2024The Assembly
The Assembly is an annual client event hosted by One North. Every year they invite a small number of attendees to step out of their day-to-day and “assemble” in a new location. In 2024, We expanded upon the existing identity we created for the inaugural event, adapted it for the new location, The Parker Palm Springs, and drew inspiration from the new theme, Chaos and Control.
Design Team
Michael Brown, Creative Director
While we wanted the logo mark to be a throughline, we were challenged to find ways to create a stark contrast to the previous year. Last year we emphasized the awe-inspiring nature of the Sundance Resort in Utah, and this year we focused on the artifice of Palm Springs with the contrast of the desert and the maximalism of chaos.
Using AI, we generated a lot of visuals using prompts that were related to the event without focusing on deliverables. While ultimately nothing we generated was used, it was a new process that allowed us to generate a wide range of visuals and expressions to spark creativity.
The palette was a foundational element and played a big part in differentiating the identity. Initially, we focused only on oranges and reds, inspired by the heat and iconic boulders in Joshua Tree, however, we realized there was a more complex story in Palm Springs. As a completely man-made landscape, it contrasts the rest of the desert with bright blues from pool water and bright green from manicured lawns.
This complexity led us to think about our palette as two contrasting gradients, one that was cool using the soft hues of sunrise and one that was warm with the vibrant tones of sunset. We applied this rationale to shift the palette for the presentations that changed as the sun shifted across the sky so did the palette of the slides.
We welcomed attendees with custom bags that pulled inspiration from the location, were practical to combat the desert heat, and referenced Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There which was a source of inspiration for the event theme as well as many of the presentations.
Inside the custom totes, we included things like a glass water bottle and an enamel pin that had a special breezeblock logo alternate, a pack of postcards with photos of the surrounding area, and a vintage motel keychain with the theme name.
