The Drupal Association is seeking two creative and innovative design partners to create the web and print designs for the 2015 and 2016 DrupalCon events. We’re looking for people who understand that each DrupalCon is a singular expression of the Drupal community, DrupalCon location, software innovation, and extreme nerdiness, and know how to turn this into compelling designs that are functional, fun, and make people look twice.

DrupalCon events convene thousands of people from the diverse Drupal Community - including coders, site builders, content editors, business people, themers, and more. For a week, these people come together to drain a city of all its coffee and fill the void with  energy, companionship, and code unmatched by any other tech community. Part SxSW, part DreamForce, and part college dorm room, DrupalCons are a signature part of the Drupal experience.

Design is an important part of the DrupalCon experience. Through design, we are able to:

• Showcase the community in which the DrupalCon is held, highlighting known, and not so known, gems without subverting or subjugating the Drupal identity.
• Illustrate the beauty of Drupal for web sites. DrupalCon web sites should push the boundaries of Drupal design.
• Create a sense of community connection. DrupalCon t-shirts and pins are collectors items, worn by the folks who proudly show off their participation.

Project Elements

DrupalCons are not small undertakings. Your designs will need to work in a variety of contexts and settings, from giant 12 foot banners to 150 pixels square web badges. Following is a comprehensive, though not exhaustive, list of elements to be delivered:

• Conference logo, web and print ready formats
• Coming soon! splash page (prior to official site launch)
• Conference web site theme (but you don’t have to build the site, we’re on that)
• Web badges for sponsors, attendees, and other stakeholders
• Social media icons and branding
• Newsletter banners and other digital promotion images
• Conference venue signage, including banners, etc.
• Various merchandise and branding elements
• Conference program guide
• Sponsorship guide
• Style guide

There’s one thing you DON’T have to do: build the website. The Drupal Association will lead the development of the website from COD. Our Design Partner will be heavily involved in applying the new design to the website as a Drupal theme. Knowledge of COD and Commerce will be extremely helpful here.

Requirements

We don’t want to leave you to wander the wilderness alone, so we’ll be providing lots of guidance along the way, but our goal is to stay out of your way as much as possible and let you create compelling, fun, and memorable work. That said, there are a few things you’re going to want to be prepared for:

• Working with a committee of local team members. We don’t run DrupalCons by ourselves. Our Local Team committee is going to be deeply involved in developing the identity of the conference. But don’t worry - they don’t all have to sign off on every design element.
• We expect extreme comfort in web and print production processes. We make a LOT of stuff for this conference, and understanding printing processes will allow you to maximize our print budget while pushing the boundaries of cool.

Compensation

Budget for our North America, 2015 and Europe 2015 DrupalCons are each fixed at $25,000 per event. Third Cons (Cons to be held outside of North America and Europe in locations to be determined) and 2016 Cons, depending on location, will have different budgets based on estimated event size and scope.  The design company will receive public recognition on the site via footer credits and volunteer credits, and a Bronze level booth at each event, which includes 2 tickets.

Timeline

Starting in 2015, the Drupal Association will be producing 3 DrupalCons each year.  To make the process smoother, we are going to stagger our designers.  We are currently looking for designers as follows:

• Designer 1: North America, 2015 and 3rd Con to be determined in 2016
• Designer 2: Europe, 2015 and North America 2016

We expect to complete firm selection for Designer 1 by late-June And Designer 2 by mid-July. We intend to conduct a selection process that is better suited to engage and evaluate the relative merits of creative professionals. Firms that intend to bid on this project should state their intent to bid (contact info below). We will then schedule a presentation, where our team can get a sense of you, your process, and your portfolio. A round of Q&A follows, leading to our selection process, after which we will announce selections. Then, we’ll work on a final round of negotiations and a contract. If your firm is not selected we will take the time to explain why.

Firms that intend to bid should email Stephanie Torres (contact information below) no later than Friday, June 13, 5pm PST.

Contact Information

Stephanie Torres (email)
Community Program Manager, Drupal Association
+1 503-915-9073