The Voice of Drought

Background

São Paulo was facing the biggest drought in its history and city’s main source of water had reached its lowest level ever, compromising the supply of water to 9 million people.

The rains had stopped and the waste went on. Only one voice could raise everyone’s awareness: the voice of the drought.

Idea

Pictures were taken of the cracked soil at the bottom of the Cantareira System. Each picture was analyzed in detail, looking for patterns. Then, the patterns from the ground punished by the lack of water were transformed in a typeface. That's how the voice to the earth became Cantareira.ttf.

The typeface could be used to share messages about conscious use of water and environmental issues. On the website: www.avozdaseca.org.br people could tweet using the typeface, download it and get involved in the reality of the Cantareira System.

Results

Launched on the World Water Day, March 22^nd. The Voice of the Drought was spread through Twitter and #avozdaseca made it to the social media. São Paulo newspapers used Cantareira.ttf in articles about the lack of water, to make the voice even louder. The typeface entered the playing field on the jersey of Corinthians, the country’s largest football team. The names of the players were written with the voice and they carried a banner inviting people to know the project. While the cameras were chasing some of the greatest players in the country, the crowned all over Brazil saw their names in an unique typeface and knew that now the drought has its own voice.

The numbers exceeded Akatu’s best shot:

• Live Audience: 3,300,000
• Tweets Range: 14,363,958
• Facebook Likes: 53,357