With a focus on the need to communicate the high-level speakers at Chicago Ideas Week, the design team built upon the hand-drawn, free-form, and kinetic design elements central to CIW's visual identity. The conference's key speakers are showcased in dynamically illustrated portraits, interlaced with keywords intrinsic to each speaker's platform.

To achieve our objectives, we hand-illustrated each speaker’s portrait and incorporated subtle messaging ahout that particular speaker into their actual physical characteristics. While the ads were clean and simple on the surface, a closer inspection gave insight into the speakers’ unique attributes and why they were being featured in CIW’s events. The results: phenomenal increase in speaker engagement with the brand, as speakers shared their Chicago Ideas ads by sharing them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Not to mention an increase in overall Chicago Ideas Week attendance from 27,000 in 2013 to 32,000+ in 2014, while membership doubled in 2013 from 406 members to 750 members in 2014.