IBM TechXchange
IBM
YEAR
2025
ROLE
Senior Designer at BUCK
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Vincent Lammers
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Chance Woodward
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Ward Graumans
HEAD OF PRODUCTION
Carolina Brandão
PRODUCER
Alex Decaneas
ART DIRECTOR
Estefan Richter
CREATIVE LEAD
Dom Taylor
COPYWRITER
Guy Bingley
DESIGN
Estefan Richter, Matheus Sakita, Bernd Bousard, Mijke Coebergh
2D ANIMATION LEAD
Jardeson Rocha
2D ANIMATION (AE)
Andrés Cuevas, John Stewart, Sean Merk
CASE STUDY 3D
Will Burkart
WORKSHOP
Bárbara Scatolini, Catarina Alves, Esther Beije,
Estefan Richter, Matheus Sakita, John Stewart, Léa Zhang, Yana Abramova
IBM partnered with BUCK to define the overarching theme for TechXchange 2025, their annual gathering for developers and technologists.
Our role was to build on IBM’s existing design system and introduce a cohesive narrative and experiential layer for the event.
As a Senior Designer, I collaborated closely with the project’s Art and Creative Directors from early exploration through final delivery, contributing across concepting and ideation, system design, and the creation of guidelines.
Hosted in Orlando, just a short jump from Florida’s Space Coast, the event drew inspiration from IBM’s Apollo 11 legacy and its key role in the Go/No-Go protocol.
Together with the IBM team, we built a theme around exploration, progress and curiosity: GO/ Explore. Build. Launch. A rallying cry to the global developer community, setting the tone for everything to come.
Working within IBM’s existing design system, we evolved and extended key elements to shape the visual language of TechXchange 2025.
Bold color, space-inspired imagery and subtle nods to the iconic 8-bar logo rooted the theme firmly in IBM’s world, while real portraits brought the community to the forefront. The 2× grid provided structure, grounding the system while keeping it energetic and intentional.
Once the core elements of the updated design system were established, we conducted a hands-on workshop inviting the team to explore ideas of spatiality, progress, and technology. These explorations laid the groundwork for our vision of a design system that extends beyond the screen, becoming embedded in the event space through signage and immersive experiences.
The GO/ theme ran through every part of the experience, slides, signage, wayfinding, and interactive spaces. And because the story didn’t end at the venue, it lived on through take-home moments: printed guides, patches, stickers and much more.
The result was a unifying, inspirational theme that turned TechXchange into more than a conference. It was a connected experience linking brand, location, and community through one shared, forward-looking idea.