The Chainlink Hackathon Fall 2021 marked the first time our team applied the newly established process and system for the event's visual identity. Our goal was not only to deliver a stunning brand, but also to refine the workflow and ensure maximum efficiency throughout the process.

For this edition, we chose a vibrant neon color palette to create an exciting atmosphere. A bold gradient stroke, representing a ray of light, was used in both still and video applications to symbolize the creativity of the hackathon participants. The dark mode design was in harmony with the fall theme of the event, while oversized coding elements were incorporated throughout the branding to emphasize its nature.

For this edition, we chose a vibrant neon color palette to create an exciting atmosphere. A bold gradient stroke, representing a ray of light, was used in both still and video applications to symbolize the creativity of the hackathon participants. The dark mode design was in harmony with the fall theme of the event, while oversized coding elements were incorporated throughout the branding to emphasize its nature.

On the web application, we utilized frosted glass to create depth and contrast between body text and images. This added an elegant touch and made the interface visually captivating.

Additionally, a promotional animation was created to generate buzz around the Hackathon and encourage people to register. This dynamic piece played a significant role in capturing the attention of potential participants.

The Chainlink Hackathon Fall 2021 proved to be a success, with over 7,800 sign-ups and 280+ project submissions. Developers from around the world came together to showcase their passion and talent for building the next generation of hybrid smart contracts. Over $550k in total prizes was awarded to teams that demonstrated exceptional creativity in both their ideas and execution, giving rise to new use cases across blockchain verticals such as DeFi, NFTs, DAOs, and more. The event's success validated the effectiveness of our visual identity and reinforced the importance of a well-defined workflow and system for future Chainlink Hackathons.

The Chainlink Spring 2022 Hackathon style guide provided a comprehensive outline of the visual identity usage, as well as the rationale and guidelines for all relevant visual elements, with a particular emphasis on the pattern. The pattern served as the primary visual footprint of the Hackathon Spring 2022 brand, and it featured a combination of distinct clustered shapes, with each group symbolizing a building block. This concept resonated with the hackathon's creative spirit, showcasing the diversity of hackathon projects and illustrating how they come together to form a rich and evolved ecosystem. The modular nature of the pattern facilitated the production of various adaptations for different layouts.

In addition to the pattern, the style guide also covered essential details about the logo, color usage, layouts, grids, and typography, ensuring the Hackathon's visual identity remained consistent across multiple applications and platforms. The color palette for the Hackathon Spring 2022 was vibrant and energetic, perfectly complementing the spring theme and infusing the event with a sense of excitement and enthusiasm. The Chainlink blue was retained as the key secondary color, and Circular, Chainlink’s typography, was used as a secondary typeface to maintain a connection with the parent brand. This comprehensive style guide allowed for the creation of a cohesive and memorable visual experience for all attendees and participants, effectively conveying the spirit and values of the Hackathon Spring 2022 event.

Digital collateral was designed following a predefined layout with stipulated margins. The layouts were available in 2, 3, and 4 columns to provide flexibility and adaptability for various assets. With readability as the top aim of every collateral, this approach the creation of visually consistent digital collateral that adhered to the brand style guide while still allowing for customization based on the content requirements.

To promote event registration, a dynamic, rhythmic, and visually appealing promotional animation was created, which also helped define the motion style guidelines. It was designed to capture and retain the attention of viewers, ensuring that the Hackathon's key messages and themes were effectively communicated. 

For the Hackathon, additional assets were designed, such as T-shirts and POAPs. Whether digital or physical touchpoints, the brand scaled to provide a consistent experience for attendees, ensuring that all event-related materials and merchandise were consistent and tailored to the specific experience.

The web application combined various layouts to present information in a user-friendly manner. The page rhythm was determined by the background color, while the structure and content presentation adhered to the style guide's instructions on layouts and grids. This approach created a visually cohesive and easy-to-navigate web presence that effectively showcased the Hackathon's offerings and events.

Livestreams were a significant investment for this edition, resulting in the production of a comprehensive media pack that included bumpers, lower thirds, and transitions, amongst others. These assets were used in over 50 hours of content, ensuring that the Hackathon's visual identity was consistently represented in every detail at every stage of the way, 

The Chainlink Spring 2022 Hackathon broke records across all metrics, with over 8,500 signups and 340 project submissions. Developers, creators, artists, and mentors from around the world came together to showcase their passion and talent for building Web3 applications.

The meticulously crafted brand style guide played a pivotal role in achieving these impressive results, as it provided a cohesive and memorable visual identity that resonated with the Chainlink community and beyond.

The Chainlink Fall 2022 Hackathon embraced a dark mode style, featuring a style that not only appealed to developers but also harmonized with analog technology and modern aesthetics, evoking a sense of nostalgia and innovation with the goal of creating a visual experience that was both familiar and refreshing.

The design direction leaned heavily on the terminal green color, reminiscent of the early days of personal computers. By incorporating real Chainlink code snippets and utilizing a retro pixelbit typeface, the brand aimed to capture the attention of both new and experienced hackers in the ecosystem.

The key art, an M.C. Escher-inspired cube, represented a maze or puzzle waiting to be solved – much like the hackathon projects that sought to address unique challenges in the industry using Chainlink's core services. The minimal two-color palette paired well with large typography, enabling bold and inspiring marketing messages. Chainlink's primary font, Circular, was retained for consistency.

An extensive library of backgrounds was developed early in the project, streamlining the asset creation process and ensuring visual consistency across various platforms and applications. The backgrounds depicted the M.C. Escher-inspired cube artwork from various perspectives, which not only made it scalable to reproduce but also helped anchor the concepts of the design language on every piece.

The digital collateral offerings took advantage of the versatile 2, 3, and 4-column layouts, giving the team ample options for organizing information and optimizing each asset for its intended purpose. These flexible layouts allowed for greater adaptability in showcasing the event's diverse content, ensuring that every communication piece remained engaging and visually appealing.

The Proof of Attendance NFTs, designed with a modern and volumetric appearance, resembled physical badges. These captivating and well-received tokens delighted attendees with their contemporary and dynamic design, which combined bold shapes and vibrant colors to create a memorable and valuable keepsake for participants.

The predominantly black mode web application featured high-contrast sections, creating a visually striking and user-friendly interface. The layout echoed the console concept and incorporated pixelated elements as section borders and dividers. Combined with the heading typeface, these features helped solidify the retro visual style, while also providing an intuitive and immersive browsing experience for users.

The Chainlink Fall 2022 Hackathon surpassed all previous records, attracting over 10,000 signups and receiving more than 380 project submissions from teams worldwide. The event provided over 30 hours of development tutorials, empowering a new generation of hackers to build on blockchain and oracle infrastructure. Many participants have since leveraged their hackathon projects to jumpstart their careers in the Web3 space, demonstrating the event's lasting impact on the developer community and the wider blockchain industry.

The visually striking and captivating brand style played a crucial role in the event's success, as it resonated with attendees and helped create a memorable and engaging experience that continued to inspire the growth and innovation of the Chainlink ecosystem.

The Chainlink Spring 2023 Hackathon brand style guide aimed to create a modern, approachable, exciting, inspiring, and trendy visual identity that would resonate with participants and the wider community. 

To evoke the spring season, the design utilized mesh gradients, predominantly featuring warm colors. Contrasting cold color spectrums were incorporated for dark mode pieces, creating a visually diverse palette that catered to various applications and platforms. Additionally, The frosted glass texture added depth and visual interest to the design, while maintaining a clean and contemporary appearance. The combination of gradients, textures, and color schemes resulted in a visually cohesive and memorable identity for the Chainlink Spring 2023 Hackathon.

The decision to use Circular as the primary body font aligned the Hackathon brand with the parent Chainlink brand, while also providing a legible and versatile typeface. To complement the Circular font, a wide modern font was used for headings, adding an extra layer of contrast and helping to reinforce the art direction northstars of this edition.

Developer characters and key project logos were also utilized in the visual style as floating elements, which not only provided a unique opportunity to create animations, but also added visual interest and helped balance artboards.

The digital collateral for the Chainlink Spring 2023 Hackathon was designed with versatility and adaptability in mind, offering both light and dark layout options that utilized different spectrums of the color palette. This approach allowed the creation of a variety of assets, each tailored to the specific outlet's audience, and ensured optimal information architecture across all digital channels. The combination of typefaces, color schemes, and visual elements resulted in a rich assortment of assets that effectively communicated the Hackathon's brand identity and key messages.

The web application for the Chainlink Spring 2023 Hackathon placed a strong focus on interactive elements and animations, offering an engaging and dynamic user experience. The rhythm of the page design was determined by the contrast of gradients and full-colored backgrounds, while accent colors were used to drive emphasis and guide users' attention to key information. The overall design was visually striking and consistent, ensuring that the Hackathon's identity remained cohesive and memorable for all attendees and participants.

The web application for the Chainlink Spring 2023 Hackathon placed a strong focus on interactive elements and animations, offering an engaging and dynamic user experience. The rhythm of the page design was determined by the contrast of gradients and full-colored backgrounds, while accent colors were used to drive emphasis and guide users' attention to key information. The overall design was visually striking and consistent, ensuring that the Hackathon's identity remained cohesive and memorable for all attendees and participants.

The Chainlink Spring 2023 Hackathon is set to take place throughout Q2 2023, and the anticipation surrounding the event is growing rapidly. The response from the Chainlink community to the event's visual identity has been overwhelmingly positive, with participants and members expressing their enthusiasm and excitement for the engaging and modern design.