A Chicago-based art director has found a unique way to use advertising skills for good; the anonymous creative improves the cardboard signs used by the homeless to see if they can better grab people’s attention.
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“As an art director it’s my job to grab people’s attention with great design every day,” they wrote on the Urban Type Experiment’s Tumblr.
“Since moving to Chicago in 2014, I’ve noticed the abundance of less-fortunate people asking for help on the streets.”
“I’ve also seen how infrequently people interact with them.”
“So I set out to see if great design could have an impact on people in the most ignored platform.”
Each week I head out and meet someone new. I then spend the week hand-lettering a new sign for them.”
“Once I give them the sign I wait another week and then ask if they noticed any difference in awareness.”
The project has seen some success, too. “[Roger] said people loved it. People who wouldn’t normally stop were stopping to compliment him.”
But the project is also brutally honest about how it’ll take a lot more than just a beautiful sign to help Chicago’s homeless population.
“[Fred] said he had managed to use [his sign] a couple times and hadn’t noticed too much of a difference but that it had been slow lately.”
“I encourage everyone to help in any way possible the next time they see someone asking for help, whether it’s money or just a friendly conversation,” the final post on the project reads.
You can see more of the projects and signs at the Urban Type Experiment Tumblr and donate to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless here.