Posters for United Nations
I started creating posters for United Nations in 1994 for Women's Conference in Beijing the following year. The poster I created for the event seems to be beloved all over the world still to this day.
I was hired by UN to create another poster, but they loved the concept of a figure holding a globe so much. I didn't want to repeat the same thing, so I suggested a reverse concept putting all the details in the glove this time and keep the rest simple. I have been commissioned to do similar poster to this one by several clients, and I try my best to make it different.
I was again hired to do a poster for the event on Drug Control. Again, they wanted me to keep the globe, and I tried to come up with yet different solution. Everyone in New York loved this poster very much and it was good to go. But to my disappointment, the head of the project at the time, an Italian male, struck it down saying that "it is too feminine." Is it?
Ten years later, they wanted me to create another poster for the women's conference in New York, and I presented a different ideas, but they wanted something looked like the original poster I did. I made it more painterly because it was my illustration style at the time.
United Nation's love affair with my Beijing poster continues. ILO (International Labor Organization) , the oldest agency of UN, used the original image for their poster for International Women's Day 2015. The poster design was done by the in-house design department of ILO.
Then, they commissioned me to create something new for their centenary initiative. (Their centenary anniversary is in 2020.) But again, they wanted to stay close to the original image. Wanting to offer something different, I came up with a concept of incorporating ILO logo in the image with a generic-looking woman, and they loved the idea. Deciding on the elements inside of the globe went through many changes.
The above image was first used for International Women's Day 2016. I suggested a simpler poster design, but they wanted to repeat the design of the previous year.
