From the Heart to the Heart

As an Art Director I’ve heard a common bit of advice from other creatives about how engage your audience. It goes something like this:

“If it comes from the heart, it goes to the heart.”

While that sounds pretty sappy, the idea there is solid: if you’re creative work is born out of real, honest conviction, it will naturally connect deeply with your audience.

Boston magazine’s design response to the marathon bombings was the perfect example (heart shape aside) of that deceptively simple advice. While brilliant on its own, a heart made up of the shoes from runners from that day was just the beginning. Each pair would be accompanied by a story from its owner about their experience that day in the magazine and on their website. Powerful stuff.

See the entire cover and read the full story behind it. And go ahead and buy the poster, I did! Proceeds support the One Fund.