Canadian Red Cross — Rebecca Parvaneh

ART DIRECTION
Canadian Red Cross Campaign

“Be the reason that there’s a next chapter.”

ROLE
Art Director

DURATION
5 Weeks

YEAR
2026

Too many Canadian households lack basic first aid training, and with ER shortages and ambulance delays on the rise, bystanders are often the only line of response in an emergency. When every minute counts and help may not arrive in time, preparedness and first aid training makes the difference between life and death.

This campaign exists to close that gap. Because being prepared isn't just about saving a life in a critical moment, it's about protecting everything that comes after it.

CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this campaign is to get Canadians avoiding first aid training due to it being boring, costly, or forgettable to care about what first aid can do for them in their lives. The message that needs to be communicated is that first aid training is a powerful skill to have, and that it gives people a real sense of control and confidence when things go wrong.

BACKGROUND

A significant portion of Canadian households lack first aid training. ER shortages and ambulance delays mean professional help may not arrive in time. First aid training empowers bystanders to act immediately, closing the gap between a moment of crisis and the care that follows.

98% of all Canadians believe first aid is important but only 18% are currently certified. Nearly 40% of Canadians have already faced an emergency requiring first aid and 60% of the time, it involved a family member. Canadians recognize the signs of an emergency but either aren’t confident enough to act in the emergency or lack the skills to respond.

INSIGHT + STRATEGY

"Crisis doesn't just take lives, it takes futures.”

Our strategy revolves around how being prepared is more than just saving a life in a critical moment, and that it's about preserving the possibilities and the future that comes after saving that life.

When someone is prepared to act in an emergency situation, they are not just preventing a major tragedy, they are protecting a future and ensuring that a person's story gets to continue on.

The campaign would be set to launch on World First Aid Day, Saturday, September 12, 2026, in order to amplify the message that first aid is essential.

PRINT STRATEGY

The flyer tells showcases the story of a choking emergency using the same visual language as the OOH campaign. The strawberry element was embedded into each life stage, again, as a reminder that ordinary moments and objects can turn into crises without warning.

One side of the flyer has the campaign visual printed on it while the other showcases the tagline. The use of red on one side is ensures that attention is captured instantly, after doing a quick flip of the flyer, communicating a message that stays with the reader long after they have received the flyer.

OOH STRATEGY

The OOH execution uses the core visual described by the strategy. Across each placement, viewers follow the unfolding of a person's life from childhood to a critical moment, in this case, the critical moment involves a heart attack. The addition of visuals of hearts embedded into each life stage was included to serve as a reminder that crisis is rarely something that can be anticipated and that it can happen at any moment, even the most mundane of moments. The hearts were mundane parts of the person’s daily life and then became a critical moment.

OOH concepts would only be limited to subway stations and areas with seating, to allow people to naturally have a moment to absorb the story, the visuals, and the details.