Giving a global leadership event its own point of view within Google.

For Google’s People Ops Summit in New York, I was asked to develop the creative direction for a global leadership audience while working within the larger Google brand.

The challenge was finding the right amount of distinction. The event needed to feel unmistakably Google, but it also needed an identity of its own that could carry through a multi-day program and give the audience a sense of place.

I developed the visual direction with Google stakeholders and led a team across graphic design, motion, environmental, interactive, and live-show. We carried the identity from the physical environment into projection-mapped installations, digital canvases, stage content, and the live show, thinking about how each piece would work on its own and as part of the larger experience.

The event was also broadcast globally, which meant the environment had to work from a camera as well as from the room. Stage graphics, motion, and the physical set were developed together rather than treated as separate pieces, so the visual language held together whether someone was sitting in the audience or watching remotely.

The result was an event that felt distinctly Google without looking like a standard application of the brand. The identity gave the summit its own character while keeping the focus on the people, conversations, and content at the center of the program.