Reasons for joy

“The smell of a new book” — “Mirosul unei cărți noi” in Romanian

Overview

2020 Reasons for Joy was a campaign run by KissFM, one of the most popular radio stations in Romania. The goal was to spread positivity in a difficult year for many.

The radio station asked its listeners to share their reasons for joy, no matter how small. Different artists and illustrators then illustrated the reasons. Circles Colab, the agency in charge of the campaign, created animated spots and shared them through the KissFM social media channels.

I created hand-lettering for five of the reasons for joy, and also wrote some of them myself. You can find them below, including English translations, and more details about the process.

“My love’s laugh” — “Râsul iubitei mele” in Romanian

“The sound of leaves when I step on them” — “Sunetul frunzelor când le calc” in Romanian

“Fresh bread” — “Pâinea proaspătă” in Romanian

“A bike ride in the forest” — “O tură cu bicicleta prin pădure” in Romanian

Process

I started with two different lettering styles, and I also considered adding illustrative elements. In the end I settled on the simpler, bolder style because the animations would be quite short. Once I was happy with the approach, I drew several versions for each of the texts. The final ones were done in Procreate on an iPad Pro, and tweaked in Adobe Photoshop.

Credits

Working with Arpad Rezi and Adreea Sandu, creative and managing partners at Circles Colab. You can see the final animation in this KissFM Youtube video.