Employee engagement illustration

A real departure from other Allmed communication materials, we created an inspiring and imaginative employee engagement illustration that acted as a magnet in the corporate space, stoking curiosity and inspiring conversations.

Background

Driven by a belief that building relationships is a key element of working towards a brighter future, Allmed employs over 1,500 employees across eight countries who are united by a passion for quality and developing innovative medical products that improve quality of life.

Challenge

Following plans to renovate the office space at Allmed’s manufacturing site in Germany, one of our client’s main aims was to unite and excite everybody around the company ethos and what it represents, and promote a sense that employees in Germany and across the world are one united team despite the geographical distance between them.

One of the key elements of the renovation project was to create an inspiring and laid back break-out area where employees could take time out away from their usual workstations. In line with the relaxed flavour of the space, Allmed tasked us with creating a wall mural that would act as a canvas to transmit the values that drive the company’s ethos, but it had to be something that didn’t feel corporate; instead it would have to feel informal and personable to generate the highest levels of engagement amongst employees.

Solution

A real departure from other Allmed communication materials, we created an inspiring and imaginative illustration that acted as a magnet in the corporate space, stoking curiosity and inspiring conversations – a strong employee engagement tool. Centred around the corporate core values, the employee engagement illustration is aligned to the behaviours that describe Allmed’s approach to business – a philosophy rooted in innovation, trust, collaboration and inspiration. Images support the words, in German as well as in English to add local relevance.

The style we chose for the illustration breaks the mould in the corporate environment. The total opposite to Allmed’s corporate brand guidelines, the hand sketch style adds a sense of informality and makes the illustration feel personal, bringing the message closer and adding effectiveness to the initiative.

To keep costs to a minimum, instead of flying to Allmed’s German site, our Creative Director worked on a digital sketch in Adobe Illustrator, which was then sent to Germany to be printed on vinyl, after scaling it up to the 5m x 2.5m dimensions of the dedicated wall space.

The piece plays with the concept of the “shock of the new”, time and time again. To achieve this, the employee engagement illustration offers an eclectic mix of visual approaches, both in typography and drawing styles: vintage space theme graphics sit next to Victorian illustrations, while a whacky scientist can be seen immersed in an experiment. There are even some wild rabbits, bringing the outside in as they nod to the natural landscapes surrounding the Allmed complex.

The illustration plays with different sizes for the different visual elements, helping viewers set priorities as their eyes move across, up, and down the illustration – it’s a way of helping the audience navigate the wide range of stories presented in the illustration.

The mural plays with the minds and the expectations of the audience, who, as they become more familiar with the illustration, are naturally compelled to ‘expect the unexpected’. The variety of themes and styles encourages employees and visitors alike to see something different, something new, every time. People come and go, and the more they look, and depending on where they are positioned, the more they find – fuelling curiosity for individuals relaxing in the break-out area, and also those around it.

We strategically – and playfully – placed a visual reward in an area of the illustration concealed by a sofa.

The illustration – filled with references to innovation, technology, AI, and the sense of discovery brought on by curiosity and ideas – doesn’t sit on a blank canvas. Instead a secondary illustration in the background adds another layer of stories, fuelling the viewer’s curiosity even more.