ANA: Fighting Forgetfulness With Design That Sticks

The Challenge: Giving Urgency to a Silent, Invisible Loss

Alzheimer’s doesn’t arrive with noise. It creeps in, slowly removing names, places, and moments until very little is left. The team behind ANA, a new association formed by neurologists and neurosurgeons in São Paulo, needed a campaign that made people act before that happened. The problem wasn’t awareness—it was urgency. We needed to communicate the reality of memory loss in a way that people could feel, understand, and carry with them.

The Concept: Take Action Before It Disappears

The campaign leaned into a haunting truth: by the time you see the full effect of Alzheimer’s, it may be too late. The visual identity was built around absence. The ANA logo was designed with key parts of each letter removed, mimicking the gradual erosion of memory while still remaining legible. That balance—what’s lost and what stays—became the creative foundation for the entire system.

Old, faded black-and-white photographs were used in print, digital, and outdoor formats, intentionally degraded to the edge of recognition. In video, the same idea played out through disappearing family portraits—quiet, emotional sequences paired with messaging that emphasized early action and brain health awareness.

Creative Direction: Make It Personal, Then Make It Clear

The design wasn’t just conceptual—it had to be approachable. We created educational brochures, medical publication ads, and outreach materials with stripped-back typography and simple language, making sure nothing got in the way of the message. The materials were designed to reach both families and medical professionals, and to move between emotional weight and actionable clarity without losing either.

The Platform: Brain Health in Your Pocket

To go beyond awareness, we built the ANA app, a digital tool designed to encourage daily brain activity through games, memory challenges, crosswords, and logic puzzles. Users could track time spent on mental exercises and build a routine aimed at slowing cognitive decline. The app extended the campaign into daily life, offering families a small but meaningful way to stay engaged and proactive.

PIPO: Helping Memory Find Its Way Back

In addition to the ANA app, I created a companion tool called PIPO—named after a family nickname and inspired by my father-in-law’s experience with memory loss. PIPO helps patients remember their loved ones through photos, names, and relationship tags. It’s a quiet, personal app designed to reduce confusion and support recognition in day-to-day life. While not part of the core campaign, it was an emotional extension of the project that helped bring dignity and comfort back to familiar faces.

The Impact: A Community That Remembers Together

The ANA campaign became a bridge between science, design, and empathy. More than 45 neurologists joined the program across São Paulo. Awareness around early detection grew, and the ANA app gave families a way to participate in care, not just witness its effects. PIPO became a small but meaningful tool for families living with the emotional weight of the disease. By visualizing what Alzheimer’s takes away, the campaign made something else possible: the chance to hold on, longer.

Designing With Loss in Mind

This project brought together everything I value in creative work—purpose, emotion, and the opportunity to make a real difference. I helped shape the brand, campaign, and experience design alongside a deeply committed team of doctors and advocates. Every decision was driven by one goal: to make something that stays with you, especially when memory itself becomes fragile.