CeRe is one of the most important civic support organizations in Romania. They help people and other NGOs to lobby and advocate with public authorities in order to create or improve laws, right wrongs, make voices heard. Every year they award successful civic initiatives and the people behind them, both citizens and public officials alike.
2019 was the tenth anniversary of the Gala for Public Participation Awards, and I was asked to contribute. My responsibilities were to design all the communication materials, from concept to illustration to final execution, a wide range of print, digital and video, all character animation and motion graphics for the videos that presented the initiatives and the people being awarded.
First, we did a thorough briefing. Looked at all the relevant history and branding and objectives for the project. After that, I presented a couple of creative directions, we chose one of them and the client suggested a greatly improved headline. Then I proceeded to creating communication materials for the gala. From the key visual and the poster, to illustrations for each and every prize category, spider, invitations, decorations, catalogue of winners, personalized gifts, animation and video. It was a massive project.
The headline "Om cu om facem puterea" - is loosely translated as "one by one exerting power". The metaphor was double edged: the public propels people in power; the public holds the true power. At first, people came in contact with the static version of the key visual, with people protesting and holding big head cutouts.
Then, for the video presentations of the awards on the night of the gala, I wanted to do something special. So I reinterpreted the key visual, flipped it to add meaning and nuance to the concept. At the gala the characters are no longer protesting / supporting big heads, but they're dancing. They've won, and they're happily showing it through dance, the visual becomes a celebration, a party. The video is supported by a bouncy and cheerful track, with jazzy tones, hand claps and lots of feel-good moods by Jonathan Boyle.
All event photography was done by Cosmin Sbarcea.
I'm thrilled of how things turned out, and the feedback was awesome.
Here's a short clip with highlights from the event:
Here's a video of the real time stream from the Gala night.
