Work Life Tarot
We debuted Atlassian’s blog as a booth at Team ‘25 in Anaheim, with the Work Life Tarot as the primary attraction to the program’s debut.
Context
While in attendance of our annual user conference in Barcelona in fall of 2024, the Managing Editor of Atlassian’s blog Lauren was staffing an activation which featured a card game. She reached out to me about featuring the blog at our next annual user conference, and featuring the wealth of content published over the years.
I consulted Lauren throughout the proposal process, and we developed 3 interactive activities that would be featured at the booth, with Work Life Tarot being the highlight.
Role
Creative direction | Project management | Content strategy | Package design
Process
Of the possible avenues Lauren and I explored, we felt the most interesting was tarot.
It is a good vehicle to present a lot of blog post topics without overwhelming the attendees, plus it would be a delightful contrast to all the product demos.
I started by researching tarot, and tailoring the structure to align with the blog topics. We identified all new major arcana that related to work and our careers, and minor arcana that reflected the themes of relationships, work, growth, and innovation.
The introvert card with matching nails by Shophouse Nails
Design
I reached out to our illustrator Sari early in the planning process to see if she had the appetite to illustrate up to 50 unique cards and elements. After winning Sari’s participation in the project I worked with her manager and producer to carve out as much time as possible for the huge undertaking.
The design of the tarot cards are based on traditional tarot motifs, in Atlassian’s illustration style and color palette. We started with identifying visual metaphors, and had the entire deck of cards sketched out before diving into the design.
Revealing truths
On April 8th – 10th 2025 the Work Life Tarot was debuted and reception was massively positive; there was constantly a line of attendees waiting to have their career insights revealed by our facilitators. The lines for readings worked well to generate
curiosity among other attendees, while the two other activations entertained the attendees in line.
The illustrations for the tarot were also utilized throughout the booth providing a distinctive visual identity. I had also designed the booth panels to be a fun backdrop for our attendees.
The tarot cards also caught the attention of the social media team and the executive team. The tarot cards were features in an Instagram post allowing out virtual attendees to participate in the fun; while executives took turns to visit the booth for readings between keynote presentations.
Trust in the cards
With the success of the Work Life Tarot, it was immediately featured at Atlassian’s Community webinar after the conference.
There has also been considerable inquiries about Work Life Tarot’s participation for the European edition of Atlassian’s annual conference, and this time around the program no longer needed to propose the request but has been invited onto the expo floor.