An art book examining why humans across all civilizations place guardian creatures at their boundaries to protect them.

Beware

Publication

Beware is a cultural investigation examining why humans across all civilizations place guardian creatures at boundaries to mark territory and deter threats.

Scope:

Brand Identity
Art Direction

Conceptualization

Publication Design

Layout

Image Selection

Advertising

CHALLENGE

Guardian creatures surround us daily, from garden gnomes to gargoyles, yet most people never question why they exist or what they reveal about human behavior.

INSIGHT

People treat ancient temple guardians as sacred art and garden gnomes as tacky kitsch, failing to recognize they serve identical functions separated only by time and class. Our territorial anxieties about property, safety, and the other remain invisible until materialized in the creatures we station at our edges. Once readers learn to identify guardian patterns, they cannot unsee them, transforming every threshold into evidence of universal human territorial behavior.

ANSWER

The book organizes guardians by type (paired sentinels, grotesques, folk protectors, threshold objects) rather than chronology or geography, making formal and functional patterns immediately apparent. Stone texture throughout the design echoes the materiality of carved guardians while adding depth to photographic spreads. The accompanying guerrilla ad campaign places provocative posters on actual guardian creatures, using their voices to challenge passersby and driving discovery.

Advertising

Description
This guerilla advertising campaign reveals hiding in plain sight by placing posters on or near guardian creatures in popular environments. Each ad uses the guardians own voice to challenge passerby who have walked past these watchers for years without second thought. The campaign emphasizes that these creatures have been looking out for you, or watching you, your whole life.

Location

New York, NY
Kamakura, Japan
Al Haram, Egypt

View My Process page for how I created this project!

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