Each year, the world's most influential social entrepreneurs, thought leaders and strategic partners gather at the University of Oxford´s SaÏd Business School to exchange ideas and activate solutions during the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. The Forum is the premier international platform for advancing entrepreneurial solutions to the world's most pressing problems to exchange ideas and activate solutions during the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. The Forum is the premier international platform for advancing entrepreneurial solutions to the world's most pressing problems. This annual gathering unites doers and donors, thinkers, and tinkerers in a collaborative pursuit of learning, leverage, and large-scale social change.
Anchored by our theme this year: Accelerating Possibility — we overhauled the visual design identity of the Forum with a modern, streamlined sensibility imbued with hope and optimism of a much better future.
That design identity manifested across a range of collateral. It became animated with graphics projected above the main event stage. Print posters announced the event to Oxford pedestrians. The wraparound design illustrated the reusable drink tumbler and nametag lanyards in thematic colors signified specific delegate roles at the Forum.
No detail went overlooked, from the custom enameled label pins to denote speakers and representatives of organizations that have won past Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship, to the branding of the e-newsletter, social media pages, and a custom event microsite. The print program and accompanying pocket-sized passport event guide all relied on a unifying visual language that collectively articulated our vision of accelerated possibility.
The concept of the isometric staircase was inspired by M.C. Escher’s lithograph Relativity, which uses Schroeder’s stairs to create striking false-perspective illusions. This design symbolizes the idea of continuous progress—each staircase representing the achievements of different award-winning organizations, all building upon one another to reach greater heights of success.
The event itself was a tremendous success, and the high-quality collateral designs were well received and appreciated by the audience.
My work was also honored at the Muse Creative Awards, earning Platinum for Event Marketing, Gold for Brochure Design, and Silver for Illustration.
“Emily had a knack to be able to translate abstract concepts into beautiful and logical designs that became anchors throughout our event, and she is someone that is happy to juggle both day-to-day graphic production as well as shepherd long-term in depth projects in parallel, and someone who is able to work autonomously as well as manage a process across multiple teams.”