SakuraCon is the largest Japanese media convention in the American Northwest. This rebrand and app design refreshes the identity & creates a consistent system to elevate the attendees’ experience. “Sakura,” meaning cherry blossom, is reflected in the soft color palette and bunny mascot representing the bloom of spring. A cartoonish, graphic style lends itself to popular Japanese media such as manga & anime.
Try the prototype yourself here!
Mascots are particularly popular in Asian brands — recognizable, appealing, and they offer unique opportunities for customer engagement. I explored both bunnies (representing springtime, the season sakura trees bloom) and Asian black bears, who commonly live in sakura forests.
To circle back more strongly to the name, I began experimenting with a dual bunny ear/flower petal reference.
Our new identity in hand, it’s time to structure our app. SakuraCon has an extensive website and that’s great for researching details, but lacks features for ease of use and is impractical to use for quick info during the convention.
Users can favorite events and view them in the Account tab to curate their ideal itinerary.