BRAND IDENTITY AND GUIDELINES FOR THE EUROPEAN ANIRIDIA CONFERENCE

After four editions of the conference, there was still no independent brand to speak of. Each host organisation had applied their own identity, resulting in something inconsistent and unremarkable for an event of genuine international scientific significance. With the 5th edition approaching (to be held in London, with the scientific programme led by a team from Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL), the organisers needed to change that.

Before they could approach potential sponsors, they needed materials that reflected the calibre of the event. And the brand had to do something quite specific: feel connected to both Aniridia Network UK and Aniridia Europe without being owned by either, because future editions would be hosted by different national organisations. It also had to meet WCAG 2.1 colour contrast requirements from the outset, a non-negotiable given that many of the conference's own delegates and audience members live with visual impairments.

• Brand identity concept and development

• Logo design: wordmark with starburst icon

• Full logo suite: landscape, portrait, standalone icon, black/white, coloured background variants

• Accessible colour palette: primary colours and background variants, WCAG 2.1 compliant

• Typography system with fallback guidance

• Partnership lockup system

• Brand guidelines document

• 22-slide sponsorship pitch deck

• Additional slide templates for ongoing use

• Vector and raster file delivery

The central creative challenge was building a brand that could speak convincingly to two very different groups at once: world-leading scientists who would judge its credibility, and people living with a complex visual impairment who needed it to be accessible. Every decision was shaped by that tension.

I ruled out an eye motif early: too common in the medical sector, not distinctive enough. Stars and EU-blue palettes were out given the conference's need to feel international rather than regionally political. What I landed on was a starburst icon radiating from a central black circle. The radiating lines reference light spreading outward, connected to both the experience of aniridia and the idea of knowledge and research moving into the world from a concentrated gathering of experts. The central black circle references the enlarged pupil characteristic of the condition. The mark works at very small sizes, which was important given social media and digital use cases.

The colour palette (sky blue, teal and warm brown alongside black) had to pass WCAG 2.1 contrast checks for both white and black text. I tested every combination and documented the results in the guidelines, including noting where initial specifications had been adjusted to meet accessibility standards. Darker tonal variants were specified separately for use as text backgrounds. None of the colours were borrowed from either Aniridia Network or Aniridia Europe, giving the conference genuine visual independence.

The sponsorship deck was structured to move from conference overview through to scientific committee credentials, delegate statistics from Paris 2018, and tiered sponsorship packages. The Paris figures were compelling: 75 professionals from 29 countries, 100% reporting their objectives were met, 70% reporting significantly improved knowledge of aniridia. Building those numbers into the deck gave prospective sponsors a reason to believe in the event.

The wordmark sets 'European Aniridia Conference' in Heebo, a clean, highly legible geometric sans-serif, with 'Aniridia' in medium weight to draw natural emphasis to the condition name. Heebo was chosen for its legibility at small sizes and the clarity of its weight differentiation. Montserrat was specified as a fallback for contexts like Google Slides where Heebo was unavailable. Both typefaces are free via Google Fonts, which kept adoption accessible for a volunteer-run organisation without a font licence budget.

The brand guidelines were designed to be used by people without a design background, including future host organisations who would pick up the identity in two or four years' time. The 'what not to do' section was explicit enough to prevent misuse without requiring anyone to interpret the intent of the guidelines. The partnership lockup system gave clear guidance on how to sit the EAC mark alongside sponsor and co-organiser logos, using the starburst's geometry as the spacing reference.

The European Aniridia Conference went into its 2019/2020 fundraising cycle with a brand identity for the first time. A conference that had borrowed assets from host organisations for four editions now had something it could call its own: a professional, accessible identity built to travel across organisations and years.

The London 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The identity and guidelines remain available for when the conference next takes place, and the work done to build the sponsorship deck stands as a record of what the event was capable of presenting to the world.