Navigating the Tech Conference

CLIENT: SailPoint

ROLE: Advertising, Art Direction, Fabrication & Project Management, Graphic Design

Navigate is the quintessential tech conference of the year hosted by data and security company SailPoint. My role as the lead art director was to work with the SailPoint design team to create an immersive experience for all attendees, from the main stage design down to the VIP dining experience with celebrity chef Kristen Kish.

The largest (and hardest) component of this project was the expo floor. I’ll get into the sweat, blood, and the million print proofs I was drowning in for over six months below, if you are curious. I learned more from this project than maybe any other I have worked on. I take these lessons with me for every piece of work I’ve been a part of since.

The Tetra-Stage

Welcome to the first stage I ever designed. It was just over 90 ft long with three unique shapes based on the newly released SailPoint logo, which they called the “tetrahedral.” I dunno either, but it’s provocative. Creating this stage hand in hand with ATX Event Systems as my fabrication partner required a whole new set of skills that I had yet to develop but had no choice but to develop overnight.

Material and light were a large component of this design. Lots of the inspiration from the client came from Google conference stages (surprise, surprise). Included in SailPoint’s event branding was a soft wood pattern that I knew I had to incorporate somehow. Knowing they did not have a “Google” budget, I settled on a 100ft long printed stretch fabric backdrop. This woodgrain file was, I kid you not…. 14 GB and had to be handed off via hard drive because of the image quality. BUT, boy was I happy when I saw it come to life (and so was the client). So, that’s what really matters right?

Being resourceful with my materials also led me to “polycarbonate.” A ribbed plastic which came in 12ft by 12ft sheets and is favored by garden enthusiasts. Defused light and an almost “techy ethereal feeling,” the client said. OK yeah, sure. Let’s use greenhouse material with some up-lights. WOWW you guys, I was blown away and so incredibly proud of how this stage turned out. I still think about it, occasionally in my nightmares, but I could not have been more relieved when the overheads came on and the stage lit up for the final test.

An Expo Floor like an Onion

I wish someone had come up to me in the summer of 2022 and asked, “Ally, how much have you thought through a circular expo floor?” But if I am being honest with myself I did think through it… so much so that I made a to-scale layout in the back of the RED VELVET office just to see how much space I would have reasonably to walk between the panels. It wasn’t until we got on-site that the (very well hidden) panic set in. Have you ever put trade show booths equal distance apart like the ticks on a clock? Yeah, neither had my fabricators… Shout out to the team at Fusion Imaging for braving an impromptu overnight setup with me.

In its totality, this expo was pretty damn cool. I chose to use the same polycarbonate material from the stage— weaving it seamlessly throughout the sponsorship booths. Every sponsor company sent me their artwork which I then proofed and sent to Fusion for printing. There were three tiers for expo brands depending on sponsorship dollar value. EYES on some brands who sent me illustrator files with un-embedded fonts. You know who you are.

The Results

SailPoint's in-person Navigate Conference was a crucial event that demanded top-notch guest experience as they debuted a new identity system and hosted security industry professionals. The event design had to consider every interaction and how it might affect the prospects' judgment of SailPoint's system capacity.

SailPoint's new branding featuring strong angles and bright colors was reflected in every touchpoint, including the main stage, breakout sessions, and expo. The design and layout of the expo emphasized SailPoint's positioning as the core of identity security, with sponsors flanking the core. The conference successfully inspired guests to expand their networks, explore new innovations, and transform their strategies.