“Put the helmet on like ô” campaign aims to raise public awareness of the significance of helmet use in children. (Photo: VietnamPlus) Hanoi (VNA) - The campaign “Put a helmet on like ô” developed Nguyen Khac Hai Linh from RMIT University and Nguyen Ngoc Nha Quynh from Foreign Trade University promote road safety for Vietnamese children notched a triple win at the D&AD New Blood Awards 2023.
The New Blood Awards were open to students, recent graduates and emerging creatives worldwide. Entrants were given briefs set by well-established companies and their projects are judged by experts from creative industries.
Briefs were set by brands including Google, eBay, Candy Crush Saga, Gymshark, and Sky. This year, the 17 briefs focused on different commercial challenges and social issues, such as innovating banking in the name of neurodivergence and raising awareness of abortion as healthcare.
Forms of entries were diversified, including UX/UI, animation, advertising, typography and PR.
The 2023 competition saw 179 Pencils awarded – two Black, seven White, 33 Yellow, 39 Graphite, and 98 Wood. Black Pencils are the highest prize and are awarded sparingly. White pencils are awarded to designers who successfully use the power of creativity for good. Yellow Pencils are awarded to projects displaying creative excellence.
“Put a helmet on like ô” won a Black, White and Yellow Pencils in the global awards. This was the first time an Asian team won the Black Pencils with a cash incentive of 2,000 GBP (2,500 USD).
“Put a helmet on like ô” is created in response to a brief set by Google Fonts and HMCT that challenges the students to lead the way through type-led activism. (Photo: VietnamPlus) Responding to a brief set by Google Fonts and HMCT (the Hoffmitz Milken Center for Typography) that challenged them to “lead the way through type-led activism”, young Vietnamese designers Nguyen Khac Hai Linh and Nguyen Ngoc Nha Quynh created the Black-Pencil-winning “Put a helmet on like ô” campaign. It looked to address the sad reality that 2,000 Vietnamese children die every year due to road accidents, half of which would have been saved with helmet use.
In Vietnam, children start to learn the alphabet at age six which, incidentally, is also the mandatory age for wearing a helmet in the country. In the Vietnamese alphabet, the letters o and ô often cause confusion, according to Linh and Nha, therefore, the campaign urges children to visualise the circumflex symbol as a helmet to help them remember and keep them safe.
By using typography, the project plays on the similarity between the circumflex in the Vietnamese letter “ô” and a helmet.
“A lesson every Vietnamese is taught when learning the alphabet is that ‘o' doesn't put on a helmet, ‘ô' always puts on a helmet,” RMIT student Nguyen Khac Hai Linh explained.
“Our campaign leaves parents and children with a message: putting on a helmet like "ô" could make a big difference.”
According to Linh, her group brainstormed ideas on an A3 pad and started with a one-line brief in the middle. However, for D&AD, they put the flag of Vietnam in the centre of each page to remind themselves to put the Vietnamese people at the heart of their work.
Meanwhile, Quynh said the biggest reward was not the Pencils, but was when a father of three came and told them he bought his children each a helmet after seeing their work.
“Nothing brings more joy than knowing your work makes an impact on someone’s life”, Quynh said./.
Linh and Quynh plan to set up a website to promote interaction with parents. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 
