A break from your story.
A campaign that promotes public libraries as more than just a vehicle for books. The campaign focuses on the therapeutic experiences that the library has to offer to encourage its use as a local sanctuary from the trepidations of everyday life.
Please note that the affiliations with the Scottish Library and Information Council, the Edinburgh City Council and Morningside Library are fictitious.
Award-Winning Student Project
GUTSY GRADUATE OF THE YEAR by STUDIO LR
Campaign Objectives
What is its purpose? To promote a therapeutic resource to the general public.
What makes it unique? It’s readily available and local to everyone in the country.
What is the challenge? To ensure it is welcoming, accepting and approachable, overcoming the assumption that the library is only for bookworms.
What is the campaign’s message? You can pursue the experiences that were found to be therapeutic - escapism, exploration and community engagement - to subvert your everyday reality through the public library space.
The video tells the story of Suzie, who has been left widowed as she struggles to escape her isolation. Most of her days are spent sitting in eerie silence and grief. However, when she visits the library, she is welcomed by the community and is ecstatic to find a purpose within this space.
Billboard
The intention of this billboard is to show that the sense of community from a library is accessible to a diverse range of personalities and not just the typical bookworm.
This outcome uses Instagram’s Carousel feature to show that each person has a unique and independent experience within the single space as you flick through to discover each story.
Street Posters
These posters detail different people’s experiences with the library space and what it personally offered them. These experiences are paired with human-scale versions of the characters so that their link to actual people can be reinforced.
Bus Shelter Poster
This poster is motivated by its location, conveying the library as a warm place to take shelter to display its purpose as a general community resource for physical and emotional wellbeing.
Welcome Letters
The welcome letters utilise a depiction of the "cast", or community, to act as a welcome wagon for the membership card. The contents of this envelope can be adjusted to fit the recipient's age demographic - or primary motivation for joining - to improve relatability and accessibility upon joining. Furthermore, they highlight the fact that they are always nearby whenever you need them.
Banners
The banners are to be displayed outside the library to encourage a shift in public focus towards the library's therapeutic experiences.
About the project
“A break from your story” is a campaign I had designed for my final university project at Edinburgh Napier University for Graphic Design BDes(Hons). The campaign focuses on promoting libraries as a therapeutic resource by communicating the therapeutic experiences that the library has to offer - such as escapism, exploration and community engagement - to encourage its use as a local sanctuary from the trepidations of everyday life.
The primary challenge was to ensure the campaign was perceived as welcoming, accepting and approachable to overcome the assumption that the library is only for bookworms.
Special thanks to my primary tutor throughout the design process - Ed Bell - and to Studio LR for awarding me the GUTSY GRADUATE OF THE YEAR award at the Edinburgh Napier University 2021 Degree Show.