"No one will ever protect what they don’t care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced." Sir David Attenborough.
Marine Conservation Society
How do you convince people to save an endangered species they are taught to fear? You rebrand sharks… from ferocious to fantastical. There are 530 unique species of sharks and rays, some are so rare we don’t have images of them. So we regenerated what ‘sharks’ look like by asking children to imagine them instead. Turning scientific descriptions into fantastical depictions.
Concept. Art Direction. Design.
A very special thank you to our artists -
Ken Done and Leah Djikic, Jennifer Turpin and Inara Wilson, Jonathan Zawada and Oliver McIntyre, Billy Bain and Barnaby Snow, Dylan Mooney and Maya Haysom-McDowell, Janet Laurence and Etrielle Escalona, Rosie Deacon and Arwen Brown, Sarah & Sebastian and Zara Pease, Dion Horstmans and Illuka Michel.
Results
1500 competition entrants
23,000+ exhibit attendees & counting
Amplified in national press; The Guardian, ABC News, SMH.
More importantly, our humble exhibit turned into a catalyst for societal and Government change.
$119,000 in art to be auctioned for conservation
10,500+ petition signatures
10,500+ letters to Parliament
As a direct result, new legislation has been passed to supervise commercial fishing activity. Cameras must now be installed on boats to monitor their catch, putting a silent extinction in full sight.
South Australia has banned targeted fishing of the Greeneye Spurdog, Whitefin Swellshark and Longnose Skate.
