I'm guessing most of us on here would say the same.
That’s exactly what I was going to say, but you got there before me.
It’s dead simple. If you have to explain it, it is not working.
No one is being horrible or needlessly cruel in saying this, but as Levi said, most of us who’ve been doing this for some years will likely say the same things.
It’s all about visually communicating, clearly and succinctly so the intended audience gets the intended message. You can (and often should) be clever and a little lateral with it, but you can’t be so obtuse that people either don’t get it (tier 1-4 steps / D&AD-type pencil with S and H – absolutely no clue. Red and blue pills?!!), or even if they do, it says nothing of interest or is simply not meaningful.
With the ‘I love lockdown’ one, for example, aside from what others have said (rightly so, in my opinion) you haven’t really shown any positive benefits and it is something you have to be very careful about anyway. For a lot of people, there aren’t a whole lot of upsides of lockdown and many people for whom the downsides have been extremely traumatic, either directly, emotionally or financially. You have to be very, very sensitive to this when extolling positive benefits, otherwise, at best, you sound glib or more likely just plain offensive and hurtful.
Imagine seeing a poster telling you to be positive about COVID when your mum just died, alone and struggling for her last breath.
That said, it can be done. One of the huge benefits that has come from this is the fact that many people have had the opportunity to just stop a while and re-evaluate what is important to them – something modern life doesn’t afford most people the opportunity to do most of the time.
To just say I love lockdown is pretty vacuous and meaningless. You need to both state something actually positive and add something to people’s way of thinking that may not have previously occurred to them, otherwise what’s the point?
Speaking of which; what is the point? What is the reason the project exists? That’s not meant to sound as harsh as it does. I am just questioning the motivation. What problem are you trying to solve and for whom? Why are you spreading positivity? Is it an altruistically-funded happy campaign? If so that doesn’t come across all that plausibly. It would make more sense if it were a campaign for, say, a mental health charity highlighting the benefits of positivity for those locked down and prone to depression (though arguably a patronising over-simplification).
Overall, despite specific criticisms, I’m left thinking, ‘Yes? And? What’s the point?’ I get that we could all do with some positivity, but design is about solving an actual problem and fulfilling a need – with an outcome. Your call to action feels a little weak and a bit of an afterthought. Spread positivity, not COVID. I could be a miserable bastard (some might say…) and still do the right things to avoid spreading covid, or I could be Doris Day (OK, a bald, middle-aged, male Doris Day!) and not bother to put a mask on or wash my hands. You see what I mean? You are making a comparison about two things that don’t necessarily juxtapose all that tightly. You’ve just found a commonality with the word ‘spread’.
For me, the whole thing just doesn’t gel. There seems to be no point. There are one or two fairly OK bits, but where are you going with it? The thinking just feels a bit lightweight. Needs to go deeper and more coherent.
Bet you’re sorry you asked now! Just remember, all of this is not a personal slating. It’s all intended to help you improve and give the project some substance.
Finally, I agree with the others re the P thing; trying to, use the letter P to do two jobs doesn’t work. That sort of thing – which is rarely avoids being a bit of cliché anyway – only works with alliterative phrases.
Good luck.
Right, it’s beer time now…