Studio: Here Design
Team: Art Direction, Kate Marlow, Eleanor Robertson; Design, Connor Davey, Josh Williams, Emma Newnes, Hazel Oguz, Lucy Richards, Xin Ning Mah, Georgia Evangelou; Copy, Paloma van Tol, Katy Pryer; Project Management, Nichole Dean; Marketing, Emily Farbrother
Credits: Photography, Emily Farbrother
Date: 2022
Who do you admire? Who are your heroes? Who might inspire you to change? These are the questions that inmates at HMP Isis were asked by the Design Against Crime Research Centre in July 2022. Aside from their mums and loved ones (heroes, nonetheless), role models from the worlds of music, sport, and design, as well as the likes of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, came up time and time again.
These posters bring that list to life, coupled with rallying words and inspiring thoughts from each, and were displayed across the HMP Isis prison estate, on wings and walkways from October 2022. Of the 650 18–28 year old inmates, 70% are Black Asian and minority ethnic, and though created for Black History Month, these posters seek to provide on-going inspiration, all year round. Linked to the need to see it, to be it, the series hopes to provide something positive to look at and look up to.
Marking the first output of a partnership between HMP Isis, the Design Against Crime Research Centre and design agency, Here, these posters are only the beginning. 2023 will see the launch of Untold magazine created by prisoners and prison staff, as well as various education opportunities and collaborations between DACRC and UAL staff. Lastly, The Bromley Trust will provide a training fund for Black Asian and Ethnic Minority UAL art and design graduates who are interested in passing on their valuable skills and teaching in prison.
‘Starting a dialogue with prisoners is challenging. We want them to see that they are the agents of their own futures. Creative education can allow these young men to discover new narratives and generate their own identity transition to crime free lives. Empathy and creativity learned through projects like this, are crucial tools for their life outside prison.’
—Dr Lorraine Gamman, Professor of Design, Design Against Crime Research Centre
‘Working collaboratively with the prisoners and staff at HMP Isis and the Design Against Crime Research Centre, gave the team at Here a unique understanding of the potential of these posters to positively influence young men’s lives. The design aesthetic is deliberately in tune with the aesthetics of brands the prisoners stated they liked or aspired to, with a touch more empathy and less aggressiveness through the more modern colour palette. The quotes were chosen to reinforce affirmative messages which show the pioneering spirit of the heroes chosen by the prisoners.’
—Kate Marlow, Partner, Here Design
‘Untold is delighted to see the poster collection of the icons chosen by the young men, each of whom has been through challenges to get where they are. The quotes inspire the young men to change their own stories and create new futures for themselves. Seeing them around the prison will remind them that they have the same power as their heroes to choose their paths.’
—Comfort Ayankoya, Development Manager, Untold