The Future of: Pioneering Ideas

ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON Foundation + Burness Communications

Illustrating the future

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the largest health-focused philanthropy in the United States, funding a broad range of grants aimed at improving the health and well-being of Americans. RWJF asked us to create a series of high-impact visuals to demonstrate the four focus areas of their Pioneering Ideas portfolio of grants. The portfolio funds research that explores nascent and emerging trends in technology, culture, the economy, the environment, and more to understand and anticipate how our shared future takes shape, how it will imact our health, and how these new ideas and innovations can be leveraged to improve lives. After close collaboration with the RWJF communications and brand teams, we landed on the final four that balance striking visuals, simplicity and the optimistic, sometimes unsettling uncertainty of the future.

How do you illustrate ideas about a future that has yet to be imagined? I dove into the weirder corners of the internet looking for as many unusual and interesting images I could find to inspire unconventional thinking about how various ideas could be represented. This helped define three approaches to the work: photo illustration, a combination of photo and traditional illustration, and typopgraphic illustration. Concepts combined both stock and bespoke photography.

The images of a classic analog alarm clock and single leafy green under harsh light struck a chord with both teams. The simplicity of these images, paired with the addition of minimalist illustrations to skew their original intent, felt like the right balance between existing, concrete ideas remixed to make audiences do a double take and offered space for audiences to draw their own conclusions about their meaning. The typographic approach was visually engaging, but lacked the punch and gravitas we were looking for. The visuals also needed to fit within the RWJF brand identity, drawing on the organization’s color and typography palette, but in a fresh way. The final visuals would serve both editorial and promotional purposes, from digital banners to full screen slide visuals and simple icons.

The Future of Evidence and Social Interaction proved to be the most challenging – we went through many rounds of iteration before getting to options that matched the clarity and simplicity that the Food and Work visuals communicated on first glance.

Project Credits
Creative Direction + Concept: Kara Basabe
Executive Creative Director: Joan Barlowe, Brooke Van Roekel
Agency: Burness Communications
Client: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

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About
Kara is a creative director and designer living in Richmond, Virginia. You might find her attempting to rollerblade, painting with watercolor, forgetting to water the plants or watching movies.