- C L I E N T -
TED
TEDx Venice Beach
- P R O J E C T -
Event branding, Keyart Design, Website, Social
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Project
Hota served as Creative Director and designer for the TEDxVeniceBeach “Wild Thoughts” event—led by Lucy Walker and a passionate volunteer team—by developing a vibrant, locally grounded visual identity. At its heart sits a dynamic collage of Venice Beach icons—from Max Neutra’s murals and The Art of Chase to the Venice Skateboard Park, canal maps, the original Eames Chair factory, surf culture imagery, and nods to John Baldessari—all united by bold typography and a striking red palette. This key art system seamlessly extended across posters, stage graphics, signage, and digital assets to embody the event’s spirit of untamed creativity and community heritage.
[Event theme identity]
Why “Wild Thoughts”?
The theme “Wild Thoughts” was chosen to celebrate Venice Beach’s storied history as a crucible for unconventional ideas and free-spirited creativity. It invited speakers and attendees to embrace their most audacious, boundary-pushing concepts—just as generations of artists, designers, and visionaries have done on this legendary stretch of coastline
The Keyart
The key art for TEDxVeniceBeach “Wild Thoughts” grew out of a desire to make the TEDx “X” both a frame and a stage for Venice Beach’s singular creative energy. We began with that bold, red “X”—a nod to TEDx’s iconography—and treated it as a dynamic canvas rather than just a logo. Within its arms we layered a carefully chosen collection of local signifiers—Neutra’s modernist lines, Chase’s vivid murals, the sinuous canals, the birthplace of skateboarding, Baldessari’s conceptual wit, surf-van culture, the Eames studio site—each rendered in a mix of archival sketches, cut-out photography, and hand-drawn flourishes. This collage approach mirrors the “Wild Thoughts” theme: ideas from different disciplines colliding, recombining, sparking new connections. By uniting these disparate elements through a unified palette, consistent textures, and rhythmic typography, the design feels both untamed and cohesive—inviting the viewer to lean in, discover the details, and inhabit the creative spirit of Venice Beach.
Social
