TEDx Viikki: Branding & Visual Direction
Designing the Branding, Visual direction, Marketing and print materials for TEDx Viikki event that held at Teknikan Museo, Helsinki on the 13th of October, 2024
Date
June - October 2024
Role
Designer Manager
Company
TEDx Viikki
Designing the branding and marketing materials for TEDx Viikki presented a unique challenge: creating a visual identity that honored TED’s globally recognizable brand while reflecting the local essence of Viikki. The designs needed to inspire curiosity and engagement among Finland’s educated audience, many of whom were already familiar with TEDx events, while ensuring the event’s distinct theme stood out.
Specific challenges included:
Brand Consistency: Ensuring all materials adhered to TED’s strict branding guidelines while introducing elements that made TEDx Viikki feel unique.
Attracting Sponsors: Designing visually compelling sponsorship materials that clearly communicated the event's value proposition and potential audience reach.
Ticket Sales: Creating a marketing campaign that resonated with a diverse audience across digital and offline channels, highlighting the event’s innovative talks and inspiring stories.
Balancing Modernity and Tradition: Developing a design approach that felt contemporary and professional, yet warm and relatable to the local community.
To tackle the challenges, I developed a strategic approach that combined deep brand research, creative storytelling, and community engagement:
Immersive Brand Research: I thoroughly analyzed TED’s global branding guidelines to ensure that all visual elements—including typography, color schemes, and logo usage—were consistent with TED’s established identity.
Theme Inspiration: Drawing from the event’s theme, “Co-creating our stories,” I incorporated design elements like speech bubbles and storytelling icons into the branding. These visual elements emphasized the collaborative and narrative-driven focus of the event.
Audience-Centric Design: Through user research and audience profiling, I crafted visuals and messages that resonated with Finland’s educated audience, emphasizing the event’s intellectual and emotional appeal.
Omnichannel Marketing: I developed a cohesive strategy for both online and offline promotion, including:
Social media graphics and templates tailored for platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn.
Print materials such as posters and brochures to create buzz in local venues.
Event-day visuals, including stage designs and attendee materials, to ensure a seamless brand experience.
This approach ensured that TEDx Viikki’s visual identity reflected the event’s theme while resonating with the target audience and achieving its engagement goals.
To bring TEDx Viikki’s vision to life, I delivered a cohesive and innovative design system that seamlessly integrated the global TEDx brand with the event’s unique theme, “Co-creating our stories”:
Logo and Branding: I developed a logo variation and visual identity that adhered to TEDx guidelines while incorporating theme-specific elements like interconnected speech bubbles and story motifs. These visuals symbolized collaboration and the power of shared narratives.
Color Palette and Typography: A vibrant yet professional color palette was selected to evoke energy and intellectual engagement. Clean, bold typography was used to maintain TEDx’s signature look while enhancing readability across digital and print media.
Website and Digital Assets: I designed digital touchpoints, including:
Social media templates featuring storytelling icons and dynamic layouts to drive online engagement.
A visually appealing website section for ticket sales, speaker profiles, and event updates, ensuring user-friendly navigation and responsiveness across devices.
Event-Day Visuals: The on-site experience was enriched with:
Stage designs featuring speech bubbles and storytelling symbols to reinforce the event’s theme.
Attendee materials such as programs, lanyards, and banners that maintained branding consistency and enhanced the audience’s experience.
Print Materials: Posters, brochures, and flyers were created with bold visuals and concise messaging to generate buzz in local communities and attract attendees.
This solution successfully bridged TEDx Viikki’s theme with its visual identity, creating a memorable and impactful design that inspired participation and celebrated the art of storytelling.
The design and branding for TEDx Viikki delivered impactful results, helping the event achieve its goals of community engagement, ticket sales, and sponsor collaboration:
Strong Attendance: The event attracted over 500 attendees, with tickets selling out two weeks ahead of schedule. Seeing TEDx Viikki sell out was a moment of pride and validation for the entire team. My design work played a key role in driving this success, as visually compelling marketing materials created excitement and trust. From the bold social media campaigns to the attention-grabbing billboards, every touchpoint resonated with the audience and contributed to this achievement.
Increased Online Engagement: Social media posts using the event’s unique branding achieved a 35% increase in shares and 42% higher impressions compared to initial projections, boosting awareness among local audiences.
Sponsor Success: The visually engaging materials helped secure 4 key sponsors, providing critical funding and resources for the event.
Memorable Event Experience: Post-event surveys showed that 94% of attendees rated the event branding and visual experience as “exceptional,” citing the theme’s clear representation across all touchpoints.
Community Impact: The event’s storytelling theme fostered deep conversations among attendees, sparking interest in future collaborations and making TEDx Viikki a cornerstone of the local community.
These results demonstrated the power of thoughtful and theme-driven design in creating a memorable and impactful TEDx event.
