We are looking to create, curate and grow Toronto's only cultural hub for the creative industries; Music, Film, Events, Design & Art. Illuminate Creative Exchange is an Idea brought forth by myself and a team of 4 other Toronto Creatives, who want to grow the intersections between the arts that make up Toronto's cultural contributions to the world.
Curate an event that elicits not only excitement, but confidence in connecting with other creatives in well designed experiences. This event system can be easily replicated and scaled.
Approach 🗺️
As an event organizer and a designer, my involvement was omnipresent throughout this project. In order to make significant headway in a very diverse team, my tasks were broken into:
Leading the Brand Strategy.
Using my knowledge in event planning and Service Design to plan front to back, top to bottom operations.
THEME Framework
Service Blueprint
User Journey Mapping
Tools 🛠️
Figma
Adobe Illustrator
Figjam
Brand Strategy
The analogy is that Toronto puts a spotlight on Canada's talent and Illuminates the world. Our brand needed to represent this mission.
I proposed Illuminate Creative Exchange, a name that best brought forth our purpose in this project.
I utilized the THEME framework, applied in notable Las Vegas Venues.
In limited time, finding the right visual language that spoke to creative stakeholders was priority. Iterations after, a combination logo was selected and a visual language that invoked Canadian motifs.
Professionals experience high levels of social awkwardness when networking, innovating on the customer experience would bring great value to us as a start-up in this industry and to our early adopters.
External and Internal analysis revealed three core challenges:
Easing Onboarding Anxiety
Discovering relevant networking connections in crowded events
Facilitating organic networking
OKRs
Better Networking
For All
"Legendary team member!! Created an amazing experience centred around creativity and putting a spotlight on Toronto. This event will change the way we network!
Gordon Whiskey
Hollywood North, Founder, Illuminate
⛷️
Acquired Skills & Knowledge
Using the THEME framework, I was able to create a cohesive Brand Experience based around Canadian Heritage.
In Service Design, I needed to learn various metric calculations in order to represent KPI's justly.
🤩
Points of Joy
Events are one of my passions, and being given the opportunity to create a cultural hub for the creative industries is truly a dream come true.
🤔
What would I do different?
So far nothing, as the plan changes to execute this event in Spring 2025, this will be an ongoing process. So make sure to follow Illuminate on Instagram for updates.