The Tap-Tap Puzzle

HAITI: 6 MONTHS ON. From the Guardian: When the earthquake struck on 12 January, the poorest country in the Americas was devastated. The world rallied, but not for long – much of the promised aid has not materialised. And while their government falters, many of the 1.5 million displaced Haitians are still sleeping rough…

FRONTLINE has a series on the Aid Dilemma. On post-disaster relief, the economy of a tent city and the tap-tap puzzle.

And the crisis goes on…

A collaborative effort by the design community to help effect change.

My wife and I like to make time to work on projects together. She’s more of a writer, myself more of a designer. Together, we’re a force to be reckoned with. Recently, as tragedy struck Haiti, and the world scrambled to find ways to help, we wanted to spend some of our time together making something that could be part of the effort to help the people living through such a horrendous situation.

With the goal of raising $1,000,000 for Doctors Without Borders, The Haiti Poster Project was conceived as a collective effort by the design community to unite and effect change. This collaboration of artists and designers from around the world benefitting victims of the earthquake in Haiti was an effort we whole-heartedly support. And we made this poster together for the effort.

Limited Edition 3-Color Silk Screen

140C Pop-Tone Sno Cone French Paper

The site launched March 23. You can purchase the posters beginning on April 5, 2010.

“When others are in trouble, we feel it in our hearts. And it’s with our hearts, we reach out to help in any way we know how. ‘Compassion to the Rescue’ is a phrase that can ring true to anyone anywhere. This whimsical, hand-drawn design is meant to bring smiles and inspire action. With a little love, we can do anything, especially help all those people who are hurting in Haiti.” –Katie Kemerling

All money raised will be donated to Doctors Without Borders.

Handpulled for Haiti | Mayday by Karen Koch

From W+K Studio: A benefit show for the Haiti relief effort, all PRINT proceeds go directly to Mercy Corps. Our friends Karen, Curt and Steve are part of the effort with some lovely posters. The opening was February 4th in Portland. You can visit their online store to make a purchase and help the cause.

Frustration by Curtis Pachunka | We Need Somebody by Steve Denekas

DesignforHaiti.com: A creative call to action to design.

Design for Haiti is another design project from Aaron Perry-Zucker (Design for Obama, makeUSgreen). The mission: to collect Haiti posters that either advocate relief efforts or visualize information leading to a better understanding of the situation in Haiti. “We are especially seeking top notch info graphics that give the audience an ‘ah-hah’ moment where they learn something and perhaps see the situation differently.” Consider it a creative call to action to design. The following images are several fine examples.

Ayudemos a Haití by Neos Brand | The Living sleep among the Dead 2 by Christopher Griego

Help Haiti by Xhengis | Aid Within by deedee914

Google has set up a Crisis Response page to support disaster relief in Haiti. Personally I’ve been blown away by how the “Text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross” technique has raised so much money in such a short time. To me, its the best use of technology, the perfect combination of: 1 – A (for the most part) credible organization (the American Red Cross), 2 - An affordable monetary request, 3 - A super easy and direct way to get the money there. This Google page seems to me like another step in the right direction of using existing technology and tools to empower people to aid, contribute information, find people affected by the disaster and follow the events as they continue to unfold.