Homeless ideas

Anti-smacking campaign

2008-09-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

I've never understood smacking children. Mainly because, well, 'Don't hit children' seems a fairly straightforward moral imperative.

There's an interesting linguistic point here: most people (I imagine) would hesitate to say they agree with hitting, beating, assaulting or physically abusing children. But many feel 'smacking' is okay. It seems like semantics to me. (Plus, of course, if someone gave the parents a smart slap across the backs of the legs, or a wallop on the bottom, they'd probably feel they'd been in some way assaulted or attacked. Especially if it was by someone twice their size.)

There seems to be a logical problem, too. If I tell my son, 'Don't hit your brother,' and then, when he does, I hit him, what's the message? Don't hit unless you're really cross? Don't hit unless you're in charge? Don't hit unless you're bigger?

Parents often say smacking will 'teach them a lesson'. 'I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget,' is a traditional parental threat. And it struck me (excuse the pun) that smacking almost certainly does teach children a lesson. But what lesson?

This train of thought gave me the idea for this campaign against smacking. (The NSPCC know nothing about this, by the way. But they have a clear and sensible line on smacking, and theirs seemed a sensible example logo to use.)

The idea above is obviously just a scamp. I can imagine executions using blackboards, exercise books and those 'Our School Rules' signs that children work out between themselves:

Rule 1: We never hit someone else. Unless we are very, very cross.

I wavered about the strapline. Teach them a lesson they'll never forget seems quite powerful too. But That'll teach 'em has brevity and acidity on its side. What do you think?

Should I send it to the NSPCC?

Communicating the Truth

2008-08-20T02:11:00.000-07:00

Following some web thread or other, I stumbled over these people online. Their website could do with an overhaul, I reckon:

It seems a shame to ignore the long heritage of such messages. I suggest a return to tradition on this one (based on an earlier version of the page above):

Hand me some o' that there snake-oil, dagnabbit, I wants to get me to Heaven.

Rhino ditched by WWF

2006-11-30T11:01:00.000-08:00

Long, long ago I did a pitch to create sponsored walk materials for the WWF. The walk was to be in aid of their Save the Rhino campaign, and I had this idea for a symbol or visual.

It took me ages to draw, but I was very pleased with it. I still am.

They weren't, though. They chose some other agency. So who will save my rhino now?

Hippoparadox

2006-03-13T08:24:00.000-08:00

I'm a hippopotamus
When I'm alone - just I.

But when there's lots of us
We are hippopotami.

(c) Mike Reed 2006

This little rhyme has been going round in my head for years. Finally, I've got somewhere to put it.

The New Forest gift shop

2006-01-15T09:38:00.000-08:00

I rather liked this idea for a gift shop at the New Forest - or any woodland park, really. I'm also painfully aware that a real designer would make it look 100 times better.

Online services for the deaf

2006-01-15T07:30:00.000-08:00

This seemed like a rather neat mark. Goodness knows why I thought of it, though.

London 2012

2005-06-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

At least this idea had the chance of a home, however slim. This was my entry into the competition to brand London's Olympic bid. Needless to say, they didn't choose it.

Still, the loss of this dazzling design masterpiece didn't seem to hurt London's bid much. I comfort myself with the thought that it was the work I did on the bid film, with production company New Moon, that made all the difference. Surely it must all have been down to me somehow?