Posters: Between Delusion and Reality
Assignment
Awareness campaign “Delusion or Reality?”
Medium
Poster campaign featuring 38 different F4 and F12 poster designs in Basel, plus OOH booklet dispensers in trams and buses on the TNW network.
Credits
Contacts at crbasel:
Gabriel Heuberger (CD)
Alain Szerdahelyi (AD)
Client
Basel-Stadt Department of Health
Year
2014
🏆 APG Swiss Poster Awards 2014 Bronze Winner in the “Poster Innovations” category
Background
Psychosis is not a rare occurrence. About 0.5% of people develop it at some point in their lives—regardless of background, gender, or income. For outsiders, however, the illness remains an abstract concept. The Basel-Stadt Department of Health wanted to foster understanding of an experience that cannot be explained, but only lived through.
Idea
Don’t talk about psychosis—make it tangible. Over 30 poster designs translate the impressions and visions that can plague those affected into the everyday urban landscape of Basel. The trick lies in the placement: The images are so precisely embedded in their real surroundings that passersby pause briefly—is this real or not? It is precisely this moment of uncertainty that conveys the message. The tagline makes it clear: “A poster to you. Reality to those living with psychosis.”
Implementation
Over 30 custom designs, each created specifically for its location. A dedicated site selection process ensured that the posters were displayed in high-traffic areas that were also well-suited to the respective subject matter—the impact is only fully realized in the right context. The outdoor advertising was complemented by topic-specific flyers, distributed in trams and elsewhere, as well as additional information available online.
Impact
The campaign attracted attention beyond the streets and was covered in the Swiss trade press. It is part of the canton’s long-standing awareness-raising efforts under the label allesgutebasel.ch — a client that values ongoing collaboration.
