ABOUT

A campaign that aims to raise awareness of Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS), and help sufferers get diagnosed. It runs across OOH and social and will accompany the release of charity Christmas single.

‘Super Flexible Not Superhuman’ puts a spotlight on the symptoms of EDS, including joint hypermobility and skin hyperextensibility – the two are common to all 13 tissue connectivity disorders under the EDS umbrella.

While a flexible body is often considered a gift, for people with EDS it leads to chronic pains, regular joint dislocation, skin scarring and organ frangibility. EDS is also not as widely known in the medical profession, leading to extended time before diagnosis - averaging 12 years. WMH&I has created a striking campaign to illustrate these experiences.

The campaign, which will include the release of a Christmas charity single, brings to life the reality of what living with EDS really means and the toll it takes on the body. Featuring people suffering from EDS and quotes such as ‘I feel like I’m held together with chewing gum’ and ‘My jaw dislocates every time I yawn’ their bodies are distorted with CGI to dramatise the pain they feel constantly. The image style could be described as “Aphex Twin meets Dove Real Beauty”. These assets direct people towards a website explaining EDS, the symptoms to look out for, and offering advice about how to get health professionals to take your complaint seriously.

The Christmas single will launch with a live choir performance at Piccadilly Circus, supported with projector mapping of the campaign on the surrounding buildings. We also created the Christmas single vinyl sleeve design.

A multitude of partners have collaborated with WMH&I to bring ‘Super Flexible Not Superhuman’ to life –, also on a pro bono basis.

The striking photography is by Kristina Varaksina, whose portraits have appeared in titles including TIME, Harper’s Bazaar and The Guardian. Pop Creative worked on the CGI of the static images, which give the skin its stretched effect using 2D and 3D platforms to replicate the skin texture and give a chewing gum like effect. BRANDED gave up their photography studio to capture the models.

Type foundry Dalton Maag created a bespoke, ultra-stretched cut of its adaptable typeface Widescreen dubbing the cut 'Superflexible'. This typeface was used to create a variety of stretched and flexible logo marks.

The New York team of digital agency Fueled produced the website based on the design by WMH&I. Whilst OOH media is donated by Clear Channel and the projector mapping of the campaign on the buildings surrounding Piccadilly Circus is produced by In Depth.