The story of The Ink Link begins in the Amazon, where Laure Garancher is working on access to healthcare issues for the WHO. There, campaigns promoting vaccination featuring superheroes fell flat among local populations.
“In the Amazon, there are no cinemas. People had never seen superhero movies, so they had absolutely no idea what we were trying to convey,” says Laure Garancher. “Images are anything but universal, and it became clear that if we wanted to convey important information to people, we had to create it with them and for them.”
For any medium or information, The Ink Link starts by questioning the audiences. This is a bottom-up approach, inspired by the humanities and social sciences.
“We also realized, as projects progressed, that using images and really questioning how the public perceives things also benefited the associations by helping them change their perspective. Indeed, we start with the idea of an association, and by meeting the public, we often find that the need is slightly different,” explains Laure Garancher.
Thus, the association helps actors in social, humanitarian, and environmental projects to reflect on their positioning before creating a message that will be understandable. “Images are not universal, so how can we ensure they are, that they are accurate? And then, how do we create a memorable message, perhaps through emotions?” Laure Garancher continues to ponder.
“Today, it’s not easy because we are in a constant flood of information and emotions. So when an association wants to convey a message, it has to be really original, and we will help them with that. For us, there is a real desire to pass on our knowledge so that associations can take it on themselves,” concludes Laure Garancher.
The Ink Link is soon to celebrate its 10th anniversary, having already completed over 150 projects.
