The Swedish Heartchild Foundation - Heartbeat Drum Machine
The Swedish Heartchild Foundation needed to significantly increase public awareness and donations for congenital heart disease. Despite being a common birth defect, public understanding and engagement were low. The client sought a compelling way to make the impact of the condition tangible for potential donors, ultimately aiming to boost fundraising efforts.
Creative Idea
They turned children's irregular heartbeats into a playable, arrhythmic drum machine.
To raise awareness and donations for congenital heart disease, The Swedish Heartchild Foundation created CHD-4, a drum machine built with the actual arrhythmic heartbeats of four children, allowing people to experience the disruption and connect emotionally with the cause.
The Heartbeat That Broke the Four Four Beat
From Personal Trauma to Product Design
The project was born from a deeply personal place for Oskar Hellqvist, Executive Creative Director at Abby.World. As a father of two children born with heart defects, Hellqvist sought a way to translate the "irregularity" of their lives into a tangible experience. He collaborated with renowned Swedish artist Love Hultén to handcraft the CHD - 4, a modular synthesizer and circular sequencer. Unlike traditional drum machines that rely on perfect 4/4 timing, this device was programmed using the actual electrocardiograms (ECGs) of four children: Liv, Janiyah, Vincent, and Wega. The result was a "broken" rhythm that forced musicians to adapt to the child's heart rather than a standard metronome.
Engineering the Arrhythmia
To achieve the medical precision required, the team partnered with Teenage Engineering, utilizing their Pocket Operator 400 analog synth modules. A custom OLED screen was integrated to mirror a hospital heart monitor, displaying real-time audio waves. While the physical machine toured with the Mercury Prize - winning band Alt-J, music agency Plan8 developed a digital version to ensure global accessibility. This allowed millions to interact with the irregular beats on mobile and desktop devices.
A Valentine Auction for Research
The campaign culminated on Valentine’s Day 2023, when the one - of - a - kind machine was auctioned via Stockholms Auktionsverk. It sold for 3,417 euros, with every cent going toward heart research. Beyond the sale, the project has become a benchmark for "Design with Purpose," proving that product design can serve as a powerful medium for advocacy. By turning dark, heavy medical data into a functional instrument, the foundation successfully made a complex medical issue palpable through music.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
The Swedish Heartchild Foundation possessed the authentic stories and medical data of children affected by congenital heart disease.
Category
Nonprofit campaigns often rely on statistics or generic emotional appeals, struggling to make abstract medical conditions personally resonant.
Customer
Potential donors felt sympathy but lacked a visceral understanding of congenital heart disease's disruptive impact on children's lives.
Culture
A cultural appreciation for innovative technology, unique artistic collaborations, and interactive experiences made the drum machine concept highly engaging.
Company
The Swedish Heartchild Foundation possessed the authentic stories and medical data of children affected by congenital heart disease.
Category
Nonprofit campaigns often rely on statistics or generic emotional appeals, struggling to make abstract medical conditions personally resonant.
Strategy:
Transform abstract medical conditions into tangible, empathetic experiences to drive engagement and support.
Customer
Potential donors felt sympathy but lacked a visceral understanding of congenital heart disease's disruptive impact on children's lives.
Culture
A cultural appreciation for innovative technology, unique artistic collaborations, and interactive experiences made the drum machine concept highly engaging.
Strategy:
Transform abstract medical conditions into tangible, empathetic experiences to drive engagement and support.
Results
The campaign raised 48% more funds for the Swedish Heartchild Foundation compared to previous years. The CHD-4 drum machine was successfully auctioned for 40 000 SEK. The campaign garnered significant positive media attention, with quotes such as Fast Company stating, "This magical machine turns heartbeats into music," Musicradar describing it as, "It's one of a kind in every conceivable way," and Gearnews remarking, "That's both amazing and devastating."
+48%
more funds raised
40 000 SEK
auctioned price
Strategy Technique
Make the Invisible Visible
The strategy made the complex, internal reality of congenital heart disease palpable. It translated medical data into an accessible, emotional experience, fostering deeper understanding and empathy among the public.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Dramatize the Problem
The campaign transformed the abstract problem of congenital heart disease into a tangible, interactive experience. By using actual arrhythmic heartbeats, it allowed donors to directly feel the disruption caused by the condition.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional in its innovative synthesis of medical data, bespoke technology, and empathetic sound creation, transforming a complex issue into a universally understood and deeply moving musical experience.
The creation of arrhythmic beats directly from actual ECG data and their subsequent use in musical compositions forms the heart of the campaign's emotional impact and unique sonic identity.
The bespoke engineering of the CHD-4 drum machine and its digital app to accurately convert complex ECG patterns into musical sequences showcases remarkable technical innovation.
The campaign's magic emerges from the seamless fusion of a groundbreaking idea with advanced technology and empathetic sound creation, allowing complex medical data to resonate as profound human experience through music.
