C2E2 Social Media Design System

The C2E2 social brief

The goal was to refresh C2E2’s social identity to better reflect the energy of the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo.

I aimed to create a more engaging digital presence that would build anticipation for the show and connect with both new and existing audiences.

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The corporate identity problem

The existing identity felt too corporate for a modern event built around fandom, creativity and shared experiences. The social feed needed to show more of the personality people already associated with the show and the city of Chicago itself.

Additionally, the brand was already applied across venue signage and printed materials, which needed to remain in place. This meant that I needed to evolve the digital presence of the brand within this constraint, ensuring that the connection between what audiences would see online and in person remained.

The social template solution

I introduced subtle gradients using the existing brand colors and added illustrations, graphic marks and textures specifically for the digital platforms. Templates were also built for the marketing team so that social media posts would be easier to create and have universal framing and typography. Additionally, typographic layouts were outdated, so I reworked them to give guest names, dates and supporting information a clearer hierarchy.

The Feed

One brand, every announcement

The Templates

Guest, cast, artist, info

The guest template up close: portrait, day chip, slab name, credits, characters breaking out

The cast template up close: full bleed key art with the cast members named in the credit bar

The artist template up close: their cover art fills the frame, portrait inset above the name

The info template up close: pure type on the gradient, four days of hours in the black chips

The Redesign

A full template system for the marketing team

From Dull to Full of Life and Color

For the new templates, I gave the portrait more space and worked the typography into the image itself. The colors stayed familiar but gained depth through subtle gradients. Alongside texture and graphic marks that brought more character to the frame, this created a new look which better reflects the depth of C2E2.