The Turtle

Media
Stickers on proxemical criteria

Description
The city of Lugano re-opened its parks at the end of May following the coronavirus lockdown. Activities began to resume slowly but there was still a necessity to follow safety measures such as maintaining distance. Large yellow signs that have the Italian proverb ‘chi va piano va sano e va lontano’ (he who goes slowly, goes healthy and goes far’ and a black turtle appeared throughout the city. The turtle comes from the Aesop fable ‘ The Tortoise and the Hare’ where the moral of the story was that in order to overcome a stronger opponent it is necessary to go slower in order to preserve haste and longevity. The turtle on these posters is a symbolic reminder for the Ticinese to continue to move, but do so at a good pace to preserve the health of oneself and of the community.

Riapertura dei parchi – “Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano” –  Città di Lugano (2020)
https://www.lugano.ch/news/1-20200515-coronavirus-riapertura-parchi/

Re-Action / Influence 
A red dot was added to the center of this turtle on many of the campaign signs to draw attention to the message and necessity for solidarity. The combination of the intense yellow with the bold typography create a contextual setting and symbolic interaction between the turtle and the red dot that draws a (passive) attention of the audience.

On the Press
The action is also documented by numerous media on the occasion of the introduction of new restrictive rules for the lugano outfall sector. These new rules have extended the surveillance after people have started gathering togheter again after the lockdown. It is well known that Lugano is the city in Switzerland with the least access to the lake. These restrictions have been much contested by the population and bathers. The campaign “Chi va piano va sano e lontano” introduced in order to hope for a return to normality was then witnessed the restrictions that have brought less use of the parks, which is the opposite of what was hoped for.

Corriere del Ticino (5.23,2020) – “Dopo gli assembramenti nuove regole alla foce”
https://www.cdt.ch/ticino/lugano/dopo-gli-assembramenti-nuove-regole-alla-foce-CB2740994

La Regione (5.28.2020) – “Lugano, accesso alla Foce limitato e monitorato”
https://m.laregione.ch/cantone/luganese/1440379/lugano-accesso-alla-foce-limitato-e-monitorato

LiberaTV ( 5.28.2020) – “Assembramenti alla Foce, Lugano corre ai ripari.”
https://www.liberatv.ch/coronavirus/1440386/assembramenti-alla-foce-lugano-corre-ai-ripari-bellinzona-invita-all-uso-della-mascherina-al-mercato-del-sabato

RSI (5.21.2020) – “Torna la voglia di uscire”
https://www.rsi.ch/news/ticino-e-grigioni-e-insubria/Torna-la-voglia-di-uscire-13061409.html

La Regione (8,1,2020) – “Lugano, ritorno allo slowlake”, di Marco Jeitziner
https://www.laregione.ch/ticino7/ticino7/1452570/lugano-ritorno-a-slowlake