TEDxUCLA

An experience worth spreading.

UCLA Housing and UCLA Extension partner yearly to produce TEDxUCLA, a day of ideas worth spreading that attracts students, families, and professionals alike. This year, the curators of TEDxUCLA asked the Housing Communications team to conceptualize and execute the marketing campaign based on their chosen conference theme of “Waves.”

The style guide for “Waves” started with a simple question: if TEDxUCLA were an instrument, what would it sound like if someone played it? How could we visualize the waves of sound and light, or of progress and innovation, emanating from the Royce Hall mainstage? The final identity system visualized the concept of “Waves” through five repeating Chladni patterns, each representing a different letter in the name “TEDx” and a fifth pattern representing UCLA.

This identity system served as the foundation for the completely redesigned website, all social media assets, all promotional videos and motion titles, and all print & promotional collateral. Additionally, the students of the UCLA Housing Media Team contributed user-generated social media content, event photography, and a 250-square-foot social media activation called “Resounding.”

TEDxUCLA 2018 generated over $60,000 in ticket revenue and attracted a record-breaking 1,400 attendees. The conference’s social media audience grew by 20% from last year, the new conference website attracted attracted up to 4,000 unique visits per day, and our student-driven outdoor sustainability experience was featured on the main TEDx Instagram feed.