Start thatproject.

Concept,Copywriting,Art direction

Spec campaign for Ottawa Public Library

The problem

Everyone thinks the library lends books. They’re underselling it by one guitar.

Ottawa Public Library also lends cameras, sewing machines and, yes, guitars. Free, with a card most people already have in their wallet.

Meanwhile, half the city has a project they’ve been “definitely starting soon” since 2019. The gear sits on a shelf. So does the project.

So skip the quiet book place, and sell the thing people actually want to do.

Bus shelter poster as a bus blurs past: a young man at a sewing machine. Make that tote bag. We have the machines. Faites ce sac fourre-tout. On a les machines. A hand holds out an Ottawa Public Library card: If it’s out there, it’s in here.

The insight

We’re world-class at excuses.

Cost. Age. Talent. Time. We build elaborate reasons to put off the things we’re genuinely curious about.

Take them away one by one and you’re left alone with the thing you’ve been dodging. Terrifying. Also, the point.

  • “It’s too expensive.”(crossed out)
  • “I’m too old for this.”(crossed out)
  • “I’m not the creative type.”(crossed out)
  • “I don’t have time.”(Okay, we can’t lend you time. Everything else, though.)

The answer

Don’t sell the library. Name the project.

Every execution is a tiny dare, then the permission slip: Do that thing. We have the gear.

The hardest-working word is that. Not a portrait. That portrait. The one you’ve been meaning to take for years. You already know which one.

Billboard on a brick wall: a woman shooting with a big DSLR. Take that portrait. We have the cameras. Prenez ce portrait. On a les appareils. A hand holds out an Ottawa Public Library card.

The details

The library card closes every deal.

Every poster ends the same way: a hand holding out an actual OPL card, printed with the library’s own line, If it’s out there, it’s in here. The whole argument, wallet-sized.

And because this is Ottawa, every dare runs twice, with equal billing. Apprenez cet accord. Same nudge, more accents.

Street poster outside a café: an older woman learning guitar. Learn that chord. We have the guitars. Apprenez cet accord. On a les guitares. A hand holds out an Ottawa Public Library card.
How it talks
Short, encouraging, a little bossy. Like a friend who’s done hearing about the tote bag.
How it looks
People mid-first-attempt, not mid-mastery. Nobody’s a pro yet.
Who it’s for
Any age, any skill level. The guitar doesn’t check ID.

From quiet book place to the place that says yes.

The barrier was never really the gear. This campaign doesn’t sell library services, it sells permission: no credit card, no judgement, no excuses. Just a library card and the thing you’ve been meaning to try.

Spec work: Ottawa Public Library didn’t ask. Consider it on loan.

P.S. This was made before OPL’s brand refresh, so the logo’s a little vintage. Still checks out, though.