The Skoll World Forum brings social entrepreneurs together with the partners who can scale their work. For 2025 the Forum theme was kintsugi—the Japanese practice of repairing broken ceramics with gold, so that the repair becomes part of what the object is worth. In a time of increased division, it invited us to find shared humanity in the world’s cracks and mend them in the open.
On stage and on screen, the identity carried into animated transitions and the screens on the main stage, where it sat between the two gold-veined stage pieces.
I art directed that theme and built the campaign system that carried one idea to every touchpoint: the main visual, announcement and speaker graphics, social and quote content, microsite and app UI, and exhibition graphics across the Oxford venues.
The main visual set the rule everything else followed: real social issue photographs paired with a ceramic ring broken and rejoined in gold, so every image carried a story from the field.
Interpreting the kintsugi “O” as a precious artifact showcased in a world-class museum, symbolizing our shared humanity found in the world’s cracks and our collective ability to mend fractures with hope, empathy, and vision for a beautiful future together.
How to apply the kintsugi concept to the Skoll brand using the “O” as a central visual element, while integrating Skoll’s issue areas into the primary visual system and making sure the main visual scales seamlessly across multiple channels without compromising the concept.
I led the 3D artist in rendering and adapting visuals for use across multiple channels, and facilitated cross-functional consensus among communications, events, and executive teams to finalize the main visual concept. I designed the Skoll “O” and campaign branding system to be both standalone and highly scalable and adaptable across platforms and touchpoints.
Concept sketching
Issue area photo
Rendering testing
Several iterations and testing
Final rendering of campaign branding featuring imagery from each issue area
Posters, delegate badge, tumbler, and mobile and tablet screens
I directed external 3D artists, illustrators, and developers and worked alongside the copywriters and the digital media manager against one shared design system, so the theme held as volume scaled through Forum week.
Speaker and announcement graphics ranked as the top-performing registration drivers, ahead of paid ads—the redesigned visuals moved traffic, engagement and production volume together.
The work was recognized with the Creative Communication Award 2025—Winner, Advertising and Integrated Campaigns. It also won Bronze in Event Concept at the Eventex Awards 2026.
Scalable campaign branding to different sizes
Paid banner ads for virtual registration
Social media campaign: teaser, speaker, and quote graphics
Email campaign
The intro animation on the main stage
“Emily has an extraordinary ability to bring ideas to life visually in a way that strengthens brand awareness and drives real outcomes, including lead engagement and conversion. She approaches design with a strong sense of purpose, helping teams see how thoughtful visual systems support clear storytelling and meaningful connection. Her work consistently elevated the impact of our campaigns while staying grounded in audience needs and business goals.”