LABash Student Conference

{

Urban Oasis

Conference Theme

The LABash conference is an annual student-run Landscape Architecture conference held at different schools each year across the United States and Canada. The conference features guest speakers from within the profession, workshops to learn and improve skills, design charettes, expos and social events to encourage collaboration and networking throughout different schools.

In order to win the bid and host an upcoming conference, students must put together a bid video and present it during the closing ceremony of the conference 2-years prior. Therefore, each school has about 2 years to plan and coordinate the event. At the 2010 LABash conference hosted by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Florida International University won the bid to host the 2012 LABash conference in Miami, FL.

As a member of the core planning committee, Meredith was involved with the planing of the conference for the full 2-year period. As specific duties begun to be divided among the LABash board members, Meredith became a member of the branding team for the conference which was responsible for the visual identity of the conference digitally and in terms of merchandising.

The theme of the LABash 2012 conference at Florida International University as ‘Urban Oasis’. This theme was meant to capture a sense of Miami’s identity as a highly urbanized area located between two distinct natural ecosystems; the beach and the everglades.

To support this theme, we set out to create a distinct visual presence for the 2012 conference that combined a sense of urbanity, culture, and nature. The branding was created to have a very modern feel through the use of bold, vector graphics and bright, tropical colors.

Bold Graphic Poster Series (from each member of the branding team)
Screen Printed T-Shirt Designs
Screen Printed Tote Bags
Colorful & Engaging Web Design
Thematic Signage Throughout the Conference
Film Production featuring the LABash Board Members

LABash Poster Series

In order to create a sense of ‘collect-ability’, each member of the LABash 2012 branding team created their own unique approach to the poster design. Each poster series was created to capture the designer’s interpretation of the conference theme.

In Meredith’s poster series for the LABash 2012 conference, the objective was to combine the modern look of the event while capturing the historic allure of the city of Miami. Each poster highlighted a different feature a trip to Miami would offer to attendees while providing the necessary information for attendance.

FIU LABash 2012 Conference Welcome Video

During the opening ceremony for FIU LABash 2012, the board members discussed having a fun and engaging way to introduce themselves to the attendees. The final agreement was to create a music video featuring the LABash 2012 board members to play after the formalities were out of the way.

Meredith took on this portion of the branding effort by handling the full video shoot and composing the final edit. The song was chosen to capture the spirit and swagger of Miami and board members were featured brandishing familiar tools of the Landscape Architecture profession; such was Prisma color markers, T-Pins, and actual plant materials.

LABash T-Shirt Design

The primary focal point of the merchandising for the conference was the T-Shirt design. Many iterations were worked through with the final design selected being Meredith’s simple noli plan graphic.

The design features a noli plan of Miami Beach with the Lincoln Road and the Wolfsonian highlighted in an alternate color. These areas were specifically highlighted since they are the specific areas on Miami Beach were the conference was held. This meant that the T-Shirt was able to act as a way-finding device throughout the duration of the conference.