THE DASH BASH
THE DASH BASH
ROLESDIRECTOR OF CONTENT: Mack Garrison
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Meryn Hayes
PRODUCER: Ashley Targonski
CREATIVE DIRECTION: Cory Livengood
ART DIRECTION: Dylan Carrow & John McGowan
BRANDING: Zack Davenport
MARKETING: Mack Garrison and Madison Caprara
DESIGN & ANIMATION: Meg Snyder, Megan DeMarco, Matea Losenegger, Will O’Connell, Luke Liscom, Steph Hallett, Jacob Garcia, Bella Alfonsi, Dorca Musseb, Jay Brown, Erin Bradley, Arturo Echeverria
OPENING VIDEO: 2021 Team and 2023 Team
DETAILSShortly before the five year anniversary of Dash Studio, Co-Founders Mack Garrison and Cory Livengood discussed throwing a big party to celebrate the longevity of the studio. It would be a big Bash - The Dash Bash - and it would celebrate the community of creatives who helped support and lift-up the studio over the years. As the guest list grew, so did the idea that the Bash should be more than just a party, it should be a conference to celebrate this amazing community and inclusivity within the motion space. The end result is a continued biennial animation and motion design festival that brings together some of the worlds best creatives in the Motion Design space.
DISCOVERY & IDEATIONDeveloping the overarching aesthetic for a motion design conference as an animation studio was both exciting and terrifying. Motion designers are multidisciplinary artists who identify as directors, producers, animators, illustrators, designers, voice-over artists, composers and more. And to put them all under one creative umbrella was to pigeon-hole our industry. Instead, we focused on the feelings of being part of the Motion Design community. We created a series of Pinterest mood boards with artists we admired that embodied some of the descriptive adjectives below to begin shaping a general direction for the logo and over-arching aesthetic.
Inclusive
Supportive
Creative
Educational
Inspirational
Complex
BrandingWe sought to find creative depth to highlight the complexity of specialties in our space and looked for bright, warm imagery to focus on the growing inclusivity of our industry. We explored Moiré patterns which are large-scale interference patterns that can be produced when a partially opaque ruled pattern with transparent gaps is overlaid on another similar pattern. We also explored the overlapping nature of simple shapes, on different layers, that highlight motion designers abilities to take complex messages and simplify them for broader audiences. Using these mood boards (above) as a foundation, and the self reflection (below), we started crafting our logo, brand mark, and some of the initial branded elements for the 2021 festival.
Dash Bash Idents
Adjacent to the branding explorations, we started advertising the event through a series of short idents. These five to ten second animations are meant to intrigue the viewer and drive them to learn more. Given the animation and Motion Design industry's wide breadth of talent, we created a variety of 2d, 3d, and character driven animations to encompass the range of styles that can be found within our space and at the conference.
Opening Video
Once we were able to lock-in the branding, the second biggest creative endeavor for the conference was the opening video. As designers, there is a sense of perfectionism but aiming for perfection can sometimes hinders progress. Here’s the opening video for the 2021 Bash and make sure to check out the full credits linked here.
BRAND REFINEMENTFollowing the success of the inaugural Bash, we set our sights on the second festival in 2023 and began refining and improving brand elements to better reflect the experience attendees felt at the first Bash. While the goals remained the same, we felt there was more of a care-free vibe that needed to be reflected in the brand which led us to this second exploration. Here is a look at the brand refresh and some speaker announcements that highlighted the new look.
![_[EXTERNAL] Dash Bash Sponsor Deck 2023 (1).jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6255c7689bdab26213f8761d/6737f301-72e2-40e8-aa37-bfb8d14e22b8/_%5BEXTERNAL%5D+Dash+Bash+Sponsor+Deck+2023+%281%29.jpg)
![_[EXTERNAL] Dash Bash Sponsor Deck 2023 (2).jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6255c7689bdab26213f8761d/0c624e49-f98c-4bc0-b8b7-acdc2296af2b/_%5BEXTERNAL%5D+Dash+Bash+Sponsor+Deck+2023+%282%29.jpg)
![_[EXTERNAL] Dash Bash Sponsor Deck 2023 (3).jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6255c7689bdab26213f8761d/5ac4ad2b-ab2c-40cf-8951-859febbcd2d6/_%5BEXTERNAL%5D+Dash+Bash+Sponsor+Deck+2023+%283%29.jpg)
![_[EXTERNAL] Dash Bash Sponsor Deck 2023 (4).jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6255c7689bdab26213f8761d/b4f32404-9c28-416a-9e1d-e3bd6bf4c6fb/_%5BEXTERNAL%5D+Dash+Bash+Sponsor+Deck+2023+%284%29.jpg)
![_[EXTERNAL] Dash Bash Sponsor Deck 2023 (5).jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6255c7689bdab26213f8761d/99f075f2-7303-4ccb-a556-b01b7999d179/_%5BEXTERNAL%5D+Dash+Bash+Sponsor+Deck+2023+%285%29.jpg)
![_[EXTERNAL] Dash Bash Sponsor Deck 2023.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6255c7689bdab26213f8761d/bbc8e2c4-2ad9-49d5-8834-94e11d3f43c1/_%5BEXTERNAL%5D+Dash+Bash+Sponsor+Deck+2023.jpg)
ASSET CREATIONOnce we had the new look established, there were a myriad of different assets that needed to be created and recreated for the 2023 show. In addition to a new opening video (full credits can be seen here), speaker introductions, signage and general branding for the event we also developed some new collateral including a crowdsourced animation and dash swag for the event.
The Opening Video.
Speaker
Walk-Ons
Before each speaker walked on stage, we hyped up the crowd with these cutdowns repurposed from the opening video. It was a good way to let folks know the next talk was about to begin and reinforce a thematic look across the conference.
Crowdsourced Animation
To create our crowdsourced animation, we took the closing section of the opening video and printed out the 240 individual frames that comprised the video. Animation consists of individual images - typically 24 frames per second. We then gave patrons of the festival colored pencils, markers, and crayons to color in each of the black and white frames and allowed them to scan their colored versions back into the animation in real-time to see the colored version of the animation come to life!
Interstitials
Before each day started, and in between each speaker’s presentation, we provided attendees information about auxiliary events at the festival and gave our sponsors some screen time with these looping interstitials.
PrintIn addition to all the digital assets that we made, there was a handful of printed materials including lanyards, signage, tote bags, swag, and more. Accenting the digital experience with a cohesive print-approach helped unify the conference and create an overarching vibe for the event.
Post-event content was all about capitalizing on the vibes of the conference and the FOMO of folks who didn’t attend. We wanted to make sure we captured photos (above) and videos (below) of both speakers and attendees to highlight the full experience of attending a Dash Bash.
Post-event.Testimonials
Using man-on-the-street style interviews with Dash Bash attendees, we captured short video testimonials and quotes to share across social channels. By building a system of templatized graphics packages, we could keep them all in one unified look.
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