FOUR — jack de caluwe

F.O.U.R

Overview:2020 made the world feel smaller and more fragile, but also strangely more connected. It was a year of interruption, urgency, and collective imagination, when the question of what needed to change became impossible to ignore. In that moment, The Great Foundation, a New York-based NGO, came to us with a simple brief: create something that could help turn that energy into action.

The result was the Festival of Urgent Reinventions, or F.O.U.R., a virtual conference and incubator built around some of the world’s most pressing systemic challenges. Part gathering, part working session, the festival brought together talks, workshops, and change-makers around four actionable briefs, each designed to move beyond conversation and toward reinvention.

Role:
Creative Director
Client:
The Great Foundation

Year: 2020

Agency:
Instrument

After extensive research, brainstorming, and discussions, we conceptualized a virtual event that combined the format of a TED-style conference with the collaborative ethos of a hackathon. Our objective was to create a platform for change, bringing together thinkers, creators, and innovators from diverse backgrounds and expertise to address the world's most critical systemic challenges.

We aimed for the event's name and brand to be straightforward and action-oriented, avoiding abstraction. The name "The Festival Of Urgent Reinventions" served as both a descriptor and a call to action, while the acronym F.O.U.R provided a clear framework for the event: four briefs, each tackling one of the world's most urgent issues, presented by respected changemakers in the community.

To cut through the noise, the brand embraces the visual elements and spirit of activism and protest publications. Our visual identity revolves around a flexible grid, creating an organized chaos where various elements pop out. Bold typography delivers provocative and rallying messages, while vibrant colors evoke optimism and momentum.

At the heart of our identity is an intricate wheel device. Traditionally, the wheel is seen as something not worth reinventing. However, in line with the ethos of F.O.U.R, we took matters into our own hands, reimagining the wheel as a symbol of radical change.

The website was our primary expression of the brand, and an essential part of the user journey – responding to 3 distinct moments in time, from teasing, to informing, to eventual wayfinding during the event. The site provides clarity and discoverability across the 4 briefs, and enables users to go broad as well as narrow while engaging with content.

In term of organization, we wanted to approach this conference through the lens of the audience experience, from initial marketing and outreach all the way through to winner announcements and follow-up content. Because F.O.U.R was a digital-first event, and no precedent had been set for a best-in-class virtual conference, we leaned heavily on tools like Slack and Zoom (tools we use to collaborate as a company on a daily basis) to innovate and add depth to the experience.