New Blood Entry — Put a helmet on like ô
Award: Yellow Pencil
Google Fonts & HMCT / 2023
Losing a child to road accidents is a pain no parents should suffer, yet 2000 Vietnamese children die every year. Half of them could have been saved if they wore a helmet.
While parents leave their children’s heads unprotected, there’s something they always put a helmet on: letter ‘ô'. In Vietnamese alphabets, letters ‘o' and ‘ô' often cause confusion. So to remind their children of the difference, they visualize the circumflex ‘^’ as a helmet. A lesson every Vietnamese remembers: ‘o' doesn't put on a helmet. ‘ô' always puts on a helmet.
This campaign draws on this insight to highlight another important lesson.
What did the judges have to say?
A very simple and yet powerful idea, beautifully brought to life through typography. We often associate socially focused campaigns with more aggressive and assertive, in-your-face treatments. But this work speaks to a gentler, more empathethic response.
Grey Bunbury, Graphic Designer/Creative Consultant
The idea is brilliantly simple and well executed. It's not an idea that is similar to anything else and it's not transferable. It's very specific to that culture and genuine insights.
Miho Mishima, Design Director, Superunion
Simple. Powerful. Impactful.
Ahmad Hammoud, Graphic Designer and Creative Director
A simple and elegant typographically driven idea that represented the problem very clearly.
Lavinia Lascaris, Exhibition and Graphic Designer, HMCT