Designing Badges (And More) For A Conference

Designing Badges (And More) For A Conference

• By Maurizio Piacenza


• August 29th, 2014


• CommunityConferencesInspiration


• 0 Comments

To badge or not to badge? That is a question. Because badges — and a lot of things designed for conferences — mostly demeanour a same. But if we have a little, opposite conference, we need opposite kinds of things. Badges included.

It all started in 2013 with a initial Kerning conference¹. we was asked to settlement a central notebook: we finished adult with a unequivocally typographic settlement for a cover and a humorous settlement on a back. And an Easter egg on a cover — some-more on that later. It was a unequivocally humorous project, so when my dear crony Cristiano Rastelli², a member of Kerning’s organizing committee, asked me to settlement a cover and some printed materials for Kerning 2014 we immediately pronounced “Yes, let’s start!”

Kerning’s Calling

I’m unequivocally ardent about letterpress, so there was no doubt about a notebook: letterpress copy again. But what about a cover? After a initial unequivocally typographical settlement in 2013, we wanted to make some changes. we adore to pull with pencil on paper and we adore caricatures, too. we had drawn a lot of them over a past few years, so with all a photos of a speakers on Kerning’s website we motionless to go that way: a cover would be full of caricatures.

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Notebook cover for a initial book of Kerning. (View vast version⁴)

I had to endorse how to pull them. When we use letterpress printing, costs can arise unequivocally fast if we use a lot of colors. Each tone is printed separately, so we have to take into comment a bill from a unequivocally initial second. As we had in 2013, we motionless to use customarily a dual central colors of a conference: black and red (Pantone 7417, to be precise). This was an critical component given we also had to settlement other printed things too: badges for speakers, organizers, attendees and workshops. Oh, and some postcards too. This things had to be printed in digital offset, so we could use a lot of colors if we wanted; yet given we had already set a bounds with letterpress, both for character and colors, we motionless to go a same way.

The Idea Behind The Notebook And Badges

Caricatures and dual colors: that was OK, yet how to compare a settlement of a cover and a badges? They had to be partial of a same plan and communicate a same mood. The thought came from a behind cover of a notebook: we had motionless to use a same settlement from 2013, to settle some continuity. Looking during a pattern, we satisfied that it reminded me of playing cards. Not a face side obviously, yet a back.

So given not settlement a badges like personification cards? we had to settlement several opposite kinds of badges: those for workshops (leaders and attendees) and those for a discussion day: speakers, organizers, and attendees. And a badge for a discussion host, too. With an thought for a design, we afterwards indispensable to commence some investigate about personification cards.

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The settlement on a behind cover reminds me of personification cards. (View vast version⁶)

The Importance Of Research

I did some investigate online, reading and observation some unequivocally engaging websites about personification cards. Some personification cards have good drawings and are unequivocally complex, too. There are a lot of opposite styles, yet what we indispensable was a some-more elementary approach, suitable for both digital equivalent and letterpress. we identified a cards we had to design: kings for masculine speakers, queens for womanlike speakers, a buffoon for a host, a ace of spades for organizers, as good as 5 and 6 for attendees and seminar presenters (in fact, a discussion took place on Jun 5–6, 2014).

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Caricatures during work on speakers’ badges. (View vast version⁸)

The kings, queens and a buffoon would be easier than a common chronicle we’re used to saying on personification cards, yet given we unequivocally adore sum — even a smallest ones — we found a right label for these small, crazy things: a ace of spades. Aces of spades are always full of details, beautifully designed and so it had to be a one for Kerning. But a typographical ace of spades, given a discussion is about typography.

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Organizers’ badge: typographical ace of spades. (View vast version¹⁰)

Even yet my investigate didn’t outcome in a distinguished new idea, it gave me a foundation. Often we find that investigate can possibly endorse a thought we already have or make me change it totally. Research helps me to find a good approach. Even if we settlement a totally new thing, my preference is formed on what I’ve customarily seen. It’s not customarily a matter of character or ambience or something like that: with investigate and research we have something clever to bottom my plan on.

Research for illustrations of caricatures is unequivocally important, given a some-more cinema we collect a some-more sum we can draw. There were some cinema of a speakers on Kerning’s website, yet we looked online for some-more references. After carrying collected some some-more photos, we was prepared to start.

The Process

I always start with pencil on paper. Logos, illustrations, striking projects, it doesn’t matter — pencil and paper give me a lot of freedom. If we start sketch in Illustrator or other software, we are firm by a boundary and character of that software. And when we start sketching a elementary concepts, we have to be giveaway to experiment.

There’s no proceed to be shabby by some noble underline or effect: black on white only. Freedom is fine, yet we always take into comment a bounds of a project: in this case, customarily dual colors and a unequivocally prosaic mood given of letterpress. Drawing some sketches and afterwards building a utterly finished settlement customarily regulating pencil authorised me to combine on a many critical things.

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The mimic of Ellen Lupton: pencil on paper. (View vast version¹²)

That said, we unequivocally adore colors too, even if I’m not so good during portrayal with H2O colors or in oils. we unequivocally adore prosaic design, so we like to pull with Illustrator. And Illustrator is a program we customarily use for tracing drawings. So once my illustrations with pencil on paper are complete, we indicate them to start a tracing job. we motionless to pull customarily a caricatures by hand, creation all a other striking elements directly in Illustrator. There was an central rise to use — Pluto Sans¹³ by HvD Fonts¹⁴ — and other things were unequivocally basic, so no need to pull them with pencil.

Sketching is a Game of Trial and Error

These initial caricatures were unequivocally elementary in style. we had attempted to be as elementary as probable to have something that was excellent for letterpress. The eyes were customarily tiny dots and other elements were unequivocally simple. Unfortunately, we didn’t like a final result. we couldn’t — and didn’t wish to — pull picturesque caricatures, yet what we had drawn was customarily too basic. we scanned a drawings and we attempted to snippet one or dual of them, customarily to know if we could make some changes directly in Illustrator: no way.

Since tracing your drawings in Illustrator is utterly a time-consuming job, we motionless to start again from blemish with pencil and paper. There was not most time left before carrying to imitation everything, yet we motionless to start again anyway, given this was a best choice to grasp accurately a final outcome we had in mind.

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Caricatures, initial pencil version: they were most too basic… (View vast version¹⁶)

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These caricatures lacked a right turn of detail, useful to play with when we are afterwards sketch a digital version. (View vast version¹⁸)

The second try was better: some-more minute caricatures — not naturalistic, yet something that was good for both letterpress and digital equivalent printing. we scanned all a caricatures again, and started tracing them in Illustrator with a coop tool. As we know, we unequivocally like pencil, so we unequivocally like regulating a graphics inscription and coop too. In fact, we use them each time we can, given it speeds adult a process. I’m so used to it that infrequently we locate myself regulating a inscription with a word processor. we know, we know…

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The final, some-more minute mimic of Francesco Franchi with some tests for choice mouths. (View vast version²⁰)

Tracing Sketches with Adobe Illustrator

I customarily use a unequivocally splendid hue, like magenta or cyan, to be certain we can clearly see a lines opposite a black and white of a pencil drawings. we customarily endorse that weights we wish to use for lines, generally if we pull illustrations with a few colors or customarily strokes with no fill. If we have a elementary settlement character — a few colors, no formidable shapes — we try to be as purify as we can. we cruise that “To mystify is easy. To facilitate is difficult” by Bruno Munari is always good advice.

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Tracing caricatures in Illustrator: same line weights for same elements (nose was 0.75 pt). (View vast version²²)

For these caricatures we went with these weights: 1pt for contour and unequivocally critical lines, 0.25pt for pointed sum and 0.75pt for all in between. If we endorse on line weight before we start operative it’s easier to contend a unchanging mood in all your drawings. Establishing line hierarchy also helps with substantiating hierarchy between elements. If something is important, give it some weight. If it’s reduction important, make it thinner.

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Different weights assistance settle a hierarchy between elements. (View vast version²⁴)

Tracing is a matter of time and patience. Graphics tablets can assistance we a lot, yet we customarily spend a lot of time tracing my drawings with as few control points as we can. Lines are smoother and if we are operative on formidable illustrations, a fewer control points we have, a improved a outcome will be. And — final yet not slightest — fewer control points are good if we have to change a shape: cruise about carrying to change 10 control points instead of 4 if we wish to change customarily one hair!

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Drawing lines with a few points is always fine: well-spoken formula and reduction work if we wish to change something. (26)

Let’s Finish a Design!

With all a caricatures traced, it was time to supplement a other elements: letters (K, Q and a star for a joker), a Kerning logo, and a person’s name and Twitter hoop inside a ribbon. Not such a formidable job, yet there were badges for attendees, presenters, and organizers, too. we had customarily used hearts for speakers, so we motionless to go with clubs and diamonds for workshops and conference. And for a organizers, a ace of spades.

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Meaningful names for levels are always helpful, yet they are elemental for formidable illustrations. Unless we wish to go crazy perplexing to find something between dozens of layers…(View vast version²⁸)

Workshop and discussion day cards were not so difficult: 5 of clubs was a badge for workshops — both for presenters and attendees — while 6 of diamonds was for a discussion day, given they took place respectively on Jun 5 and Jun 6. These cards were unequivocally simple, so we won’t cover them here. But aces of spades are customarily unequivocally formidable and full of details. Because Kerning is a discussion about typography, letters were a right proceed to supplement some sum to a card. Since these were a organizers’ badges, we used a same badge with names and Twitter handles that we had already used for speakers’ badges.

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A typographical ace of spades for a organizers’ badge. (View vast version³⁰)

Once we had finished all a badges, we designed a postcards. These had a same blueprint as a badges yet some-more space, so we motionless to embody a unequivocally brief bio of a speakers. Last, yet not least, Cristiano came adult with a good idea: to settlement another form of postcard, displaying a central discussion hashtag — #keming. We used dual chunk (red background), dual serif (black background), and dual sans serif fonts (white background); and dual immature cards with Comic Sans and Buttermilk (fonts respectively by Vincent Connare and Jessica Hische, both speakers during a conference), and a calligraphic chronicle by Luca Barcellona (workshop presenter).

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The final digital chronicle of Frank Chimero’s postcard and some other badges. (View vast version³²)

Let’s Go Print!

So, all was fine, yet we had to check some some-more things before copy a notebooks. If we use unequivocally soothing paper with letterpress — and we used a 100% string paper for a cover — we have to delicately cruise what happens to skinny lines and smaller sum when printed underneath high pressure.

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Elliot Jay Stocks for letterpress (left, used for notebook) is a tiny bit opposite from Elliot Jay Stocks for digital equivalent (right, used for badges and postcards): opposite tricks for opposite technologies. (View vast version³⁴)

The tiny dots inside a black area of a ace of spades, for instance, could disappear when printed, given of a vigour and a volume of ink all around them. So we done them a tiny bit bigger for a letterpress version. The same is loyal when skinny lines are unequivocally tighten to one another: a risk is to remove sum and have a kind of colored spot. So we simplified a hair a tiny bit for letterpress.

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Kerning 2014 notebook: speakers and ace of spades on a cover. (View vast version³⁶)

In general, when we use letterpress with string or soothing paper and high pressure, take caring of this aspect: tiny and excellent sum are OK, yet lines competence be somewhat mutated by pressure.

Final Thoughts (That Is, Always Have Fun!)

What some-more to contend about this project? It started with a letterpress cover in 2013, and grown into something some-more organic in 2014. It was a unequivocally good plan we enjoyed a lot. And what about a finish rug of cards? I’ve been forgetful about conceptualizing a rug of cards given forever. Perhaps earlier or after I’ll settlement one. Who knows? With a lot of letters, obviously.

Talking about letters, a Easter egg in a initial book of a Kerning cover was a tiny caps difference that combined a phrase. A judgment inside a sentence. And that’s all!

(ml, og, il)

Footnotes

1. 1 http://2013.kerning.it/


2. 2 http://www.didoo.net/


3. 3 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/01-kerning-notebook-opt.jpg


4. 4 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/01-kerning-notebook-opt.jpg


5. 5 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/02-kerning-notebook-backcover-opt.jpg


6. 6 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/02-kerning-notebook-backcover-opt.jpg


7. 7 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/03-kerning-badges-speaker-opt.jpg


8. 8 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/03-kerning-badges-speaker-opt.jpg


9. 9 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/04-kerning-organizers-opt.jpg


10. 10 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/04-kerning-organizers-opt.jpg


11. 11 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/05-kerning-ellen-lupton-opt.jpg


12. 12 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/05-kerning-ellen-lupton-opt.jpg


13. 13 http://www.hvdfonts.com/#172-PlutoSans


14. 14 http://www.hvdfonts.com/


15. 15 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/06-kerning-caricatures-first-drawings-opt.jpg


16. 16 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/06-kerning-caricatures-first-drawings-opt.jpg


17. 17 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/07-kerning-caricatures-first-drawings-opt.jpg


18. 18 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/07-kerning-caricatures-first-drawings-opt.jpg


19. 19 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/08-kerning-francesco-franchi-caricature-opt.jpg


20. 20 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/08-kerning-francesco-franchi-caricature-opt.jpg


21. 21 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/09-kerning-tracing-caricatures-opt.jpg


22. 22 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/09-kerning-tracing-caricatures-opt.jpg


23. 23 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/10-kerning-line-weight-opt.jpg


24. 24 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/10-kerning-line-weight-opt.jpg


25. 25 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/11-kerning-line-with-few-points-opt.jpg


26. 26


27. 27 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/12-kerning-naming-levels-opt.jpg


28. 28 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/12-kerning-naming-levels-opt.jpg


29. 29 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/13-kerning-ace-of-spades-opt.jpg


30. 30 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/13-kerning-ace-of-spades-opt.jpg


31. 31 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/14-kerning-final-results-opt.jpg


32. 32 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/14-kerning-final-results-opt.jpg


33. 33 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/15-kerning-letterpress-version-opt.jpg


34. 34 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/15-kerning-letterpress-version-opt.jpg


35. 35 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/16-kerning-letterpress-notebooks-opt.jpg


36. 36 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/16-kerning-letterpress-notebooks-opt.jpg

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Designing Badges (And More) For A Conference