elite game con

branding and building for a brand new gaming convention

Bringing the gaming scene to central New York was not going to be an easy feat, but as my first real chance to prove myself post-grad, I took it to a whole new level.

company overview

Right Coast Inc. is a well-known events company in central New York proud to host widely known events such as the Syracuse Nationals Auto Show.

timeline

June 2020 – October 2020.

The convention’s opening and further development was put on hold due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Included branding, web design, and development.

my part to play

As my large-scale project that I had a major role in, I was in charge of assisting in brand ideation and development, initial site planning, site design, site building, and final qa testing.

software

summary

Right Coast came to our team envisioning a brand new convention for the CNY area. With the help of another external company, they decided to try their hands in the realm of gaming conventions and needed a brand & website that could compete with the champs like PAX and NYCC. While ambitious, we worked out a plan and execution plan that could turn out something close to what they wanted.

The biggest challenge was figuring out how to stand out in an already well defined space while not standing so far out that nobody would pay attention. As the person on the team with the largest amount of knowledge in gaming and conventions, I had the specified task of coming into the project from a consumer perspective as well as a designers. It certainly wasn’t easy, but it helped give the client ease of mind and information as to why certain design decisions were made.

As the first large-scope project I was put in charge of, I am incredibly proud of where we left off. The client was over the moon, their contacts visiting the site enjoyed it, and it even won an RAF Award in the 21-22 award season. It, in the very least, gave the client a jumping point for where their brand and site could go in the future. The first ELITE Game Con is set to open in September 2022.

branding

brand research & development

A majority of the research for brand and web was spent on competitor analysis. We wanted to be sure that what was created for their brand was unique, but still fit in with their target audiences of hardcore gamers and casual players.

web & mobile

design & development

By taking their new brand style and user research, I helped design, direct, and develop their new website for the interim before the convention and for when they’d be fully live, assigning rules and standards for how and when colors and elements should be used.

branded mockups

concept & design

While the convention got put on hold due to the pandemic, we still gave the client plent of proofs-of-concept for when they begin developing physical assets for their convention center.

conclusion

ELITE Game Con was a great first deep-dive into large scaled projects for me. While it is unfortunate that things were put on a pause for the pandemic, being able to inform a client on things I was acutely aware about and help guide them on this new journey was incredibly rewarding. There are things I could improve, but this was my first real branding and web project and it helped spawn the love of web and ux that I currently have. At the end of the day, we were happy, the client was happy, and we even won a 2022 RAF award for the website’s menu.

insync training

programs used

job description

position name

Freelance Designer

industry

Education

dates of employment

Apr 2016 – Sep 2016

location

Remote, USA

 Assisted art director in making creative assets to be used by the internal team and website for publishing. Developed mostly informational-based graphics and supporting materials.

control concepts usa

programs used

job description

position name

Freelance Designer

industry

Manufacturing

dates of employment

Aug 2018 – Nov 2019

location

Remote, USA

 Worked as freelance designer and consultant for the marketing department. Assigned various creative projects for assets used for clients and trade shows. Developed campaign ideas for the marketing team to pitch internally and helped development after approval of concepts.

RIT student affairs

programs used

job description

position name

Graphic Designer

industry

Education

dates of employment

May 2017-May 2019

location

Rochester, NY, USA

 Teamed with other student designers and our department on digital and print design related to student events and information.

imperium gaming esports

programs used

job description

position name

Creative Director

Graphic Designer

industry

eSports / Entertainment

dates of employment

May 2019-May 2020

location

Remote, USA

As Graphic Designer, I helped set up and standardize the creative used by all aspects of the team members and managers by developing internal brand standards, file structures, and design request system. Continued design requests for team upkeep and maintaining established standards.

As Creative Director, I worked closely with the senior management team to bring on new creative talent to flesh out design and marketing team needs. Became checkpoint for all creative deliverables and mentored design staff through projects and internal processes. Developed high-level concepts for promotional needs, internal management, and external events.

digital hyve

programs used

job description

position name

Digital Designer

industry

Marketing/Advertisement

dates of employment

July 2019 – Present

location

Syracuse, NY, USA

Working with the design team on internal creative, client advertisements, website projects, and large-scale client campaigns. Assisted in establishing standards for web accessibility in client projects and was routinely brought in to give design advice on creative requests. Dedicated to user experiences across all aspects of the advertisement experience. Worked on all parts of the web development process from wireframe & sitemap to CMS build and dev guidance.