TASERCON
Context
Policing was facing a morale crisis. A 2021 Police1 survey found officer morale had dropped 75% in a single year, and more than half of officers said they would not recommend the profession. Axon answered with something public safety had never had: a dedicated training conference built around the whole officer, not just the tools on their belt. TASERCON launched in January 2023 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It brought trainers, chiefs, command staff and frontline officers together for three days of certification courses, hands-on training, wellness programming and keynotes from leaders like retired Chief Kristen Ziman and retired USMC Colonel Tom Gordon.
Approach
An inaugural event has no playbook, no past attendees and no brand equity to lean on. As Creative Director, I led the creative from a blank page. That meant building the TASERCON identity system and scaling it across every physical and digital touchpoint. The concept balanced the precision of Axon’s tactical brand with the human, wellness-first message at the heart of the event. Working with Axon’s Training, Events and Brand teams and production partner Unbridled, we built one modular kit of type, color, graphics and motion. It flexed from a phone-sized registration screen to a ballroom-scale main stage without breaking.
-
Public Safety · Conference & Event Design
-
Train the whole officer. Build the experience around them.
-
Brand identity, environmental design, stage, digital, motion, merch
-
Inaugural event · MGM Grand, Las Vegas · 3 days
-
Creative Director: Travis Bartlett
Art Director: Blake Ingolia
Lead Designer: Blake Ingolia
Motion: Good Secrets
Web: Clint McFarlin
Branding
Built for the whole officer.
TASERCON was a first-of-its-kind public safety training conference, so it needed a brand with the same energy as the product at its center. The identity was built on tension. A heavy condensed wordmark with a fractured N. Torn paper edges ripping through every layout. Outline type stacked against solid. TASER yellow used like a live wire. Gritty black-and-white photography kept the focus on the officers the event was built for. The system carried from the first save-the-date through the website, the social countdown and the TASER 10 reveal, then filled the room at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas: LED walls, stage graphics, credentials and crew gear. One identity, from the first post to the last night in Vegas.
Includes: Wordmark and visual identity, event website, social campaign and animated teasers, TASER 10 launch creative, LED and stage graphics, credentials and crew apparel, environmental design
Event Activation
Turning the MGM Grand into a training ground.
A conference built on training can’t be a ballroom with a logo on it. We designed the physical experience to move attendees from the main stage to hands-on learning without losing the thread. Environmental graphics and wayfinding turned the MGM Grand into a clear, branded campus. The TASER live-fire village and the VR training lab became destinations in their own right. From registration to breakout rooms to the sponsor expo, every space reinforced the same message: this event was built for the people behind the badge. Then we gave them a night off. A full takeover at Hakkasan Nightclub turned the brand up to full volume, with TASER yellow beams, branded LED walls and a DJ booth wrapped in the identity.
Includes: Main stage design, environmental graphics, way-finding and signage, live-fire village, VR training lab, registration, breakout rooms, sponsor expo, Hakkasan takeover
Video & Motion Graphics
Setting the tone before the first word.
Motion gave the brand a pulse. The keynote open set the emotional stakes from the first frame, putting officers, not equipment, at the center of the story. Behind it, a reusable motion toolkit of title cards, transitions, lower thirds and LED loops kept multiple sessions across three days consistent, and let production partners move fast without breaking the system. After the event, the same toolkit powered the recap film and social content that carried TASERCON well beyond Las Vegas.
Includes: Keynote open, speaker walk-ins, LED stage content, session bumpers and lower thirds, sponsor loops, promo and recap films, social cutdowns
Digital Activation
The conference started long before Las Vegas.
An inaugural event has no audience waiting for it, so digital had to build one. We launched TASERCON in phases: the announcement and save the date, then registration and the agenda, then event-day content, and finally a post-event recap to set up next year. tasercon.com was the hub, supported by email, social and paid media / on-site event app, all speaking in one voice.
Includes: tasercon.com, registration experience, email campaigns, social campaign, paid media, on-site event app, post-event content
