TreeHacks

1 of 2 designers organizing the largest collegiate hackathon

timeline
sep 2025 to feb 2026
role
designer
team
2 designers, 27 organizers
skills
brand design · figma

Overview

I designed all merchandise, marketing materials, physical designs, and UI/UX elements for the largest collegiate hackathon.

Design / Product

  • Designed 80+ original assets for branding and merchandise (from Lego sets to PCB badges)
  • Designed all promotional material, driving a 25% increase in applications
  • Collaborated with the engineering and marketing teams, iterating 10+ times on major deliverables under tight deadlines
  • Built an 8-foot tree installation and a functional photobooth

Execution

  • Researched sustainable and high-quality merch options
  • Managed logistics end to end: contacting vendors, budgeting, and ordering at scale
  • Distributed merch to 1,000+ hackers and ran a successful 36-hour hackathon
a pile of navy treehacks 2026 boxes
the treehacks 2026 tote bag, hand-drawn icons around the wordmark
keynote speaker sam altman on stage in memorial auditorium
the eight track signs lined up outside: inference through cloud ai
a hacker holding the tree-shaped sponsor badge
the treehacks 2026 banner over the courtyard

Figma

Everything was designed in Figma (and Procreate for the hand-drawn features).

open in figma ↗

All designs

Jump to:

Merch · t-shirt · tote bag · playing cards · pcb badge · custom lego set · stickers

Promotional · social media

Space · physical space

Process

T-shirt iterations

t-shirt iteration board: finals, elements, and brainstorming rounds

Final t-shirt design

final t-shirt designs across roles (1 of 10)
final t-shirt designs across roles (2 of 10)
final t-shirt designs across roles (3 of 10)
final t-shirt designs across roles (4 of 10)
final t-shirt designs across roles (5 of 10)
final t-shirt designs across roles (6 of 10)
final t-shirt designs across roles (7 of 10)
final t-shirt designs across roles (8 of 10)
final t-shirt designs across roles (9 of 10)
final t-shirt designs across roles (10 of 10)

Tote bag iterations (front + back)

tote bag iterations board
tote bag directions, idea five through idea one

Final tote bag design

the final tote bag (1 of 2)
the final tote bag (2 of 2)

Playing cards

playing card iterations board
playing cards final design board

PCB badge

pcb badge designs in every colorway

Custom lego set

custom lego set box design

Stickers

sticker iterations board
final sticker designs

Social media / promotional

the treehacks website's tracks, built as lego hexes

Physical space

the physical space signs: every room and rule with its own mascot

What I learned

Designing for physical scale is its own discipline

On a screen, an idea is finished when it looks right. At 1,000 units, it is finished when the vendor can actually print it, the budget can afford it, and the boxes arrive before the event starts. Iterating 10+ times on the major deliverables with engineering and marketing taught me to show drafts early and let other hands make them better.

Special thanks to the 27 organizers who made the event run :)