Amnesty International Awesome. But effective?

Amnesty International Awesome. But effective?
06/10/10

Want proof that even the most beautiful and compelling advertising can be unsuccessful, look no further than Amnesty Intenational. They and their agencies have been doing brilliant work since its inception, and though “to no avail” seems harsh, it’s not far from the truth.

Check out one of their more recent spots from TBWA\France:

Wow, right? Gorgeous, smart, effective… right? Wait, effective on who? Me? But what can I do to stop the death penality. I mean, I can use my imagination. I can go out and get petitions signed. I can contact my senator. I can send money to Amnesty International. Ahhh… there’s the rub.

I’m not saying that Amnesty isn’t a viable and necessary organization. They are, no question. Their work to fight for or free those wrongly or inhumanely incarcerated is invaluable. My concern is that their amazing ads compel me to donate and be done.

Tell me what to do. Circle the wagons, charge the troops, finagle your Facebook friends. How we can we convince those that are most for the death penalty that it is not humane. How can we speak directly to the father of a murdered and raped daughter? How can we speak to a woman whose religion mandates such punishment in response to a crime against God? How can we convince a Congressman, Prime Minister or President to take swift action, wehn their constituents demand capital punishment?

Answer these questions, and we’ll find true effectiveness. But, in the mean-time keep making amazing ads. Every person you inspire is one small step toward insight and action.

Here are some more work from Amnesty through out the years:

I could go all day.

Do your part. Donate.

Fun work

Martin Luther King Tribute
06/1/10

I wanted to attempt this style  in February, and being Black History Month I chose the Rev. as my muse.

His face is made up of the words of his epic Lincoln Memorial “I have a dream…” speech.

Take a look. I am having it framed as I type.

Smoking Goat Branding
04/1/10

I like beer.

Beer high in flavor, alcohol and price. I brew at home, but wouldn’t consider myself very good at this point. I’m working on it.

We have friends in Louisiana who I would consider really good. I designed some branding for their forthcoming brewery down there.

The Smoking Goat will hopefully be amazing, especially if I get some good beer out of the deal.

Have a look. Then drink a beer and have a look again. Continue this process until the logo looks awesome.

New Poster
02/4/10

This is a poster I made for my buddy Dustin.

A classic quote from him as we drove by Effingham, IL’s infamous and huge cross.

I thought it would look good in his new apartment.

Sheltered Perceptions
01/6/10

I recently got the chance to work on a project for the Humane Society. Given the fact that every time I walk into an animal shelter I have to be talked down from taking home every animal in the place, I was happy to help in anyway I could.

With the majority of pet buying in the United States coming from breeders, mall pet shops and unfortunately mills, animal shelters (specifically the Humane Society) are left overflowing with pets that need loving homes. They are running into a perception problem however, and many misconceptions about shelter pets are accepted as fact, and often repeated as such.

To get past this, we decided to take the problem head on, and address the most common misconceptions individually.

Here is where we landed:

Lauren and Dan sit’n in a tree…
01/5/10

My good friend Lauren is getting married in July, and though I am extremely jealous of her fiance Dan (don’t tell my wife), I made their save the date cards.

I use VistaPrint to print these types of things. Though the quality suffers, and the rumor is that they are destroying local community printers nationwide, for the price they can’t be beat. Check them out next time you want to customize your own holiday card or invitation.

Here’s how Lauren’s STDs turned out: