vintage PSAs from the past are redesigned to help spread the word on coronavirus safety

the spread of coronvirus (COVID-19) has brought unprecedented events to countries across the globe. with a significant proportion of the world’s population now in self-isolation or state-imposed quarantine, many people have referred to the effort required to combat the virus as ‘war-like’. in light of this, shawn murenbeeld of touchwood design has created ‘repurposed with a purpose’ – a series of posters inspired by public safety announcements from the past. 

all images courtesy of shawn murenbeeld, touchwood design inc.

reminiscent of events such as the great depression, the first and second world war, and the cuban missile crisis, the coronvirus (COVID-19) pandemic is one that will go down in history. during these desperate times in the past, many governments produced posters that intended to inspire and inform the public with universal imagery and rousing messages. several of these posters have gone on to transcend time to become iconic works of art that are now synonymous with vintage public service announcements. 

in light of what is happening, shawn murenbeeld looked to the past and in the spirit of recycling, he has tweaked some of these wonderful PSA’s to be more relevant to the current situation. the project aims to give a nod to the past while helping to comfort and inform people on which precautions to take to alleviate the spread of the virus. ‘we’ve faced terrible things before and we’ll get through this together,’ – murenbeeld.

project info:

project name: repurposed with a purpose

design: shawn murenbeeld, touchwood design inc.

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom