SKILLS
illustration (Clip Studio Paint), print layout (InDesign), vendor coordination
ASK
an illustration that conveys hope to Stargardt patients and their families
Situation
When your audience includes children losing their sight and the families caring for them, 'make it feel hopeful' is a deceptively difficult brief. The Your North Starg campaign (a play on the disease name) needed an illustration that could hold both the seriousness of Stargardt disease and a genuine sense of possibility.
Alkeus Pharmaceuticals is a biotech company focused on ocular diseases. Stargardt disease is an inherited retinal condition that primarily affects young children and leads to irreversible vision loss. The Your North Starg campaign was created to provide patients and caregivers with information and support, and it needed a cornerstone illustration — something that could live on the website homepage, crop into smaller graphics for interior pages, and work across print materials for advisory board meetings.
a couple drafts of the illustration
Approach
Phase 1: Composition & Color
From the first few drafts, the overall composition remained stable — a young child holding their caretaker's hand, dawn breaking behind them, a north star above. The clouds were deliberately shaped to draw the eye inward toward the pair. Iteration focused on color: specifically, how to render the sky in a way that felt unmistakably like dawn. Van Gogh's Starry Night was an early reference point, but we steered away because it was too recognizable, and the association didn't serve the image of hope we were building toward.
Phase 2: The north star as a brand asset
The design of the north star was purposeful. I started with a 4-pointed star, then added smaller points for detail and integrated inspiration from the Alkeus logo.
This means the star can function as a standalone graphic that still feels connected to the overall campaign brand.
Phase 3: Website integration
The full illustration anchors the Your North Starg website, and smaller cropped portions appear throughout; a contractor implemented the designs.
Phase 4: Advisory board print assets
Beyond the website, the illustration was extended into print for in-person advisory board meetings, where I developed items, including name tent cards, agendas, sign-in sheets, meeting signage, and name badges with lanyards. Each asset required its own approach. For brand-forward pieces like the signs and name badges, the illustration could take center stage, but for content-heavy items like agendas and sign-in sheets, the challenge was incorporating it in a way that supported the layout rather than competing with it.
Impact
Live, patient-facing work – The website is live at yournorthstarg.com and actively serving the Stargardt community.
Brand-system integration – The north star echoes the Alkeus logo while remaining a unique, hopeful symbol.
Modular asset & extended use – The asset works as a full-size illustration, cropped close-ups, or broken out as a standalone icon. The illustration also appeared on advisory board print materials, making it useful beyond the campaign.