All efforts paid off in a big way: over 2,000 product demos and a significant boost in monthly recurring revenue, totaling more than $20M in annualized revenue.

VILLAGE FOOTPRINT

INITIAL CONCEPTS
Building on the previous year’s hexagon theme, we evolved the design with fresh ideas—backlighting for dimension, cutouts to showcase textures, and kinetic shapes to convey action. All paired with content that highlighted the power of Cox Automotive.

CHOSEN DIRECTION
We landed on honeycomb-inspired hexagons to represent the organization and structure of our products and brands. While experimenting with different orientations, the flat-sided hexagons gave a steady, solid foundation that visually reinforced the idea of One Cox Auto. Messaging and KPIs were chosen to set overall theme and provide reinforcement.

Each brand was treated the same visually. One brand color and a logo applied to a banner.

Strong brand messaging and hexagon structures carried throughout each piece of the village.

Meeting rooms had space for branded signage and video elements.

POWER UP STAGE + LED VIDEO SAMPLE
This area was designated for talk tracks and award presentations.

EXHIBIT SECTION + LED VIDEO SAMPLE
This area was designated for conversations and demos. There is also a view of the Cox Automotive 2 story meeting room structure.

Event branding translated to all marketing materials including Cox Auto's event app available to all attendees.

NADA 2023 COX AUTOMOTIVE TRADE SHOW EXPERIENCE

The Challenge

NADA 2023 was a large-scale, high-visibility trade show program with multiple brands, deliverables, and production timelines converging at once. In addition to the complexity of the work itself, the project launched after a team merger, with several new contributors who had limited experience with events and trade show execution.

This created a skill gap across creative execution, project management, and account coordination—areas that are critical for experiential work with long lead times, fixed deadlines, and real-world production constraints. Success required not only strong art direction, but also hands-on guidance, clear scoping, and proactive problem-solving to help the team navigate unfamiliar territory and avoid costly missteps.

My Role

As Art Director, I supported the overall creative vision while taking a lead role in production coordination and execution planning. In addition to art direction, I scheduled and managed the production workflow for all print assets, guided the team through scoping and resourcing decisions, and served as a key operational partner throughout the project.

My deep client and brand knowledge helped anticipate challenges early, troubleshoot issues before they escalated, and reduce last-minute surprises.

The Approach

Art Direction & Visual Execution: Provided art direction across environmental graphics and supporting assets, ensuring consistency with the broader creative vision while adapting designs to real-world production constraints.
Production Leadership for Print Assets: Scheduled and ran the production process for all print deliverables, coordinating timelines, vendors, specs, and approvals to keep assets moving smoothly toward press.
Video Storyboarding & Graphic Treatments: Created storyboards and identified graphic treatments for video content, helping align creative intent with motion execution and production feasibility.
Operational Guidance & Project Support: Played an active role in project management by guiding the team through scope definition, resource allocation, and sequencing of work. Used experience with similar programs to identify risks early and help the team stay ahead of potential issues.

The Outcome

The NADA 2023 program delivered a cohesive, high-impact trade show experience that successfully supported both brand visibility and business goals—despite team transition and execution complexity.

The event generated 2,000+ product demos and contributed to a significant increase in monthly recurring revenue, totaling more than $20M in annualized revenue. Clear scoping, disciplined production planning, and proactive guidance helped ensure all assets were delivered on schedule and executed smoothly on site.

Beyond the immediate results, I helped seamlessly stabilize execution during a period of team change, reduced last-minute surprises, and established clearer expectations around scoping, resourcing, and production for future large-scale events.

Key Skills Demonstrated

Art Direction, Trade Show & Experiential Design, Production Management, Print Scheduling & Execution, Video Storyboarding, Cross-Functional Coordination, Scope & Resource Planning, Proactive Problem-Solving, Client & Brand Knowledge