The New Day Campaign hired us to direct the planning, design, content, photography, production, and roll-out of a public awareness campaign for the Maryland Department of Health. The “Be a Hero” campaign was part of the state’s efforts to end Maryland’s opioid overdose crisis. The campaign used photos of everyday citizens and first responders to show Marylanders that anyone can use Naloxone to save a life. The statewide campaign included transit ads, billboards, and bus shelters.
It was our job to create a public awareness campaign that incorporated the New Day Campaign’s brand and the state’s brand, manage the creative team, collaborate with the state’s advertising vendor, and ensure everyone’s parts met the state’s timeline and specifications.
The creative team was composed of graphic designer Christopher Jones (Brown Hornet Design), and photographer Mark V. Lord (Mark V. Lord Photography).
The Maryland Department of Health hired our client the New Day Campaign to create this campaign because of its unique ability to use art to challenge the stigma and discrimination of mental illness and substance use, making the world a more healing place.
One challenge was the accelerated timeline of this project. Another was that the photographer selected by the state was based in Los Angeles. That meant we had to ensure we got all the images we needed when he flew in once to conduct a packed schedule of meetups and shoots with our campaign subjects across the state. Our designer Christopher Jones at Brown Hornet Design also needed to produce a slew of final art files meeting a myriad of specs for the different outdoor and transit ad placements.
Use the powerful combination of photography and graphic design to humanize and destigmatize the topic and inspire the public to be part of the solution. Focus ad designs on the diverse faces and unifying stories of the real Marylanders featured in the campaign. Motivate viewers to learn how to save a person’s life by carrying Naloxone.
As project director, Nancy drew upon her public health communications background to ensure attributes of an effective campaign were incorporated into the art. The use of engaging humanistic black and white photographs created the effect of making viewers feel as though the subjects were speaking directly to them as they went about their everyday life. The clean and simple graphic design work took viewers from engagement to motivation to action.
“The most striking thing about working with Nancy was her absolute preparedness to do whatever it might take to achieve mission. Nothing was above or beneath her to take on: a fiercely committed ally who ups the ante on professionalism by modeling so much of it herself.”
