Arts Illustrated

June 13, 2020

#BoringHero
McCann Health New York | Noma Bar
nomabar.com | @noma_bar

As healthcare professionals around the world are facing the pandemic head on, the bravest, most responsible thing everyone else can do is stay indoors. After weeks in lockdown, even we know that that’s easier said than done. And so, cold and flu medication brand Mucinex decided to salute people who are actively staying home as superheroes in an artsy public health campaign illustrating ‘the best science-based advice for fighting COVID-19’. Created by advertising agency McCann Health New York with illustrations by renowned Israel-born graphic designer Noma Bar, the #BoringHero campaign calls upon the general public to serve as stay-at-home heroes to protect more vulnerable individuals. Incorporating negative space and optical illusions, Bar’s works suggest that staying indoors, a superhuman task, isn’t as challenging as it seems. We already have the masks on, so we say, right on!

Noma Bar and Dutch Uncle Agency
Images Courtesy of Noma Bar and Dutch Uncle Agency (@agencydu).

 

Hats for the new normal
Yangzheng Elementary School, Hangzhou, China

As the world-wide fight against COVID-19 continues, China, the first country that was hit, is slowly returning to normalcy, albeit with additional precautions. Primary school children in Hangzhou have come up with an inventive way to make sure they maintain appropriate distance amongst themselves. Creating a one-metre zone around them, they devised winged hats that they coloured and decorated to reflect their own personalities. Referencing the eye-catching headpieces worn hundreds of years ago by emperors and officials of the Song Dynasty, the hats make for a fun and accessible way to navigate the new reality. While some made their long flaps out of colourful cardboard tubes or balloons, others decorated their flaps with birds, leaves and rainbows. Although it is unclear as to why this particular design of hats was used during the Song Dynasty – one legend states that the hats were meant to stop courtiers from gossiping or conspiring amongst themselves – what we can be sure of is that they are the perfect inspiration for schoolchildren in 2020!

Hats for the new normal

Image Courtesy of Asia Wire.

National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Anonymous, Painting of emperor Shenzong from the Song dynasty. Image Courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.

 

Share

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

7 − one =