It's just a click away

What? Is that a French flag in the background? It wasn't meant to be -- I was just thinking red, white and blue. And yes, that is an iMac (even though they didn't have those in WWII). The original poster that this was based on had a typewriter - and who knows what those are nowadays?

This was the first big pitch we did to use the Internet for DMV transactions. It was relatively new technology for state government way back then, so we minimized the risk by starting with downloadable forms and answers to questions (however, you'd be amazed at how many people clog up the lines at the DMV just trying to get those things!).

In the ensuing years, we wised up and got a much easier URL: www.OregonDMV.com.

Up in the sky!

This second DMV poster was inspired by one from the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Rosie the customer service agent

The WWII-inspired poster from last week reminded me of some others that I did, this time for the Oregon DMV. The idea was to get people to use alternate methods of doing business rather than going in to the office.

The payoff

So what was the point of these University Avenue ads? To show that we had fun and were very successful with a cartoon character as "spokesman" for the project. We measured success in a couple of ways: the project came in ahead of schedule, under budget and expanded an additional four blocks; only one business went under during construction (and they were on their way out before we even began) -- in fact, most businesses saw an upturn in sales during construction.

With that success in hand, we were faced with a similar project on Ogden's Washington Boulevard. We showed them samples of what we'd done in Provo with the University Avenue project.

Their reaction?

"We're not like Provo! We don't want a stupid cartoon character!"

With that feedback from the field, we went back to Salt Lake and drew up a communications plan with a different approach. We presented it to the same focus group a little while later, and they loved it. Here's a sample poster from that particular project:

Recognize it at all? You might. It's based on a World War II propaganda poster. From the other side.

And the folks in Ogden loved it!

We are Santa's elves!

I found this a little amusing. The day after I ran the cartoon of Rudolph now working for the highway department, the folks at work asked me to make a poster for the toy drive -- with elves wearing little safety vests like they work for the highway department! We should see all of Santa's crew working for the department before too long!

Vote...for something

This is one of two posters I made for this particular event with the Utah Department of Transportation. Only now I can't remember what the voting was all about!

Teen driving

Oregon instituted restrictions on teen drivers in 2000 as a move toward graduated licensing. The new law was somewhat confusing to teens and their parents. As a small component of a massive public information campaign, these posters were produced to illustrate the different requirements and restrictions.

The cartoons made the information easier to understand and remember, and softened what could have been perceived as a harsh message. The posters were distributed to schools and DMV offices statewide, and were available as a download from the DMV Web site.

The campaign was a great success. We had outstanding media coverage and won a Spotlight Award from the Portland Metro Chapter of PRSA. Most importantly, the restrictions helped in reducing the number of injuries and fatalities to teen drivers in the state.

• Download poster (PDF)
  

Cell phones, part II

This was one design that didn’t make the cut, but it was fun to do anyway. I kind of like the metaphor comparing driving with jousting, and just how silly it would be for a knight to be gabbing on a cell phone in the middle of a joust.

• Download poster (PDF)

Go, Speed Racer!

A new law went into effect this year to restrict drivers under 18 years old from using cell phones (or PDAs or whatever) while driving — except in an emergency. We used posters as part of the media mix in announcing the new law.

This is one of the posters that we selected to announce the teen driver cell phone ban (I have to give credit to Sam for the manga concept). I like it because it’s way different than most of the information posters at DMV, so it really stands out. When we test marketed this one, we got really good feedback. And with the Speed Racer movie coming out this weekend, it seems appropriate.

Just a note on one of the subtleties of this one: the cascading text in the bottom portion spells out the message in leet (or 1337 to believers).

• Download poster (PDF)