Open Ears Forum (OEF) is a community workshop led by OnePlus at least once a year and held all over the world. The last Open Ears forum was held in Amsterdam and OnePlus asked us to help them put together a brand identity not just for this Open Ears Forum, but a dynamic system that informs all future OEF events.

OnePlus is rare in modern-day technology brands, where the company feels transparent and approachable, and the OEF workshops are no different. Decision-makers, creative directors, hardware and software designers are all in attendance and work closely with the community to make products even better.

It was clear to us, that key considerations for the brand identity were a feeling community and collective idea generation. It was also crucial the brand had the ability to roll-out across screen and print, from digital campaigns and presentations to worksheets and wayfinding.

We looked into how a brand can visualise the idea of community, sharing ideas and working together. So it made sense to us and OnePlus to have a brand identity built around visualisation of community. The OEF brand is built around the dynamic ‘dot’ system, with interconnecting links, showcasing a network of people sharing ideas and being more effective together.

The dot system adapts and changes to create logos, icons and wayfinding. It was important for everyone that the new OEF brand created a positive impression straight away, so we created an animation of the new OEF lockup showcasing the possibilities and movement the new brand gives.

OEF Amsterdam was attended by OnePlus community members from all over Europe so another key area of the brand roll-out was wayfinding to help attendees find the space. The dot system itself sits on a grid and lends itself effectively to iconography. The animation and movement of the grid have great potential for video and larger digital campaigns which we look forward to exploring further.

We explored more subtle, ‘guerilla’ forms of advertising and promotion for this and future events, relying on a few simple elements, the iconic OnePlus Red, brand typography and the OEF pattern system.

We want the OEF events to feel hands-on and the community members to know they have direct input into the future development of OnePlus products. For this reason, we applied the ‘dot’ idea further and created a series of workshop tools and stickers that allowed community members to stick “Good”, “Bad”, “Not Sure” on individual features and suggestions. They’re also just a great way to introduce yourself and say hi.

The OEF brand was a pleasure to work on and exciting to see come together in Amsterdam. All of us at Alphabet are excited to continue our creative partnership with Alphabet, and the growth of the Open Ears Forum across the world.