First Round 2026 – New York is a one-day conference and showcase organised by UnderConsideration, aimed at designers, branding specialists and creative professionals working on logo and identity design. The event is structured around presentations where speakers reveal their original pitch or first-round presentation decks (PDF/Keynote/PPT) that they showed to clients — giving attendees insight into the very first creative explorations and decision processes behind real branding projects. It’s less about polished, final work and more about raw ideas, early concepts, and the critical thinking that shapes brand identity from day one, offering a rare behind-the-scenes look at the design process and creative decision-making in professional branding work. 
By focusing on these first-round explorations, the conference becomes a learning ground for seeing how different designers approach challenges: how they frame briefs, explore multiple directions, communicate with clients, and defend early-stage concepts. For anyone working in branding, design systems, agency work or building a design-resources platform (like your own), First Round offers inspiration and transparency — a chance to study how identity-driven design is conceived, iterate mentally on those trajectories, and potentially adapt lessons for your own design & branding workflow.
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Key Details
• Date: 7 May 2026 
• Location: New York City, USA — offered as both in-person and online event 
• Focus / Scope: Brand identity, logo & identity design, design process, creative explorations, client pitches, branding practice
• Format: Single-day conference — 12 speakers present their original “first-round” branding presentations (PDF/Keynote/PPT) used in real client work 
• Audience: Brand designers, graphic designers, design-system builders, creative directors, design-resource creators, freelancers & agencies interested in identity work and creative process transparency 
• Purpose: To provide insight into early-stage identity design, expose real-world creative decision flows, offer transparent learning, and foster a design community around brand-identity thinking 
