extended reach beyond the membership, contributing to a successful conference.