The UN has received 17,000 submissions for its open creative brief

The United Nations, on March 30, 2020, had called on the global creative industry to help it combat COVID – 19 and flatten the curve in an open brief.

According to the brief, the UN wanted creatives to assist the World Health Organization (WHO) in helping people everywhere to adopt public health precautions, prevent the spread of misinformation, and communicate with those communities who can still avoid or minimise an outbreak.

The brief said, “We need help translating critical public health messages - not just into different languages - but into different cultures, communities and platforms - reaching everyone, everywhere.”

The brief was hosted on Talenthouse, part of TLNT, which on April 17, 2020, said it had received over 17,000 responses from 143 countries in two weeks.

You can find the approved creative work via United Nations COVID-19 Creative Content Hub here. While the public can freely access and share any of the work across their channels to maximise reach and distribution, the only requirement is to credit the creator.

Dawda Jobarteh, Global Head of UN SDG Strategy Hub states, “We have been overwhelmed by the tremendous response from creators around the globe who have leaned in to help humanity in the face of this unprecedented crisis. This pandemic demands collective action and global collaboration."

He continued, "The creative community has delivered with powerful messages that transcend borders, languages, cultures and mediums, to help reach everyone in this fight against COVID-19. That fight begins with personal behaviour change and clear understanding of the facts, so communications couldn’t be more important. Now, the challenge is to get these inspiring works seen and heard by people all over the world, especially where the need is greatest.”

Maya Bogle, Co-Founder of Talenthouse, said, “Right now, brands are cutting media spend as they pull campaigns - this inventory could be donated to the UN to get this creative work out there. In addition, famous icons from the worlds of fashion, film, music, sport cannot record, film, tour or play competitively. They have time and influence on their hands which they can put to good use, so the UN appeals to them to share this work across their channels: The more work that is shared, the faster we can flatten the curve and slow the spread of the virus whilst a vaccine is identified and distributed. The UN also wants to unite humanity with uplifting content at a time when fear prevails as we all fight the same invisible enemy.”

The Creative Brief was to create iconic and impactful illustration, audio, video, or copy that was clear, uplifting and conveyed one of the UN messages around the actions the public needs to take on.