On the 22nd of May 2015 Ireland became the first country in the world to put the issue of same sex marriage to a popular vote. Coming up to that date the whole country was electrified with both the yes and no sides coming out with prevalent and provoking campaigns. I wanted to do my bit and design a graphic in support of a yes vote!
Project
Yes Campaign 'Equality' Graphic
Challenge
To design a graphic what was attractive and eye-catching, one that would stand out from the crowd and have longevity after the actual voting day had passed.
Solution
The more I thought about the challenge, the more I wanted to focus on the date itself, rather than just a call for a yes vote. If this referendum was to pass, then the 22nd of May would go down in history as a very important day, a day when Ireland would demonstrate to the world the massive leaps that have occurred in our society in the last 20 years. A day when fairness and equality won out over intolerance and bigotry.
I noticed that in looking at the date in a specific way i.e. with one of the 2's reversed then it actually inherently communicated the message I was hoping to portray:
- The 2's are facing each other as if coming together in marriage.
- The 2's reflect each other, representing equality, or 2 men or 2 women.
- The 2's facing each other created a heart shape in the negative space, representing love and compassion.
For colour, I chose blue on the inside of both 2's to represent two men, pink to represent two women, green on the back to represent Ireland, and yellow on top to represent the summer month of may, the brightness of the day and the happiness felt by all those celebrating a yes vote.
'May 2015' is deliberately faded in the background, visible when looking carefully, but not taking away from the two 2's in the centre which is the main focus.
By not making the graphic a call to action for a yes vote it is able to live on past the event and keep its relevance.
The graphic was used in Facebook, Twitter and other social media posts.
My Role
Concept, Art Direction and Design.