A creativity & service combo.

It’s 7.15 am. I’m sitting in a taxi in Jakarta’s early morning traffic and I’m ‘macet’.

‘Macet’ is the uniquely descriptive word in Bahasa Indonesia that describes the hectic, and sometimes chaotic and stressful conditions of a local traffic jam.

‘Macet’ could range from absolute gridlock to a snail pace movement on any of Jakarta’s roads. It can regularly happen on major toll roads, freeways, sidestreets, alleyways and for all modes of road transport – car, bike, bus, bajaj, and truck. If you’re ‘macet’ in this city then it could take you from twenty minutes to 2 hours just to cover 2 kilometers.

I look for a distraction from my worries about being delayed in a swarm of motorbikes and I see an advertisement that’s hanging on the back of the passenger seat, directly in front of me. The colorful graphic and the story on the ad grab my attention. I look closer.

It’s for a poster that is visually pleasing, that’s CAS based, and is for a very worthy cause.

This Jakarta Poster Project, designed by British International School CAS students combines the two threads of CAS viz. creativity and service. The poster itself is a montage of Jakarta images and icons– markets, monuments, food stalls, modern office towers, urban kampungs, and there are even hints at the life above street level. There’s a wind borne kite in the national colors, a rooftop tomcat, and a high flying Garuda (plane).

It’s a mosaic of color and culture and when you look closer there are stories within stories. Even the logos of the poster’s major sponsors are cryptically and strategically placed to draw your attention to detail. It’s like a corporate “Where’s Waldo”?

Ironically, the symbol of the national airline carrier that’s pictured could also be a potential major sponsor but it seems to have missed the plane…. I mean boat…in not being highlighted in the side panels as a corporate backer of the project.

Sales of this poster directly support Indonesian kids suffering from cancer and supporting this cause will make a real difference to the lives of kids so much in need of help.

This is very clever and creative CAS project that could be easily imitated and adapted to a school, a city, and a cause close to your heart too.