Skills
Branding
Graphic Design
Collateral Design
Creative Direction
Illustration
Project Management
Social Media
Slide decks
Swag
Events
Signage
Event Collateral
Typography
Layout
Conferences
Web Design
Overview
Context
GeekOut is a two-day annual JVM tech conference organized by ZeroTurnaround in Tallinn, Estonia. The event brings together world-class speakers, developers, tech enthusiasts, and industry leaders. The conference focuses on Java and developer tools.
Problem
GeekOut’s attendance more than doubled in its first three years (2011–2013). But annual design refreshes created inconsistencies, increased overhead, and posed a challenge to brand recognition. The conference needed a branding solution that could scale, adapt to changing venues, support a wide range of deliverables, meet evolving user experience standards, and fit budget constraints.
Solution
GeekOut underwent a two-phase brand update that delivered a reusable, adaptable identity that sustained the conference for the next six years. This eliminated yearly redesigns, considerably reduced design overhead, and ensured consistency across all event materials.
Challenges
GeekOut grew significantly since its inception in 2011 when it was a 1-day event, with 1 talk track, 7 sessions, and 135 attendees. By 2019 it was a 2-day event, with 2 tracks on the first day and 3 tracks on the second day, record high 27 sessions and 650 attendees.
In its early years (2011-2013), the conference went through annual refreshes which created a number of challenges:
Goals
GeekOut needed a better design solution that would sustain the conference over multiple years and support its growth. Moving away from yearly rebranding efforts and one-off designs was critical to building a long-term, sustainable identity.
Turned the identified challenges into opportunities to solve for:
My Role
PHASE 1
Graphic Designer
Worked together with the Creative Manager on GeekOut’s first brand refresh, creating the new identity. I implemented the new designs across various conference materials, with a focus on print production.
PHASE 2
Lead Designer
Became lead designer on the project, owning GeekOut's creative direction for the next four years. Led a team of 3 in-house designers to distribute the workload, while remaining the primary hands-on designer for the project. Worked closely with the event organizer on planning, venue walkthroughs, and vendor communication.
Freelance Lead Designer
Continued as Lead Designer in a freelance capacity — handling all branding and visual assets, ensuring consistency across print, signage, swag, and digital applications. Managed a small external web development agency team.
Team
Event Team
Design Team
Illustrators (external)
Digital Agency (external)
Program Chairs / MCs
Research
In order to shape GeekOut's future identity, it was important to start with an understanding of the conference's purpose and history. GeekOut was setup by the parent company ZeroTurnaround with this mandate:
Early Brand Explorations
GeekOut's formative years took the first steps exploring its identity and positioning in relation to parent company ZeroTurnaround. This was apparent in the color choices and visual language changes.
The conference launched with a minimalist identity in 2011, establishing two enduring brand elements. The now-iconic “GeekOut geek” mark inside the letter “O" (inspired by founder Toomas Römer). And the slogan “Unleash your inner geek” which would become the central theme for the conference.
After starting off with an independent yellow in 2011, GeekOut aligned itself closely with ZeroTurnaround in 2012 using the company's green and flat illustration style.
In 2013 GeekOut broke away from the previously strong ZeroTurnaround association. Leading with a primary red and leaning into a photographic style. It featured the first ever visual interpretation of the "inner geek" concept: a Clark Kent-style geek charactering revealing a "I <3 Java" shirt. This humour and playful tone became another sticky element of the brand.
Approach
GeekOut's brand refresh was done in two phases which allowed for testing new designs, systems and workflows across multiple events. Gathering feedback to make iterative improvements:
External feedback from attendees and speakers from surveys sent out after each event
Design team retrospectives of what went well, what didn't go well and why, and setting action items
Internal feedback from the event manager and other stakeholders
Iterations
Partnered with illustrator Lei Melendres in 2014 to develop a bold new visual language for GeekOut. The detailed illustrations captured the brand’s geeky character and pop-culture spirit while his signature black-and-white style fit our budget—at this time, most of our event materials were printed.
After two years of use and feedback, we learned the strengths and limitations of the new identity:
⚠️
Problem: the need for an asset library to give us more customization options
✂️
Solution: I cut out individual elements from the illustrations, recreated missing parts, and vectorized them
🕒
Limitation: manually extracting elements was a slow, time-consuming, additional step. Greatly limited the number of unique elements available
📝
Lesson Learned: include separate elements as deliverables for the illustrator
🌍
Problem: GeekOut held its first event outside of Estonia
🖌️
Solution: I redrew parts of the illustration
🚫
Lesson Learned: the assets needed to be more universal and avoid ephemeral references and easter eggs (like portraits of company founders / organizers / MCs)
![](data:image/svg+xml,<svg display="block" role="presentation" viewBox="0 0 24 24" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><defs ><linearGradient id="ZlTPL_G_Y-1906490891-linear-gradient" x1="0.49751243781094523" x2="0.5024875621890548" y1="0" y2="1"><stop offset="0" stop-color="rgb(1, 152, 201)"/><stop offset="1" stop-color="rgb(66, 194, 89)"/></linearGradient></defs><path d="M 4.575 3.4 L 1.7 6.275 C 1.5 6.475 1.267 6.579 1 6.588 C 0.733 6.596 0.5 6.5 0.3 6.3 C 0.1 6.1 0 5.863 0 5.588 C 0 5.313 0.1 5.075 0.3 4.875 L 4.875 0.275 C 4.975 0.175 5.083 0.104 5.2 0.063 C 5.317 0.021 5.442 0 5.575 0 C 5.708 0 5.833 0.021 5.95 0.063 C 6.067 0.104 6.175 0.175 6.275 0.275 L 10.9 4.9 C 11.1 5.1 11.196 5.333 11.188 5.6 C 11.179 5.867 11.075 6.1 10.875 6.3 C 10.675 6.483 10.442 6.579 10.175 6.588 C 9.908 6.596 9.675 6.5 9.475 6.3 L 6.575 3.4 L 6.575 12.575 L 15.575 12.575 C 15.858 12.575 16.096 12.671 16.287 12.863 C 16.479 13.054 16.575 13.292 16.575 13.575 C 16.575 13.858 16.479 14.096 16.287 14.288 C 16.096 14.479 15.858 14.575 15.575 14.575 L 6.575 14.575 C 6.025 14.575 5.554 14.379 5.163 13.988 C 4.771 13.596 4.575 13.125 4.575 12.575 Z" fill="url(%23ZlTPL_G_Y-1906490891-linear-gradient)" height="14.575020000000002px" id="ZlTPL_G_Y" transform="translate(3.425 4.426)" width="16.575px"/></svg>)
Removing internal company references
Customizing existing illustrations for UK theme
Creating new London-centric illustrations
While the phase one was overall a success and very well received, the problems we had found made it clear that there was more improvement needed.
Design Decisions
In 2016, the conference’s success and larger budget allowed us to transition to a full-color identity, featuring a set of new illustrations done in collaboration with Juan Manuel Orozco.
Process
| worked closely with Juan through the process of crafting the new visuals, providing art direction, feedback, and preparing the final illustration formats. From sketches to color illustrations and vector deliverables.
Positioning
One of the main goals of phase two was to definitively answer what is GeekOut's identity and its relationship to parent company ZeroTurnaround.
Through conversations with conference stakeholders we clarified GeekOut's objectives: community-first, networking, education and thought-leadership focused. This set the tone for phase two and guided the creative direction.
GeekOut would be an independent brand with its own visual style separate from ZeroTurnaround.
In previous years GeekOut's connection to ZeroTurnaround fluctuated considerably (visible in stylistic and color choices).
Phase two balanced GeekOut's brand independence with a clear visual call-back to the parent company (for example through the creation of the new color scheme).
Print & Digital Preparation
🎨
RGB & CMYK: I color corrected the final illustrations (for RBG and CMYK color modes) and prepared them for print and digital use
💻
Digital: Tested the digital color reproduction across multiple screen types and devices (laptop / desktop / mobile)
👕
Print: Worked with the print vendor to fine tune the best color balance through test prints on our chosen items (shirts / bags / bottles etc) to ensure color accuracy and clean detailing on different materials and surface types
Timelapse
Below are timelapses showing the visual evolution of the two core GeekOut graphics from phase one to phase two of the brand refresh.
Reimagining Nametags
We learned that nametags were a common point of frustration at conferences—often awkward to read, poorly designed, or missing useful information. For GeekOut we aimed to make nametags more than just an identifiers. We reimagined standard nametags and turned them into portable information capsules, providing attendees with everything they’d need at a glance. Creating an experience that was quick, practical, and intuitive for both wearing and for interacting with other people.
🔎
Research: researched other conferences, collected their nametags and analyzed them
👤
User Testing: created five prototype nametag designs and tested them on different employees
🤔
Findings: our data pointed to customization as the top feature people wanted, rather than revealing a majority preference for one particular way of using the nametag
three-page double-sided nametag, with an easy to open clip in the top right corner
useful info page — wifi details, socials, app info and QR code, transport discounts
full event schedule
passport program page to collect stickers at all booths, with a second name ID on the back for the purpose of the passport program prize drawn
allowed attendees to adjust preferred orientation, order, and reading experience (flip up and down vs. book style left to right)
Wayfinding & Signage
The increased budget from 2016 onward allowed us to invest in the attendee experience. Signage became particularly important as the conference moved into larger venues with more complex layouts. The increase in sessions and number of parallel tracks required for easy wayfinding through multiple conference spaces.
🤝
Better Together: The design team was involved from day one, working alongside organizers during the earliest stages of conference planning.
🔎
On-site Venue Research: Familiarized ourselves with each new venue through in-person walkthroughs. Observing where attendees would naturally look for information in the space to determine effective signage placements.
📷
Documentation: Took measurements to understand scale, distances, and ensure good readability of signage. Photographed key areas to use in design mockups.
🪧
Event Setup: We were on-site the day before each event to check signage and make any last adjustments. This step was important, as some final placements couldn’t be confirmed until physical setup began.
Swag & Print Collateral
Swag and printed materials became key touchpoints for reinforcing the GeekOut brand—offering an opportunity to surprise and delight attendees. Great care went into selecting each item to deliver practical, lasting value while staying within budget. By focusing on memorable design, usefulness, and quality, we created pieces that not only enriched the conference experience but lived on well beyond the event. We saw this firsthand in returning attendees who often wore or brought items from previous years—sporting retro GeekOut swag.
🔮
Timeline Planning: Mapped out all printed assets early in the design process working backwards from production deadlines to plan realistic design timelines, with built-in buffers just in case.
🖨️
Samples & Testing: Dedicated a considerable amount of time each year for exploring new item options, reviewing samples, and going through multiple rounds of test prints to make sure we got everything just right before going into production.
🛍️
Vendor Coordination: Worked closely with both local and international printers—sourcing materials, evaluating print techniques, and overseeing quality control for everything from large-scale banners to small-batch gifts.
🌲
Sustainable Printing:
Whenever possible, printed materials—especially signage—were repurposed or reused to extend their lifespan, helping us reduce waste and avoid unnecessary print production.
Website Redesign
The conference's online presence needed to match the expectations of GeekOut’s tech-savvy developer audience. The website needed to be a strong promotional tool as well as a digital extension of the conference experience (before, during and after the event). Limited internal resources delayed a full redesign until 2018, when we were able to outsource development to a digital agency.
✨
UI & UX Overhaul: The site required a complete redesign to update its dated look, rework the content structure, improve the flow of information.
🚧
Features & Functionality: The new site needed to support a wide range of functionality—from ticketing, schedules, speaker bios, maps, accommodation info, countdown header, to an extensive media library (including wallpapers, professional photography, and session recordings).
📱
Responsive Experience: Mobile usability was a top priority, as most attendees interacted with the site during the event on their phones.
🤝
Agency Collaboration: Partnered with a digital agency to handle web development. I led the project by creating wireframes, setting the design direction, and overseeing and future updates with the agency.
Digitized Experience
Alongside the launch of the redesigned website, 2018 marked a broader shift toward a more digital attendee experience. While printed materials remained a valuable part of GeekOut, they also came with logistical limitations. Our new digital system synced signage screens, the website, and—by 2019—a dedicated mobile app, giving us far greater flexibility to deliver real-time updates, event-wide announcements, and session changes as they happened.
💬
Real-time Communication: In previous years, last-minute updates could only be shared in-session or at at the main booths area—making it hard to reach everyone. The new system allowed us to broadcast changes instantly and reliably reach everyone.
📃
Scheduled Content: We created a custom content rotation based on the time of day, including current and upcoming sessions, countdown warnings, directional arrows to rooms, lunch menus, and reminders.
📱
Mobile App: In 2019, we launched our long-awaited mobile experience using the Attendify app. It provided attendees with live updates, push notifications, and an always-up-to-date conference schedule.
♻️
Environmentally Conscious: Transitioning key signage to digital displays significantly reduced our reliance on printed materials and helped minimize waste.
Final Outcome
We redefined GeekOut’s brand and developed a modular visual identity with reusable, customizable assets that scaled across print, digital, and environmental media.
My work on GeekOut spanned six years as part of my broader role at ZeroTurnaround. It was a massive year-to-year project—when one event ended, planning for the next would begin—balancing the conference’s growing needs alongside the parent company’s broader design initiatives
The result was a methodical and cohesive brand transformation that elevated every part of the conference journey.
Results
GeekOut grew from a small scrappy event in its early years (first GeekOut was in 2011) into a world-class developer conference with an established brand presence. The two-phase brand refresh (in 2014 and 2016) created an expansive brand identity that supported the conference for the next four years through to its latest event in 2019.
Number of attendees per year
123 attendees in 2011 during the first GeekOut
400 attendees in 2014 +196% (vs. 2011) during phase one of the rebrand
650 attendees in 2019 +62% (vs. 2014) all-time high during phase two of the rebrand
Sessions given vs. talk tracks per day
7 sessions in 2011 during the first GeekOut
15 sessions in 2014 +114% (vs. 2011) during phase one of the rebrand
27 sessions in 2019 +80% (vs. 2014) all-time high during phase two of the rebrand
Price per ticket
100€ in 2011 during the first GeekOut
275€ in 2014 +175% (vs. 2011) during phase one of the rebrand
460€ in 2019 +67% (vs. 2014) all-time high during phase two of the rebrand
Number of sponsors per year
1 sponsor in 2011 during the first GeekOut
9 sponsors 2014 +800% (vs. 2011) during phase one of the rebrand
19 sponsors in 2019 +111% (vs. 2014) all-time high during phase two of the rebrand
Budget
In line with its community and education focus, the conference did not have financial goals other than breaking even to cover the costs. It successfully reached this goal every year from 2014 (phase one of the rebrand) onwards until the last event in 2019.
Sold Out
The conference sold out every year from 2014 onwards.
Feedback
Received consistently positive feedback from the annual post-event surveys sent to all attendees and speakers.
