Incyte
HS Truths is an awareness campaign built around the realities people living with hidradenitis suppurativa are too often forced to hide. At its center was “We Rise,” an original hip-hop anthem performed by Parish, who has lived with HS for over 20 years. I created the custom lettering, kinetic typography and animation for the music video, transforming his words into a visual voice that moves through the film.
The typography needed to carry the honesty and force of Parish’s performance without turning his experience into a visual effect. It had to feel personal, urgent and handmade, remain readable at the speed of the track, and belong naturally to a campaign centered on real patient voices.
I developed a hand-drawn lettering system inspired by the character of Parish’s handwriting, then expanded it with doodles, irregular marks and the energy of street art. Every phrase was animated around his cadence and emphasis, making the words feel like part of the performance rather than captions placed over it.
Parish had lived through years of pain, shame and repeated surgeries.
In “We Rise,” those experiences became an act of expression and reclamation. The music video gave his voice a visual stage, allowing the lyrics to appear with the same urgency, pauses and shifts in energy as his performance.
The lettering began with the character of Parish’s own handwriting.
I translated its imperfections, rhythm, and personality into a flexible visual system, then introduced doodles and expressive marks that could respond to different moments in the track.
Its street-art energy also connected with the visual culture that shaped me as a young artist.
The animation was built around the performance rather than a fixed typographic template.
Words stretch, collide, appear abruptly, or hold back to match the cadence and emotion of each line. The typography remains readable when it needs to communicate and becomes more expressive when the track demands greater energy.
Every project asks for commitment, but few make that contribution as visible as this one.
Parish’s voice and experience remained at the center, while the letterforms, doodles and movement carried a trace of my own hand and the street-art culture that shaped me.
The result feels less like typography added to a film and more like a shared visual language.
Together, the anthem, film and campaign artwork transformed an often-hidden experience into something difficult to overlook. Parish’s voice extended beyond the performance, becoming part of a broader and more open conversation about life with HS.
The Clio Awards