CHICAGO PEACE PIN
OBJECTIVE
My wife Jamielyn, my friend Jon, and I are all from Chicago. Together we wanted to come up with a pin design that represented home and had a message of peace due to the violence we've witnessed growing up and continued to see. Also, the pin had to look dope so that folks would actually want to wear it which would give more incentive to buy it and in the end help fund After School Matters.
WORK DONE
Client: Self
Role: Creative Direction, Illustration, and Production.
PROCESS
The three of us agreed that the pin had to have the colors of the Chicago flag: red, white, and sky blue. The main message, was a clear symbol of peace and here were some explorations we did. Majority decision leaned toward the side dove image, some tweaking was needed to make it look less pigeon tho haha.
PROCESS (CONT.)
Round 2 had us finessing and cleaning up the dove with the one peace symbol making it to the next round. In the end, the dove was going to be the winner, as you can see at the top.
After the design was done, the thing that took some time to agree on was who we were going to donate all the proceeds to. We all eventually agreed on After School Matters, mostly because of how important art was in our own lives. As youths, art helped keep us out of trouble and focused our energy on something positive despite what may have been going on around us. We would've all loved to have a supportive art mentor growing up, so being able to donate to this group and give some other Chicago kids a shot seemed like a win.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The pin was a great success. We sold out of the pins super quick and donated all of it to After School Matters. We chose After School Matters because it seemed like a cool way to show teens that they had options and mentors in the arts. I remember wanting to be part of Gallery 37 so bad when I was younger but I was too young at the time. I think I was 12 and you had to be 13-18. I was so bummed at the time, that I never tried again when I was 13. I'm glad they're still around, have evolved, and are thriving. We also gave the pins to shops in Chicago that agreed to sell them and donate the proceeds to a Chicago charity of their choice.