“Global Call to Creatives: An Open Brief from the United Nations”
A worldwide challenge, launched by the United Nations at the end of March 2020, to creatives to lend their immense talents and imaginations to help the UN and its World Health Organization to communicate how to avoid or minimize the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. The organization was in need of strong, impactful messaging for all languages, cultures, communities and platforms — because they needed to reach everybody, everywhere.
“We are in an unprecedented situation and the normal rules no longer apply. We cannot resort to the usual tools in such unusual times. The creativity of the responses must match the unique nature of this crisis - the magnitude of the responses must match its scale.” - UN Secretary-General, António Guterres
KEY DATES
30.03.20 Launch
14.04.20 Submission deadline
17.04.20 Creative Content Hub online
A CALL TO EVERYONE
Tens of thousands of artists all across the world have entered work to support the United Nations and WHO's efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19. All shortlisted work has been collected on the COVID-19 Response Creative Content Hub.
Anyone can search for, download, and share the shortlisted work that communicates the UN's six key messages. Join us in the global fight against COVID-19 and share the work. We need to maximize impact. The creators have agreed to their work being used to help combat the coronavirus. Please note that it is a condition of use that you credit the creator wherever you use their work (either in text or tagging their social channels).
BRIEFING
The briefing was to use any creative medium to produce work that captures one of the coronavirus key messages, in a clear, impactful and shareable way. The key messages as defined by the UN:
- Personal Hygiene
- Physical Distancing
- Know the symptoms
- Kindness contagion
- Myth busting
- Do more, donate
The competition was open to anyone; it didn't matter if you were a world-renowned creative director with years of advertising experience, or a design student with a head of ideas and a future full of promise; this was an unprecedented opportunity for everyone to step up and offer their skills to an increasingly urgent cause. Together we can flatten the curve and build global solidarity.
#GLOBALCREATIVEREVIEW
For the first time ever, the UN launched an open brief to creatives all around the world. It was not a pitch. It was not a creative competition. It was a global collaboration to make a difference for the better.
Through the Belgian iniative "Global Creative Review", creative leaders from different continents were called upon to give feedback on ideas for the call of the UN; to see if your idea was truly universal, if it resonated with global citizens. To give feedback on your idea and sharpen it, before you entered your work.