We Are the Frontline
The Brief
Relaunch a charity the world thought it no longer needed
Aids Alliance had spent a quarter of a century on the frontline of HIV. But public perception had drifted towards ‘ AIDS is not over, ’ donor fatigue was real, and a new generation had no personal connection to the cause. The charity needed to reset its name, its identity and its voice, or watch funding slip away.
The Solution
A new name. A new website. Then a story to prove it all meant something
First, a rebrand: Aids Alliance became Frontline AIDS, with a bold visual identity and a new website built to shout: AIDS IS NOT OVER. Then,for World AIDS Day and the charity’s 25th anniversary, a story that put the new identity to work. Eight voices. Symbolism and light.
Background
Twenty-five years on the frontline. The world had stopped listening
Aids Alliance had been part of the global HIV response for over two decades. But the cultural narrative had shifted. For much of the public, AIDS was a 1980s story. Solved, archived, over. That perception was killing fundraising and leaving marginalised communities without the support they still urgently needed.
The rebrand was the response. A new name, a new identity, a new website, all built around a single assertion: AIDS IS NOT OVER. The question was whether the new identity could carry the weight of the message.
World AIDS Day then became the first real test, and the charity’s 25th anniversary. Two moments in one, with every other HIV organisation competing for the same attention. The new brand needed a flagship powerful enough to prove it worked.
Our Approach
Build the brand to be bold. Then give it something bold to say
The rebrand came first, stripping away the cautious conventions of the charity sector and building an identity that felt like a frontline. Urgent, direct, unafraid. The website then carried it: bold typography, uncompromising messaging, built to convert a wide audience into supporters.
Then, for the anniversary, we pushed further. The brief had asked for a compilation video. We came back with ‘The Line.’ The frontline of HIV isn’t a place. It’s a membrane between those who are heard and those who are silenced. We used contrast, light and dark, to illustrate it.
We interviewed 8 people across the globe and used their voices to build a picture of the HIV epidemic from both sides of the front line. Then we designed and built a custom 120-litre motion-controlled water stage that allowed us to capture the ethereal textures that became the film’s visual language.
‘The Line’ — Frontline AIDS 25th Anniversary Film
Key Project Assets
Frontline AIDS Brand Identity
A bold, rebellious visual identity replacing the cautious conventions of the charity sector. Built to carry the assertion ‘AIDS IS NOT OVER’ across every touchpoint with confidence and clarity.
Rebrand Website
A simple, uncompromising digital flagship designed to speak to donors and people in need of support in the same breath. Structured around engaging content that converts a wide, often uninformed audience.
‘The Line’: Anniversary Film
A cinematic short film using light, darkness and custom-built underwater cinematography to visualise the frontline of HIV, carrying the voices of eight partners from across the world.
Impact
The rebrand gave Frontline AIDS a voice worth listening to. The film proved the voice could cut through on the busiest day in the HIV calendar, reaching tens of thousands in weeks.
Production Stills
Symbolism, Light and Water
From rebrand to relaunch
A rebrand on its own is an assertion. It only becomes a relaunch when the new identity is tested against a real moment and holds. Frontline AIDS had the name, the website, the bold new system. But they needed a World AIDS Day flagship to prove the identity was a point of view, not just design.
‘The Line’ gave the rebrand its proof. A water stage. Eight voices from around the world. Light against dark. That’s what makes a new identity stick. Not the launch, but the first time it does real work.
Tilt managed to grasp our wants, needs and requirements easier than we did! They asked the right questions, guided us towards simplicity and delivered an outstanding website & film that we are really proud of.
Laura Mundy, Digital Communications Advisor — Frontline AIDS
