Ultravirgo

Hello, number 7 Billion

As of today, according to the United Nations Population Fund, the global population has reached 7 billion people. It's a difficult number to comprehend. For example, when we were creating the 24 foot banner that is hanging outside the UN headquarters in New York (and other countries around the world) my first thought was to use the extra-large canvas to create a grid of 7 billion dots and recolor them to create the message. Until I did the math, realizing it would require 352,254 dots per square inch. To me, however, the number is just an abstract figure anyway, and not what is important about the milestone. What is important are the 7 billion individual people that it represents. 

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We have been working with UNFPA since May to create the 7 Billion Actions campaign, and have made it our mission to bring light to the stories of all the people who live on Earth. The issues and opportunities that people face vary widely, and understanding the macro-scale demographics is only part of the story. For example, when developing advertising for the campaign, instead of preaching about the problems in the world, we used the opportunity to highlight inspiring stories of individuals making a difference. Like Kakenya Ntaiya - the first person from her Maasai village in Kenya to get a college degree (a PhD no less!), she returned home and used her education to found a school for Maasai girls to give other girls the opportunity for education that most of her peers lacked.

Also, learn about the print and launch materials we developed for the campaign.

Click on each image for a larger version.

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Full page magazine ad, currently running in Economist Magazine.

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Interactive ad for placement in iPad app, including embedding of an interactive microsite (tailored for view on iPad).

As the number of people on our planet continues to grow, I urge you to learn more about your 7 billion neighbors, the important issues around population, and take a moment to make the world a better place. Even the smallest of individual actions can make a difference. To learn more about and get involved in the campaign:


10/31/2011