The Design Museum and Leo Burnett London unveil ‘Design: Humanity’s Best Friend’

Cristina Blanaru Ads, Creativity

Creative agency Leo Burnett London and the Design Museum, have launched the museum’s new purpose campaign, called ‘Design: Humanity’s Best Friend’, celebrating the impact of design in everyone’s lives. The campaign aims to show how design is integral to everyday life and highlights the museum as a must-see destination in London this year.

Leo Burnett London was tasked with translating the Design Museum purpose, which is to make the impact of design visible, into a visually striking campaign which could connect with new audiences.

The initiative communicates how design is about much more than how things look: it is a problem-solving attitude, a process and a method that can help tackle any challenge from small usability issues to complex global problems.

The OOH campaign consists of 4 sheet and 48 sheet posters hosted around creative hotspots in London, targeted London Underground stations in Kensington and digital display formats. Each of the 4 executions features design objects being used to show how they really are humanity’s best friend such as an instant camera, an impeccably cut suit, the Pride flag and a replica spacesuit.

The campaign aims to reframe the way people view design objects such as a singular Polaroid camera or tailored jacket, into a purposeful piece of design. The sheets, created by Leo Burnett London, show a range of designs and is aimed at prompting people to rethink how design is significant for its influence on everyday lives, be it commercially, culturally or practically.

This year marks 30 years since the Design Museum first opened its doors to the public in 1989. Following blockbuster exhibition Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition this autumn the museum invites visitors to travel to Mars without leaving London, in the Moving to Mars exhibition. Visitors can also explore the permanent display ‘Designer Maker User’ and see objects like the original Pride flag first hand.

Chaka Sobhani, Chief Creative Officer at Leo Burnett London said:

Design is one of the most important tools we have for understanding and changing the world we live in. This campaign hopefully brings the wonder and ubiquity of design to the forefront of people’s minds, where it should always be.

Lord Mandelson, Chairman of the Design Museum said:

The purpose of the Design Museum is to make the impact of design visible. Good design is all around us making our personal lives simpler, easier and nicer as well as providing world-changing solutions to some of humanity’s greatest challenges. Design excellence is one of Britain’s chief competitive advantages and we need to invest more in it. The museum tells this story everyday within its walls and we needed a new message to make everyone outside notice. We are delighted with the work Chaka and her team have produced.

Credits:

  • Agency: Leo Burnett London
  • Agency contact: Ailsa McQuaid, Account Director
  • Chief Creative Officer: Chaka Sobhani
  • Client name: Matteo Plachesi and Josephine Chanter, Head of Marketing and Director of Audiences’
  • Copywriter: Hayley Power
  • Senior Designer: Will Rees
  • Senior Creatives: Hayley Power & Cassandra Jamcotchian
  • Account Team: Jo Tauscher and Ailsa McQuaid
  • Creatives: Alice Pearce, Hannah Cunningham & Beth Grace
  • Photographers: Tariq Zaidi, Izzy Gerosa, Takahiro Taguchi, Bradley Dunn
  • Media agency: YOU Agency Ltd

The Design Museum is located in London and is the world’s leading design museum. It makes the impact of design visible and is the only place in the UK where the design industry, education and the public can come together to change the way people think about themselves and the future. Since it opened its doors in 1989 the museum has displayed everything from an AK-47 to high heels designed by Christian Louboutin. It is a registered charity that has staged over 100 exhibitions, welcomed over six million visitors and showcased the work of some of the world’s most celebrated designers and architects including Paul Smith, Zaha Hadid, Jonathan Ive, Miuccia Prada, Frank Gehry, Eileen Gray and Dieter Rams. On 24 November 2016, The Design Museum relocated to Kensington, west London. Leading architectural designer John Pawson converted the interior of a 1960s modernist building to create a new home for the Design Museum giving it three times more space in which to show a wider range of exhibitions and significantly extend its learning programme. The Design Museum is European Museum of the Year for 2018; the Design Museum was one of forty finalists and the sixth UK winner in the award’s 41-year history.