Not Make Believe Illustration Campaign

Press Kit

Unique Properties

This illustration project tackles the theme that Chronic pain is not make believe. The images are a combination of colours textures and characters that combine to communicate the major obstacles a person with chronic pain faces as a result of social perceptions and stigma. In total there are seven images one for each day of the week.

Dimensions & Packaging

N/a

Tags

Chronic pain, stigma, illustration, medical art, illustration campaign.

Production Technology

I created this project using Adobe Fresco on my iPad. I created some patterns to create texture and to separate the real from the imaginary.

Design Challenge

The hardest part of this project was to communicate the concepts around pain without turning the viewer off because of the subject matter. The titles of the images are: 1 Chronic Pain Is NOT Make Believe, 2 If You Could Feel What I Feel Even For A Moment 3 It’s Not You, It’s Me, I Miss Everything ! 4 Naysayers Bewares, 5 My Pain Is Vividly Real, 6 To Be Slowly Electrocuted (sciatica) and 7 Family Shields Me
Communication of these topics could reduce stigma. When your body is at its lowest point, it doesn’t need to be stepped on.

Project Duration

This campaign was part of my Instagram posts in March 2022. I created an online exhibition for this campaign via Instagram to reach as many people as possible through chronic pain and illustration hashtags.

Operation Flow

These artworks connected very well with the target audience. There are seven images so one image was posted online each day for a week. The images communicate the negatives of chronic pain and how constant pain can affect us. The invisible nature of chronic pain can be very lonely so artwork that reflects these feelings can provoke a very intense response from the viewer.
The themes are:
Chronic pain is not make believe
Naysayers
It’s not you, it’s me, I miss everything
If only you could feel what I feel, just for a moment.
My back pain is vividly real
Family shields
Sciatica is like a slow electrocution

Research

This is a conceptual project so the images are all broken down by the eye. The foxes represent family and those closest to me surfacing from the grass below. The animals have a pattern derived from the houndstooth pattern and where this pattern appears represents the imaginary or ‘make believe’. Silhouettes are a means of showing how we often see the world in black and white and the girls in the images look like children because of the loss of independence chronic pain causes.

Inspiration

Following an accident a few years ago my body was left with Chronic Pain. It is something that takes over and changes every aspect of your life. Time is spent weighing the pros and cons of every move I make, to discern whether or not the movement is worth the pain that follows. On top of this life changing event I along with every other pain sufferer must face the stigma of weakness and the various negative perceptions society has about chronic pain. When support is needed stigma is oftentimes the only thing available.

Image Credits

All works by Ciara Chapman

Colors of Not Make Believe Illustration Campaign