One of my latest design collaborations I am most happy about was for the Barcelona nonprofit organization Stop Sida (Stop AIDS). Stop Sida’s main aim is to do HIV prevention in the LGBT community but also offers special services to people affected by HIV/AIDS and works in order to stabilize and enhence the solidarity in the society towards people with HIV/AIDS.
In order to achieve this, Stop Sida’s top target is to promote safer sex in the LGBT community and to provide them with as much information as possible about the various ways of transmission of HIV and sexual deseases. Furthermore, they do several official investigation studies yearly about different topics concerning the LGBT community.
They also have a wide range of volunteer workers: an “educators” team (of guys who go to gay bars/clubs/saunas/cruising areas, supply people with condoms and who answer directly any kind of questions about sexual transmissions), a team for instant HIV testing at the office (anonymously and free of charge) and a volunteer comission of sex workers.
It was for this latter comission that I had been asked to help along on the creation of a new internet platform. The comission of sex workers meets once a month in order to decide on the things they supply themselves and the other sex workers with: information material about HIV and other sexual transmissions, free packs of condoms and lubricants, free HIV testing, workshops about sexual health issues and support to get the card for medical healthcare.
Protegersex Logo ©Per Fritsche
I met with Luis (contact person for the male sex workers) and Adriana (for trans women) for a briefing. The most urgent matter was to design a folded business card-like flyer that would be distributed directly by Stop Sida employees and volunteers to sex workers around Barcelona.
Since there was no logo for Protegersex yet, the creation of that was the first step. This new logo for the comission and the website was asked to have some kind of visual link to something fruity. This was due to their prior decision to work with fruit symbol imagery on their website later on. The reason for that: fruit stands for freshness, seduction, sweetness and health. During our briefing session it was decided to go for a logo that would ressemble a fruit label sticker. This is how it turned out (see here right above).
And see below the final look of the info flyer in size of a folded business card.
Protegersex's info flyer which will be distributed directly to sex workers, indicating them in short the organization's free benefits for them.
Ad banner to promote the website
So, my part of the campaign was to create:
- the logo
- four badge/sticker motives
- three info posters in A2 size
- the info flyer (card)
- several banners for the website
- an animated gif banner
- a roll-up chart
All these items had to be ready for a first launch event, held at Barcelona’s gay club Metro on July, 29th.
The 210cm x 90cm roll-up banner was put up at the entrance of the club, in order to communicate immediately the main message: “Take part in order to protect your sexual health – Join us to improve sexual work.”
Roll-up chart at the club's entrance
Badges with the campaign's visuals
Volunteers handed out kits with condoms/lubricants, Protegersex badges and lollipops displaying the logo and the URL.
The club’s staff was also dressed into tank tops with the Protegersex logo on the front and the website URL on the back.
Shirts for staff and volunteers
Information posters with the the three different motives were hung up on the walls of the entrance and near the bar counters.
Posters resuming the main information of the campaign
A music clip with imagery of the campaign, created by Luis from StopSida, was shown on flat screens inside the club area.
The campaign launch at Metro was a success – people’s response to it was very open and interested. They didn’t even leave over any of the fruit we put up for pure decoration purpose on the table with info material!
Table with info material, lollipops and badges
Please do check out the Protegersex website (only available in Spanish) for more insight into this great project. The page was programmed by Blanca Vázquez.
Banner visuals for the website's five sections
An official presentation to the press and other medias is planned for September this year.
Per Fritsche 