Summer Splash
Summer Splash
Designing a Multi-platform Brand Identity for a Virtual Gaming Expereince
Designing a Multi-platform Brand Identity for a Virtual Gaming Expereince
Role:
Design Lead
Role:
Design Lead
Project Type:
Branding, Social + Twitch Broadcast
Project Type:
Branding, Social + Twitch Broadcast
Tools:
Photoshop, Illustrator, Figma, Google Sheets
Tools:
Photoshop, Illustrator, Figma, Google Sheets
Summer Splash is a virtual intercollegiate gaming convention and competition co-hosted by various gaming and esports clubs across the United States. Consisting of 8 competitive, prize-based tournaments, casual games, and industry panels, Summer Splash has over 2,000 Discord community members and has achieved over 11,000 stream views across 6 partner channels.
Summer Splash is a virtual intercollegiate gaming convention and competition co-hosted by various gaming and esports clubs across the United States. Consisting of 8 competitive, prize-based tournaments, casual games, and industry panels, Summer Splash has over 2,000 Discord community members and has achieved over 11,000 stream views across 6 partner channels.
In my two years as Design Lead, I directed branding ideation and style guide development, oversaw two distinct teams designing for different platforms, and collaborated with Marketing, Partnership, and Tournament Organizer teams to track and critique over 100 deliverables. I also created assets for both social and broadcast teams, as well as outreach decks for sponsorship and panelist collaboration.
In my two years as Design Lead, I directed branding ideation and style guide development, oversaw two distinct teams designing for different platforms, and collaborated with Marketing, Partnership, and Tournament Organizer teams to track and critique over 100 deliverables. I also created assets for both social and broadcast teams, as well as outreach decks for sponsorship and panelist collaboration.
Challenges → Solutions
Challenges → Solutions
Completing Deliverables for Diverse Teams
Completing Deliverables for Diverse Teams
Streamlined the critique/approval process and liaised between designers and other team leads
Developed a flexible timeline for deliverables, accounting for potential delays, while establishing hard deadlines.
Streamlined the critique/approval process and liaised between designers and other team leads
Developed a flexible timeline for deliverables, accounting for potential delays, while establishing hard deadlines.
Balancing Brand Cohesion with Creative Freedom
Balancing Brand Cohesion with Creative Freedom
Created guidelines with distinguishable fonts, colors, and elements to ensure cohesion, while allowing for flexibility in interpretation
Actively reviewed work to ensure guidelines were being followed
Created guidelines with distinguishable fonts, colors, and elements to ensure cohesion, while allowing for flexibility in interpretation
Actively reviewed work to ensure guidelines were being followed
2026 Work
2026 Work
Process
Process
We began by exploring images on Pinterest to guide the direction. The inital idea was inspired by frutiger aero/tropical aesthetics to match the summer vacation branding established in prior years. As we continued to explore fonts and visuals, our direction shifted towards more ocean themed and retro video game posters.
We began by exploring images on Pinterest to guide the direction. The inital idea was inspired by frutiger aero/tropical aesthetics to match the summer vacation branding established in prior years. As we continued to explore fonts and visuals, our direction shifted towards more ocean themed and retro video game posters.
Images of retro game posters, manuals
Images of retro game posters, manuals
Font exploration
Font exploration
We made design tests of two different directions we considered. The game-manual style gave us the strongest balance between personality and information and best suited the skillset of the design team. Our final brand guideline combined the oceanic colors of our moodboard with the layout of game manuals.
We made design tests of two different directions we considered. The game-manual style gave us the strongest balance between personality and information and best suited the skillset of the design team. Our final brand guideline combined the oceanic colors of our moodboard with the layout of game manuals.
Brand Gudielines: Guide made by Leila Clinton, Mascot designed by Madison Kim
Game Cartridge/Illustration Style: Playful, Whimsical
Game Cartridge/Illustration Style: Playful, Whimsical
Game Manual Style: Polished, Nostalgic
Game Manual Style: Polished, Nostalgic
Final Brand Guidelines: Pesentation/Logo Made by Leila Clinton, Mascot designed by Madison Kim
Completed Work
Completed Work
The graphics team created over 100 assets for social media and broadcast packages in a month and a half. The strong brand identity helped create a visually cohesive social media feed for this year's promotional posts.
The graphics team created over 100 assets for social media and broadcast packages in a month and a half. The strong brand identity helped create a visually cohesive social media feed for this year's promotional posts.
Select 2025 Work
Select 2025 Work
In my first year as Design Lead, the flagship Instagram follower count increased by over 75%, the flagship X account follower count increased by nearly 30%, and the event Discord server had over 1500 members, indicating substantial social media engagement that contributed towards the event's success.
Notably, in impressions and engagement, the flagship graphic was the highest-performing post on X (33,656 Impressions, 276 Engagements) and the second-highest-performing post on Instagram(19,125 Impressions, 822 Engagements) , beaten only by the artist alley recruitment graphic (IG: 5,915 Impressions, 5,157 Engagements ; X: 2,739 Impressions, 66 Engagements).
In my first year as Design Lead, the flagship Instagram follower count increased by over 75%, the flagship X account follower count increased by nearly 30%, and the event Discord server had over 1500 members, indicating substantial social media engagement that contributed towards the event's success.
Notably, in impressions and engagement, the flagship graphic was the highest-performing post on X (33,656 Impressions, 276 Engagements) and the second-highest-performing post on Instagram(19,125 Impressions, 822 Engagements) , beaten only by the artist alley recruitment graphic (IG: 5,915 Impressions, 5,157 Engagements ; X: 2,739 Impressions, 66 Engagements).
