Silver
Pharma & Medical-Craft
Craft - Art Direction
| Entrant: | Area 23, an IPG Health Company, New York |
| Brand: | Zhejiang University |
| Title: | "Identity Builder" |
| Corporate Name of Client: | Zhejiang University, Hangzhou |
| Agency: | Area 23, an IPG Health Company, New York |
| Chief Creative Officer: | Tim Hawkey |
| Executive Creative Director: | Josh Grossberg |
| Group Creative Director: | Felipe Munhoz |
| Creative Directors: | Diego Torgo/Sttenio Costa/Victor Afonso |
| Associate Creative Directors: | Lily Liu, Matthew Sherring/Renan Bulgari/Diana Yeo/Justin Schlaffer |
| Agency SVP, Production Group Director: | Chinkara Singh |
| Agency EVP, Executive Director Experience Design: | Franklin Williams |
| Agency SVP, Technology Director: | Bill Hanff |
| Agency VP, Director Experience Design: | Mario Arias |
| Agency Senior Product Designer: | Cliff Washington |
| Agency Product Designer: | Liz Culton |
| Agency SVP, Creative Engineering Director: | Aaron Stack |
| Agency Executive Director, Medical Strategy: | Mike Lieberman |
| Production Companies: | StudioRX, an IPG Health Company, New York/Shanghai Wanlong Cultural Communication Company, Shanghai |
| Executive Producer: | Tom Sann |
| Production Company VP, Director Video Post Production: | Conor OFlynn |
| Production Company Senior Video Editor: | Megan Katuran |
| Production Company Associate Director, Animation: | Christopher Romano |
| Illustration Company: | Black Madre, São Paulo |
| Illustrator: | Leandro Dexter |
| Illustration Company Creative Director: | André Maciel |
| Illustration Company Head of Production: | Laryssa Andrade |
| Illustration Company Production: | Icaro Yuji |
| Illustration Company Executive Director: | Tina Castro |
| Illustration Company Head of Planning: | Le Alves |
Description:
For the Chinese, having a rare disease can be a sign that you are defective and a source of shame for patients and families. It’s the curse of being rare.
The result is that these diseases are not seen as legitimate and established diseases, and patients end up not having community support to overcome the stigma.
Working with Zhejiang University, we decided to change that. Based on its RDmap statistical database, we created the Identity Builder, a procedural art generator that turns scientific data about 5,500 rare diseases into unique visual identities for each.
We were intentional in the art direction to give every grid element a meaning. Each disease's phenotype group determines the identity's solid shape, while the genotype group controls the outline shape. The Xs representing the chromosomes affected have a gold foil texture due to the multifaceted significance of gold in Chinese culture, representing wealth, spirituality, tradition, and artistic expression.
Finally, 23 handmade textures are inspired in the ancient Chinese textiles and artistically reinterpreted to resemble the body system the disease affects.
Now, patients who once felt ashamed, invisible, and illegitimate can finally have a unique symbol to help them feel seen.