+ City of LA Emergency Management
Design That Reaches Before Disaster Strikes
Our roles
Overview
Pastilla partnered with the City of Los Angeles’ Emergency Management Department (EMD) to develop a multilingual, equity-focused preparedness campaign. Just weeks after launch, the Palisades and Eaton fires broke out—underscoring the urgency of the work and reminding us why design that reaches vulnerable communities matters.
THE CHALLENGE: EMPOWERING LA’S MOST VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES
Our goal was to reach Angelenos too often overlooked by traditional emergency outreach—low-income households, older adults, people with disabilities, and residents with limited literacy or internet access. The challenge: Make preparedness feel possible using low-cost strategies, clear visuals, and messaging shaped by real community insight.
INSIGHT-DRIVEN, HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN
We started by listening—interviewing 18 EMD staff who work directly with neighborhoods across Los Angeles. They shared what gets in the way: the high cost of emergency kits, limited offline engagement, and fear-based messaging that often alienates rather than empowers.
What resonated? Storytelling that feels human. Visuals that show, not tell. Design that meets people where they are and makes it easier to start small and stay safe.
To overcome literacy barriers and support faster comprehension, we leaned on visual storytelling and minimal copy.
EQUIPPING COMMUNITIES WITH TOOLS THAT INFORM AND EMPOWER
We designed a high-impact visual system and flexible toolkit rooted in accessibility and empathy:
Campaign Guidelines & Toolkits: A central resource for designers, marketers, and community partners to keep messaging consistent—while adapting to evolving needs.
Illustration-Driven Assets: To overcome literacy barriers and support faster comprehension, we leaned on visual storytelling and minimal copy.
Multilingual Templates: Available in English, Spanish, and Korean, these assets made critical information more accessible citywide.
Engaging Outreach Toolkit: We developed a suite of 162 community outreach materials—flyers, posters, prep kits, and more—designed for visibility, ease of use, and adaptability by local partners.
STRATEGIC MEDIA EXECUTION: MEETING PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE
To reach residents without digital access, we built a street-level media strategy grounded in daily life and local context:
Out-of-Home (OOH) Billboards: 11 placements delivered 16.6M impressions—including 9.4M in Spanish.
Laundromat Posters: 23 locations brought preparedness messages to informal community hubs, generating 427K impressions.
Direct Mail: Materials were sent to targeted zip codes, outperforming expectations by 39%.
Bus Shelter Ads: 30 placements (15 English, 15 Spanish) added 18.1M impressions and extended campaign visibility.
The campaign outperformed expectations by 22%, delivering more than 35 million impressions.
+REAL RESULTS:
OVERDELIVERY AND ONGOING IMPACT
Outperformed expectations by 22%
Thanks to community-informed creative and smart media placement
35M+ total impressions
A powerful reach across Los Angeles through multilingual, street-level outreach
566% year-over-year traffic increase
Website visits to ready.lacity.gov surged—proving the campaign sparked real action
Direct Mail Outperformed by 39%
Targeted mailers sent to specific ZIP codes exceeded performance expectations, reinforcing the power of localized, low-tech outreach.
What This Work Taught Us
Launching this campaign just weeks before two major fires reminded us that design can’t wait for crisis—it must be ready for it. The experience reshaped how we think about preparedness, recovery, and the role of design in public safety. To us, this is where meaningful design begins—and continues.
