Like many people, within our world of events and experiential and beyond, we’ve been scarred by the impact of COVID-19. This has compelled us to contribute some good – in the hope it might provide a boost to others – whilst showing our deepest gratitude for those on the frontline.
As always during periods of challenge, we lean on each other as teammates and pull from our agency DNA for inspiration. A heady mix of guts, resilience and passion; of comradeship and a human connection – central to the work we do. From here we conceived The Resilient Ones, which celebrates everything the global community has achieved and will continue to, in the face of the pandemic.
It’s a heartfelt art series that people can download for free – four striking, vibrant illustrations designed to bring hope and inject positivity into these darker days. Each centers on a theme that has given us strength since the lockdown began. Speaking to our British roots, our beloved New York base and the eclectic mix of humans and happenings that have carried us thus far.
To create the artwork, we reunited two of our most favored female creative forces who also led our #CelebrateWomen initiative for International Women’s Day in 2018: Alana McDowell, illustrator extraordinaire, and Nathaly Charria, experiential Creative Director.
The results – #TheResilientOnes – are as follows:
‘We’ll meet again’ draws on Elizabeth II’s recent inspiring address to her citizens. For our female-led team, she’s the ultimate feminist, the epitome of resilience and a formidable leader. Stoic and realistic, she’s always grounded in optimism.
‘New York Tough’ pays homage to our home – one of the worst hit cities on the planet – and the collective strength and kindness of New Yorkers, who’ve made it through many tough times in the past. We’ve centered on a comment made by Governor Cuomo, who has faced the pandemic with honesty, authority and warmth, providing a masterclass in leadership.
‘Lean on Me’ celebrates the incredible coming together of the global community that’s taken place to care for each other and beat the crisis. There have been so many beautiful examples of great human spirit since the start of the pandemic – resilience being one. This also commemorates the life of Bill Withers. ‘Lean on Me’ with its message of overcoming hardships together, feels as if it was written for just this moment.
‘Thank you’ is a tribute to the relentless courage and dedication that’s being shown by critical workers across the globe and marks the huge debt of gratitude we will forever owe them. These are the true heroes and heroines of the crisis, constantly placing themselves in danger to help the sick and vulnerable, from medical staff to care workers to those delivering our weekly grocery orders. It’s our way of saying thank you to each and every one of them – some of whom have lost their lives to save others and help rebuild the world as we know it. We’ve captured just some of those faces here, to include the late Kious Kelly from New York, Ketty Herawati Sultana from Jakarta and Li Wenliang from Wuhan.
During these exceptionally tough times, people and businesses need hope to give them the strength to persevere. We want these strong messages and vibrant illustrations to be vivid reminder of the power of the human spirit and provide everyone with an electronic immune boost when we all need it most.
Sarah Priestman is the President of brand experience agency, Sense New York.
Each illustration can be downloaded here… https://www.sensemktg.com/us/the-resilient-ones/