Given the sensitivity of the topic, a thorough research process was absolutely essential in the development of this campaign. We engaged with council and OPFCC stakeholders, and with local support groups that work with victims of sexual harassment and assault.

We held interviews and created surveys for stakeholders to give us a clear idea of how to address the issue. We also conducted research into previous campaigns  VAWG and night safety from the local area, nationally, and globally.

From this research, we came up with the It Only Takes One concept. The IOTO concept centred on several core tenets:

• Avoid targeting just potential perpetrators, placing a similar emphasis on influencing the behaviour of bystanders.
• While most victims are women and most perpetrators are men, IOTO mustn’t create a ‘men vs women’ narrative.
• Messaging should be simple enough that anyone can understand and engage with it.
• Target a community-wide change in mentality, encouraging members of the community to look after one another.

With these tenets laid out and our research in-hand, we began creating visual concepts for the campaign. Below are a few of the ideas we came up with.

Through experimentation and audience research, we decided that a bold and punchy block typeface would be the most effective route. We chose this both to convey the seriousness of the messaging and for practical reasons, as block fonts would improve night-time legibility. 

We followed the short, eye-catching block messaging with body copy that reinforced and explained the topic further.

We established a line drawing style and colour palette to tie all campaign assets together.

Campaign deliverables for It Only Takes One included videos for use on social media. These videos combined the messaging from the digital and print assets with an illustrated style and filmed actors.

The illustrative style was kept minimalist to keep the focus on the audio and create a somewhat lonely, dystopian experience. Illustration used our established campaign colours and line drawing style. The design of the streets themselves is based on actual Northamptonshire streets, particularly those where people often congregate at night.

We created several animations to sit at the heart of the social media portion of the campaign. The animations put the viewer in the shoes of a woman being harassed as they walk down an illustrated street. Signature campaign messaging appears on the walls as they pass darkened alleys.

An animated line guides the viewer’s eye through the animation, helping them understand where to look and what to read. At the end of the street, this line traces the outline of a person, and then transforms into an actor who delivers core campaign messaging straight to camera.

We created versions featuring one woman, one man, and both together. The actors were filmed on-site at our very own film and photography studio, with filming taking place over one day.

We chose actors and voice actors local to Northampton, ensuring that everyone involved had an investment in seeing the campaign be a success.