Haiti Poster Project Brings Art with Heart (Deadline for Entry May 1)
Pictured Above: Poster for Haiti Poster Project Poster by Cathie Bleck Proceeds to Benefit Doctors Without Borders.
News from the good deeds department: the Haiti Poster Project is now accepting submissions. Submissions to the project should be limited-edition posters in quantities of 25 to 100. Proceeds from the sale of the posters—which will increase in price as they grow scarcer—will benefit the relief efforts of Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.
A massive earthquake struck Port-au-Prince on January 12, killing nearly a quarter of a million people and leaving one million homeless. May 1 is the poster project’s deadline—“given the timeliness of the situation, we strongly encourage designers to meet this deadline.”
Shawn Stuckey Poster
Invisible Creature Poster
Ten winners selected by project organizers Leif Steiner and Josh Higgins will each receive 100 sheets of Neenah Digital paper. But don’t call this a design competition. “It’s not a design competition,” Steiner tells us. “We want it to be larger than just a design competition. As graphic designers, we’re not curing cancer, bringing peace to the Middle East, or solving hunger. Sometimes you wonder: what good am I doing? I envision these poster projects as an outlet for designers to give back. Maybe you can’t hop on a plane, but you can put your skills to greater use.”
Turnstyle Poster
Ivan Chermayeff Poster
Steiner organized the 2005 Hurricane Poster Project to support Hurricane Katrina victims. With advice from Steiner, Higgins organized the the 2007 SoCal Fire Poster Project. One of the most memorable contributions to the Hurricane Poster Project was by Josh Higgins, who shares Steiner’s sense of moral urgency. “I feel so lucky to be able to do what I do every day and be able to pay my bills,” he told us. “If I can help someone by using that skill, it’s my duty.”
Andrio Abero Poster
Christopher Scott Poster
Steiner and Higgins tell us that they’ve received more than 130 submissions so far and wouldn’t be surprised to have 300 or 400 before it’s over. Posters have arrived from all over the world. An illustrator of children’s books has sent an entry; so has an architect who lives in Italy. Posters have come in from Germany. One entry is from Tehran.
The breadth of the contributions vindicates the decision to make the project an open forum. “This issue is larger than anybody’s particular taste,” Steiner said. “As citizens of the world—forget graphic design, forget politics, forget nationality—it’s our responsibility to help each other out.”
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