PopTech
For over 20 years the PopTech Conference has served as the annual gathering of a global community of scientists, technologists, humanitarians, designers, artists, innovators, corporate and governmental leaders, academics - and those who defy tidy categorization. Hosted each fall in the beautiful seaside town of Camden, Maine, it’s an enriching, three day experience filled with challenging presentations, interactive sessions, shared meals, fireside chats in front of real fireplaces, late night debates, movie screenings and music-making. PopTech curates a wide range of notable speakers, most recently including tech pioneer Tim O’Riley, cultural philanthropist Stephanie Coontz and behavioral economist Dan Ariely. The goal: explore, inspire, and discover a shared potential that extends well beyond the reach of individual aspiration.
COLLINS was asked to design and creative direct the conference based on the timely theme “Instigate”; inciting change rather than adapting to the current climate. Our creative idea emphasizes the idea of subjective views, shifting perspectives and the friction that can ultimately lead to positive change. Our design system alludes to many individual elements coming together to create a cohesive whole, posing these questions:
How might opposition serve as a tool for change?
How might we find optimism in conflicting points of view?
Our film, identity, micro-site, environmental graphics, wayfinding and print ephemera employ deliberately startling fractures that were carefully implemented to interrupt the quiet town of Camden, embodying sparks of energy that can lead to progress.
Team
- Ben Crick
- Megan Bowker
- Sanuk Kim
- Taylor Holland
- Tom Elia
- Young G Woo
- Brian Collins