Do what you can, with what you have, from where you are.
Needless to say, 2020 was a horrific year for most of us. While a lot of us lost our loved ones, others had to part with their livelihoods and some amongst us were even stripped of their dignity. This collective loss is like no other that we have seen and experienced before.
During the first wave of the covid-19 pandemic, back in 2020, we all saw an outpouring of artistic expression from all corners of the web, especially on social media.
Artists, musicians, stand ups comedians and content creators all took the lead in engaging with their respective communities and entertaining their audience.
As the pandemic progressed, it became slowly clear that people started having content fatigue and the situation on the ground in India also started taking a turn for the worse, with the actual number of cases sharply beginning to rise around June-July 2020.
By the time the restrictions of the first lockdown were slowly being lifted [ Unlock 3.0 (1–31 August) ], it became apparent that online content played an important role in helping people cope with the anxiety and stress of an uncertain future that lay ahead.
One great example is: Yale University’s “The Science of Well-Being” online course. Taking an online course isn’t a “new” concept per se, but taking an Ivy League course for FREE is certainly something you don’t see every day. The course, originally called “Psychology and the Good Life” was unveiled in Spring 2018 and quickly became Yale’s most popular class of all time.
After gaining national and international attention, and many requests for access to the course, one psychology professor from Yale created an on-demand recording of her lecture materials that is now available for free on Coursera, an online education platform. Although the course wasn’t created in response to the ongoing COVID-19 situation back in Mid 2020, but given the situation, it saw a huge surge in popularity. You can access the course here for completely FREE. This is made possible by the awesome folks at Coursera.
My friend and designer Rimi Nayak, who enrolled for this course had very positive things to say about her learnings from the program and how it helped her cope with the personal and professional challenges that she was facing around that time.
This was also the time around which I started noticing brands and businesses publishing content that genuinely spoke to their audiences regarding their concerns about the ongoing situation. As covid positive cases began to peak rapidly, we saw a surge in covid awareness-themed information and content. That is when, we at Cogfree decided to create ALL our calendar event content from then onwards ( like Diwali, New Year, Holi etc ) woven around a covid awareness concept. I will be sharing some below, in this post.
When it came to the WhatsApp sticker project, the core objective was inspired by a desire to innovate & contribute to the #CovidResponse conversation, using resources we had at our disposal. Doing what we could, with what we had, from where we were.
Incidentally, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoH&FW) had also launched a similar WhatsApp sticker campaign a few months back, in their efforts to encourage citizens to stay at home. In a post on Twitter, the health ministry urged the users to share and use the WhatsApp stickers with friends and family to encourage them to adopt safe practices.
We at Cogfree, urge you all to do exactly the same! Tintin & Tarantino fans, you know what to do!
I hope you like what we have come up with. It’s been a labor of love and my amazing team at Cogfree has put in their best to pull this under an insane deadline. You can find the sticker pack plus a bonus section of Downloadable Magazine Covers right here at: https://is.gd/cogfree_tintin
Attached below are some of our other #CovidResponse content that Cogfree has conceptualized and created in the last eight months or so. (We did many many more for our clients as well.) Thought of sharing these with you.
One request before I conclude this post. Whoever is reading is and wherever you are, please follow the standard Covid protocols and proactively take your vaccinations on your turn. That is the best shot we have right now at combating this nightmare. Take Care and Stay Safe everyone.
Download your Tintin themed Whatsapp stickers and Magazine Covers here: https://is.gd/cogfree_tintin