Humane World for Animals Gala Design
Creative Direction
Project Summary
An evening built around hope
To the Rescue! is the Humane World for Animals annual gala. It’s a night in New York that brings supporters and special guests together to make big change for animals. The 2026 event, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, put a spotlight on ending animal testing, and the design carried that focus through every part of the night, from the moment guests arrived.
Finding the light
The events team opened the project with a concept brief and a few early visual ideas, bubbles among them. Working with our VP of creative, I guided our art director through concept development. We translated the bubbles into light and refraction, using prism effects to bring a feeling of hope and freedom to the stories of animals who once suffered in testing and are now rescued.
Strong directional lighting became the anchor. We already had a photograph of Shogun, a rescued chimpanzee, with the light falling just right on a face full of both sadness and hope. It set the standard, and our art director and photographer carried that quality into a shoot with rabbits and beagles so every animal in the campaign shared it.
The Experience
The printed save the date was our first deliverable, and it led into everything else: printed and digital invitations, marketing, stage design, centerpieces and all the small details.
The welcome wall (above) was the introduction for guests arriving at the event. Each spinning circle shows a rescued animal on the front, and turning it over tells their story. Empty cages flank the wall, leaving only the silhouettes of the animals who once lived there and are now free. It introduced the evening’s focus on ending animal testing before anyone sat down.
My Role
As creative director, I guided the concept and creative direction alongside our VP of creative, working closely with the special events team, who led the vision and the evening itself. Katelyn Reber, our lead events Art Director, led the design concept development and handled the execution, and the quality of that work is hers. A vendor brought the designs to life, and our internal production team produced and sent the invitations.
My focus was honing in and refining the concept and keeping the idea consistent, from the first save-the-date to the last detail in the room, so the design told one story and supported the mission.
The 2026 gala, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, with a performance by Vanessa Carlton and appearances by Amy Sedaris and Christie Brinkley, raised more than $2 million to protect animals.
Photos by Charles Sykes/AP Images for Humane World for Animals, Angelina Katsanis/AP Content Services for Humane World for Animals