Real Northern Ireland (styled as 'Real NI') is a community protest movement concentrating on changing the perception of Northern Ireland as a country of unrest and violence.
This is done through flyposting across the capital city Belfast to attract attention to a website asking users to add the hashtag '#realni' to their photos around the country. Over time the images of the past are covered with images of the present, physically showing the country moving on from its past to something much more progressive.
Initial campaign posters quite literally displaying objects from Northern Ireland's past in a museum setting.
Bold typography is used to catch attention while minimal information, except a web address, is utilised to create intrique.
Absence of the hashtag '#realni' in these initial posters allows the campaign to continually
build when the message becomes clearer as new posters are pasted over these.
Each poster makes reference to a piece of the past, whether it be a molotov cocktail bottle,
an image of a paramilitary member or a newspaper from the day 'peace' was declared.
Using the method of flyposting around the city helps give the campaign a very organic and protest-themed vibe.
When visiting the website users are encourages to add the hashtag #realni to their photos of Northern Ireland.
All photos using #realni are collated onto the homepage of the website. This constantly updates in real time.
Any of the images featured on the website are reincorperated into new posters
that now display the hashtag, building on the previous iterations.
The new iterations are then pasted over the old symbolising the moving on of the public against the themes of the past.
Something that was important in creating this campaign was the way it could be expanded into any city or country
to help get rid of pre concieved ideas. Whether its Syria or Manchester, the central concept
of giving people a platform to shape their own narrative stays the same.
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MYNAMEISROBERT.CO.UK
