If you hear something, free something
campaign creative direction for a public art project
by arist Chloe Bass
installed across the mta system

curated by diya vij for creative time

with MTA Arts $ Design

photography by ally caple


Campaign displayed on a jumbo screen at the exterior entrance to the Fulton Transit hub

I was commissioned by Diya Vij at Creative Time to create the campaign and identity for If you hear something, free something, an ambitous sonic intervention in the MTA’s massive system of public address by artist Chloe Bass. 

Live performance in the Occulus at Fulton Street

The work centers around several questions:

What do we hear when we ride public transportation?
Who is speaking to us?
What are we being asked to do?

The challenge was in making the voice distinct from the dominant cadences of MTA language: the seduction of ad-space and the authoritative tone of public address.

Furthermore, to do with respect for the project ethos—to subvert the instructive tone of public address with a softer suggestion that might disarm or momentarily break from growing feelings of fear and distrust—offering moments of surprise, reflection, levity, and connection.

Spontaneous moment with a Child in Flushing, Queens Spontaneous moment with a Bronx resident

In an initial meeting Chloe gave me direction that went something like “what would it be like to feel held by a very loud sound.” I’m not sure if I acheived this, or if graphic design can, but I did eventually find a way to inhabit the ethos of the project.

It became clear at some point that the tools I was using were not capable of producing the results I needed. In other words my formal training had become a hinderance so I moved away from it. Somewhere between chance and necesity I began inviting other people—anyone, really—to participate in creating the look and feel of the campaign.

Somewhere in the Bronx Fulton St, Manhattan Fulton Street, Manhattan Spontaneous moment with MTA worker at Fulton Street, Manhattan Fulton St, Manhattan Somewhere underground Near the Staten Island Ferry Outside the Occulus Chambers Street, Manhattan Near Chambers St, Manhattan The Bronx Spontaneous moment with a Bronx resident The Bronx Flushing, Queens Somewhere underground… Bus depot in Flushing, Queens Lorimer, BK Lorimer, BK

The resulting images feature hand-held signs written in black sharpie on bond paper made by regular people, then inserted into the image by the hands of whoever was available and willing on site while shooting with photographer Ally Caple.

This gesture works on multiple levels. It refers to Chloe’s previous work, distributes visual choices more democratically, breaks the “4th wall” by bringing the public into the frame, and highlights the site specificity of the work.

Grafiti in Union Square, Manhattan Somewhere in Midtown Manhattan Court Square in Brooklyn Lorimer in Brooklyn Lafyette Ave in Brooklyn Somewhere in lower Manhattan Union Square, Manhattan Atlantic Ave / Barclays in Brooklyn

Posters (in seven languages) were (rather ad-hokishly) placed in every station where the project was installed. The design system uses a medium weight of Neue Haas Grotesk, the MTA’s official typeface, to frame the campaign imagery, providing nothing more than what is necessary to communicate.

Project manager Amy Pekal installs poster Another poster installed at the Atlantic Terminal

There was also a live performance in Fulton Station, which featured all of the voice actors Chloe worked with for the project.

Jeremy Toussant-Baptiste performs his portion of the script
The project occupied over 50 screens, including the project title scrolling in seven different languages.

Project title in English, Arabic, Spanish, Haitian Kreyòl, Mandarin, Bangla

After the performance, the campaign still occupied the screens for several minutes at the top of every hour for the entire month.


Including a massive Jumbotron screen.


One of my favorite parts of the project was the inclusion of ASL interpreters on the screens throughout the system.


These were preceded by title cards that named the theme of the announcement and incorporated more of the campaign imagery.

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