Typographic detail from The Journey, a short film about sex traffiking by Richard Jobson

One of the many benefits of the donated design projects we undertake is the opportunity to become aware of and get involved in campaigns and causes that might otherwise slip under our radar.

The last quarter of 2009 saw us immersed in one such project, producing supporting typography for a harrowing sex-trafficking campaign film for The Journey, in which the audience follows one girl’s sad plight.

Written and directed by Richard Jobson, produced by Quiet Storm Films, and starring Emma Thompson, this shocking 15 minute short provocatively reveals the ugly reality behind this vile trade.

On this occasion, Zerofee were asked to assist with the typographic treatment of ten key phrases which described the impact of sex trafficking on its victims. We referenced the style and qualities of shipping container markings and information, as these containers are often used by traffickers as a form of transport to smuggle many of these young women across Europe. These graphics were then, sensitively, integrated and mapped into their environments by editor, David Owen, and compositor, Nick Barnes.

The film can now be viewed on The Guardian website with our main contribution seen around the 11:20 mark. The film is harrowing, graphic and not safe for work or children, so please be careful when and where you watch it. The typographic treatment also found its way into Richard Ashcroft’s video for his supporting song from the film’s soundtrack, seen around the 3:36 mark.

Identity and website for Blue Monday

For some of us, coming back to work after the Christmas and New Year’s break is, at the very least, a grind. Often gloomy and cold, the season’s inevitable over-indulgence can leave many of us willing the end of January and the welcome sight of our next pay cheques. So, with this in mind, Blue Monday was created as an antidote to this notoriously difficult time of year – another fabulous, socially-focussed project created by People United.

Launching on January 25th 2010, everyone can get involved. Through even the simplest of gestures, a usually troublesome Monday, can be turned into an inspirational day, promoting, trust, friendship and human connections.

As soon as we heard about the project we connected with it, providing design donation in the form of brand identity and supporting website. Let’s face it – the last couple of years have been somewhat challenging, so it’s great to get involved in something with such a positive message at its heart.

The identity needed to show characteristics of strength and lightheartedness, whilst appealing to as broad an audience as possible. Swapping the counters of a heavy slab serif ‘B’ for hand-rendered, classic cloud shapes and pairing a vibrant blue with an almost-black, resulted in a strong visual language that should see Blue Monday through many years of development and growth. With weather featuring prominently across all Blue Monday’s assets, the visual language consistently marks the tension between happiness and sadness. Persuasive, uplifting copy was kindly supplied by Mike Reed of Reed Words.

The outcome is positive and playful, but also authoritative. Naturally, we’re pleased that siteInspire liked it too. Hopefully, all of this will encourage involvement in the project and build a growing and consistent community of positivity that can tackle the season’s heaviness head on.

Dynamic identity for Converge, a series of events exploring the crossover between photography, filmmaking and CG

Filmmakers are discovering the freedom of low-cost, high-quality methods of realising their ideas with equipment more routinely associated with stills photography – SLR-sized cameras, prime and zoom lenses and a highly-mobile mentality.

We recently worked on the identity for ‘Converge’, a series of events exploring this emerging crossover between photography, filmmaking and CG. It was an unusual project for us in the sense that we only developed and delivered the central mark – a converging, dynamic RGB arrangement that can be seen as either a 2D graphic or 3D ‘cubes’ – and suggestion for accompanying typography – before the outcome left our studio and influence.

We don’t like to send our offspring away from home and out to work before they’re completely equipped for life. Hopefully, they’ve left us well-dressed and, perhaps, they’ll come back home to visit us in the future for a bit more TLC.