2012 aiga minnesota Design Show

While the AIGA Minnesota Design Camp has historically been a popular event among our local design community, the concern was that it was becoming too student-centric and was losing appeal with the more experienced professional crowd. The goal was to re-establish the Design Camp brand as equally relevant to both. Additionally, due to tighter conference budgets among local design agencies, AIGA Minnesota now had to compete more heavily against other events for the limited conference dollar. The question was: How would it stand out?

Our solution was to build greater interest and intrigue around the event; to position Design Camp as not only an informative, inspiring event option for all experience levels, but a fun alternative to a typical industry conference. After all, it wasn’t just about design, it involved camping, too.

That’s where the character of Grayson Forrestor came in. He became the voice and host of the event, perfectly embodying both the woodland location and the design focus of the conference. He literally was the authority on each, often mixing the two subjects together with humorous results. The art and copy seamlessly reflected Grayson’s personality, seamlessly blending elements of design and nature into one cohesive campaign.

Delivery of Work

Promotional materials—designed to raise awareness for the 2011 AIGA Minnesota Design Camp—included guidebooks, postcards, posters and a twitter page. All were geared toward our Target audience of both design students and local design professionals.

The Results

The event was a resounding success. It sold out almost instantly and was well attended by a cross-section of the local design community, from students to 30-year professionals. Grayson became THE topic of conversation at check-in, as campers wondered aloud whether or not he existed (and if so, would he make an appearance?). In fact, his legend grew so much throughout the weekend that AIGA Minnesota adopted him as Design Camp host for the foreseeable future. And, of course, the return on their investment was huge, as all the work was created entirely pro-bono by the Target inHouse creative team.