Invisible Illness Awareness Network (IIAN)
The Invisible Illness Awareness Network is a non-profit organization that hosts free, publicly accessible educational presentations covering invisible & chronic illnesses. They partner with college campuses to provide leadership opportunities to students, who host their own educational meetings on their campuses using IIAN’s resources and program schedule.
I have been a volunteer for IIAN’s graphic design resources since 2023, where I primarily make custom backgrounds & graphics for their presentations. All of IIAN’s designs have been made with accessibility in mind, providing images that meet high-contrast accessibility standards.
Accessible Information
This is a pamphlet I designed for IIAN providing information on service dogs. All of the color choices have been chosen according to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to meet the highest standards of contrast for legibility.
Different colors and typefaces were used to provide visual breaks to more clearly separate sections of information.
The graphic of a black service dog on the cover was also designed by me for IIAN to use across other resources as needed.
Business Cards
These were designed to be simple, high contrast, and straightforward to allow people to easily find out more about the organization and contact them.
There is no personalization to these because they are made purely for individuals to find IIAN online.
I worked with one of IIAN’s co-founders to organize a small group of volunteers. We handed out pamphlets and business cards at the Rolling Meadows 4th of July parade.
As a small non-profit organization, IIAN doesn’t have the budget for large projects or prints. I designed this banner using sheets of craft store iron-on vinyl and a blue tablecloth.
Illustrations
The diagrams below were drawn for IIAN’s presentation on Gynecological Conditions. All were digitally drawn by me using an iPad and edited in Adobe Illustrator.
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![A diagram of the typical female reproductive system]()
Female Reproductive Anatomy
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![Endometriosis diagram]()
Endometriosis
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![Polycycstic Ovary Syndrome diagram]()
PCOS
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![Adenomyosis diagram]()
Adenomyosis
Presentation Backgrounds
I make unique presentation themes to match the awareness colors of each condition IIAN presents on. Each theme consists of multiple different backgrounds made for center-aligned text, side-aligned text, title, or image-heavy slides. Below is a small gallery showcasing nine examples of different themes and justifications.
Circulatory Conditions Theme
Mental Health Theme
Neurological Conditions Theme
IIAN’s Presentations
IIAN doesn’t publicly re-upload their educational presentations to protect their program from being copied, but they do post their discussion meetings. These meetings are held the week after each educational meeting, and host guest speakers relating to the condition that was presented on.
Here is an example of one of their discussion meetings, focused on Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and using my presentation theme for a brief introduction to the topic.
If you’re wondering why the EDS presentation is zebra themed, it’s because people with EDS are often initially misdiagnosed because their symptoms often appear as more common conditions. Doctors are often taught, “When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras,” to not overcomplicate a diagnosis. EDS is the zebra that is often avoided as a diagnosis, which causes many people with the condition to go years without a proper diagnosis or relevant, effective care.