On March 30, 2020, the United Nations issued a global call to creatives to help build public awareness of critical public health messages. Faced with staggering public health outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN asked creatives for their help in translating public health messages into work that could engage and inform people across cultures, languages, and communities. Designers and artists worldwide were tasked with translating critical public health messages into work that will engage and inform people across different cultures, languages, communities, and platforms. The creative solutions were to reach audiences across different cultures, age groups, affiliations, geographies, and languages. Our collective response, with 7 different art directions, elicits a sense of magic – a creative twist, a cultural quirk, an interpretation that helps amplify them to audiences not yet reached.
1. Clever Illustrations Using vivid pops of bold colors and friendly typography, these embrace a more imaginative and abstract twist on the key messages through its light-hearted and relatable central characters.
2. Animals Playing off inherent animal instincts and behaviors, these illustrations help communicate to younger audiences the importance of following the guidelines from WHO.
3. Type Typography—as seen in this concept—also has the power to convey important key messages correctly and impactfully through their unique composition, hierarchy, and font personalities.
4. Circle Highlights This straightforward and approachable campaign is both eye-catching and effective in its key messaging. The high-contrast compositions are recognizable and suitable for several formats, including editorial, small-scale print, social media, and large format.
5. Hands Play Some of the most universal signs of solidarity can be communicated through the use of our hands. This cohesive set of illustrations shows how easy it is to spread a message of kindness and togetherness with the simple use the hand gestures.
6. Fill in the Blank Amidst the global health pandemic, more and more people have been finding ways to connect through social media. This social media campaign aims to create solidarity among people sheltering in place and spreads a message of appreciation and thanks to everyone for doing their part.
7. Cool/Not Cool What's "cool" and "not cool" has dramatically changed during this time. Intentionally using cheesy stock photography and a bold graphic system, these quickly but effectively help to decipher some of the most important things to remember around what you should and shouldn't be doing during quarantine to help flatten the curve.