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INUVIK
Loner, fat, girly, freak, wussy. The words jump out from the youth-designed anti-bullying posters.

Maia Lepage, left, Danny Kaye and Joseph Kaye examine one of the point-and-shoot digital cameras they used to photograph images for the posters. - photo courtesy of Maia Lepage

They're strong images.

Pierced lips with "words hurt," tattooed across them.

A kid being kicked at the skate park while someone else just stands idly by.

The five posters are the work of six weeks' worth of dedication by four Inuvik youth.

The anti-bullying campaign should hopefully be hitting the streets of Inuvik this fall.

Danny Kole Joseph Kaye, Angel Kalinek and Farrell Pope spent six weeks of the summer figuring out everything from concept to accompanying art and photographs.

Professional photographer and graphic designer Maia Lepage was one of the facilitators working with the youth throughout the summer.

"It was going to be completely youth driven," said Lepage, who works on Tusaayaksat, a news and culture magazine, and is also involved with the Not Us campaign.

"Jimmy Ruttan and I were the main facilitators and we worked in kind with the kids."

This poster was designed by Danny Kaye.

Meeting twice a week, Lepage and Ruttan saw the group's ideas develop from basic sketches to professionally-designed posters that will hopefully soon be displayed around town and in the school.

"The way the posters turned out blew my mind," said Lepage.

"I made them sketch everything out first before taking pictures."

To save funds, Lepage used her own computer and software.

"We paid each of the participants, but (Ruttan) and I worked for free," she said.

The program was given about $12, 000 in funding.

Lepage said there might be a followup program and a way to incorporate it into school programming, but it might not necessarily involve the same participants.

Lepage said there was a definite progression in the way the kids worked, although she admitted sometimes it was hard knowing that it was still summer and everyone was on vacation or playing outside.

"They had to apply and go through an interview process before they were accepted," said Lepage.

While nothing is finalized yet, the group wants to showcase the posters around town and in the school. They may even present their work at an anti-bullying conference at Aurora College in November.

"I think some of them were really impressed with what they learned," said Lepage.

"They picked it up so quickly and there were a couple that seemed really interested in knowing more about graphic design."

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