Bunches of illustrated chickens form the word "YUM" on a blood-red background. A familiar sans-serif font in trademarked yellow letters reads, "they’re livin’ it" just beneath.
This allusion to McDonald’s is just one of the posters in an exhibition that took place downtown on Friday, hosted by a group of community designers from a local graphic design and printing company.
The group, neutral7, decided to tackle serious, worldwide issues by bringing awareness to the public through a series of 23 posters.
The exhibition, called "#visualizewhatmatters," took place at Jolie Events, 6 W. University Ave. It was followed by a silent auction, during which guests were able to bid on the posters.
"I don’t think that anyone has done anything like this here in Gainesville," said Albey Coronel, the creative director of the company.
Despite some challenges with time and resources, Coronel said he is pleased about the exhibition’s outcome.
He said 100 percent of proceeds will go to non profits specific to the topics on each poster.
Rick Bales is one of the designers whose art was displayed at the exhibition. His pieces — "Desero," "Yum" and "Unspoken Oppression" — vary in topics from religion, health and politics.
"This is the first show I’ve ever done," he said. "I was surprised. I’ve never seen anything go up so quickly."
Bales managed to find work right after graduating from high school, designing on his own as a freelancer.
"There’s a lot of talent involved. There’s a lot that goes into a piece…collaboration that made this possible," he said.
Multimedia designer Scott Littler was one of the guests who attended the event after hearing about it through Facebook.
"They’re pushing messages you don’t normally see," he said.
Littler said the one thing he likes about Gainesville is that it’s a college town, which allows local artists to flourish and show off their work.
"It’s been kind of an adventure, honestly, putting this show together…I think it’s probably the best work we’ve ever done," Coronel said.
For the next 20 days, neutral7 will release posters daily via social media.
If you didn’t get a chance to check out the show, be sure to follow its Facebook page at facebook.com/neutral7.
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 9/4/2014 under the headline "Locals design posters about world issues, auction them off for charity"]
