How to bring a Summit theme to life | Part 2

Once we had a theme picked, we were ready to start planning the layout of each floor of the Moscone Center. Arranging and rearranging where signage, booths, activations, and all the other elements would live was a challenge and we made adjustments throughout the process (up until 2 weeks before!). Having the floorplan and a signage grid were essential for organizing where signs would go and how many signs we would need. These 2 documents were basically our Red Hat Summit signage bible and were key to keeping track of it. Pro tip: breaking things out into individual floors on the signage grid was a huge help.

[Read part 1 from Chelsea first, if you haven't already!]

Outside signage

Y'all, we took over an entire block of downtown San Francisco around Moscone West! How cool? Following the guidelines we set up, we wanted the outside of the event to be corporate red to increase brand awareness and signal that Red Hat was in town and showcase who we are. High-level messaging was used on flags and above main entrances. Nick Burns, Liz Wetzel, and Jimmy Ryals created beautiful ads for our Portfolio Awareness campaign across the street from Moscone West on the Metreon. We watched them go up in the middle of the night— so cool!

Moscone West Level 1

Once you enter the lobby of Moscone West, the theme starts to peek through. Registration, Cool Stuff Store, and the Hat Rack Cafe were some of the major items here. Way-finding signage was also used to help flow traffic up to additional floors.

Ecosystem Expo

The Ecosystem Expo is where we let the red elements shine. In a sea of partners and customers, we wanted to make sure that attendees knew that they were still at Red Hat Summit. The catalog of pre-approved structure and furniture choices gave a cohesive feeling across the room.

Moscone West Level 2

This floor was a challenge at first. Because there were so many different elements going on here, we were aware of the confusion a mix-match of colors and messages could create. To streamline this, we incorporated mostly grays and reds from the color palette. Innovation Awards banners, large theme branding, a cloud activation, and Red Hat properties were successful examples of second floor signage.

Moscone West Level 3

The third was all about the theme. Hanging customer banners, large impact theme banners, and digital signage on this floor really helped create the mood for general session and reinforced the theme.

Moscone South

South is where we brought out more highlights of the yellow part of the theme in order to highlight a more learning track. I really love the way the blue and yellow work together on these banners.

Way-finding, maps, and information

Our goal this year with way-finding this year was to highlight the most important element of all way-finding—the content! We decided to keep the design simple, mostly gray gradients and the theme living in the bottom right "crangle." (Crangle is a made-up word that our design team uses to describe the 45 degree triangle area of artwork.) Other information signs were assigned a full color template. Meterboards, easels, and other onsite signage were created in the various choices from the Summit color palette of red, blue, and yellow.

I knew going into this project that signage would be a giant undertaking and I was right. I'm happy to say that as a team, we worked really hard to deliver an experience that was clear, immersive, and exciting. What's even more is exciting is the insight I'm taking away for Summit 2019. See you there!