Wednesday, July 22, 2009

A graphic reminder


Just a few words about an effective appeal for animals. It’s by and for the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), and, as it's intended to do, it probably melts hearts and creates donors.

The image is black and white on an orange ground. In the middle of the square format there’s a circle outlined in black. Inside it, a long-haired “Annie” kind of dog. Barely coming up to his jaw is a cat, looking up, and like the dog, holding something in her mouth.

At first it looks like a frisbee, but then it becomes clear (thanks to the line of type below the circle, reading, “We are their voice”): each animal holds a “talk bubble” – a circle or oval with a pointy part. In cartoon strips, characters’ words would appear in those rounded shapes.

But this image shows, graphically, that we must do the talking for them. And for “talking,” read “speaking up,” “protecting,” “helping,” “taking care of,” “supporting.”

It’s true, and sometimes sadly so: We are their voice.
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