UNSTA Diseño 2021
Together with Álvaro and Ana Paula, we made a complete overhaul of our University's official design Event, turning it into an international streaming week that advocates for the multiple visions of design, providing conferences and informative talks for all creatives.
After months of hard work, the event took place on October 4th 2021, completing 5 consecutive days of streaming with 12 worldwide speakers, brand deals, sponsorships; and finished with +100 daily viewers and a new legacy installed for UNSTA on the years to come.
Project: UNSTA Diseño
Role: Creative Directors, Graphic Designers, Animators, Streaming hosts.
Ana Paula Pereira, Álvaro Paredes and me!
Degree director: Gabriela Ganassin,
Supporting team:
Date: Jun - Oct 2021
UNSTA is the private university I graduated from. Its engineering faculty is the home of the Graphic, Multimedia and Interior Design degrees, and they used to have a yearly event showcasing student works and professional talks now and then.
With the pandemic and its following quarantine, the event fell through. There was no time nor budget to continue hosting it, nobody wanted to pick it up, it was quickly forgotten by the public and so, the last edition was 2019's.
But as we slowly learned to accommodate to a new virtual life, Ana Paula, Álvaro and I (senior students at the time) grew restless and decided that it was time to bring the event back in a brand new way. We had a dream, a plan, and with strong commitment and ambition we successfully contacted UNSTA's directors and officials to pitch an entire overhaul of the event.
Starting in June, juggling graduating and multiple jobs, we created the new digital space called UNSTA DISEÑO, a multiplatform design channel that would bring together the 3 degrees and all creatives around the world with streaming events!
After months of hard work, the first event took place on October 4th 2021, completing 5 consecutive days of streaming with 12 worldwide speakers, brand deals, sponsorships; and finished with +100 daily viewers!
This was our parting gift to our alma máter and we couldn't be prouder of the results. We are thankful to this day for the opportunity as we learned our biggest lessons with this daring project and left a legacy that will never be forgotten to us.
Out with the old, in with the new!
The former event used to be called Semana Diseño and Encuentro Diseño but the brand suffered multiple changes over the years; and because the visual identity wasn't really imprinted in the public's eye, we felt comfortable starting from scratch, as we wouldn't lose any former positioning.
2015 - 2016
2017 - 2019
We kickstarted the rebrand searching a name that would tie the University and this new space together!
The word Design translates to Diseño in Spanish and it features the special letter Ñ (conformed by the letter N + a squiggly symbol on top that we call "Virgulilla", only present in our language).
This symbol will be the main inspiration for our logo shape, followed by a secondary brand featuring the full name, to further the public's familiarization with the rebrand and giving the event a name to be called.
Virgulilla and UNSTA explorations
Early sketches
Our main goal with this rebrand was to stand the test of time! This is a mark that will be inherited to different designers every school year; so we worked to achieve a neutral, timeless look that would handle the event's needs without being forced to go over a drastic change every time.
Final animated logo
Peep the hidden Virgulilla there? ;)
The true multi-media experience
With the brand ready it was time to shape the broadcasts. Turns out, running an event is a lot more work that we first thought! Of course, we knew it was intense, but we sure didn’t realise just how much it’d take to plan it all.
We had to take care of every platform, write all the information, interconnect all socials, design the assets, upload them, interview the speakers, engage with the community that was quickly gathering, host the event live, plan brand deals, sponsorships and giveaways... It was a lot to work with! Mind you, we were initially a team of three!
With the help of our degree’s director Gabi, and later our good friends Anita, Fedo and Pedro, the project took off! Through every call we were able to polish ideas, go back to the board and truly bring the project to life,
no longer a far-fetched dream but a full-time working event on our own hands.
New platforms, new challenges
The former events were on-site, paid and private; a whole different experience! We went the opposite way with a FREE event that was accessible to everyone, in no other platform than TWITCH! Before even getting the official okay from our seniors, we created the channel and managed to affiliate it in two weeks. That’s how much faith we had in our vision, and the will to make it a reality.
We turned virtuality, the original enemy, into our best ally for UNSTA DISEÑO 2021. We broadened the horizons, called speakers from all over the globe, managed to find a sweet spot between being an official Institution channel but also an innovative, young design stream meant for all creatives!
Having achieved the affiliate status for the channel, Twitch provided the exact level of customization we wanted as well as security tools and a final clean look, almost like a TV show. We designed an animated broadcast pack, with motion graphics, multiple screens and commercial breaks, as well as full panels with relevant information to guide the new audience that was trying the platform for the first time.
Connecting with the community
Our audience lived on Instagram so we managed the event's communication directly there! Students and colleagues alike would find all about UNSTA DISEÑO via posts, reels and stories. We grew +700 new followers in just one month of digital strategy featuring a full calendar, sneak peeks of the speakers, giveaways, and more!
A peek behind the scenes of the team at the studio
Our fantastic speakers and moderators
We combined real life with a virtual experience, placing stickers and vinyls all over Campus and playing #Spotted on stories, with secret QR codes for Spotify playlists, through collaborations with PedidosYa to have free deliveries and food truck giveaways at the University. You could feel a general excitement towards the event being brought back to life!
No one gets left behind!
Knowing the elder public was used to signing up for an event instead of tuning in for streams, we relied on a landing page that offered sign-up forms so that everyone could subscribe and get alerts when the event was going live.
The website showed a countdown, the official calendar and an entire page to get to know the speakers better, kindly programmed by our professor Augusto Briz. Those who signed up received the special email campaigns filled with reminders of the stream as well as freebies and giveaway info to stay up to date.
How we made it happen
UNSTA DISEÑO taught us to never overestimate the power of asking for things. You have no idea just how many people are willing to listen and help you! We went through maaany video calls and met incredible people who chose to trust our vision of the event, and selflessly gave us their time and experience. We absorbed all of it.
Relying on platforms like Notion, Miro, Discord and Meet, we brought an idea down to earth; but I believe the true key to achieving it was by being resilient. For every yes, we had plenty of No, you’re crazy, this is too much, I don’t think this will work, are you sure? why don’t we just do it the old way? It’s all about taking calculated risks but also daring to go through the unexplored path. A dash of luck here and there but mostly? being respectfully insistent. We sure learned how to communicate ideas and deal with criticism!
Notion headquarters
Miro global planning
Twitch stats
Twitch stats
With this project the team got a hands-on unique experience and learned by doing. I personally learned how to properly delegate (and feel comfortable doing so!), lead others, collaborate, quickly fix the unexpected (remember the day Google went down? Yeah, that was Day One for us. Also, we had an earthquake on Day Three, while we were LIVE!!! on stream!!!)
Working with talented colleagues who also happen to be your best friends definitely helped because communication, honesty and having a safe space to dream and vent were absolutely needed to make this project what it is today! We put everything we had to offer in this event, and I believe it shows in the results and the positive reception!
I'm incredibly proud.
The event has now been inherited to the new seniors at UNSTA and I can't wait to see what 2022 will bring.
Make sure to follow the official channels and please look forward to this year’s edition!
