How to get more people to register as Organ Donors? Instead of talking about facts/reasons, ‘Hjertemod’ is about the idea of awakening feelings and believes, making organ donation present by creating a product they can receive and touch and feel. We created an alternative way of approaching people with an intangible subject through product and packaging design. On this foundation we could build a brand/movement in which people could believe. We became inspired by young people, who display their believes, celebrate life and death and want to change the world. This state of mind, live while respecting death is ‘Hjertemod.’

How can we get more people to sign up as organ donors? That was basically our brief. In Denmark, registration to be a organ donor is voluntary. The whole problem revolves around the fact that almost the entire population of adults who can sign up are positive towards being an organ donor, but for some reason never sign up as a donor. People know of the term organ donation, but somehow never really relate to the cause, it is too distant from their lives. We decided on the direction; to make organ donation more tangible and present in the lives of the danish people.

We wanted to do things differently. Instead of ‘just’ making a campaign that raises the awareness of the cause, we decided on a more personal and physical approach as well as creating a brand movement to involve people. The problem with organ donation was intangibility and a barrier between the everyday life of the danish people and being an organ donor. We wanted to tear down this barrier and literally having people feel and touch the cause on their own bodies. We wanted to give people the experience and opportunity to relate to the fact of being an organ donor in a positive and proud way. An additional criteria was that we wanted to create a campaign with personality, something that people could relate to and be inspired by. ‘Hjertemod’ is more a brand/movement than a campaign. Hjertemod stands for something, it is a new word with a specific meaning; having the courage to decide, show the world that you believe in something and have empathy. You show the world that you yourself is vulnerable, but it does not limit your will to live life to its fullest. The movement Hjertemod’s intent was to awaken this residing courage in people, make them part of the movement and let them inspire others to do the same.

Doing a project about a sensitive subject like organ donation require a lot of initial research work. In Denmark there is no official organization for Organ Donation, so for weeks we looked into how other similar organizations that handle sensitive subjects, in order to find what can be done, what does not work and what can be done differently. We found out that many people feel distanced from organizations, having a hard time setting one campaign apart from the other. They almost all speak to ones sense of reason or duty. We decided to get empirical data by asking experts who work with or have researched organ donation. We talked to a PhD graduate who had specialized in organ donation. She had good insights from donors, recipients, regular people, danish and international campaigns, events and organizations. People associate organ donation with considering their own death, a fundamental decision that people are not comfortable taking. In Denmark organ donation has only existed since 1990, and is therefor still a new subject for many generations, something that hasn’t fully been incorporated into the minds of the danish people. There are still no real traditions around the subject, no way to feel really connected to the cause emotionally. Their is no social structure around organ donation, it is not a subject present in our lives. Almost the entire danish population is actually positive towards donating their organs so there is a potential for change. We asked doctors, nurses and medical students about the subject. The interesting fact from this group, especially the ones in their twenties, was that they were a lot more focused on life and death as two aspects of life going hand in hand. A fact of life is to take a decision about ones death. We had to consider who we wanted to communicate to. As mentioned, almost everyone was positive about organ donation, for some reason people did not make the decision. We decided to inspire people to make this decision by focusing on a specific group of people, communicate to them, make them into forerunners of the cause and show as examples for others. The society today is dominated by feelings of fear and anxiety. The economy is failing, people are scared of losing their jobs, pollution and global warming threatens the planet, terror actions and war is on television every day. And in all this we are also scared of losing our selves, not being remembered in the future. Afraid of not being part of some greater community and afraid of not leaving a mark on the world. We decided to tap into this and make organ donation a cause that gives people an opportunity to be more, show that they have courage, wear their decision with pride so that the world can see who they are and what they believe in, awekening the feelings of mutual ethical empowernment in people. Organ donation should be about feelings about unity, identity, feeling of purpose and courage.

We created “Hjertemod” (translates into Heart Courage), a word that does not exist within the Danish language, but a word charged with a specific state of mind and purpose. The project earns it keep in the world by being bold, openly stating that life and death is something we can take control over. That life is about being present, not let fear hold you down and take big decisions. ‘Hjertemod’ embraces this young and viral attitude by celebrating the collision between a corny grandmother-universe (patchwork and cross stiches) and a rough sailer universe (tatoos), in other words the soft human in a hard shell. Everything is expressed in a contemporary aesthetic packaging design. The patterns in the logo design and illustrations is inspired by the tatoo related imagery and the cross-stiches from a “corny grandma”-style. The whole concept of taking a big decision and stand by it is infused in every aspect of the project, from the wooden heart to the way you rip open the packaging design, in the process ruining the design, an irrevocable action. ‘Hjertemod’ has a social impact on how we tell the world we support a case. Based on the need for being part of something greater, we are willing to put almost any aspect of our lives on display. When one signs up in the donor register, he or she receives a necklace with a wooden heart to wear as a symbol of both strength and fragility of the decision to donate ones organs.