For anyone else who attended, you may be sick of hearing about this already, but for those of you who didn’t, a hot topic of the conference was the conference’s branding itself.

‍

I know. Not something you’d usually expect to care about when attending a business conference. But designers are a super opinionated group of people, and we love sharing our thoughts for no reason (I mean, here I am writing this article).

‍

The conference’s leaders, visionaries, and people behind it all, Armin and Bryony, are a husband-and-wife duo who hosted the conference in Nashville once before, about ten years ago. This time around, they were looking for a creative take on Nashville as a city and, among the chaos of Broadway, were inspired by the many celebrations and bachelorette parties they saw. So, the conference’s pink, frilly, over-the-top, shiny identity was born.

‍

I loved it.

‍

There were a lot of controversial takes on the branding of the conference (seriously? It’s a two-day event and they decided to have some fun with it), but I thought it was an original, playful take on the city. Even if it inspired design TikTokers and LinkedIn leaders to critique the branding ruthlessly.

‍

Armin, I promise I’m not trying to become another LinkedIn thought leader while writing this article.

‍

But I’ve found that writing a bit post-conference really helps me digest the thoughts and creative inspiration I took away from the experience, even if I’m the only one who reads this.

‍

For one thing, I think the conference branding set the tone incredibly well for many of the themes from the talks that stuck with me post-conference. Among all of the awesome projects and case studies that were shown, there was a recurring theme of originality, playfulness, soul, and reminders to do things your own way in order to stand out. Which, I think, summed up not only the conference branding, but many of the speakers perfectly.

‍

Talks from Ali Ozden, Andy Khatouli, Lads Studio, andstudio, and CLUB all spoke to the idea of doing things originally.

‍

Lads Studio chooses to craft entire narratives and creative storylines around their creative briefs (hugely successfully - they’ve made a lot of cool lil lads) across brands like Aura Bora and merch illustrations for musicians. They spoke about the elements of creating a brand with soul - a great creator (someone who cares), a great story (giving people something to believe in), and a set of core beliefs (what does your brand believe? What do its followers worship?).

‍

They talked about the power of a brand “Easter egg” in storytelling and visual language, and asking “does this feel true to the brand?” instead of “does this look good?” All of it backed up the idea of doing things differently.

‍

Ali Ozden was a huge proponent of doing the weird shit, because once you stop caring what other people think, it frees you to do more interesting, eye-catching work. And in the age of AI, doing things “wrong” is way more interesting. He spoke as a huge proponent of teaching clients to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, because that’s the space that allows for growth.

‍

Armin and Bryony also spoke to this idea when presenting the conference branding -  make it fun, make it funky, make it stand out. Don’t do the obvious, even if some people critique you. People will remember you (and your brand) better for it.

‍

Andy Khatouli had an energetic talk, and there were so many great storytelling moments throughout it. But an overarching concept that stuck with me from his presentation was that many things no longer feel useful to all of us because we now feel like we’re being used. Design should be genuine, but in this age of consumerism and marketing, it can feel like we’re constantly being sold something.

‍

Do it different.

‍

“When the world wants you to be good, be bad.” His words, not mine.

‍

As another supporter of doing things differently, andstudio spoke to the unique ways they’ve acquired clients and creative work or ideation in the past. Everything from a previous campaign to do a studio swap with another agency, where they got to live in and work in a completely different city, to a current campaign they’re running to live at a winery for a week in exchange for full branding (I think offerings of wine may be somewhere in the mix as payment).

‍

It’s another great reminder to do things differently.

‍

Personally, I think the years of everyone having to work standard 9–5 hours are over. We’ve lost loyalty between companies and employers, and the state of the world now demands flexibility more than ever. I loved seeing how andstudio has spun the standard workflow of a studio to stay inspired and live life how they want to - leading them to connect with clients and creative work that actually resonate with their brand and goals.

‍

Another theme that came up throughout the conference was intention and slowing down.

‍

I feel like these are things a lot of us throw around as terms all the time, but forget to actually do in the day-to-day, or when the going gets tough.

‍

Carissa from Nimble Creative spoke to this through the way they approach their clients, taking the time to fully understand them before starting as a copywriter and really getting under the hood of everything. It’s led them to understand their clients on another level and create work for them more authentically.

‍

Asking questions like - Do expectations for design actually align with the goal we’re heading toward? Questioning the scope. Talking through ideas. Taking the brief seriously, but not literally. And becoming fluent in starting without knowing sometimes.

‍

Another resounding theme from her - get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

CLUB spoke to authenticity and intentionality in design again through their rebrands of legacy brands - salvaging character in design and showing how little details can have a big impact.

‍

Salvage character. Keep personality. Always.

‍

And talking about intention, one of my biggest takeaways from Jessie McGuire was this - did you design pretty guidelines, or a usable, scalable brand system?

What’s shown in the big case studies isn’t always what matters. It’s what the users are actually using day-to-day and interacting with that does, as unremarkable as it may be.

‍

All of these themes explored throughout the conference were really inspiring reminders to do things your own way and stand out.

Pursue life experiences. Live life. Chase down strange ideas and let them inspire you. Because authenticity is really all we have left as creatives. Decide what makes something unmistakably itself.

‍

It was also a study in soul, and in the creative pursuit of being different. And a reminder that soul, good creative, and authenticity all take time to create.

None of these are quick hacks for how to be a better designer or creative. And I think that’s exactly what I liked about it. I left feeling really inspired to lean into the desire to do things differently, to pursue the weird ideas, to make space for curiosity, and to trust that there’s value in doing things that don’t necessarily make sense on paper.

‍

Because there’s a chance it may just work out for the best.

‍

Leaving Brand New Conference 2026 feeling inspired, creatively recharged, and very excited for what’s next.

‍

Until next time.