FEIL

The Forum for Emotional Intelligence Learning reached out when they decided to host the Leadership and Emotional Intelligence Summit & Awards (held decennially) along with the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) in Delhi. It was imperative to reach out to thought leaders, industry leaders, professionals, academicians, bureaucrats, and ministries.

This was very challenging because not only was the target profile vast and diverse, but it was also about a difficult abstract concept: emotional intelligence. We wanted simple but bold communication that would cut across the diversity of the audience and appeal to their intelligence. We wanted something simple, relevant, yet irreverent so that it would stick and leave an indelible impression on the audience. Considering that the audience comprised extremely successful and senior people, the communication had to have sophistication as part of its DNA.

The counter space of a blade was modified into human faces looking at each other and also away from each other. This visual approach was striking and memorable. It was a powerful mnemonic for the event and flexible enough to be media agnostic, visible from distances, and work in both large and small sizes and against different backgrounds.

We used a red background for the corporate brochure, orange for sponsorships, mustard for nominations, and purple for the award ceremony. This design thinking solution was effective as a backdrop for the event and even for volunteers’ t-shirts besides the original communication.