Write A Creative Letter
Many companies and organizations do not use logos, advertisements, banners, posters, or other images to sell their products or promote their services. Spark your imagination and create an original logo, advertisement, banner, poster, or other visual image using your artistic skills and persuade a company or organization to adopt your image. In your letter, analyze your image’s shape, symbolism, position, composition, context, and so forth. Specific ideas include the following:
Art: Create an original work of art that represents your concern relative to a social issue. Persuade a museum, club, show, college, church, or community organization to feature your work in an upcoming exhibit or publish your work online or at a specific location. For example, one of my students created a graphic image of two hands clasping, one belonging to a Black American and one belonging to a White American. My student persuaded a local chapter of Black Lives Matter to print her image on their posters.
Business Logo or Ad: Locate a business in your neighborhood that does not display a logo on its website, storefront, clothing, or other place. Create a logo or an advertisement for that business. In your letter, persuade the owner to adopt your image. For example, one of my students created an tool company’s logo by spelling the company name with images of a hammer and a screwdriver. The owner loved it!
Charity Logo or Ad: Create a logo, advertisement, or image in behalf of a charity in your neighborhood. Examples include an animal shelter, food pantry, community garden, homeless shelter, a learning center, and other local charity. For example, one of my students created an image of a dog chasing its tail for an upcoming adoption campaign and wrote a persuasive letter to the rescue’s owner. Another student created a poster as a Public Service Announcement (PSA) on bullying and wrote a letter to North Lake College’s student government.
Non-profit Ad or Poster: Create a logo, advertisement, poster, or banner for your church or club. For example, one of my Catholic students created a logo of a dove with wings for his local congregation, and one of my Baptist students created a poster for an upcoming blood-drive. Both students wrote persuasive letters to their clergy.
Topic Warning
Many companies and organizations have corrected or resolved cases involving harmful propaganda. Sending a letter to one of these companies will be silly, so do not write a letter to the following companies and organizations:
• Sports teams using Native American images, mascots, and logos
• Dove Soap company’s discrimination against Black Americans
• Makeup companies who do not offer various shades of base
• The Kellogg’s Company’s use of racial profiling on cereal boxes
• Victoria Secret’s lack of plus-size models
• Carl’s Jr. restaurant’s use of sexual imagery in their ads
• Cities or states that have already removed civil war statues and sculptures
• Land O’ Lakes butter for discrimination against Native Americans
