I went looking for inspiration. I found connection.

I arrived in Berlin with plenty of recommendations ringing in my ears from friends and colleagues: ‘It’s really arty’, ‘It’s right up your street’ and so on, and they weren’t wrong.

The main reason for the trip was Forward Festival—two packed days of creativity, design and enough inspiration to keep my camera roll busy for quite some time. But if you followed my trip to the Vienna edition a couple of years ago, you’ll know I’m not very good at simply travelling from hotel to conference venue and back again. After all, that was partly the point of coming here.

Before the trip, I wrote about the importance of getting away from the screen every now and then and experiencing creativity out in the real world. Berlin turned out to be a pretty good place to practise what I preach.

Between conference sessions, I squeezed in as much wandering as possible, taking in the architecture, buildings and street art along the way. It’s a city with an incredible visual energy. There always seemed to be something worth stopping for, looking at and (inevitably) photographing.

More than just sitting and listening

Forward Berlin was on a much bigger scale than the Vienna edition I’d previously experienced. The line-up alone featured more than 50 speakers across three stages, alongside workshops and a packed expo area, which unexpectedly became one of my favourite parts of the whole event.

Artists and independent magazines were selling their work alongside product demonstrations, but more importantly, there were opportunities to actually make things. Screen printing, sticker making, risograph collaging and tufting. Rather than simply walking around looking at other people’s work, you could get involved, have a go and probably come away with something you hadn’t planned on making.

Looking back, that hands-on side of the festival feels quite important. It created a space where people weren’t simply consuming creativity. They were making, talking, sharing, learning alongside one another, and connecting—which was a refrain that continued to repeat.

Analogue meets digital

With so many speakers and three stages running across the two days, deciding who to see became something of an art form in itself.

Day one jumped between all kinds of creative disciplines, from code-based visual expression to creative journalism, but one idea stayed with me in particular: our analogue and digital worlds don’t have to sit in opposition.

The talk from Supersense captured that brilliantly, exploring work that combines the two and touching on the renewed appetite for formats such as Polaroid photography and vinyl records.

It was a nice reminder that adopting new technology doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning what came before. The interesting bit often happens when you find new ways of putting the two together. Which brings me to day two.

It’s about what’s around us

Day two somehow managed to dial the energy up again. It started, for me at least, with another visit to the printing area. This time I actually managed to get my hands on a blank T-shirt and make something of my own.

Then it was back into the talks.

Future Deluxe, Gemma O’Brien and Greek design studio Beetroot were particular standouts for me, each with beautiful work but very different creative journeys.

Beetroot’s talk especially stuck with me. Their work showed how creativity can be rooted in the culture and heritage immediately around us, rather than always looking elsewhere for inspiration. Just as interesting was the way they talked about their own studio as something that could connect with the community around it, incorporating a café, shop and event space rather than simply being somewhere people disappeared into to work.

Suddenly, a theme that had been bubbling away across the two days became much clearer.

People. Connection. Community.

Before arriving in Berlin, I’d half-expected an AI onslaught. And it would have been understandable. We’re living through a period when seemingly every conversation about creativity eventually finds its way to AI, emerging technology and what either might mean for the future of our industry.

But the thing I found most interesting about Forward Festival was almost the opposite. Again and again, the conversations seemed to come back to people: making things together, learning from one another, connecting with our local communities, rediscovering physical processes and using our creativity to contribute to something beyond ourselves.

That doesn’t mean rejecting AI or the digital world. Far from it. One of my biggest takeaways from the first day was precisely how exciting digital and analogue can be when they work together.

But perhaps as technology becomes more capable, the human side of creativity becomes more important, not less. Two days at a design festival reminded me that creativity is still, fundamentally, a very human thing. Maybe I shouldn’t have been quite so surprised by that.

I went to Berlin looking for inspiration. I found plenty of it in the work, the city, the talks and the things people were making. But the bit I’ve come home thinking about most is the people themselves, and what can happen when we make the effort to get out there, share ideas and make things together.

Turns out you can’t bookmark that.

Berlin and Forward Festival, you did not disappoint.

One of my favourite parts of being an Art Director is the hunt for inspiration. Honestly, I’m something of a hoarder: pins, bookmarks, likes, the works. I even put out an internal monthly newsletter just to give all that collecting some purpose, and to justify the habit.

But collecting from behind a screen only gets you so far. I’m a firm believer that creatives need to get out into the world and see design in the flesh, and not just design, but art, architecture, sounds, smells, the full sensory brief. Our digital lives give us plenty, but nothing quite replaces standing in a new city, letting a different culture rearrange your perspective a little.

Which is exactly what I’ll be doing later this week: heading to Forward Festival, this time in Berlin, for my first proper look at the city. I caught the Vienna edition a couple of years back and came away buzzing with ideas, so I’m hoping Berlin delivers a similar hit of fresh thinking from designers and artists from around the globe. New city, familiar festival, and hopefully a decent excuse to see more of it than the venue and the nearest coffee shop.

So watch this space, or better yet, the Outlook socials, for daily dispatches straight from Berlin, followed by a full wrap-up once I’m back (Currywurst reviews included).

Go get out there.

Author: Adam Sherlock

In case you didn’t know, I spend a lot of time at events. And I mean a lot. International congresses, exhibitions, product launches, conferences, brand activations, roadshows, awards nights, and on it goes.

Different audiences, different objectives, different budgets and many (many) different definitions of success. What’s not different is what happens afterwards. Or more accurately, what doesn’t happen.

One way we describe our role is helping organisations be seen, heard and remembered by the people who matter most. After enough of these, you start to notice that “remembered” is the word that resonates most and maybe the one we spend the least amount of time on.

People rarely talk about the things we’ve spent months planning. They don’t mention the theme, the app almost never comes up, and I’ve yet to hear anyone reminisce about a floorplan (maybe when we have gone in the round!). Don’t get me wrong, these things are vital and getting them right matters enormously. But getting them right is the baseline. An expectation.

What a delegate recalls is the conversation they had with someone they didn’t expect to meet. Or the speaker who challenged their thinking and gave them a fresh perspective to put into action the following week.

I still fondly recall a keynote speech from Sir Clive Woodward around ‘Teamship’ at a recent conference we planned. Having such an inspirational figure talk about what makes a great team stuck with me and still helps form my leadership style daily.

Have we as an industry become so focused on creating experiences that we’ve forgotten what we’re really trying to achieve? Memories. And should we, as the partners our clients brought in to help, be pushing this further up the agenda?

Creating something memorable isn’t about adding more content, more technology or more features. Some of the most memorable events I’ve been part of have been surprisingly simple. The teams behind them knew exactly who the event was for and what they wanted people to leave with, and everything else flowed from that.

Think about the events you’ve attended over the years. The ones that stayed with you probably didn’t have the biggest screen or the newest tech. Something clicked, and that’s what you remembered way after the doors closed.

QUESTION

Have we as an industry become so focused on creating experiences that we’ve forgotten what we’re really trying to achieve?

The irony is that as events have become more sophisticated, a lot of them have become more similar. Often, it’s the same formats and same ideas presented slightly differently. Which is a strange place for an industry built on creativity to end up.

So I think one question matters more than almost any other when we start planning. What do we want people to remember?

It sounds deceptively easy, but it changes every decision that follows. The conversation stops being about what else we can add and starts being about what’s really needed. This could mean that in the next KO meeting the first question on the brief is why will this be memorable for our delegates? What are we doing to encourage that?

Because once the presentations have finished and the stands have been packed away, what people take away is rarely the branded mints and absurdly large LED screens.

It’s the impression that stayed with them. Being seen and heard is the straightforward part. Being remembered is what needs work.

If there’s an event you still talk about years later, I’d like to know what made it stick.

Congrats to Carl on his promotion to Senior Motion Graphics Editor. A well-deserved and unsurprising promotion.

Since joining the Moving Image team, he’s brought creativity, energy and a genuine desire to push things further. Whether it’s exploring new approaches or challenging the team to think differently, Carl has a way of making the work (and the people around him) better.

As Adam Sherlock, Joint MD, put it, Carl ‘brings a huge amount of positive energy to the team, always looking for better ways of doing things’. His line manager Shauna Swift echoed that, highlighting his infectious team spirit and the growing impact he’s having both on projects and across the wider team.

This promotion reflects everything he’s already bringing to the table. A well deserved step up, and one the whole team is behind.

Carl brings a huge amount of positive energy to the team, always looking for better ways of doing things and pushing us to think differently. His willingness to explore new approaches and push creative ideas has made a real impact. A very well-deserved promotion.”

Adam Sherlock, Joint Managing Director

“From day one, Carl has brought creativity, passion and an infectious team spirit to his work. This promotion reflects his growing skillset and the positive impact he has both on projects and across the team. We’re excited to see him push things forward. Congratulations Carl—well deserved.”

Shauna Swift, Senior Production Manager – Moving Image

How testimonials build trust in a way that doesn’t feel like marketing

In complex sectors like healthcare and medtech, trust is hard-earned—and rightfully so. One of the biggest challenges is getting people to believe in something they may not yet fully understand or have never experienced themselves.

Yes, you can explain product benefits, outline a service and present the data, but none of that really gets to the core of what people want to know: what difference will this actually make to my life?

Whether it’s a patient considering a potentially life-changing therapy or a clinician evaluating the latest innovation, there’s often a gap between information and belief. What’s missing is that uniquely human story—the relatable moment where someone can say, ‘Because of X, I can now do Y, and my life is significantly better because of it.’

Closing that gap is where the most effective marketing happens.

Why testimonials are the ultimate connector

Now, this isn’t the first time we’ve spoken about human-to-human (H2H) marketing. And there’s a reason for that. Experience has shown us that testimonial storytelling occupies that space between information and belief with a specific kind of power.

The most impactful work feels personal, not promotional. Crucially, it doesn’t feel like marketing at all. That’s why authentic stories can do something most messaging can’t: translating complexity into lived experience. They show impact, rather than simply describing it.

And the same goes across the board, whatever the audience demographic or subject matter—as these projects highlight.

‘Ordinary’ people doing extraordinary things

In 2023, Elliot Awin became the first person with a pacemaker to row solo and unsupported across the Atlantic Ocean.

We met Elliot as part of a project for a leading healthcare client to help share the story of how his own experience of living with heart arrhythmia has inspired him to support others.

Hearing Elliot telling his own story, in his own words, made all the difference. It’s the kind of story that doesn’t just inform but shifts perception in ways that a brochure or product booklet never could.

Stories that transcend language

In other instances, the challenge isn’t just building trust, but doing it across languages, cultures and markets.

On a recent European campaign, we captured a patient’s personal experience of living with pelvic health issues, and how a tiny device had changed her life.

The interview was conducted in her native Portuguese, which meant taking a slightly different approach—especially when it came to editing a story we couldn’t fully understand ourselves.

Working closely with our Portuguese crew for translation and context, we were still able to craft a heartfelt film that captured both our interviewee’s courage and the transformative impact of her treatment.

Proof that when a story is authentic, it transcends language.

Not just for patients

And it’s not just patient testimonials that pack a powerful punch. Clinician stories can be just as impactful, especially when you’re speaking to other clinicians.

For example, we recently delivered a project where our objective was to capture healthcare professionals (HCPs) sharing their experiences of using cardiac devices in real clinical settings.

There were no scripts and no over-polishing, just people talking about what works, how it enhances their day-to-day practice and why it supports better patient care.

That’s what gave it weight. Because when insight comes from peers, it carries a level of credibility that traditional messaging simply can’t match.

More than marketing

Testimonial marketing is often described as “the strategic use of positive feedback to build trust and increase sales.” But that feels like it’s missing the point a bit. Actually, a lot.

At its best, it’s about helping people actually understand something by showing what it looks like in real life—the tangible impact that we’d otherwise struggle to grasp.

Through human experience, abstract benefits suddenly feel relatable, technical features start to make more sense, and a message becomes something you genuinely believe.

And that’s why, in a world saturated with content, human stories will always cut through.

For twenty years, a global medtech leader has trusted us with their highest-profile events.

So when they approached us to help launch their 2026 milestone celebrations, we knew that it would be a standout project. The year marks three major milestones, each representing decades of innovation, growth and impact in healthcare:

To bring those moments together, we looked to create an identity for a two-day celebration involving more than 800 employees alongside senior and executive leadership. The original brief sounded simple: one visual for one event. But as we explored the project, it became clear that this was something far bigger. A milestone year that demanded an identity capable of carrying the story.

Finding the pulse

These anniversaries were about more than numbers. They needed to resonate with the people behind them. They were a powerful reminder that lives have been changed and clinicians and caregivers have been supported, all made possible by their employees’ hard work and innovation to shape the future of healthcare.

So with the stakes this high, the creative process had to start with the right question: what does this moment actually represent?

We came up with the idea: the Pulse of Progress.

A pulse is a simple but powerful signal of life, capturing movement and momentum. And progress, whether in healthcare, technology or patient outcomes, is rarely linear. The concept felt right immediately.

Collaborative creative

To bring it to life visually, the team developed a distinctive ‘wave’ identity. This took the form of a rhythmic pulse that could move across various formats, screens and spaces. This visual language that felt both dynamic and meaningful, as well as connected the client’s role at the heart of healthcare.

Projects like this only work when different disciplines work in harmony: creative direction, art direction, design, copywriting and moving image all came together holistically, ensuring every piece of the campaign told the same story.

Bringing the story to life

Once the identity was established, the campaign quickly expanded across multiple formats. The team designed and produced a wide range of materials, including presentations, event branding, environmental graphics and video content.

In the weeks leading up to the celebrations, our video team spent multiple filming days capturing additional content to support the narrative. One of the most powerful moments came in Bern, where our crew documented the implantation of a landmark implantable device at one of the country’s leading hospitals. A milestone that brought the scale of the achievement into sharp focus.

The two-day event itself marked just the beginning. Even weeks after the launch, internal teams continued to reference the work, and external audiences noticed its reach. Short-form social edits, long-form storytelling and internal communications all carried the Pulse of Progress identity forward. With more than 100 creative assets produced, including over 25 video outputs spanning internal and external channels, the campaign wasn’t just visually consistent, but genuinely connecting with people in a meaningful way.

“From concept to execution, the team delivered an identity that was as meaningful as it was scalable. Pulse of Progress united multiple milestones under a single, powerful story, carrying our message seamlessly across events, content and channels. It didn’t just celebrate our history; it brought our people together, reinforced the real impact our work has on lives, and became a shared language for what we’ve achieved and where we’re going.”

– Sr. Director, International Brand, Digital & Corporate Marketing

A partnership built over time

There’s another reason this project feels particularly special for us. 2026 also marks 20 years of collaboration between Outlook Creative and our client.

As our Co-Managing Director, John Lloyd puts it:

‘In the 12 and a half years I’ve personally worked with this client, we’ve delivered thousands of projects together. But this one stands out as one of the highest-profile pieces of work we’ve ever done. The level of content and engagement that came out of this project was incredible.’

Moments like this, where creativity, trust and shared purpose all come together, remind us why long-term partnerships matter. There’s real value in working with people who understand the story you’re trying to tell. And for this incredible milestone year, that story is only just getting started.

When an Executive Leadership team event stretches across three days, dozens of sessions and hundreds of touchpoints, the challenge isn’t necessarily volume. It’s coherence. You need everything to belong in the same world, especially when timelines are tight, expectations are high and most of the audience were there last year.

From the outside, this kind of project can look effortless: cinematic, confident and clean. Up close, however, it’s layered and deeply human. Which basically means a small group of very skilled people holding a lot of moving parts at once.

We saw this first-hand on a recent Odyssey-themed Executive Leadership event for a long-standing client of ours. This time, that coherence came from two inseparable forces: a strong, enabling theme, and the way we used AI to expand creative exploration and build at scale.

Granted, AI didn’t make Odyssey happen overnight, but it helped us explore faster, go further and keep the whole three-day experience feeling like one joined-up world.

Turning scale into story

The brief was to deliver a consistent experience across three days that felt intentional, connected and genuinely different for a returning audience. Less your typical conference, more stepping into another world.

Sure enough, world building emerged as a defining idea. Design soon moved beyond individual assets and began to imagine a complete, coherent world that unfolded over the three days. AI stepped up as a creative tool to support that narrative and scale.

That concept then evolved into a journey, or Odyssey, spanning three distinct environments. Early visual thinking drew loosely from fantasy world maps (think Lord of the Rings), where colour, terrain and geography signal progression. It established spatial storytelling from the start and clarified the three stages, helping the audience instinctively understand where they were in the story without over-explaining.

AI as a sketchbook, craft as the finish

When it came to mapping the narrative and distinct environments for each day, generative image exploration became our sketchbook. What started as vast landscapes, dramatic light and architecture emerging from rock progressed into a metaphorical acropolis for day one, dense green mountains for day two and an open water horizon for day three.

This is the bit that can sound magical when you summarise it. In reality, it’s iterative. You explore, refine, test… and then go again. Small prompts don’t always translate to small changes, so creative judgement is a must every step of the way.

Once we had strong direction, we shifted from exploration to build. That meant retouching, rebuilding, extending canvases, correcting light and adjusting perspective, sometimes merging multiple outputs to achieve a workable result. This is the unseen part that requires making the right call: do we regenerate or rebuild? Does that particular imperfection add character, or break the illusion?

An early stylistic decision shaped everything. Rather than aiming for photorealism, we leaned into a stylised, gamified aesthetic, closer to Avatar or a high-end video game world. That choice freed us from being hyper-real and made every design element feel intentional.

Continuity is where it counts

For Odyssey to feel truly immersive, each of our environments had to feel distinct yet undeniably part of the same universe. Otherwise, you don’t have a world; you have three separate backdrops.

The navigators were central to that consistency. As guides through the journey, they had to feel like they belonged inside it. Built as hybrids, we used real client imagery to anchor each character, while generative visuals pushed the world and wardrobe. Here, AI captured the Jumanji-esque vibe we were going for… just not the person. Turns out, ‘generic adventurer’ is easy; ‘recognisable speaker’ less so. Human design skills were very much key to rebuilding and refining each profile until the team was unmistakably themselves.

While AI supported scripting and visuals, the voiceover was intentionally human. A trusted voice actor anchored the story inside those otherworldly environments. Music was selected early with different tracks for each day, so the voiceover was recorded to music. That meant pacing and emotional rhythm were locked in from the outset.

Essentially, the tools helped us explore a bigger playground. The craft is what allowed us to piece it all together into a story with staying power.

So… does AI make it quicker and cheaper?

Onto the golden question: if you’re using AI, doesn’t that automatically mean faster and cheaper? Well, not necessarily.

On Odyssey, it became clear early on that AI wouldn’t reduce the work, but it could raise the ceiling of possibility. The real difference was how much we could build within the time we had, and how quickly we could test ambitious ideas before committing to a final route.

And that’s not to say that the process was seamless. Like any large-scale event, the journey to fruition was still intensive and iterative, with a constant need for creative judgement and control.

That’s the big win with AI. Not speed for its own sake, but what it unlocks: ideas you wouldn’t reach as quickly otherwise, and a broader creative horizon to explore. The output still depends on those talented humans you’ve always trusted making the calls.

If you’re looking for the people who can shape the work, keep it coherent at scale and bring the best ideas to life, let’s talk.

Live events are a high-pressure environment.

You’ve invested months in planning the stand, aligning the messaging, getting the team there, building something you’re proud of. Then the doors open… and suddenly everything is happening at once: overlapping conversations, competitors playing who can shout the loudest—all whilst attention is short and everything’s moving on fast forward.

And in that reality, the brands that come out on top aren’t always the ones with the biggest presence; they’re the ones that can respond in real time. Those that can capture what’s happening and share it while it’s still fresh.

The real advantage here isn’t size, it’s agility—on-site congress content that’s filmed, edited and live before the day is even done.

The problem: great stands can still get missed

Even the best exhibition experience can get swallowed up if it isn’t captured and shared as it’s actually happening.

Your team might be delivering brilliant demos, hosting meaningful discussions, running symposia… but if nobody outside that immediate moment sees it, the impact is always going to be limited.

And nope, it’s not enough to post a polished recap two weeks later. By then, the moment has passed.

Congress content needs to work both on the floor and off it. It needs to be built for speed, quality and brand control in a live setting.

Quick-turnaround content drives footfall while the event is underway

One of the biggest missed opportunities at congress is waiting too long to communicate what’s happening on your stand.

Fast, professionally edited on-site video captures activity as it unfolds, turning live moments into real-time invitations.

At EASD, for example, we created a same-day video for mylife Diabetes Care that invited delegates to experience their stand first-hand. Showcasing live demos, hands-on interaction and the energy around their evolving diabetes management solutions, it was posted while the congress was still in full swing, prompting attendees to come and see it for themselves!

Short-form video, optimised for platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, X and TikTok, creates momentum and visibility while the event is still in motion.

Content that flexes

Live environments need modular content that can work across the event lifecycle.

That might look like:

Built as a system rather than a one-off, this approach keeps your message relevant from the first rig day to long after the stand is packed away.

Maximising the value of your exhibition investment

A congress is a serious investment, where all the different elements (not to mention the coffee!) really add up. So the question becomes: are you getting the full return?

On-site content transforms stand activity into marketing assets that continue working long after the event ends, extending the value of what you’ve already built.

Instead of one intense week of activity, you gain weeks or months of content supporting brand presence, follow-up campaigns, internal comms and future planning.

How do we know? At ESICM, we supported a global medtech leader with live congress content that brought their presence to life. Filmed and edited on-site, the videos showcased the expertise behind the brand and the diversity of the team delivering it, even engaging audiences in their native languages. Shared while the event was still underway, they extended the reach of their stand beyond the congress hall.

Built for the pace and pressure you’re under

We understand the pace organisations like yours work under. Live congress environments demand agility, consistency and creative that’s informed by what’s possible in the moment.

That’s why we create congress content designed for real-time impact—driving footfall, capturing authenticity and making your stand unmissable. Because at a congress, the brands that stand out aren’t just present. They’re impossible to ignore.

Molly has been promoted from Senior Account Executive to Account Manager, a step that feels both well timed and well deserved.

Over the past two years, she’s become a strong and steady presence within Client Services. Capable, collaborative and always willing to roll her sleeves up, Molly brings a can-do attitude that lifts the team around her.

As John shared, she’s ‘a living, breathing example of our values, wrapped up in a professional, can-do attitude’. Corinne echoed that pride, recognising this milestone and looking forward to seeing her continue to grow as an Account Manager.

This promotion reflects the impact she’s already having. We’re excited to see her build on it in the months ahead.

It’s a progression that feels both natural and deserved. We’re looking forward to seeing her continue to grow in the role.

“She is a living, breathing example of our values, wrapped up in a professional, can-do attitude. Having Molly as part of Outlook Creative for the last two years has been a delight and we look forward to seeing her career develop.”

John Lloyd, Joint Managing Director

“So pleased Molly has hit this milestone. Capable, collaborative and team-orientated, I’m looking forward to seeing her fly as an Account Manager.”

Corinne Kavaz, Client Services Director

Alex has been promoted from Senior Account Executive to Account Manager, a move that reflects the consistency and care she brings to her role every day.

Over the past two years, she’s grown steadily into someone clients and colleagues rely on. Calm, organised and thoughtful in her approach. She’s put the work in, taken on more responsibility and proved she’s ready for this next step.

As John said, she’s ‘a dream to work with’, recognising the conscientious effort she’s made to reach this point. Corinne also highlights her calm, mature professionalism and the well-earned nature of this promotion.