Tag: Offer fame over shame

Jonas Salk Fan Club Sticker

Objective:

To popularize the story of Jonas Salk’s sharing his vaccine without a patent and show that another way is possible.

The Project:

Designed to be part of a set of fun materials for people who join The Jonas Salk Fan Club.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Print it and stick it.

Join the fan club.

 

What worked?

The stickers are the perfect size, easy to distribute via the mail, and relatively inexpensive to produce.

Other Notes:

The “Patents Prolong Pandemics” phrase was

    Original files can be provided for exhibition
  • The work can be reproduced on site with instructions (provided)

Links:

Reflections from Steve Lambert

What was the process/journey of creating this work?

The “Profits Prolong Pandemics” phrase came from a tweet that fellow Free the Vaccine for COVID-19 participant, Anmol Gupta wrote and it has stuck with me. I try to incorporate it into other messages where it fits because it captures so much in 3 words.

The Jonas Salk Fan Club came from an AIDS 2018 campaign with Treatment Action Group and the Center for Artistic Activism and it deserves to have more of a life.

The sticker itself, well a vision popped into my head. The cut out head has this friendly and fun look from old music promotion posters of the late 50’s – which evokes the same era as the polio vaccine announcement. We wanted to make some additional materials to fit in the Jonas Salk Fan Club pack and I thought of a sticker. One of the places I order stickers from was having a sale and that’s always a good prompt to make something.

What would be your next steps, building on this idea, if you had a million dollars and all the time and skills in the world?

More fan club materials! Bumper stickers, membership cards (I may work on this one), posters, maybe starting chapters at universities as like a fun, social club with some shared values – so not quite UAEM, but a gateway to it.

If someone else were going to make/use/do something like this, what advice would you give them?

Just start messing around with design ideas. It usually takes me between 10 and 40 drafts to get to something I like. I try different things, colors, sizes, etc. I included some of those drafts as an image to give an idea of how it works, but it doesn’t reflect the whole process because I forget to keep drafts that are just not working at all.

About this project
Creators:

April, 2021

Image/graphic

United States, Poughkeepsie

3 inch circle

Public Domain

Download Original/High-Resolution File: Jonas-Salk-Fan-Club-sticker.pdf, Jonas-Salk-Fan-Club-Sticker.ai_.zip, Salk-head.psd.zip, Salk-original-photo.jpg

GIFted – How Jonas Salk solved (another) pandemic

Objective:

This series of GIFS aims to tell his story, bring it to (animated and digital) life and bring the gigantic legacy of vaccine titan Jonas Salk into the current debate

The Project:

Jonas Salk is a hero of vaccine development. He helped bring the polio vaccine to live. When he was asked about who should own the patent on this discovery, he answered “Well the people I would say – Could you patent the sun”.

This series of GIFS aims to tell his story, bring it to (animated and digital) life and bring the gigantic legacy of vaccine titan Jonas Salk into the current debate

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Share it on social media. #FreeTheVaccine #PeoplesVaccine

Make your own!

What worked?

Just how amazingly Jonas Salk’s portraits are GIFable. Very successful winks etc.

    An original object can be provided for exhibition
  • Original files can be provided for exhibition

Reflections from Peter GIFy

What was the process/journey of creating this work?

Extensive search for GIF making software, finding images of Jonas Salk, being creative.

What skills or perspectives did the collaborators bring to this?

Very contemporay knowledge on GIF making browser software

What were some of the responses to this work?

Likes and retweets.

What would be your next steps, building on this idea, if you had a million dollars and all the time and skills in the world?

Buying aire time on billboards at NYC times square,
striking a deal with JCDecaux to display these GIFS as digital posters on all bus stations across the world.

If someone else were going to make/use/do something like this, what advice would you give them?

Try different texts, be more provocative, maybe consider TikTok or (oldschool) a flipbook?

About this project
Creators:
  • Peter GIFy

March, 2021

Online/web thing

Germany, Berlin

400×400

Public Domain

Download Original/High-Resolution File: salk_squint_text.gif, sad_text_2.gif, 6326404A-8416-11EB-B757-16F91FFA6CF3.gif, photos.gif, 05901904-8413-11EB-A066-1635AF64B68B.gif, 91351398-8412-11EB-8305-0E2C7966F80F.gif

UCLA Graphics

Objective:

Encourage conversation around the vaccine and how UCLA can help make that happen.

The Project:

Poster featuring the UCLA Bear mascot and a mock up of a magazine cover to encourage UCLA to help Free the Vaccine.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Make it specific to your community.

What worked?

Strongly featured UCLA.

About this project
Creators:
  • Crane Squad

December, 2020

Image/graphic

United States, Los Angeles

10inchesx14inches

Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Link to Original or High-Res file

    Original files can be provided for exhibition

Reflections from Crane Squad

Goodnight Stories for Rebel Scientists

Objective:

As a project, Goodnight Stories for Rebel Scientists aimed both to start conversations with scientists and incentivize them to sign the Open COVID Pledge. As an interesting project/piece of art the book was meant to captivate the attention of scientists we reached out to. Then it aimed to incentivize them by offering recognition of their work by including them among a collection of other important figures, IF they signed the OCP or worked in some other way to free the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Project:

Goodnight Stories for Rebel Scientists is the beginning of a book that tells the tales of scientists and access to medicines champions who worked diligently to end the COVID-19 pandemic in a just and equitable way. The book is a series of square images. The front cover is dark blue with the title “Goodnight Stories for Rebel Scientists” with drawn images of a syringe, the COVID-19 virus, an erlenmeyer flask, and a face wearing a mask. Following the cover are entries for two scientists, Hanneke Schuitemaker and Marion Koopmans. Each entry has a story written about the scientist and a portrait of them made by different artists. The last page of the book draft features an email written to the featured scientists asking for their help finishing their story in the book and to sign the Open COVID Pledge.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Make a version for your target.

What worked?

The project helped us get the attention of Marion Koopman’s assistant. It also brought us in contact with access to medicines champion Ellen ‘t Hoen who gave our group instrumental advice in carrying forward with the campaign and who will also be featured in the book.

About this project
Creators:
  • Esther Barfoot
  • Kasia Horodynska
  • Vreer

July, 2020

Image/graphic

Netherlands, Amsterdam

2658 X 2658 pixels

Creative Commons BY

Download Original/High-Resolution File: 0001.jpg, 0002.jpg, 0003.jpg, 0004.jpg, 0005.jpg, 0006.jpg, 0007.jpg, 0008.jpg



Other Notes:

The project was inspired by the book Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls which shares the stories and work of important women throughout time.

  • Original files can be provided for exhibition

Reflections from Fiona Davey

What skills or perspectives did the collaborators bring to this?

Each collaborator brought different skills from art, design, writing, and organizing.

What would be your next steps, building on this idea, if you had a million dollars and all the time and skills in the world?

If we had a million dollars and all the time in the world we would turn this project into a printed book with entries of all the important figures in access to medicines. We’d also commission portraits for each entry and support artists around the world.

Catching Mark’s Attention

Objective:

We wanted to set up a meeting with the technology transfer office to convince McGill to sign the Open Covid Pledge.

The Project:

I attached this to an email to the VP Innovation in the McGill technology technology transfer. He responded!

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Make a version for your target.

What worked?

The graphic is editable so we can switch out the image depending on our target.

About this project
Creators:
  • Olivia Bonardi

May, 2020

Image/graphic

Canada, Montreal

variable

Public Domain

Other Notes:

  • Original files can be provided for exhibition

Reflections from Olivia Bonardi

Access Warrior Trading Cards

Objective:

Pressure the Researcher, or the University as a whole, to sign the Open Covid Pledge.

The Project:

Sports-style trading cards depicting University Researchers, customized with their photo, school colors, and achievements as stats listed on the back. The cards were sent to the researchers, as well as the President or Chancellor of their University, with yarn pom poms and a hand written note asking them to sign the Open Covid Pledge.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Make a version for your target.

Invent a game to play with them.

What worked?

The cards were eye-catching but also easy to send by mail (as social distancing is still happening on campus).

About this project
Creators:

May, 2020

Image/graphic, Print

United States, Los Angeles

2.5″x3.5″

Public Domain

Other Notes:

We targeted UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) and USC (University of Southern California) because there is a long-standing sports rivalry between the two universities, which are both in the city of Los Angeles.

  • Original files can be provided for exhibition

Reflections from Vivian Peng

Open Covid Comic – Patton Lab

Objective:

Invite an Indiana University researcher whose lab is working on a COVID vaccine for young children, to pledge to license his work via the Open Covid Pledge.

The Project:

A 1-page comic illustrating why one Indiana University researcher should license his lab’s work via the Open Covid Pledge. We emailed it to him with a note about how much we admire his work and a recommendation for how to print the image.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Make a version for your target.

What worked?

It didn’t generate a response from the researcher, but the project helped me build my image-making skills, and I learned a lot about the software I used to create it. I’d never made a visual narrative like this before!

About this project
Creators:

May, 2020

Image/graphic, Online/web thing, Writing

United States, Indianapolis

14 x 8.5 inches when printed

Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Other Notes:

  • Original files can be provided for exhibition

Reflections from Laura Holzman

What skills or perspectives did the collaborators bring to this?

I made this drawing mostly independently – but it was inspired directly by a comic that one of the other groups drafted to send to researchers at the Salk Institute. Theirs also started with the famous quote from Dr. Salk. I liked their idea so I made a new and expanded version, tailored for a different researcher.

High Visibility. Low Risk.

Objective:

Our larger objective was to get Indiana University to sign the Open Covid Pledge. With this image we wanted to initiate the conversation in a way that wouldn’t be overlooked as easily as a typical email might.

The Project:

This is a screen shot of a section of an email that we sent to leaders at Indiana University. First we designed images of hand-decorated facemasks that connected the Open Covid Pledge to IU values. We then photoshopped them onto the headshots of IU leaders we were emailing about the Open Covid Pledge. We paired the image with text that highlighted how IU had already embraced open licensing in the fight against COVID-19. We emphasized that for IU, signing the Open Covid Pledge would be “High Visibility, Low Risk.” The email included relevant hyperlinks and a brief introductory message.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Make a version for your target.

What worked?

These messages combined images and language that we’d been exploring in other contexts – here it really came together cohesively. Also, everyone we sent these images to responded to us (although these images might not be why that happened).

About this project
Creators:

May, 2020

Image/graphic, Online/web thing, Writing

United States, Indianapolis

variable

Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

Other Notes:

Reflections from Laura Holzman

What was the process/journey of creating this work?

We initially wanted to do something that had a personal touch. We also wanted to connect signing the Open Covid Pledge to IU’s values and to celebrate a way that the university had already contributed to the open sharing of information related to the pandemic. An IU professor had designed an origami face mask and freely shared the pattern. We’d identified key IU values for a previous project, and we thought it might work well to put those values and a mention of the Open Covid Pledge on one of the origami masks.

It wasn’t feasible to send hand-painted face masks, so we came up with a digital alternative. Megan is a painter, so she made an image of the embellished masks. We considered just sending an image of the mask but decided instead to photoshop it onto the headshot of the person we were sending it to. That extra step made it more personal – and it’s hard to ignore a picture of your own face. By doing this we ended up making an image that envisioned the outcome we wanted – leaders at IU supporting the Open Covid Pledge.

We paired the image with some carefully written text – language that we hoped would be short enough that someone would read it, and language that made a clear case for why IU should adopt the Open Covid Pledge.

Another important factor here is that I’m a professor at IU – I sent the emails from my university address with a personalized note that explained that this was related to my scholarship. Even though this email didn’t make anyone immediately sign the pledge, we think it put the issue on a number of people’s radars and helped open up a conversation.

IU Stands for…

Objective:

The objective was to create an image that convinced people at Indiana University that they should sign the Open COVID Pledge. We wanted to use the university’s language and actions to show them that they were already doing things that aligned with the ideas behind the OCP.

The Project:

This is a digital image that highlights how signing the Open COVID Pledge aligns with Indiana University’s values and activities. We emailed it to university leaders.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Make a version for your target.

What worked?

We revised this project several times before we sent it to IU leaders – each revision made it stronger.

About this project
Creators:
  • Emilie Seibert
  • Laura Holzman
  • Sofia Hessler

May, 2020

Image/graphic, Online/web thing

United States, Bloomington

variable

Public Domain

Other Notes:

We did a lot of background research for this graphic. The first box filled with scattered words surrounding “IU Stands For” are words that come directly from IU’s missions, values, and goals statement. We wanted to show the university that if these are your goals then you should support the OCP. Additionally, “#IN this together” and “Fulfill the Promise” are both phrases/language that IU uses frequently. We then looked into what the university was already doing to support open access. As the graphic shows, we found that IU was using open access 3D printing designs to print PPE to fight the pandemic, an IU professor created an open access origami mask, and the university had created an open access database to track COVID information.

We’ve shared some of our drafts as well as the final image.

  • Original files can be provided for exhibition

Reflections from Emilie Seibert

What was the process/journey of creating this work?

I included some additional images of earlier drafts. The idea for this came in a group brainstorming session, we mostly wanted to find a way to use what IU was already doing to show them they can take the next step and sign the OCP. Emilie created the very colorful original design. The group then had another meeting where we refined the image. Laura made the drawings.

Plants for Covid Research Champions

Objective:

Two things – firstly it provides a strong physical and visual way to create a movement of appreciation, that is easy to share, easy to participate in, and ethical in its design (both environmentally and for social distancing / shielding).
Secondly, it is a positive and celebratory way to get the attention of scientists and researchers, building awareness at multiple levels of an institution about the Open Covid Pledge (not just the TTO offices, but the scientists who might be more sympathetic). This helps put more pressure on the institutions as we build supporters.

The Project:

In appreciation of those researching treatments, diagnostics and vaccines for Covid-19, we dedicated plants to Covid Research Champions. Anyone could join in with a plant dedication, and as long as they tagged us on twitter or insta, we made sure the scientist was aware of it.

STRATEGIES:
TRY THIS:

Dedicate a plant.

What worked?

The positivity of it was what worked best – as seen in the responses from scientists.

About this project
Creators:

April, 2020

Image/graphic

United Kingdom, London

490 × 874 534KB

Other Notes:

If there was a flaw, it was that there were perhaps too many steps to be simple – we were open about which researchers to target, perhaps we should have focused more on just one or two and bombarded them with flowers and dedications.

  • A set of instructions exists on how to make this work
  • An original object can be provided for exhibition
  • Original files can be provided for exhibition
  • The work can be reproduced on site with instructions (provided)

Links:

Reflections from Rachel Reid

What were some of the responses to this work?

Nice responses from scientists thanking us for the dedications
Positive engagement from colleagues outside our team within Free the Vaccine, and friends with their kids, who did their own dedications.

What would be your next steps, building on this idea, if you had a million dollars and all the time and skills in the world?

More targeted on individuals, more sharing to get a real movement going on. More planting!