Live Longer...Better
This project involved creating a public service announcement ad campaign. The final product was to be a three-poster series focusing on an important issue.
For my campaign, I wanted to focus on the issue of expanded "healthspan". Too often, our focus is on medically extending lifespan without considering that a person's health and quality of life may not be good during those later years. Studies have shown that incorporating exercise into life early can be an excellent preventative measure against major disease and chronic conditions in the future.
I chose to use the slogan, "Live Longer...Better" to highlight the need to preserve strength, balance, and health through simply exercising now.
I started out with some brainstorming and development of my ideas.
I originally thought the strongest concepts were those involving a Grim Reaper character and staying away from him by exercising. Although, I thought those posters might be humorous and eye-catching, they did not convey the right message. The message was intended to be lengthening an active, healthy life, not just evading death.
With this in mind, I decided to go with a campaign that would compare the two options: exercise now vs. illness and disability later. I chose three representative ways of exercising and contrasted them with common maladies and problems that many people face in old age.
Here is one of my posters in different stages of development:
I wanted the posters to send the message clearly in just a few words, so I decided that a simpler layout would have more impact. I decided to go with a center-aligned layout and a simple color palette. I decided that the contrast of bold, black text on a start, white background would help to highlight the slogan. I also wanted to emphasize the positive nature of exercise, so the exercise equipment is colorful while the medical equipment is drab and monotone. I posed the question, "this?" to get people to think about which they would rather endure: some fun movement during the course of their life or years of medication, treatment, and pain. The message is clear: Exercise to Live Longer...Better!
