Each year the city of Austin, Texas swells to capacity hosting the venerable SXSW music and tech conference the first week of March. This year DigitalPop will be at SXSW, partnering with Funded House, to provide branding and UX / UI consultations to the startups and "scale ups" in their portfolio. Funded House hosts mixer events, panel discussions and produces podcasts that connect startups with the right investors. The problem, however, is that this year, SXSW has decreed that none shall say the coveted P words "Pitch" or "Panel" if they are not officially sanctioned SXSW exhibitors. Ya whatever. Tell an entrepreneur they can't do something and watch what happens...
"Presenting. Innovation. To. Critical. Humans." aka "P.I.T.C.H." OMG! I laughed out loud when I first heard this concept. Love it. The brilliant minds at Funded House found a way to do what they do best—connecting startups with investors—with an innovative P-I-T-C-H campaign. This year, SWSW attendees will be tripping over themselves to avoid saying the dreaded "P" words like some Baby Shower game. So, naturally, my first thought was that we need to plaster downtown Austin with P-I-T-C-H stickers everywhere LOL (in a non vandalizing way of course).
In designing the campaign logo, I immediately recalled the vintage 1970s viral "Pitch In" anti-littering campaign with their iconic green and white bumper stickers.The campaign was young and hip. Kids would even paste these stickers on their bikes and lockers. Inspired, I set out to design the P-I-T-C-H logo as an analog—using the same green and white colors, Helvetica font for P-I-T-C-H, and replacing the little icon of the man throwing trash away with our own cool new "Mic Drop Man" icon—shout out to Amanda at Funded House for that inspiration!
The double entendre of this design is just too good. Not only is the Mic Drop Man design an irreverent affront to the SXSW suits, it also perfectly captures the mood of a founder who just nailed their Pitch to investors.
So if you are going to SXSW this year, look for the P-I-T-C-H stickers and the Mic-Drop-Man lanyard pins, shirts, and hats everywhere. Seek out the Funded House folks to get your hands on these stickers for yourself so you can do your part, and even have fun changing the dreaded "P" to a "B" on the sticker ;) Pro-Tip: Bring a white paint pen marker to SWSW.
During this year's P-I-T-C-H events, DigitalPop is excited to meet all the new innovative companies accepted into the Funded House portfolio and offer them a free 30 minute brand and UX assessment.
Startups are exhilarating. Founders have to wear many more hats than anyone should, and need to make big decisions that affect the trajectory of their company—daily. Among those decisions are “what is our brand image?” “what does our logo look like?” and most importantly, "what is our customer experience like?"
Many founders just pick something for a logo and roll with it. Similarly, startup and scale-up companies often have home-grown, starter-kit websites just to "have something up" while they focus on other things. The trouble is that these branded and UX elements are key customer touch points that create first, and often lasting impressions. As a new company, you still have time to pivot and refine your creative. That's where DigitalPop can help.
In a free 30 minute brand and UX session, we'll discuss where the company is today, where they are going, and assess their current brand identity, website, and other critical customer touch points to see how they align with the company's vision.
If you are one such lucky Funded House portfolio member, you can apply here for your DigitalPop creative consultation at SXSW.
DigitalPop's mission to make cool companies even cooler. We're excited to meet you.
-Lisa
Lisa Lopuck
Chief Creative Officer, DigitalPop.io
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