Prevention of Violence Against Women Week Poster

Organization Name:
Cowichan Women Against Violence Society
City & State:
Describe your creative piece – what is it and what has it been used for, and why is it innovative?
This poster was created as a tool to increase public awareness around violence against women. Cowichan Women against Violence Society posted this poster in many public places and private establishments where it could be viewed and read easily. Violence against women is a difficult subject to approach for both men and women so CWAV Society designed this poster to catch attention in a way that recognizes the complexity of the social issue. Our approach was to strive for maximum impact without capitalizing on the use of graphic imagery, and to emphasize the resilience, resourcefulness, and strength of women. This piece is an innovation for CWAV Society as it is the first time we have used Photoshop CS4 and InDesign CS4 together. CWAV Society designed a poster to create public awareness around an issue, not just to advertise an event. Feedback has been positive from all staff and community members.
What issue or problem were you working to address with this piece?
Abuse is such a prevalent problem in our community, and is also the most hidden. CWAV Society has a staff of 30 which serves a population base of 75, 000, with over 900 clients this year. As violence against women happens in occurs behind closed doors, the intent of this poster was to publicly speak out against abuse, to open up conversations between friends and family, and encourage those in abusive situations to reach out for help. It was designed to reach all audiences as abuse does not discriminate according to age, gender, sexual orientation, race, economic status, and abilities.
How has your submission successfully impacted your organization’s ability to solve this issue/problem?
As our over arching goal is to eliminate violence and abuse in our society, this poster was able to bring us one step closer by bringing light on the issue and announcing it as a community problem. It opened up community conversations and our belief is that if one person would reach out for help or tell a friend, the effort is more than worth every minute and cent spent on this project.
Creative Submission - Files