Event Creative Case Study: Sprout @ Cannes
2026
Role
Visual Strategy
Art Direction
Core Creative Team
Julie Maddox (Content Strategy)
Patrick Olson (Design)
Arden Wilson (Design)
Justin Vinalon (Web design)
Jesus Montesois (Dev)
For Cannes Lions, Sprout Social partnered with Canva to create a high-visibility brand presence inside the Canva Creative Cabana. I led the visual strategy and art direction for Sprout’s portion of the experience, translating the Social Intelligence launch system into a co-branded environment that needed to feel distinctly Sprout while sitting naturally inside Canva’s bright, expressive world.
My art director role spanned the full attendee journey, from pre-event promotion and registration through environmental branding, swag and hospitality touchpoints onsite.
Key results:
264 handraisers: 110% above goal
100% executive meeting show rate
3,984 opt-in leads across the week
Defining the visual strategy
The creative direction built on Sprout’s Social Intelligence launch system while adapting it for the energy and visual density of Cannes. The goal was to create something bold, saturated and immediately recognizable without competing unnecessarily with Canva’s own environment.
I established a type-forward system supported by vivid gradients, high-contrast color and selective photography. The approach gave Sprout enough flexibility to show up across digital promotion, environmental graphics and small physical details while maintaining a consistent presence throughout the activation.
From promotion to registration
The campaign extended across social, email and registration, using the same visual language attendees would encounter onsite. For the registration experience, I adapted the structure of a pre-existing event page I had previously designed, providing the wireframe and visual direction before carrying the Cannes creative through the final build.
The result was a consistent pre-event experience that connected promotion, registration and the live activation without requiring a completely new digital framework.
Creating Sprout’s presence inside Canva’s Creative Cabana
Sprout’s branded cabana sat in a high-traffic location between the main stage and the waterfront, giving the brand a highly visible presence inside the larger Canva experience. I art directed the environment across signage, gallery graphics, furnishings and smaller branded details, using the Social Intelligence system to create a space that felt cohesive without disappearing into the surrounding activation.
Across the week, the broader Creative Cabana welcomed 7,926 unique visitors, peaking at 2,875 visitors on Thursday. Sprout also generated 3,984 opt-in leads, a 100% show rate for executive meetings, and 264 handraisers, exceeding goal by 110%.
Small branded moments with staying power
The onsite experience extended into tactile pieces designed to feel useful, collectible and appropriate for Cannes. I art directed a set of small branded takeaways including coin purses, enamel charms and QR-enabled packaging that connected the physical objects back to Sprout’s broader event experience.
The goal was to create something attendees might actually keep while giving the brand another memorable touchpoint beyond the cabana itself.
Turning the coffee bar into a brand touchpoint
Sprout also sponsored the cabana’s coffee cart, turning a practical hospitality moment into a recurring brand interaction throughout the week. I art directed the experience across coffee bags, cup sleeves, napkins and environmental branding, carrying the same visual system into one of the activation’s highest-frequency touchpoints.
The cart served roughly 300–500 coffees per day during general admission hours and approximately 1,400 coffees across the week, creating a steady stream of small but highly visible interactions with the brand.
