Tonic

Tonic is a conference that looks at ethical practices in medicine and technology. Montreal's ever growing healthcare scene served as a key location for a hypothetical event that would explore emerging technologies and support diverse discussions in an interdisciplinary way through key notes, lectures, live demos, a dinner, and workshops over the course of a weekend. The team I was on consisted of myself and two other graduate students. Over the course of three we developed a strong brand that was clear, elegant, and powerful across various channels.

Branding Basics

Our brief: imagine every aspect of a conference focused on ethics and technology, and then design all the collateral that might accompany it.

Montreal was a natural fit given the social activism and curiosity around medical technologies that seem to be ever-present in the city. A list of speakers and workshop ideas was drafted up. Topics and subject matter of lectures were chosen based on what we felt addressed the problem and provided answers for what we felt were relevant concerns in design, ethics, and medicine. We wanted to make sure it was diverse. We wanted make sure it was relatable. We wanted to make sure it was a conference people wanted to go to.

The name Tonic is a nod to a medium used in medicine as well as a metaphor for mixing ideas. Capturing a feeling that was open minded but not naive, fresh but not playful, and appealing but not loud meant naming an event with many meanings. The future of medicine is rapidly changing in a way that makes it feel as if time might be suspended and ideas brought together all at once- tonic.

Delivering this emotion and fulfilling our mission, to make ethics in medicine and technology a conversation for all, lead to our brand identity. Shades of teal were less expected yet trustworthy. Team members with experience in advertising suggested Railway and Archer fonts for readability and polish. A look we knew the conference had to have.

Digital Presence

We created a website providing information on date, location, and goals of the conference as well as an agenda and schedule. This served mainly as a promotional item but also became a purposeful way to organize information for attendees in a way that was interesting and a but of a tease. Exciting those who sign up with exclusive content and highly sought after speakers kept the energy up. Colorful calls to action and various chances to sign up ensured that ticket sales would be met. Strong copy gave visitors a positive first impression and added a bit of fun to their day.

Marketing

We mixed digital and physical channels to reach our audience, anyone interested in healthcare who regularly uses tech devices. Researching users helped us determine that the best social media platform would be Instagram. The design and interaction appealed the most to our audience so we focused on posts that would increase brand awareness and drive traffic to our site. Email reminders were another small addition that proved to be effective. Advertisements on buildings, street corners, and trucks became a way to get our event noticed in the real world. Apparel and small items were designed as collateral.

Archiving the Event

Post conference, the website became an archive of the event. It included media like photos, videos, and additional information on speakers and workshops. This served as both reference and promotion for future conferences. Visitors are given a full breakdown of the events and are prompted to sign up for the next conference in 2018.