Five Points of Life Race Weekend Merchandise

Order 2007 Poster Here

Presenting the 2007 Five Points of Life Promotional Poster.

For the 2007 marathon we did something we’ve never done before at LifeSouth Community Blood Centers – we commissioned a local artist to create special limited edition artwork for our event. Jim Harrison is a home-grown, Gainesville artist whose style is reminiscent of posters/art from the 1930’s.

We gave him background about the Five Points of Life Program and told him about our inaugural run in 2006. And we told him how we’d like to use the artwork (t-shirts, posters and etc,). Other than that, we gave him full reign to do what artists do: create something awesome.

We love what he did. It brings the mission of the Five Points of Life together with the idea of running and speed. It’s iconic. It’s beautiful and if you like his art and want to see more you can visit: www.gainesvillefruitco.com. Click the image for a larger view.

Artists Statement

As a graphic designer, I thrive on challenging myself occasionally -- it keeps me on my toes, pushes me in new directions, keeps me fresh and alert. In the conception, creation and refinement of this design I challenged myself to add a meaningful emotional quality to what would hopefully be a bold, direct and captivating poster.

An approach that evokes WPA-style poster graphics from the early 20th century provided an opportunity to explore some mythological territory that was also popular subject matter for the period. The choice of Mercury-like wings superimposed on an anonymous pair of running feet not only creates a conceptual tie to the marathon, but more importantly serves notice to the aspects of "racing against time" that are common to both the event itself and LifeSouth's mission: Changing and saving lives through donation. Beyond a simple marathon, the time sensitive aspect of LifeSouth's critical work is hopefully reflected for the viewer in this poster.

Every charity event seeks to create some similar atmosphere in their materials in one way or another. Most fall short for a host of reasons. I am pleased and proud to be able to provide LifeSouth with a design that has deep meaning not only for their event and their cause, but emphasizes the value in what they do as an organization on a day-to-day basis.