With a nationally ranked design program, Auburn University quickly recognized the need for some more original and less generic COVID-19 communications. Tatum Design was hired to provide creative solutions that would resonate with a design savvy audience on campus. The Auburn Creative COVID-19 Poster Series was conceived to reinforce safety protocols and combat pandemic fatigue among their student body. The ultimate goal was to create something fresh and engaging that would energize everyone in the fight against COVID-19.

At this point in the pandemic, most of our audience understood the importance of social distancing, hand washing and mask wearing, so our job was to engage rather than to educate. If we could capture their attention, we could change their behavior. Our approach was to communicate simple messages in the most graphic form. We planned to break through cluttered and crowed spaces with eye catching visuals. We designed each of the posters in the series around a single safety message. The creative and colorful graphics were much more engaging than the surrounding institutional messaging.

The Auburn Creative COVID-19 Poster Series has helped change the behavior of students on campus. We turned boring, easy to ignore safety posters into a collectible item. Our designs made it cool to follow the protocols. With this design forward series of posters, we were able to shape the culture of Auburn University during the pandemic.