For more than a decade, I’ve had the opportunity to work with the California Association of Building Energy Consultants (CABEC) as a design consultant and creative partner for its annual conference.
Each year begins with the same question:
How do we turn a conference theme into a complete visual experience?
I work closely with CABEC Executive Director Linda Pierce and the Conference Chairs to establish the creative direction from the very beginning. We start by strategizing around the conference theme, audience and overall tone, then develop a visual identity capable of extending far beyond a single logo.
For the 2026 conference, that identity became California Dreamin’.
Held September 15–17 in Petaluma, the conference brought together building-energy professionals from across California for education, industry collaboration, exhibitors, networking and more than 30 hours of CEA continuing-education credit.
My role was to create a visual system capable of carrying that experience across every touchpoint of the conference.
From Theme to Visual System
The California Dreamin’ concept immediately suggested a classic California road-trip aesthetic.
Mountains. Pine trees. Water. Open roads. Sunshine. A vintage camper van.
(note: above or initial-round draft design concepts)
I developed a warm, retro-inspired visual identity built around that imagery, with layered typography and a distinctive palette of gold, orange, red, deep purple, cream and teal.
But the real challenge wasn’t simply creating an appealing key visual.
It was designing something flexible enough to work across dozens of formats.
The same creative direction needed to function on a sponsorship prospectus, conference program, maps, signage, banners, promotional products and large-format environmental graphics — all while still feeling unmistakably connected.
That is where conference branding becomes less about a logo and more about building a design system.
One Identity. Dozens of Applications.
Once the visual identity was established, I carried it across the entire conference ecosystem.
The California Dreamin’ system was applied to:
- Sponsorship and marketing prospectus
- Conference program
- Sponsor and exhibitor recognition
- Conference and exhibitor maps
- Step-and-repeat media wall
- Freestanding sponsor banners
- Directional and wayfinding signage
- Corrugated plastic signs
- Large-format environmental graphics
- Digital and promotional materials
- Custom embroidered bucket hats
Each application had a different purpose, format and production requirement, but all of them needed to feel like part of the same event.
Designing the Business Side of the Conference
One of the first major applications was the CABEC Sponsorship & Marketing Prospectus.
The document had to do more than look good. It needed to help CABEC communicate the value of the conference to prospective sponsors and exhibitors.
The audience included Certified Energy Analysts, energy consultants, California Energy Commission representatives, utility executives, architects, builders, contractors, raters, nonprofits, educators and students.
The prospectus also organized a wide range of sponsorship levels — including reception, banquet, conference hall, breakout room, AV, meal, keynote and exhibitor opportunities — each with different benefits, program advertising and event visibility.
That required a balance of marketing strategy, information design and visual hierarchy.
The goal was to make a complex sponsorship structure feel clear, professional and visually connected to the larger conference identity.
Turning the Identity Into a Conference Publication
The visual system then expanded into the official CABEC 2026 Conference Program.
The program had to accommodate far more than a schedule.
It included executive welcome messages, conference information, exhibitors, session agendas, speaker content, sponsor advertising, maps, acknowledgements and other attendee resources.
CABEC leadership emphasized education, industry collaboration and connection as central goals of the conference.
That meant the design needed to support large amounts of information without losing the personality of the California Dreamin’ identity.
Rather than simply repeating the cover artwork throughout the publication, I treated the conference identity as a design vocabulary — using typography, color, landscape elements, badges and retro styling to create hierarchy and continuity throughout the program.
Designing for the Physical Conference Environment
Conference branding becomes especially powerful when it moves beyond the page.
For CABEC 2026, the artwork was translated into environmental graphics throughout the venue, including a large-format step-and-repeat media wall, freestanding sponsor displays, directional signage and other conference graphics.
The goal was consistency.
When attendees moved from registration to sessions, exhibitors and social events, the visual environment needed to feel cohesive rather than like a collection of unrelated pieces.
The Main Conference Partner banner is a good example. Sponsor visibility remained prominent, but the lower portion of the display incorporated the California Dreamin’ landscape and camper artwork so that the sign still clearly belonged to the conference.
That is the difference between simply placing logos on signs and designing an event environment.
From Large-Format Printing to Embroidery
One of the most important pieces of the project was also one of the smallest.
The primary conference promotional giveaway was a custom embroidered bucket hat, sponsored by Transtech.
I designed and produced the hats with the CABEC identity embroidered above the Transtech sponsor mark.
Embroidery introduces an entirely different set of design considerations from print or digital work.
Fine details, line weights, lettering, stitch density and logo proportions all have to be evaluated differently when artwork is reproduced in thread on fabric.
The artwork therefore had to be prepared specifically for the production method rather than simply reduced from an existing graphic.
The finished hats became a wearable extension of the conference brand.
Seeing CABEC Executive Director Linda Pierce and Conference Chair Ruby Rose Yepez wearing them at the conference brought the entire process full circle:
concept → design → production → experience.
Strategy and Production Have to Work Together
One of the advantages I bring to projects like CABEC is that my work doesn’t stop once the concept is approved.
My background includes both graphic design and production/prepress, which means I’m thinking about how a design will ultimately be manufactured while I’m still creating it.
That matters.
A digital graphic behaves differently than a printed program.
A conference banner behaves differently than a corrugated plastic sign.
A large-format media wall behaves differently than embroidered fabric.
The CABEC sponsorship materials themselves required press-ready PDFs, outlined fonts, high-resolution imagery and CMYK production files.
Understanding those realities allows me to carry an idea from the creative stage through final production without losing the original intent.
More Than Designing Individual Pieces
There is an important distinction between designing conference materials and designing a conference identity system.
My role with CABEC begins long before the first sign is printed.
It starts with the creative strategy.
Then comes the identity.
Then the system.
Then the applications.
Then the production.
And ultimately, the attendee experience.
That means I can move from creative planning to Illustrator, from Illustrator to InDesign, from editorial design to prepress, from printed collateral to large-format signage, and from vector artwork to embroidery while maintaining the same visual direction throughout.
That continuity is what makes the final conference feel cohesive.
A Decade of Creative Collaboration
My work with CABEC has now spanned approximately a decade.
Each year presents a new creative challenge — a new theme, new Conference Chairs, new sponsors, new exhibitors and a new visual story.
But the larger goal remains the same:
Turn an idea into an experience.
That long-term collaboration has allowed me to become more than someone producing isolated design pieces.
I’ve been able to serve as a creative partner who understands the organization, its audience, its conference and the many production realities required to bring an event like this to life.
Strategy → Design → Production → Experience
The CABEC 2026 California Dreamin’ Conference represents the kind of work I enjoy most at Republic Design Company.
It combines branding, creative strategy, marketing, editorial design, information design, environmental graphics, print production and promotional products into one connected project.
And that ultimately tells the story better than any title or claim could:
One conference identity.
Dozens of applications.
Multiple production methods.
One cohesive experience.
That’s California Dreamin’.
That’s the kind of work I strive to create at Republic Design Company.
