Critical Daily    Critical practice in graphic design

The creative industry has been significantly affected by coronavirus, with several events and tours being postponed or cancelled. Creative industry is striking back - with multiple designs of face masks. Approaches are broad - there is a variety of forms, materials and techniques. Ecology and awareness is the key.

Local Canadian basics brand Noble Authority’s masks are made from organic cotton and bamboo. Mask with a message wears social distancing Drake reference.

Boutique the Wanderly has teamed up with the Wild Woven Collection, a local brand that makes botanically dyed textile goods. 100-per-cent cotton masks all handmade locally and dyed using natural techniques. For instance, the grey and green masks use marigold, butterfly pea flowers and onion skins. Each mask is $22, and 100 per cent of profits go to the Toronto-based youth-led organization Black Women in Motion.

Also Ai Weiwei helps to raise money for organizations directly involved with combating the coronavirus pandemic. An individual wearing a mask makes a gesture; a society wearing masks combats a deadly virus. And a society that wears masks because of the choices of individuals, rather than because of the directive of authorities, can defy and withstand any force. Hand-printed in the artist’s Berlin studio, the newly released face coverings are sold singularly and in groups of four and twenty. Proceeds will be split equally between Human Rights Watch, Refugees International, and Doctors Without Borders.

Lithuania’s capital Vilnius was hosting an unconventional fashion week to encourage citizens to be creative with the now mandatory face masks amid Covid-19. The ‘Mask Fashion Week’, took place in May claiming “Creativity Cannot be Masked”.

World's media spoted one show at latest Paris Fashion Week proved to be unintentionally timely as models wore a range of outfits complete with matching facemasks. The outfits were shown earlier this week by French designer Marine Serre. The catwalk show took place amid rising concern about the outbreak of coronavirus, which caused markets to fall around the world. But Serre's collection was designed before the outbreak, and she has used facemasks in her collections before. Her previous show in September also saw models cover their faces with veils or facemasks as part of the designer's spring/summer collection.