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IDENTITY BUILDER
Agency Area 23, an IPG Health Company / New York + StudioRx, an IPG Health Company / New York + Black Madre / Sao Paulo + Shanghai Wanlong Cultural Communication Company / Guangzhong
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Category
Digital Craft / Art Direction
Annual ID
ADC104_INT031M
Background
There are thousands of rare diseases, many so rare that patients are bound never to meet someone else with their condition. Unlike common conditions, 50% of rare diseases don’t have a support network or advocacy group. So, in addition to being sick, rare disease patients often feel alone and know nothing about their condition. On top of that, people with rare diseases that have no treatment options find themselves having to be medical detectives, researching online and traveling to conferences in search of clues and connections between their disease and others which do have a treatment.
With the Identity Builder, the goal of Zhejiang University was to 1) promote the advanced data science being conducted at their medical school, to differentiate themselves from other competing universities, and 2) launch a tool that expresses the core tenet of their scientific research: that they have discovered myriad statistical connections among thousands of rare diseases.
With the Identity Builder, the goal of Zhejiang University was to 1) promote the advanced data science being conducted at their medical school, to differentiate themselves from other competing universities, and 2) launch a tool that expresses the core tenet of their scientific research: that they have discovered myriad statistical connections among thousands of rare diseases.
Creative Idea
The Identity Builder is a procedural art generator that turns proprietary data about rare diseases into visual identities that allow patients with rare diseases to feel seen and find connections between their disease and many others.
Each logo generated serves as a visualization and mnemonic device of important scientific information about the disease, empowering patients and families who are still desperately searching for a treatment.
But beyond dynamically creating visual identities, this data-driven tool helps foster a deeper understanding of rare diseases among the general public and helps rare disease patients build communities with others who are undergoing a similar experience.
Each logo generated serves as a visualization and mnemonic device of important scientific information about the disease, empowering patients and families who are still desperately searching for a treatment.
But beyond dynamically creating visual identities, this data-driven tool helps foster a deeper understanding of rare diseases among the general public and helps rare disease patients build communities with others who are undergoing a similar experience.
Insights & Strategy
The RD MAP study, published on the Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases by Jian Yang, Cong Dong, Huilong Duan, Qiang Shu, and Haomin Li in 2021 (https://ojrd.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13023-021-01741-4), included 3,287 rare diseases in a phenotype-based map, as well as 3,789 rare genetic diseases in a gene-based map. Using this dataset, the Identity Builder translates 31,494 data points about 5,500 rare diseases across 5 into visual elements like shape, orientation, color, texture, and composition, generating 28 trillion combinations.
Each data variable corresponds to a visual element in the design, and changing the variable changes the shape, location, pattern or color of the design element.
Each data variable corresponds to a visual element in the design, and changing the variable changes the shape, location, pattern or color of the design element.
Execution
-Translation of the RD MAP database into 5 relevant data variables.
- Building our prototype of a procedural art generator that processes these 5 variables across 5,500 constants.
- Creating a design system around the 5 major variables, which we incorporated into a digital tool, UX, and accompanying UI.
- Developing a “connections” feature that allows users to match their disease and explore similarities between their condition and others.
We launched the Identity Builder in China on Rare Disease Day, amplifying our reach across disease groups through the Chinese Association of Rare Diseases (CHARD), and used the research network of Zhejiang University to reach all medical schools in China via a live conference in Shanghai.
Now, rare disease patients that felt invisible have a unique symbol to help them feel seen, and a powerful data visualization tool to help them find a cure.
- Building our prototype of a procedural art generator that processes these 5 variables across 5,500 constants.
- Creating a design system around the 5 major variables, which we incorporated into a digital tool, UX, and accompanying UI.
- Developing a “connections” feature that allows users to match their disease and explore similarities between their condition and others.
We launched the Identity Builder in China on Rare Disease Day, amplifying our reach across disease groups through the Chinese Association of Rare Diseases (CHARD), and used the research network of Zhejiang University to reach all medical schools in China via a live conference in Shanghai.
Now, rare disease patients that felt invisible have a unique symbol to help them feel seen, and a powerful data visualization tool to help them find a cure.
Results
Rare disease patients who had never seen or met someone else with a similar condition have started to create connections using the Identity Builder.
Of the rare disease organizations that received the Identity Builder through CHARD, 80% of them promoted the project to their constituents, resulting in over 300,000 individual searches, and over 50k downloads in the month after Rare Disease Day.
Social posts on WeChat about the campaign were 100% of positive sentiment.
An attitudinal study among researchers and medical students, fielded after the campaign launched, ranked Zhejiang University as #2 in innovation among all medical schools in China, up from #5 YOY. The school ranked #1 in rare disease research, up from #2 YOY.
“I’ve never thought that other people with rare diseases like me had so many things in common.” - Dong Chengcheng
Of the rare disease organizations that received the Identity Builder through CHARD, 80% of them promoted the project to their constituents, resulting in over 300,000 individual searches, and over 50k downloads in the month after Rare Disease Day.
Social posts on WeChat about the campaign were 100% of positive sentiment.
An attitudinal study among researchers and medical students, fielded after the campaign launched, ranked Zhejiang University as #2 in innovation among all medical schools in China, up from #5 YOY. The school ranked #1 in rare disease research, up from #2 YOY.
“I’ve never thought that other people with rare diseases like me had so many things in common.” - Dong Chengcheng
2025 Awards
Total Points: 3
Merit Honor
Credits
Agency
Area 23, an IPG Health Company / New York
Design Firm
Black Madre / São Paulo
Client / Brand
Zhejiang University / Hangzhou
Agency In-House Production Company
Studio Rx, an IPG Health Company / New York
Production Company
Shanghai Wanlong Cultural Communication Company / Guangzhong
Animator
Christopher Romano
Chief Creative Officer
Tim Hawkey
Creative Director
Diego Tórgo
Sttenio Costa
Victor Afonso
Andre Maciel
Lily Liu
Matthew Sherring
Renan Bulgari
Diana Yeo
Justin Schlaffer
Editor
Megan Katuran
Executive Creative Director
Josh Grossberg
Group Creative Director
Felipe Munhoz
Illustrator
Leandro Dexter
Producer
Laryssa Andrade
Icaro Yuji
Product Designer
Cliff Washington
Liz Culton
Strategist
Le Alves
User Experience Designer
Franklin Williams
Mario Arias
Executive Producer
Tom Sann
Chinkara Singh
Other
Bill Hanff
Aaron Stack
Mike Lieberman
Conor OFlynn
Tina Castro
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