Category: General Posts

Brief set by 21GRAMS

In collaboration with BlackandBrownSkin

Ignorance is malignant.  Change skin cancer care.

The backstory

Search online for “skin cancer” and you’ll be greeted with a wash of moles on White skin. And the survival rate of skin cancer is around 91% for White people. But what about other skin colors? Well that’s when you start to see the survival rate plummet, for Black people especially down to 65%. The reason? Skin cancer tends to be diagnosed at a later stage, and as a result with a worse prognosis. This is because the signs are more difficult to spot thanks to not only a lack of awareness, but also systemic problems and racial disparities in medicine. 

What’s the challenge?

Develop an idea that has the ‘legs’ to work across an integrated campaign, that not only raises awareness of skin cancer, specifically melanoma, in people of color, but also helps to drive diagnosis to allow people to receive the treatments they need.

What exactly this looks like is up to you – it could be anything from a large-scale advertising campaign, through to more focused direct marketing approach aimed at specific audiences. But whatever you create needs to be tangible, realistic, and make a meaningful impact on people’s lives; and it needs to be able to do that without huge budgets.

Who are we talking to?

This is all about spreading awareness amongst a huge demographic, because that is what will make the most change. That’s people the world over whose skin-tone is underrepresented in whitewashed medical literature. But your idea should put a particular focus on young Black people around the world who spend lots of time outdoors and might not realize that skin cancer can affect them.

Know the signs

You’ll need to really understand what the main signs of skin cancer are, and especially how they can differ on People of Color and Black skin. For example, melanoma (a type of skin cancer usually identified through new moles, or changes in existing ones) most often occur on non-exposed areas of the body such as palms, in the mouth and nose, and around nails. On White skin they tend to occur in areas exposed to the sun, and this is what shapes popular understanding of the disease, when the sole of the foot is the most common site of skin cancer for black people, representing 30-40% of cases. You’ll need to make sure you research and understand these signs and think about how you can help people to recognize them.

Make an impact

Whatever your idea is, it should break the barriers to identifying skin cancer in People of Color and Black skin, allow people to recognize the signs and help people get diagnosed faster. The better it does this, the better the impact it will make.

Continue reading “Ignorance is malignant. Change skin cancer care.”

By Oscar Wilde

Directed by Dan Matisa

  Live-streamed online performances April 22-25, 2021.

 On Demand viewing April 29 – May 2, 2021.

Subtitled, “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People,” Oscar Wilde’s farcical masterpiece has delighted audiences for over 100 years with its sparkling wordplay, matchless wit, dizzying plot; and gallery of unforgettable Victorians: the impish Algy and his equal in deception, Jack; their hilarious paramours, Cecily and Gwendolyn, and that icon of rectitude, Lady Bracknell, one of the greatest comic creations of all time.

You can choose any single serving meal of your choice, but it must include at least three food items to constitute a ‘meal’. It doesn’t necessarily need to be healthy, however neither should it be considered fast food. Consider its nutritional value and obviously – its appeal – It shouldn’t look out of place on the table of a restaurant. It can be a meal that can be eaten cold, or requires some basic preparation, and is most likely part of a wider brand ‘range’ on offer. I would recommend you walk around some grocery stores and look at what they have to offer as the initial part of your research (yes, this involves stepping away from Google!). This doesn’t necessarily mean you are looking for an existing single serve meal already out there – You are creating a new one here, ultimately a range.

Once you have decided on a meal (and initially you should have several options to choose from), your challenge is to create visually appealing and accurate (name, description, ingredients, logo’s etc.) surface graphics and in particular to create packaging that is in keeping with the brand, innovative, easy to carry, easy to stack on a shelf or hang in multiples. Your packaging must contain EVERYTHING required to prepare and eat that specific meal.

And perhaps most important of all – while visually appealing on the shelves alongside the competition – it should be constructed, in a way, using materials and resources, that will have little or no impact on the environment. Research recyclable, biodegradable materials (including inks, glues etc.) and look at innovative existing packaging such as the examples below. Don’t be afraid to look ‘outside the box’ (haha, get it?) by researching non-related packaging directions, such as origami.

Continue reading “Single Serving (Gourmet) Meal”

What’s the challenge?

The LEGO Group want you to create a powerful campaign that appeals to teenagers and rebuilds their relationship with the LEGO® brand – on their terms.

The campaign needs to encourage and inspire teens, who have advanced into new creative spaces such as music, film, sport and fashion etc., to take notice and use LEGO® bricks to make creative statements and actions that really matter to them, and the world around them.

By celebrating endless possibilities, the LEGO® brand provides a creative tool that everyone can go wild with in a meaningful, inspiring and impactful way.  Because through LEGO® products you can Rebuild the World.

Who are we talking to?

The campaign needs to reach teenagers anywhere in the world aged 13-18 years old.

It’s your job to discover what will appeal to this audience, but consider some of the tensions that they can face, the idea of wanting to stand out whilst, on the other hand, wanting to fit in and feel a part of something.

Continue reading “LEGO…. For teens”

Something happened to Chloe after that party Saturday night. Something she can’t remember. But there’s a video, and Twitter, and the whole town is choosing sides. Based on real events and set at a Midwestern high school, Good Kids explores an encounter gone very wrong, its explosive public aftermath, and the searing issues of privilege, consent, and sexual assault.

Wonderful to be given the opportunity to create more theatre promotional pieces again. Great challenge for the first one…

Background: Last fall Cordus Pearce committed suicide. Cord was a great 16 year old who attended Morton High School. Needless to say his family and friends were all devastated. The family don’t want this to be the end of Cord and want his memory and name to live on and help others in need. As part of this brief they asked the students to design apparel (hoodies, shirts, caps etc.) that people can purchase, and would like the proceeds to go to different organizations related to Suicide Awareness.

The main part of the assignment was the creation of a logo or brand mark. Something unique, impactful, thoughtful – perhaps something that he was known for (eg his crazy hair), but most importantly of all it should reach out and connect/engage with those who see it.

Here are a small selection of those logo/brand marks designed and submitted by my graphic design students.

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Product: A *UX/UI friendly smartphone app that maps the building, serves as a exhibit guide (including theme-specific symbols), and connects the user to the museum and it’s activities in a way that develops and encourages a long term brand loyalty.

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Produce THREE mocked up paper engineered, double page spreads, with each spread composed of a dynamic, creative mix of imagery and text. At least ONE spread should be a pop-up design and MUST be foldable (in other words, it opens AND closes flat), while the others should demonstrate equally unique paper engineered elements (pull tabs, windows, layering etc.) Consider visual, kinesthetic (tactile) AND even audible senses when considering ideas.

Audience: This is NOT a children’s book. It should be capable of attracting an educated, adult audience who are perhaps browsing around Barnes and Noble in search of that elusive ‘classy’ Christmas gift and who are enchanted by its construction as much as its content.

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