An 🌎 Day, Fresh from the Field — Mate Act Now
If you have new or recent work that you would like to share in Fresh from the Field email nicole@designassembly.org.nz for details.
The Brief & Kaupapa:
Action speaks louder than posters!
Design can change the world, especially when we work together. As we grapple with the effects of the immediate health crisis and navigate the new COVID-landscape, our community was invited to take action and create digital posters to spread awareness (and fundraise) for another significant risk to humanity: climate change.
The initiative was founded by New Zealand designer Chris Flack (Design Director, Strategy Creative) who felt compelled to do something as Australia burned over the summer. “Being a designer, I didn’t know what else to do than to grab pen and paper,” he explains.
The result was a poster which, with the scribbling help of Flack’s 2-year-old son Leo, turned the words “CLIMATE ACTION NOW” into “MATE ACT NOW”: a catch-cry all Australians and Kiwis can get behind.
Chris Flack invited the design community to produce an A3, CMYK typographic poster to represent what climate change means to them, which could be downloaded and shared and empower others to act.
The collective global response:
Over 130 designers responded to the call. “In these uncertain and unprecedented times, it’s powerful to know that the advertising and design community can come together to effect change,” Flack says.
The aesthetic diversity of the responses is outstanding.
The posters form part of a curated online site (built by New Territory Studio) which launched coinciding with Earth day today. The website is an incredibly well-considered piece of design, to mirror the cause and highlight the effects of climate change it progressively heats up (as it approaches ‘crisis mode’ and glows an aggressive red encouraging the user to take action and cool the site down).
You can play your part in the response by ACTING NOW to download and share the posters from the MATE ACT NOW online gallery. (Remember to amplify and show your support with #mateactnow).
You can also pre-order a limited-edition publication (designed by Liam Ooi, Studio South), with proceeds going to the Australian Bushfire Relief Fund.
The collaborators:
A heavyweight line up of creatives, artists and designers have come together to take action for this important initiative. Featured designers include:
23red
Alistair McCready
Andy Webb
Another Poster
Bathgate Design
Believe In
Berger & Fohr
Brett King
Character.co
Christopher Doyle
Clayton Dixon
Clem Devine
Megan (Collins)
Creature
Designworks
Dinamo
Duane Dalton
Eddie Davies
Grafik
Hamish Childs
HardHat Design
Harry Boyd
Harry Richards
Jinki Cambronero
Josiah Rees
Kate Slavin
Kyla K
Laura Griffiths
Lorenzo Fanton (Pentagram)
M.Giesser
Make Bardo
Manual
Mash Creative
Matt Galloway
Matt Kitto
Micah Purnell
Mildred & Duck
Motherbird
Mucho
Not Another
Observatory
Paul Garbett
Roydon Misseldine
Rupert de Paula
Ryan Romanes
Scott Bolton
Stefan Downs
Stephen McCarthy
Studio Band
Studio South
StudioDBD
Superfried
Strategy Creative
Think Work Observe
Typographher
Vince Frost
Wade Jeffree and
Leta Sobierajski
We are 27 Creative
and many, many more…
https://www.instagram.com/mateactnow
https://www.facebook.com/MateActNow
https://twitter.com/mateactnow
Chris Flack’s last passion project was the widely acclaimed ‘Comic Sans for Cancer’ campaign & exhibition using the 20th anniversary of Comic Sans (the font we all love to hate) to raise money for Cancer Research UK. The campaign had a global online reach of 13 million people, raised over NZD$12,000 for Cancer Research UK.
We wish MATE ACT NOW all the best in achieving the same acclaim and success for this important cause. DA will follow the progress of the project and chat more with Chris, and the participating designers over the coming weeks.
