TURNING THE TABLE: CAROL HUNG

Carol Hung is a designer at john st., but she didn’t start her career as one. While studying design at York University she became enamoured of the advertising world and started as an art director straight out of school. While she learned the importance of conceptual thinking, she missed the craft of design. This background in conceptual thinking and design, not only makes her a perfect fit at john st. where “design thinking” is the order of the day and she has helped build brands such as PC Optimum, PC Express, Home Hardware, Wellwise, and Alcon Canada, but also as one of our 2021 Design Awards judges.

Hung obliged us with a look at the creative process behind the branding of the aforementioned Alcon Canada. A global leader in their field with over 70 years of experience, Alcon is a brand built on technical precision and scientific expertise. Hung and her team were tasked with creating a brand identity system for their Intraocular Lens (IOLs) that expresses Alcon’s global purpose: “See Brilliantly.”

Eschewing the clinical and inaccessible branding typically associated with the market segment, Hung took a far more humanistic approach. As you age, clouding in the lenses of your eyes forms cataracts. This blocks and scatters light, resulting in sharply defined images being prevented form reaching your retina. In other words, the world becomes blurred and less clear. Alcon lenses assuage this by refracting light to the focal point, allowing for a more detailed view of the world.

Hung’s branding reflects the beauty of being able to “see brilliantly” again with a vibrant gradient that compliments Alcon’s trusted colour palette. The extreme close-up photography shows the textures and details that would otherwise have gone unnoticed by the cataract patient. Alcon lenses return delightful details to the wearer, and Hung’s design delights in detail.

“Designing a healthcare brand is particularly challenging, especially with all the legal limitations and stigma of what a healthcare brand should look like. However this makes it extra rewarding when I was able to create a brand that’s strategically sound and stands out from the industry,” states Hung. “The success of this project came from trusting clients and extensive research that led to a strategy and insight, creating a good fountain for a brand to be built.”

You can see more of Hung’s work at her website here.