Ophthalmology Futures Forums
One clear direction across a complex international forum programme.
Ongoing creative leadership across the communications, digital experience, production and delivery around OFF's international forums.
The short version
The short version
OFF first brought me in for design work in 2015. Today I hold much more of the creative direction and delivery around its international forum programme.
For the 2026 cycle, that means shaping the creative system, planning activity, making day-to-day creative and communications decisions, briefing and directing specialists, and staying responsible when the work crosses websites, registration systems, print, production and the physical forum environment.
OFF’s founders still make the decisions that properly belong with them. They don’t need to manage every asset, supplier, technical problem or final check underneath those decisions.
The value of the relationship now is retained context, one clear direction and much less for the leadership team to hold together themselves.
01
Working together since 2015
From design support to ongoing creative leadership.
02
Vienna + London, 2026
Two international forum programmes.
03
Around 150–200 people per forum
A senior ophthalmology-industry audience.
01 //
One system, across a lot of moving parts.
Designed as part of the forum system, not as a separate digital project.
The same direction has to work from a registration screen or social post through to print, stage and the physical forum environment.
02 //
Strengthen the system rather than invent another annual theme.
By 2026, OFF already had recognition and an established international audience. There was no useful reason to make the forum look completely different simply because another year had arrived.
I strengthened what was already there instead.
Typography became more confident. Hierarchy became clearer. Colour was used more deliberately, with optical and refractive treatments giving the work a connection to ophthalmology without relying on familiar medical-conference clichés.
The important part was that those decisions could travel – from web and sponsorship through social, programme, stage and the wider forum environment.
The aim wasn’t another graphic theme. It was a stronger system for making decisions.
03 //
When the systems stopped agreeing, the problem still needed one owner.
OFF’s registration journey crosses the website, WooCommerce, Gravity Forms, PayPal and SugarCRM, with integrations connecting them.
When registrations and payments began behaving inconsistently, I wasn’t the programmer who needed to rewrite those integrations.
But I was the person responsible for getting to a usable outcome.
I traced registrations across the systems, documented specific failures, separated genuine transactions from failed or duplicate records, briefed the technical specialists, tested changes and challenged explanations when the evidence did not match what was actually happening.
OFF’s founders did not need to become the go-between for the website, payment platform, CRM and developers.
The specialist work remained specialist. The ownership stayed with me.
04 //
Spend the money where it will actually be noticed.
Production decisions change from forum to forum.
Sometimes producing material locally reduces freight and logistical risk and, more importantly, allows changing programme information to remain flexible for longer.
Other times I will protect a print or production specification because the saving is not worth the loss in something highly visible.
There is no useful rule that says print is premium, digital is efficient or local production is automatically better.
The decision depends on what the audience needs, what is still likely to change, where quality matters and where the money is better spent.
Creative responsibility includes those trade-offs.
What OFF gets from that responsibility.
01 //
Less to manage
The founders can stay focused on programme, senior relationships and the wider business rather than carrying the creative and delivery detail underneath them.
02 //
More continuity
The next piece of work doesn’t begin with rebuilding the context. I already understand the history, systems, brand and people around it.
03 //
One direction across specialist work
Developers, production partners, printers, venues and other specialists can do their part without OFF having to join every relationship back together.
When there's a lot moving, somebody needs to keep hold of the whole thing.
Start with what’s happening. A few lines is enough.
