This is: Freelance

Meet Magento UK 2025.

The most important event in the UK Magento calendar returned to the Mermaid Theatre and once again, I was in charge of making it look amazing.

Which wasn't too difficult as JH had decided to retain the 2024 branding and I had made templates in Canva for everything so the team at JH could output what they needed to with minimal questions.

This left me time to explore some new directions with the only thing anyone really cares about at a conference: Merch.

Or Swag. Or Freebies. Whatever you happen to call it, it needed to be a level above this year.

But first, the intro video.

And the audience did indeed "make some noise", which was nice to hear.

Played at the start of the conference, when everyone has gathered in the main auditorium to listen to the introductions and opening keynotes, the intro video is the perfect opportunity to set the mood for the day.

I've done enough video and motion graphics in my time to be able to throw together a decent background video for a website hero, or social media announcement, but I'd never produced anything for an in-house audience this size. I'd also never used 3D cameras in After Effects before, but there's a first time for everything and I do love a challenge where I get to solve a problem and expand what I know.

The end result went down a storm.

Now, back to the swag.

Trust in the process.

Over the years Jamie - JH's venerable CEO - has come to trust in the process. The journey from "I have an idea" to "look at what everyone at this conference is wearing" requires some faith, and Jamie has that faith in my abilities. The conversation of "How about a mascot" was met with understandable hesitation, but once I introduced the concept to the stakeholders, it was really just a case of refinement and finding that "spark".

It had to be retro. It had to be relatable. It had to be cute.

And it definitely - absolutely definitely - had to be a hexagon. This is Magento, after all.

MMUK Concepts — This is actually pretty neat for an Illustrator file.

The only real practical constraints were that it was in MMUK Blue and Red for continuity. Beyond that, a neutral-yet-retro sand-coloured tee shirt was chosen, as this gave just enough contrast for the white of the mascot to be effective.

It's a good thing I started out in print, as this meant setting up separations for spot colours. And because it's screen printed, that means no gradients or transparency. I would have to rely on textures and halftone/patterned fills.

MM25 UK Attendee Shirt Design 01 — With Inter Tight as the main typeface to keep contuinity with the MMUK brand, and some retro flourish top and bottom.

So of course I decided to make my own version to wear on the day as one of the greatest technical skills I have - thanks mainly to starting out as an artworker - is design mimicry. Does it count if I'm mimicking myself? Who knows, but it started a few conversations on the day.

I'll update this entry with more info soon. I've been quite busy since MM25UK!