It has been a while since our last newsletter and that’s because we were working. Writing about design has always been about taking stock of what we do and these past months were spent deeply engaged with the Second WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine, jointly organised by the World Health Organization and the Government of India. This was a critical turning point to build advocacy for traditional medicine knowledge across the world into modern healthcare systems.

For all of us at LOPEZ this was a unique opportunity. We were invited to collaborate as partners not vendors, and trusted advisors who could think, challenge and shape the work. The client leadership was instrumental in the larger than life exhibitions, conferences and sessions to unfold successfully. The entire event was a phenomenal example of how designer-client-collaborators partnerships of faith can maximise combined potential.

As lead partners, we were responsible for the Summit branding, overall experience and especially to direct the Traditional Medicine Discovery Experience. Beyond the spatial design spread across a humongous 100,000 sq ft we designed the collaterals, digital platforms and the website. We also developed the conceptual framework and strategy for the Traditional Medicine Discovery Experience in close collaboration with the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre (GTMC) leadership team. The Summit became a breathtaking exploration of the extraordinary range of traditional medicine across the world.

The Summit engaged 100+ country delegations, represented by 100 ministers, operated across seven official languages, and reached thousands of participants both on ground and online. The Traditional Medicine Discovery Experience alone brought together 111 subject experts across disciplines and geographies to create a coherent narrative across a 100,000 sq. ft. footprint. The closing ceremony and the Traditional Medicine Discovery Experience were attended by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, and Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India.

Projects of this scale demand shared ownership, deep alignment, and a willingness to work across boundaries. The rare extent of collaboration and co-operation given to us by our clients led to the outstanding results. The contribution of our consultants, partners, and collaborators, who became an extended team in every sense, was equally critical.

Back home in our studio, driving the project relentlessly across extensive timelines and complex coordination was the indefatigable Lopez team: their dedication to uncompromising standards was unmatched. Our core values of responsibility, commitment to craft, and collective discipline ensured clarity at scale, even under sustained pressure.

The Summit was about Restoring Balance, and that’s what we try to do consistently with design. This newsletter draws out three learnings from that period of intensive work. 

The first article, When the World Is in Flux, Design Brings Balance reflects on a world undergoing compressed change and the role of design as a stabilising, directional discipline in times of acceleration. The second, Discipline Before Visibility, examines brand-building today where constant brand activity brings the danger of sameness: discipline, not noise, is the path to distinctive brand-making. Both pieces are grounded in our own experiences, practical learnings of what it takes to deliver clarity in the
real world.

The case study that follows, No Vision without Clarity: Designing at a Global Scale: The WHO Global Traditional Medicine Summit & Traditional Medicine Discovery Experience (working title), has been jointly written by the core team that led this project with me, Sukanya Panda, Somasundaram, and Vishal Goyal, documents the thinking, decisions, and collaborations that shaped the work from concept to delivery.

As we launch into this year, this newsletter brings together thinking and proof of making, not as commentary, but as hardcore practice.

Anthony Lopez,
Founder and Chief Creative Director,
LOPEZ

Edited by: Sujatha Shankar Kumar