Put A Foot Down

Half a year ago, we began a charity project to help spread the word about children who were victims of HIV. Instead of talking so much about the technical and/or the design aspects of it, I'd like to talk about the more delicate process and realisation of how this project came to be.

Working on this project reminded me of a lot of doing group work back in school. There will always be the heated discussions that almost break into arguments and sometimes, it's just better to shut the hell up.

I disagreed with several of my teammates on the grounds that "oh my god, this project could really be an award winner!" because part of me felt a deep respect for the man who initiated this project. As with a large part of the things I work on, I'd like to make it meaningful.

The story goes, this dude, went to Uganda and saw this orphanage and all these child victims of HIV. They had either lost their parents to the virus, or had been infected by it themselves and perhaps out-casted by 'normal' society. What's touching, or saddening, is that this dude was told to not touch any of them, let alone hug them. The children had been left without a human touch for so long that if they had received some... love of sorts, they probably might not let go.
Anyway, the dude came looking for us at Tequila with this project. As agencies do, we took it up and the brief came in with the promise of certain award material.

It's funny though, because the way I personally saw it, was that this was actually going to help a cause. As bleak as it may sound, I don't think we're physically helping the children over in Uganda very much with our flashy site. But what I believe that we're helping with is education. I believe spreading knowledge is a cause, collective intelligence is a cause, being informed is a cause. All these of which makes working on this project worthwhile.
Now's a good time to check it out by the way! Put your foot down!

Some people tell me, "I can see your style in it," others say, "it's so feminine and gentle, very unlike you." Being part of a bigger picture, I only got to work on aspects of this piece. Specifically the 'random' scripted motion and animation of the "creatures". Regardless, there was a certain air of satisfaction which I inhaled as this site went live last week.

Advertising has had a strange effect on me. I've become very very cynical when it comes to certain aspects of life, yet at the same time I feel as if this cynicism is almost liberating. This project is one of the few that has made me feel 'happy' with a work I've produced. In addition, it reinforces a certain few beliefs I hold. I still find it's usually easier (and better?) to change your opinions instead of trying to change that of others - from that saying that it's easier for you to change than have the world change for you. At the same time, you can make your views known provided you choose your design battles wisely. So yeah, I suppose in this case it was a mix of both - all the heated arguments were worth it after all.