Logo, marketing assets, and website design for Toronto’s largest summer hackathon
Background
From 2017-2019, I was a director on the Hack the 6ix executive team, taking part in organizing Toronto’s largest summer hackathon. 2017 was the first year that Hack the 6ix became its own entity after parting ways with its previous umbrella organization, Nspire Innovation Network. With Hack the 6ix being newly incorporated as its own organization, it needed a new brand identity to announce its comeback.
Logo
As the Director of Design at Hack the 6ix, I designed the new logo with the goal of making it distinctly recognizable and versatile. Thus, I incorporated impossible geometry into the logo, with the intention of conveying the message, "enabling the impossible", meaning that Hack the 6ix will be an event that enables bright minds to actualize their wildest ideas, even those that seem impossible to accomplish.
Website & Visual Theme 2018
In my second year on the Hack the 6ix executive team, I led a team of 5 other designers to design our website as well as various marketing graphics. Our goal was to scale up from the previous year and attract twice as many hackers, so we needed some stunning visuals that would distinguish ourselves apart from other hackathons. Our design team decided that the theme for the website would be an isometric cityscape comprised of all of our sponsors, plus the CN tower to signify that we are hosted in downtown Toronto as it’s a core part of our brand. All of the buildings that represent each of our sponsors were custom-illustrated by different members of the design team.
Sample social media graphics
Results
With our new website and visual identity, we exceeded our goal with hacker applications increasing 310% compared to the previous year. We also got some great post-event feedback from the hackers who attended!
From the three years that I spent on the organizing team at HT6, I’ve learned that I love volunteering my time to build something from the ground up and see such a huge event come together to provide young people with an opportunity to learn/build something, and make friends while doing it.