We Are HKers - Dare Media | Putting a price tag on publicity: Yell Card as a new form of collective expression

Vivian and her partners founded Dare Media in August 2019. Her team’s project ‘Yell Card’ produces trading cards of protest-related artwork drawn by different designers, promoting the commercialization of political art and graphic designs. Aiming to support designers financially as well as produce trading cards for physical records of the protest movement, the new editions of Yell Card are released monthly and sold in partnering vendors, either individually from card vending machines or in packs.

“Different from digital materials, which can be easily taken down or tampered with, Yell Card is significant in its role as a physical record for publicity materials. Some customers have expressed interest in keeping Yell Cards in a collection album as future storytelling reference to their children.”

— Vivian @ Dare Media

Journalist: Nata

Translator: JHN

Videographer: Silver Wolf, Tina

Video Editor: Jake

Photos: Jenna

From print media to Yell Card

Vivian: Dare Media originally came about as traditional print media—a community magazine for Kwun Tong. However, with the protest movement withering away, along with the pandemic outbreak, we started to think about what else we could do for the society. The birth of the Yellow Economic Circle[*1] propelled us to support fellow protestors and promote yellow shops via publicity.

I specialise in wedding invitations design, so naturally I took notice of the promo materials that flourished during the protest movement. Obviously, whoever designed those materials put a lot of time, effort and money in them, but they have mostly been taken for granted. Some designers even printed out stickers, posters and postcards with money from their own pockets; they put boxes next to their products that accept any amount of donations to help with their expenses, but many often take the product without paying a penny.

With that in mind, I was thinking of practical ways to provide financial support to these designers. I also want to advocate the idea that “publicity should have a price tag,” and preserve these artwork in physical form. Yell Card sprang out from the collective memory of trading card collection for those who grew up in the 80s and 90s. With the first edition released in March 2020, we hope to stir up the trend of card collection again.

Bracing the storms

Vivian: The main thing that makes producing Yell Card difficult is the lack of similar business models. We had to start everything from scratch, and learn from trials and errors, such as switching to selling card in packs when there were issues with card vending machines. More recently, there has been the issue of ‘chok card’[*2] (in which cards are pushed out of the vending machine without paying). 70% of all our machines have had 40% of the total revenue eaten out, most likely by the form of ‘chok card’. We took a risk and publicised the trick, followed by a poll titled “conscience vs. human nature”; the results revealed that Hongkongers do have conscience, and the situation has since improved.

Another major hurdle was a PR disaster. It started out as an internal disagreement between us and a partner designer over profit-split and communication. It got worse when a former employee spread false claims against us. For a while, our project was denounced as “blood diamond”—making profit at the expense of others’ sacrifice. Thankfully, my team was daring enough—they gave their all to resolve the situation, and we got through the tough times together. I think the common goal brings us together: to do whatever we could to support designers with their promo materials.

Partnering with designers

Vivian: Because of Yell Card, we were able to connect with designers and illustrators of all ages, from teenagers to those in their 50s. We want to be the bridge or platform between designers and customers, and we want designers to find ways to earn more, such as matching them up with partnering shops for shop logo designs or menu designs. More importantly, the platform allows designers to connect with each other. It has been a joy seeing designers go from strangers to friends, set up booths in markets together, find others with the same passion while promoting themselves in these circles. Dark Calligrapher is one of our Yell Card designers, he is a full-time calligrapher who specialises in handwritten calligraphy.

Dark Calligrapher: At the beginning, I joined this project by invitation from a friend. I thought the idea of Yell Card was quite interesting, as collecting trading cards was also a part of my childhood memory. Personally, my design products are rarely in printed forms; I have seen protest-related materials printed out and distributed by people paying out of their pockets. However, I do believe that there is a ‘price in publicity.’ Regardless of the profit, empowering fellow protesters/designers to continue with their work is the central idea of the Yell Card project.

I’ve met designers with diverse specialities through this project: (from traditional Chinese to modern western) calligraphies; hand-drawn or digital illustrations. I’m very honoured to have collaborated with artists I admire, like WordWideWorkshop, who is very talented in drawing Japanese tokusatsu anime characters. We designed the first crossover Yell Card, which is definitely worth collecting. With the project expanding to new products such as cards foiled in gold, combo cards, even cards with metallic and fluorescent effects, we as designers have also grown alongside Dare Media.

Favourite Yell Cards

Vivian: My favourite Yell Card is from the first edition of Yell Card 2.0. This rare card has a metallic effect and is not made from the usual material. On top of that, there is also a hidden story in the artwork: the original illustration shows a girl holding a glass bottle of ‘fire magic[*3]. But due to the passing of the National Security Law, the artist had to change the object to a water bottle with the iconic “add oil, Hong Kong” slogan.

Dark Calligrapher: In every edition of Yell Card, I provide four to five designs, one of which would be foil stamped. I heard that the most popular design is the replica of an MTR ticket. On the ticket it says, “To take or not take the MTR? Only if you’re sure you can escape.” I was inspired by the Prince Edward MTR incident on 31 August, which was when we suddenly realised that the transport we’ve used for years could become so dangerous.

For me, to create is to make creative products. Sometimes with a positive vibe or dark humour, I hope my illustrations and designs could comfort others, so that they know that somebody cares--they are not alone.

Partnering with businesses

Vivian: In the beginning, the format of our partnership with businesses was setting up a card vending machine in the participating shop with Dare Media taking responsibility should a loss be incurred, since we knew that businesses were already struggling under the pandemic. We aim at increasing their customer traffic, but that became increasingly less effective as the number of participating shops grew. After collecting feedback, we found that businesses would also like to profit directly from Yell Card. Therefore, we started to sell Yell Cards to businesses at wholesale price, allowing them to run their own card vending machines while we cover the cost of any unsold cards. Apart from eateries, our partnering businesses also include other types of yellow shops that are sometimes located on the upper floors of buildings. These are not often frequented or are even unknown to the majority of people, and we hope to make them known through this project.

Dark Calligrapher: Now and again, I visit shops that are participating in Yell Card. Sometimes, there would be people who had coincidentally drawn cards that I designed, and I would sign them. It always makes both sides happy and appreciate each other more as fellow protestors. Yell Card has been a great project for designers: it not only brings extra income, but also provides us with more opportunities to interact with customers and businesses.

Publicity is indispensable in protest

Vivian: Dare Media is probably the first company in Hong Kong to have protest-related materials as its dominant focus. I believe publicity is a crucial element in the protest movement, it is another form of resistance, as it diversifies the movement and spreads it to every corner. An eye-catching poster or illustration can effectively deliver important messages and reminders, record every single event that occured, and continuously remind Hongkongers to never forget.

As promotional material in physical form, the significance of Yell Card is its role as a physical record, which is unlike digital materials that can be easily hidden or tampered with. Some customers have shared that they would like to collect and preserve their Yell Cards in a booklet, so that in the future, they can tell their children about the events in Hong Kong through the cards.

Dark Calligrapher: Creating publicity materials is a way to speak out for justice and other values that we are defending. Every person in the protest movement has their own role; as someone who does illustration, calligraphy and design, creating publicity materials is my way of contributing and showing appreciation to those on the frontlines, to journalists and healthcare professionals.

Sometimes when walking down the street, I see Yell Cards on the window of cars. I would be very touched, since we designed these cards because we want to spread certain beliefs. And to see that there are people who, after seeing our cards, take a step further to pass on these beliefs shows that they can be spread and will take root in people’s hearts.

Vivian: The future goal is to expand Yell Card to the international market. Currently, we already have partners in Taiwan, and we hope to find opportunities to grow in Europe and North America. Though at the present stage, our focus is on promoting Dare Media. Lastly, I hope Yell Card will come to an end someday, since that would mean Hong Kong has been liberated and there is no longer a need for protest-related materials. Until then, we must carry on.

“We are Dare Media. We are HKers. ”

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[*1] Yellow Economic Circle: Made up of ‘yellow shops’ and businesses which support the pro-democracy movement sparked by the Extradition Bill.

[*2]‘chok card’: A trick to draw out an extra card from a card vending machine by slowly turning the knob.

[*3] ‘Fire magic’: Molotov cocktail

【Video】Dare Media | Putting a price tag on publicity: Yell Card as a new form of collective expression