How did you end up partnering with the NAACP on these posters?
We talked originally about an app that they’re developing for Black businesses. Then this particular project was handed down from the National Chapter of the NAACP to the Pasadena local. They asked all the local chapters to figure out a way to promote the vaccine. The president for the Pasadena chapter talked to me about getting some posters together for that drive.
Why is this project so important to our African American community?
There’s a significantly dark history with the United States government using vaccines to harm African American communities across the country. There’s a very valid bias and general fear of the vaccine because of that history.
Describe the process of creating the posters.
I did think that the unique part of it was finding volunteers in the community that would want to be featured on posters. We did talk about the possibility of just using stock photos, but I thought it would be different and hopefully more effective if we used real volunteers. And we definitely had to be able to recognize the person in the poster. That was something that was requested from the NAACP. They didn’t want them to be too much of a cartoon. If we can recognize them walking on the street, that was their goal. And they wanted to feature them getting the vaccine. I also wanted them to be colorful—letting each artist go for whatever kind of visual style they want, so that the posters look very different.
Four artists, including Chen, created the following posters that will be displayed in public spaces, including billboards, throughout Pasadena.
“The NAACP COVID-vaccine poster campaign has such an important message. I really can’t think of anything more important than the health and safety of our friends, families, and neighbors. Even on our best days sheltering in place, it can be difficult to feel connected when we can only see our community in a little grid of webcam videos. Collaborating on this piece of art felt, in some ways, like a reinvigorating antidote to that: a way to say, ‘Hey! We’re STILL here for each other, and we’re not going away!'” – Kathy Liu, Storyboard Artist
“I wanted to participate in this effort because we’re all living through the scariest, weirdest thing to happen to the world in a long time. Coronavirus has disrupted our lives in so many ways, and vaccination is a vital step we need to take together to protect one another; I consider it a collective responsibility. At the same time, I understand there’s great distrust of the medical system because of the injustice it’s historically perpetrated–it’s hard to undo decades or even centuries of mistreatment. Community leaders like Allen Edson, Juanita West-Tillman, Lt. Carolyn Gordon, and Kendrick Law are doing such important work in spreading the word of the safety and efficacy of these vaccines and why everyone needs to get them; I’m grateful for their work and am happy to do what I can to amplify their message! I hope it will inform and inspire folks to get their vaccines so we can move towards a safer world once again.” – Emily FitzPatrick, Character/Prop Designer
“Last year tested us all in a multitude of ways, and 2020 felt relentless and almost hopeless. COVID-19 affected everyone, and it felt like none of us had any control whatsoever. I took on this poster design opportunity because it was a small way I could contribute my own skill set and do my part.” – Amanda Li, Art Director
While the poster project has wrapped for now, TAG members can still help the Pasadena NAACP. The organization is seeking BIPOC artists to volunteer artwork to beautify their Lolovivi app, which promotes African American businesses. It would also, Chen says, “serve as art role models for any of the local kids who might be interested in art or animation.”
To volunteer artwork for Lolovivi, you can sign up here.
Discover more about the artists who participated in the vaccination poster project:
