HackDartmouth
Role
Design Lead
(visual design)
Duration
2 months
Tools
Sketch, Illustrator
CONTEXT
During the first HackDartmouth, I was brought onto the team last minute and had limited time to work on designs. I reflected the technology focus of hackathons in my design (e.g., dark terminal, sharp shapes). However, after talking to some participants during the first cycle, it became apparent that some students felt intimidated to participate despite having initial interest.
THE GOAL
Some of our HackDartmouth design goals are to:
Promote inclusivity and risk-taking: because Dartmouth is a liberal arts college, there was a slight stigma that hackathons were only for experienced coders. We wanted to debunk this idea and create a safe environment for students to take risks and push outside of their comfort zones.
Bring in a variety of students: while hackathons mainly focus on coding and development, we wanted to bring in multi-faceted students who are interested in development, design, product, etc.
Create a cohesive feel: because we were creating many pieces of collateral (e.g., website, swag, participant guides), we wanted to make sure the branding felt consistent.
Branding
The general HackDartmouth aesthetic included 1) bright colors for a playful vibe, and 2) flat design to balance out designs and give a cleaner look.
Logos
Because a major goal was to bring in a wide variety of students to HackDartmouth, we wanted to make sure our assets appealed to a range of students. I created a general Dartmouth moose logo, as well as individual icons to emphasize the balance between discover, design, and develop.
Website
The design shift towards a warmer, more inviting feel is the most apparent in the website designs. In my first HackDartmouth website design, I went for a more “technology” vibe with dark colors and low-poly triangular shapes. In the subsequent redesign, I decided to go for brighter colors with a more playful aesthetic.
Additional Collateral
I also created a variety of other materials for the HackDartmouth: swag (e.g., shirts, stickers, water bottles), marketing materials (e.g., posters), and pamphlets (e.g., mentor/participant packets).
Reflections
HackDartmouth was one of my favorite design experiences because I was able to directly see my designs come into fruition (e.g., banners and posters around campus, students carrying swag). It was extremely rewarding to be able to leave a small part of my designs throughout Dartmouth.
Designing for a collective whole
With HackDartmouth, there were many moving pieces to design for: website, swag, marketing/branding, sponsorship packets, mentor/participant guides, etc. This emphasized the importance of creating a branding guide to make sure that the style felt consistent across all of the mediums. The project challenged me to make sure the HackDartmouth designs could be viewed individually but also as a cohesive package.
Developing the aesthetic
My first designs for HackDartmouth lacked a sense of personal style and rationale - I designed for what I expected a hackathon to look like (e.g., “tech-y” aesthetics) rather than what made sense for our target audience. After doing more user research on what students wanted to see and also what resonated the most with HackDartmouth participants, I updated the designs to be brighter and more playful.