Align Conference
I owned the complete visual identity for the Align Conference, developing a distinctive brand system that translated seamlessly across marketing, presentation, and on-site experiences. The result was a cohesive, elevated conference brand that balanced EIM’s credibility with a strong, standalone presence.
role
Brand & Collateral Designer
client
Evidence In Motion
year
scope
2022
Identity, brand standards, website, social, print, merch
01 · The brief
After two years online, Align needed to feel like an invitation back into the room.
Align is an educational conference for the healthcare field — lab-intensive sessions with low student-to-teacher ratios across manual therapy, pain science, dry needling, and more. The 2022 edition was its first hybrid format: hands-on courses live in Dallas, with Saturday lectures available online. The brand had to read warm and welcoming, not clinical and cold — and work just as hard on a phone screen as on a six-foot stage banner.
RUNNING SINCE
2017
The first in-person Align launched in Minneapolis, merging three EIM education brands into one conference.
2022 FORMAT
Hybrid
Hands-on labs live in Dallas, Aug 26–28; Saturday lecture track streamed online for remote attendees.
CORE TOPICS
04
Spinal Manipulation, Pain Science, Dry Needling, and Shoulder Examination techniques.
02 · WHY "ALIGN"
The name is the strategy: one conference that aligns three teaching traditions.
Align didn't start as a single event — it's the merger of three. Understanding that history was the whole job: the identity had to feel like a meeting point, not a takeover, so faculty and students from every tradition could see themselves in it.
MANIPALOOZA
2003
A weekend to hone lab skills.
As manual therapy exploded, EIM launched Manipalooza: a fun, hands-on weekend to sharpen skills and bring clinicians together.
+ ISPI
2010
EIM acquires the International Spine and Pain Institute.
ISPI — the premier pain-science education organization in rehab, founded by Adriaan and Colleen Louw — brought its own annual clinical conference, running since 2007.
+ KINETACORE
2016
EIM acquires Kinetacore.
The premier dry-needling education organization in the US, founded by Edo and Christi Zylstra, added its symposia and skills events to the family.
ALIGN IS BORN · MINNEAPOLIS
2017
Three traditions, one conference.
With manual therapy, pain science, and dry needling now under one roof, the next logical step was a combined event — one that "aligns" the divisions, cross-pollinates faculty and students, and elevates the whole educational experience.
’20–’21
Virtual, through COVID.
Align moved fully online — keeping the community connected when hands-on learning had to pause.
’18–’19
Denver, at scale.
Two years in Denver with national and international faculty, EIM staff, and hundreds of attendees.
2022
Back together again.
The first hybrid Align: live, hands-on courses in Dallas plus an online Saturday lecture option — the moment this brand system was built for.
03 · THE BRAND SYSTEM
A warm, rounded system that makes clinical education feel approachable.
— Align Conference Brand Standards, 2022
The goal was simple: get clinicians away from desks, computers, and endless Zoom meetings — and make coming back together feel warm, hands-on, and a little bit fun.
04 · IN MARKET
One system, across every touchpoint.
05 · THE SYSTEM AT A GLANCE
Built to flex and last.
TRADITIONS ALIGNED
03
Manual therapy, pain science & dry needling under one brand.
LOGO MARKS
02
A dated mark for the year and a timeless mark for evergreen use.
COLOR PALETTE
05
Dark teal, teal, mint, beige & orange — warm by design.
TOUCHPOINT TYPES
06
Web, social, print, environmental, apparel & merch.