Responses by Shirin Majid, deputy executive creative director, VCCP Kin

Background: Kindness Will Keep Us Together is a campaign that spreads the positive message of solidarity and support from the British Red Cross during the height of the Coronavirus isolation. We wanted to encourage people of all ages across the United Kingdom to communicate this message and take action, whether it’s to share the posters, make their own, buy artist merchandise in the British Red Cross online shop to raise funds, or donate to help support the vulnerable.

Reasoning: Iconic art fuels social movements, and it is also part of the British Red Cross legacy. We needed a big, bold visual statement that people would identify with and want to get behind. But, we also needed to appeal to a broad range of aesthetics. That’s why we kicked off with graphic artist Anthony Burrill’s poster and also worked with artists, Rose Blake, Nina Cosford, Yukai Du, Rob Flowers, Oli Frape, Casja Holgersson, Timothy Hunt, Rob Lowe, Bett Norris, Ruby Taylor, who have a mix of different styles.

Challenges: We created the whole project in isolation with less than a week turnaround. We had to rely on the kindness of the eleven artists who could be flexible not only with turning around artwork in 48 hours, but also with a barrage of emails about PR, contracts and other details that you can usually work out over the course of weeks, not days.

Favorite details: I’m so proud of the artists we collaborated with. We reached out to them not only for their work, but also because we knew they were like-minded and right for the movement. It was a positive experience working with them all. It’s really heartening to see the response unfold. I’m also pretty chuffed that Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has shared it on Instagram!

Anything new: In my 23-year career, I’ve never had to turn around an integrated campaign this fast. But, I learned that you don’t have to sacrifice craft or quality in the tightest timelines if you have the right talent, network and team. It also helps when you have an important cause to rally your troops.

Alternative approach: If we had more time, I would’ve liked to collaborate with dozens, if not hundreds, more artists, designers, illustrators and animators who would want to contribute to the project with their own artwork. I’m hoping we can still make this happen. Watch this space.

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