HardTech Forum
Skill Sets
Art Direction
Brand Identity + Guidelines
Web / UI Design
Since 2015, Vancouver Hardware Meetup has served as the city’s go-to quarterly gathering for hardware enthusiasts—a grassroots event series by MistyWest featuring panel discussions with local leaders across sectors like AgTech, Deep Tech, and CleanTech. It was casual, community-driven, and proudly niche.
But in 2025, it was time to evolve.
With a growing audience and broader ambition, Vancouver Hardware Meetup was rebranded as HardTech Forum—a name and identity that better reflects the global relevance and sophistication of the conversations happening on its stage. Unlike the original meetup’s hyperlocal feel, HardTech Forum signals a bold, outward-looking platform designed to connect emerging startups, investors, and industry leaders across tech hubs—from Vancouver to San Francisco to Seattle.
As the organizer of HardTech Forum and brand lead at MistyWest, I led the full rebrand—from positioning to visual identity to implementation.
My goal was to preserve the informal, community-first spirit of the original meetup while elevating the experience with a more cohesive and mature design system—one that reflects the Forum’s expanded scope and growing influence in the industry.
The visual identity draws from two of MistyWest’s core brand colours, creating a sense of continuity while establishing a distinct presence for HardTech Forum. This palette also extends to MistyWest’s other flagship program, the HardTech Awards, creating visual harmony across MistyWest’s different series.
As Community Manager, I also helped deepen engagement beyond the events themselves by launching the HardTech Forum Discord—a space where the community can stay connected year-round. What started as a local gathering has grown into a cross-border platform for shaping the future of deep tech commercialization.
