{"id":452,"date":"2024-04-18T15:37:37","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T15:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atomic-hair.net\/?p=452"},"modified":"2024-05-09T15:24:25","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T15:24:25","slug":"unlocking-creative-potential-inside-dropboxs-blank-space-design-summit-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/atomic-hair.net\/index.php\/2024\/04\/18\/unlocking-creative-potential-inside-dropboxs-blank-space-design-summit-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Unlocking Creative Potential: Inside Dropbox\u2019s \u2018Blank Space\u2019 Design Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"
Staring at a blank page can be daunting. The prospect of populating that empty space prompts many of us to retreat into our heads, a challenge that can stamp out innovation and limit the potential for groundbreaking ideas.<\/p>\n
A design-first organization,\u00a0Dropbox<\/a>\u00a0gathers its creatives for an annual design summit. This year, the company chose the theme \u201cBlank Space\u201d with a clear mission\u2014to craft an experience that helps creatives conquer their fear of the blank page, embrace new things, and reconnect with their creative mojo.<\/p>\n Charmie Shah, the summit\u2019s creative director and designer<\/a>, conceptualized an event alongside the VP of Design at Dropbox Alastair Simpson<\/a> and Sally Croom<\/a>, Design Operations, to inspire and invigorate participants, encouraging them to embrace the unknown and venture beyond their comfort zones. The event\u2019s core ethos of \u201cBoundless Exploration\u201d permeated every facet of the summit, from its logo to the physical space.<\/p>\n As someone who struggles with a fear of the blank page, I spoke to Shah to learn more about Dropbox\u2019s strategies for tackling entrenched creative inhibition. We also explored how the summit\u2019s spirit of boundless exploration manifested in its design and atmosphere.<\/p>\n Our conversation, below, has been edited for length and clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n Creatives often struggle with the blank canvas. How did you approach creating an experience that acknowledges this fear and actively empowers them to embrace experimentation and rediscover their creative agency?<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Many things went into this event because it wasn\u2019t just a branding project; it was also a physical space where we ensured that each element, every installation, and everything the creatives would experience would empower them to create. We didn\u2019t want a sense of creation on demand; we didn\u2019t want to force them onto a canvas and ask them to paint or draw; we just wanted them to feel empowered that they could create.<\/p>\n When we started this project, one of Dropbox\u2019s main problems was that the company noticed the creatives were afraid of creating freely. Dropbox has a lot of product designers, and many of them would get mechanical and into the execution mindset rather than appreciating craft or playing and innovating. Dropbox felt the creators needed a sense of creative exploration, and that\u2019s where this idea came from.<\/p>\n I started researching to understand this feeling of creative exploration and how we could bring it to life through various touchpoints rather than just a brand identity and ending it there.<\/p>\n The first element was the invitation; we wanted to send it out immediately to excite everyone about the idea. The event\u2019s location was Palm Springs, which is really beautiful, so when choosing materials, I wanted to make sure that they would reflect the environment and the environment would reflect in the material. Dropbox wanted creatives to feel a sense of boundlessness\u2014an open, free, and ethereal feeling\u2014 without actually having to meditate, so it was essential to create unobtrusive installations.<\/p>\n In my conversations with the leadership team, a sense of boundlessness kept coming up, ultimately informing the choice of materials. It all started with that desire to create an open space.<\/p>\n How did the abstract concept of \u201cboundless exploration\u201d translate into tangible design elements, such as the logo and the materials?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n For the logo, I wanted to ensure fluidity and low contrast when it existed in graphic spaces or on all the branded elements, so it was pretty simple. The fun part was how the logo broke open and interacted across the edges of spaces; it would move around, spread open on the edges, and act as if it were exploring the borders.<\/p>\n We also used the exploration idea in other aspects of the branding; for example, different keynote slides with animated type that broke open and animated around the edges. When the logo opened up, it created this space in the center \u2014 evoking creative space.<\/p>\n I worked on a fun initial animation in which the logo would show up, hesitate a little bit, and then come back in place before fully opening and moving\u2014synonymous with how we hoped the creatives would behave on this journey in Palm Springs.<\/p>\n The decision to have all the materials be reflective and unobtrusive came from the desire to encourage creatives to immerse themselves in the creative act. That\u2019s where the idea of using metallic surfaces on the name badges came in.\u00a0<\/p>\n We had planned one final surprise event for the Dropbox attendees: a fun dinner at The Invisible House at Joshua Tree. Nobody knew the location. It\u2019s such a beautiful, mirrored venue, reflecting the environment around it and blending in. The creatives didn\u2019t know it would be their last stop, but we wanted the reflective event materials to give them hints.<\/p>\n I loved the thought that went into this event. We could have made generic name badges, but the material choice made them much more fun, and the creatives wore them with pride. The badges were so reflective that you could see the palm trees and the sky. Rather than featuring the attendees\u2019 titles\u2014the event included designers, producers, project managers, product designers, art directors, and brand designers\u2014we used their Adobe Creator Types test results, which Dropbox had their staff take internally. We designated a color for each of the eight types represented on the metallic badge. When everyone walked in, they weren\u2019t just a product manager, producer, or designer; they were all creatives identifying with other creative types.<\/p>\n For the badge installation, we created a wooden, umbrella-like structure. Because of the badges\u2019 reflective nature, when the sun hit them, they reflected splotches of color around the space. There was even a custom cut-out of the Dropbox logo in the structure\u2014designed to be unnoticeable until the sun hit the right angle, subtly reflecting the logo. We wanted it to feel like a Dropbox event without it being overly branded.<\/p>\n We created a badge installation where the creatives would walk in and they would see the badges displayed a certain way. The idea was to have an umbrella-like structure set up and because the badges were so beautiful and reflective, the Sun would just hit the badges and the metallic surfaces would reflect and you could see the splotches of color being reflected all around.<\/p>\n The wooden badge structure itself had a custom cut out of the Dropbox logo in it so nobody would really notice it but when the Sun hit the right angle, the shadow would reflect the Dropbox logo which was a fun hint of making it feel like it\u2019s a Dropbox event without it being overly branded.<\/p>\n \u201cBlank Space\u201d suggests embracing openness and possibility. How did you balance this theme with the need for structure and flow in the event\u2019s programming?<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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