Cedar - Community Education in Death Awareness & Resources
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I was given this brief by my lecturer as an optional project to undertake alongside one of my other core modules. After reading through the brief I discovered that it was actually quite an exciting brief to undertake and also great project to be a part of.
The brief is as follows below:
Death is a taboo subject for the majority of western societies, as social groups the vast majority of us find it difficult (at best) to discuss death with a recently bereaved individual or someone who may be approaching death, often resulting in the social isolation of the individuals directly concerned.
Death is a taboo subject for the majority of western societies, as social groups the vast majority of us find it difficult (at best) to discuss death with a recently bereaved individual or someone who may be approaching death, often resulting in the social isolation of the individuals directly concerned.
The client is concerned opening dialogues around this difficult subject in order to assist society as a whole to discuss and therefore share and empathise with the soon to be or recently bereaved in society at large whether at work or within the family unit.
You are asked to generate an image/series of images that will form a positive image of Death to be used initially on the CEDAR website but may well be used on printed media: brochures/flyers etc. Full-Colour any Media 2D or 3D, still or moving image.
Client is CEDAR
CEDAR: Community Education in Death Awareness and Resources
is a not for profit company that provides death education classes to individuals, community groups and public/private organisations on how to talk about death/deliver news regarding death.
Their aim is to reduce the consequences of social isolation felt by the bereaved due to society’s reluctance to discuss what in western terms is virtually a taboo subject.
CEDAR have also been chosen by Ogilvy Change: http://www.ogilvychange.com
Ogilvy have developed a PR campaign which will also inform the visuals via the following information.
The orginal Cedar logo is shown above:
With the brief at hand I developed a range of solutions for the logo and then proceeded to develop one idea further. The logo has three individual sections within it, all three having different meanings. The olive green outer leaves represent the outer circle of support people receive during the time of loosing a loved one. This support could be given from the medical profession or even CEDAR. This is why 'cedar' below the logo image is in the same colour as the green leaves, to represent and emphasise that CEDAR can help support those in need.
The inner white section of the logo represents the personal grief. The silent thoughts that go through the mind after the passing of a loved one(s). However, no matter what, you are always surrounded by support just as this logo shows. The white section is surrounded by both the olive green and coral leaves.
The final colour, coral, represents the support given by family and friends. Family and friends are normally the first port of call after discovering someone has passed away. Gaining comfort and support from the words they give you can also be very calming throughout the process. The idea that the leaves overlap and the opacity levels change represent the different levels of support family and friends can give based on the situation at hand.
After I finalised the logo and submitted it as part of my university project, I contacted Dr Judith Wester from the company, to tell her about the work in progress development and also to give her the chance to look through all the progress. Her reponse to my work on this project, documented in the work in progress section was: "I thoroughly enjoyed looking at your process of creation on Behance and will, with your permission, circulate this information to our advisoryboard. The colours are very calming and lovely.The leaves look like a caring embrace."
