SheHacks
Branding, 2018-2020
SheHacks is Canada's largest all-female hackathon. Our focus is preparing women to thrive in the technology industry regardless of gender identity, background, major, or experience.
SheHacks makes technology accessible for all, attracting hundreds of diverse attendees and corporate leaders at the forefront of progress.
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ROLE
VP of Design
TEAM
Estelle C. | Co-VP of Design
Jenny T. & Jenny C. | Designers
DURATION
Oct 2018 - March 2020
Branding
Branding - SheHacks 2018/19
On deciding the visual branding for this year's hackathon, we took a look at how we could grow from the previous year's theme. Since last year, we've been more cognizant of how branding can create a sense of exclusion through symbolic gender norms. Being mindful about this, we reduced the amount of pink used.
As we constructed drafts, we noticed how the old tri-coloured logo created more difficulties for us to colour block it onto other backgrounds. Instead, we decided to make the logo completely white and shadow an appropriate colour-blocked layer under the logo.
SheHacks II
SheHacks III
Moodboard
The highlight of this rebrand was developing a cohesive theme. The feedback we had gathered from designing WITS events prior to SheHacks was that people responded more to our visual and themed designs. We created a narrative by thinking about where women in STEM have come to now, and the projects that the peers around us champion on.
This usually starts with the design team throwing words onto a whiteboard that could potentially encompass the theme of SheHacks III. Some of those words and ideas included:
NEBULOUS. PROGRESSIVE.
UNCHARTERED TERRITORIES.
FLUID. FREE. WELCOMING.
We wanted our designs to stay true to these ideas as they stand true to our hackers. The tech industry is still ambiguous to navigate, but we want to recognize the rule-breakers and disruptors who choose to challenge themselves to either navigate through it or change it for the better. In addition, we wanted to communicate that SheHacks is a welcoming space within the tech sector for diversity by growing the number of skilled, forward-thinking women+, ensuring they are seen.
The elements of map topography, imperfect shapes, and bold colours and statements were especially effective in visually communicating our narrative.
Designs
Branding - SheHacks 2019/20
Soon after the 2018-2019 school term, the design team went back to the drawing board to reflect on and discuss opportunities for improvements in the design system. Alongside this, 2019-2020 was the year the WITS design team had grown to include not only product designers but also an illustrator and front end developer.
The team dove into the new term with bigger goals and high expectations for the organization. The design team wanted to ensure that the growth of SheHacks
was well represented and did not compromise the inclusive and welcoming tone of voice we had originally established from the previous year.
Moodboard - 2020 Vision
With SheHacks IV set in 2020, we thought we'd incorporate some the wordplay
"2020 Vision" into our theme. The design team took a deep dive into the concept of Futurism, an early 20th-century artistic movement centered in Italy that emphasized the dynamism, speed, energy, and power of the machine and the vitality, change, and restlessness of modern life. With these two concepts together, we noted down our guiding phrases for the SheHacks IV brainstorm:
BE BRAVE.
FUTURE FOCUSED.
A WORLD OF POSSIBILITIES.
YOUR WILDEST IMAGINATIONS.
We found the Rube Goldberg machine a great reference point to visually communicate, and begin a conversation about futurism and the future of women in technology. As SheHacks continues to grow to accommodate technologists with all levels of experience, the visuals of mechanics and hardware also show how many more avenues of technology we are able to offer at our annual event.
