CAMX 2023 Trade Show
Visual Identity Concepts
Work for hire by Lara Lee while employed at CSG Creative with permission for Lara Lee to display for self-promotion for the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CAMX), an expo produced by the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) and the North America Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE).
Background
The American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) and the North America Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) work together to produce the annual Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CAMX). It represents the largest event for composites and advanced materials professionals. Over 6,000 C-suites, researchers, technicians, educators, and more attend the expo each year.
CAMX rotates its location every year and markets to different industries that are most likely to attend that location. For the first time, CAMX visits Atlanta in 2023. Therefore, the 2023 expo will reach out to the marine industry in addition to the previous 19x other market verticals.
CSG’s VP of Creative, Megan Hall, invited me and three other colleagues to propose concepts for the visual identity of CAMX 2023. Megan tasked me in particular to design a concept with a strong focus on illustration. The client wanted to represent each market, so this complex illustration would fit a lot. I searched with full-color icons of composite and/or advanced materials used in each market. Consequently, my concept was also rather research-heavy to fully understand the applications. Furthermore, due to niche nature of this subject material, I ended up hand-drawing over half the icons.
We’re eagerly awaiting the announcement of the winning concept as of January 2023.
My Role
Graphic Designer
Illustrator
Art Direction
Megan Hall
Agency
CSG Creative
By the Numbers
Researching Materials & Applications
Megan Hall, VP Creative, gave me this inspo graphic (below) to recreate for CAMX. We liked the full-color icons and connected-ness.
Before starting, I need to know what to include. I researched how each market made use of composite and/or advanced materials. For example:
- Automotive: chassis, camper and race car paneling, headlights
- Construction: plywood, concrete, cabling
- Consumer Goods: bicycle frames, hockey sticks, countertops
- Medical: hip replacements, teeth fillings, bone plates/screws
- Transportation: ship hulls, airplane wings/fuselages, spacecraft heat shields, sky lights, railway seating
I initially believed I could download an icon pack or few. However, searching Getty Images for things like “solid surface cast polymer” failed to yield much. Other results had limitations: the icons were too simple (monoline), too complex (unreadable), or irrelevant to the industry.
Instead, I drew icons myself in Illustrator. My favorite things I drew? These!
![Laminate Composite [Icon]](https://www.laralee.design/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/case-study-acma-camx-2023-visual-identity_illustration-laminate-composite.png)
![Autocaster for Solid Surface Cast Polymer [Icon]](https://www.laralee.design/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/case-study-acma-camx-2023-visual-identity_illustration-autocaster.png)
![Crane [Icon]](https://www.laralee.design/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/case-study-acma-camx-2023-visual-identity_illustration-crane.png)
Simplifying the Concept
Edits changed the tagline and reduced the market verticals represented to simplify the illustration.
1st Draft
Simplification WIP
Final
Executing the Build-Out
Pitching to the Client
CSG Creative pitched our proposal to the client in November 2022. Megan Hall presented my and my colleagues’ concepts along with additional build-outs such as a mock-up email. The client loved the big and bold illustrations, so Molly’s and my concepts became the finalist visual identities. We’re eagerly awaiting their final decision!
Mine
*Finalist!
Jeff Harris
Jen Mercer
Molly Campbell
