Providence Health St. Mary’s: “Mask Up With Pride” COVID-19 Awareness Campaign
During the COVID-19 pandemic, DVL, a community organization working on behalf of Providence Health St. Mary's, needed a campaign that could do something genuinely difficult: encourage mask usage in a way that felt like an invitation, not a mandate. I was brought in as creative lead to design and produce it.
Process & Challenge
The central challenge wasn't visual. It was tonal. Mask wearing had become a cultural and political flashpoint. Compliance messaging wasn't going to move people who had already dug in.
The reframe was simple: instead of talking about masks, we talked about community. The campaign's leading idea was that everyone has people they care about and communities worth protecting. The masks became a celebration of that, featuring bold patterns, bright colors, and real community leaders, making participation feel like pride rather than compliance.
The decision to feature actual community members instead of professional models reinforced the message directly. This wasn't a hospital telling people what to do. It was neighbors showing up for each other.
I built a visual system flexible enough to represent different communities while staying unified under one campaign, and led a graphic designer through production across posters, standees, tote bags, and social formats.
Approach
The central challenge wasn't visual. It was tonal. Mask wearing had become a cultural and political flashpoint. Compliance messaging wasn't going to move people who had already dug in.
The reframe was simple: instead of talking about masks, we talked about community. The campaign's leading idea was that everyone has people they care about and communities worth protecting. The masks became a celebration of that, featuring bold patterns, bright colors, and real community leaders, making participation feel like pride rather than compliance.
The decision to feature actual community members instead of professional models reinforced the message directly. This wasn't a hospital telling people what to do. It was neighbors showing up for each other.
I built a visual system flexible enough to represent different communities while staying unified under one campaign, and led a graphic designer through production across posters, standees, tote bags, and social formats.
Campaign
Content & Blog
Events & Community
Outcome
Mask Up With Pride ran throughout the pandemic and continued for a year or two after the immediate crisis had passed. A campaign that keeps running is a campaign that worked. The system was flexible enough to extend, consistent enough to stay recognizable, and resonant enough that the community organization kept it going long after the urgency faded.