A Bold Event Brand for World Fire Congress’s Global Mission

Sue’s strategic design leadership is exemplary

— Kelly L.

The Client

The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) approached Sharper Creative to develop a compelling visual identity for the inaugural World Fire Congress (WFC). This groundbreaking event brought together representatives from 41 nations to address global fire service challenges and foster collaboration on fire prevention and community safety.

The NFFF sought a bold, inclusive graphic theme that would appeal to an international audience while avoiding destructive imagery such as the world being on fire. The visual identity needed to inspire unity, progress, and a shared sense of responsibility while ensuring consistency across all event materials.

For the 2024 conference, we were tasked with creating a visual identity for this year’s theme, “New Horizons, New Opportunities.” We aimed to create a versatile and engaging design that could be adapted across multiple marketing materials including digital and on-site displays. The most critical part of our work was maintaining a cohesive brand presence while allowing individual pieces to shine.

What We Did

We developed a versatile visual identity for the inaugural World Fire Congress that could adapt seamlessly across various media and sizes. Our key initiatives included:

Created a custom illustration, dubbed “fire not fire,” to symbolize the event’s themes without evoking destructive imagery
Designed firefighter icons representing the four main themes of the Congress, ensuring alignment with the cohesive graphic style
Developed a color palette inspired by the Olympic rings, reflecting hues commonly found in global flags to resonate with international delegates

This thoughtful strategic approach ensured the event’s visual identity conveyed a sense of unity, collaboration and professionalism, setting the tone for this landmark gathering.

What We Delivered

Custom Illustration
Logo Refinement
Meeting Guidebook
Event Badges
Signage
Presentation Template
Proofreading

The Results

The inaugural 2024 World Fire Congress (WFC) made history by uniting fire service representatives from 41 nations in Washington, DC. The event branding was versatile, allowing the graphics to be used in various ways that built cohesion across all materials without making everything look identical. The strong visual identity we crafted amplified the Congress’s mission to foster international cooperation and establish a legacy for future events.

Additionally, this identity will be used to craft the forthcoming proceedings report, a complete summary of the event, ensuring continuity in how the Congress is presented to the global fire service community.

Strategic design leadership is exemplary

“Working with Sue and her team at Sharper Creative on the World Fire Congress project was a productive and rewarding experience from beginning to end. At the outset, they designed several great visual concepts for us to choose from, and the final custom illustration was precisely what we’d hoped it would be. The design reflected the global nature of the project as well as the stakeholders who participated — thus enabling our message of unity and collaboration to shine. In fact, SC’s design set the visual tone for the entire event, resonating with the professional attendees from 41 different countries.

The SC team was nimble in keeping the project moving but also patient given the technical feedback we were navigating from a large number of SMEs and industry leaders throughout the development process. Sue’s strategic design leadership is exemplary, and Kate is a highly skilled proofreader who handled revisions with meticulous attention to detail and made sure everything stayed on track. Most importantly, their team gave us a high level of confidence that the entire project — which included digital, print and on-site components — was consistent, accurate, and visually beautiful!”