Memory Loss Is Stunningly Visualized In Series Of Puzzling Posters

Everyone has had their memory falter now and then, but these lapses can’t compare to having to connect the dots every day.

Advertising agency BBDO Germany created a series of visuals encapsulating the experience of a person with Alzheimer’s disease through jigsaw puzzles. The posters, which were released in 2018 and even won awards, are once again being jogged into the consciousness of the creative world.

The poignant graphics, designed for the Alzheimer Forschung Initiative in Germany, imagine loved ones in the eyes of an Alzheimer’s patient. On the whole, you can somewhat piece their blurry faces together, but the mismatched parts—representing an eroding memory—elicit a sense of panic that you may no longer be able to do so one day.

BBDO Germany explained then that “facial recognition and memories fade” as the cognitive disability progresses. The process can leave patients isolated and lonely, creating dissonance in their relationships, as well. “Cherished relationships become an unsolvable puzzle made up of shuffled memories that fade away piece by piece,” the agency elaborated.

In a follow-up to the campaign this year, BBDO Germany rolled out a stirring film that puts the viewer in the shoes of a woman with Alzheimer’s. The Glitch envisions her life with glitches and bizarre time jumps, giving audiences a sense of the memory gaps a patient often has to endure.

[via BBDO Germany]