the occ is well known for their ability to throw a massive party, but they were seeing a decline in local engagement. the local business community had come to assume that the occ was a "big box" event center that couldn't accommodate a small-scale event. but the occ does cool stuff, and they're just as locally-focused and environmentally-conscious as any other venue in the city—if not more so—with the added benefit of a world-class convention center. they asked us to help communicate that. 

jeff and i developed several concepts to help the occ engage with local business on a personal level, and show that there is a lot about the occ they might not know.

i presented the "where it all comes together" puzzle, and the "go cart" (playing off of the iconic occ spires, and their recently-redesigned logo). the concepts were presented to the client along with others, and all were very well received. 

ultimately the client chose the puzzle. The occ is "where it all comes together," because of their location in the center of the city and because they pride themselves on being an all-inclusive event planning team—they're the ones that make it all come together. 

we brought in an illustrator to create original artwork, and i did my best to inject wit and personality into each fact-based four-inch square. included with the puzzle was an insert with more occ information and a primer message for a tasting event that i dubbed the "chef's plate social."

we went on to create a follow-up postcard, featuring a reprint of the puzzle and an official invitation to the chef's plate social. we also created a custom box and shipping label. the client was thrilled with the outcome, even changing the parameters of the project to make it an evergreen piece to leverage for future initiatives.

< back to words