Beowulf Bash
Event Graphics: Print Invitations, Landing Page, Web Banners, Promotional Items
I’ve been either designing or art directing graphics for Beowulf Bash for over a decade. The event is a social highlight at the mega-trade show, Supercomputing. The event has grown from a small gathering of Beowulf technology geeks, meeting in a bar to play pool and drink beer, to elaborate events taking place at unorthodox venues, such as a children's museum, a planetarium, a riverboat, and a bowling alley. Each Beowulf Bash has a unique theme, generally playing off popular culture, which permits me to explore fun, creative graphics.
Postcard Invitation: Beowulf Bash 2018 took place in a western-themed bar, so a parody of Westworld was the logical theme for the event. The intimation background was composed from multiple stock images layered and color corrected to create an ominous landscape.
Web Banner: A series of animated GIFs at different sizes were placed on a variety of tech websites.
Die-Cut Print Invitation: The 2017 Beowulf Bash took place in a bowling alley, so I created graphics reminiscent of the 1950s, and assisted the event organizers in licensing a spot illustration to use on the event materials.
Staff T-Shirt: The event budget couldn’t accommodate bowling shirts, but we were able to make t-shirts for the event crew, customized with their names.
Brochure Give-Away: Since the 2016 Beobash took place in a children's museum, we decided to parody Goodnight Moon for the event giveaway. Grandma Bunny was replaced by a Linux geek with neck beard, the nursery curtains by red-and-green cables, and the starry sky by twinkling server lights.
Animated Web Banner: Those twinkling server lights lent themselves well to GIF animations, which I created for the event landing page as well as for multiple banner ads appearing on tech platforms and websites.
