After creating educational materials for hospitals across Europe earlier this year, Spot the Dot is taking a bolder approach this summer. Together with Barcelona-based Branca Studio, the organisation has created the Fuck the Sun bandana and fan to bring skin cancer awareness to festival season.

Following their collaboration at Sonic Blast Festival in Portugal in 2025, Spot the Dot and Branca Studio wanted to create something people would actually wear, use, and talk about on the heavier music events around Europe. More than just festival merch, these items are designed to be conversation starters. The bold message catches people’s attention and opens the door to talking about something that affects more people every year: skin cancer.

The message is simple. Fuck the Sun. Fuck Skin Cancer. Protect your skin by wearing sunscreen, seeking shade, and covering up with protective clothing such as a bandana, cap, or long sleeves. Spot the Dot. Check your skin from head to toe every month. If you notice a new or changing spot, have it checked by your doctor.

Every Fuck the Sun bandana and fan comes with a Spot the Dot information flyer and sticker, helping spread awareness long after the festival is over.

Get yours

→ Order the Fuck the Sun bandana and fan via www.brancastudio.com.

→ In Austria or the Netherlands? Email Spot the Dot to see if we can arrange a local pickup

Why this collaboration?

By purchasing a Fuck the Sun bandana or fan, you’re doing more than buying festival merch. You’re helping start conversations about skin cancer, encouraging people to protect their skin and check it regularly, and supporting future awareness projects. Thank you for your support. Whether you buy a bandana, share this project, or simply remind someone to check their skin, every action helps raise awareness and encourages early detection.

Der Beitrag Spot the Dot x Branca Studio erschien zuerst auf Spot The Dot.

Takket være den fantastiske støtten fra Cosmica og Cliniderm i Norge hjelper vårt gratis, nettleserbaserte læringsspill nå mennesker over hele Norge med å lære seg å kjenne igjen mistenkelige føflekker ved hjelp av ABCDE-regelen, på en enkel, morsom og interaktiv måte.

Er du klar til å teste ferdighetene dine i å sjekke føflekker på norsk, eller på et av de andre åtte språkene? Game on!

Spill nå ➜ www.spotthedot.org/game

Lær ABCDE-metoden for å kjenne igjen hudkreft

Som Dr. Katarina Zak Stangeland sier:

“Sjekk Flekken tilbyr en morsom og engasjerende måte å skape oppmerksomhet rundt malignt melanom på. Gjennom en interaktiv kombinasjon av underholdning og læring blir viktig informasjon lettere å forstå, og enklere å dele videre med andre.”

Dr. Katarina Zak Stangeland er spesialist i dermatologi og venerologi og jobber hos Aleris, Norges største private helseaktør, i Stavanger.

“Som melanompasient vet jeg hvor avgjørende tidlig oppdagelse kan være. Målet mitt er å hjelpe andre med å kjenne igjen mulige faresignaler før det er for sent. Sammen med hudleger utviklet jeg Sjekk Flekken, et gratis nettleserbasert læringsspill som introduserer ABCDE-metoden på en positiv og interaktiv måte.

Men utover det pedagogiske håper jeg også at spillet kan starte samtaler hjemme, blant venner og på skoler. For når flere lærer seg å oppdage forandringer i huden og tør å si fra, øker vi sjansen for å oppdage melanom tidlig, når behandlingen har best effekt.”

Marije Kruis, talsperson for melanompasienter og grunnlegger av Spot the Dot

Takk til Cosmica og Cliniderm for støtten

Cosmica og Cliniderm er ledende hudpleiemerker innen solbeskyttelse i Norge og selges gjennom apotek.

Der Beitrag Spot the Dot i Norge! erschien zuerst auf Spot The Dot.

To raise skin cancer awareness within the surf community, Spot the Dot partnered with California-based Vampire Surf Club on a special awareness project focused on early detection and self skin checks. Surfers spend long hours in intense sun exposure, making skin cancer awareness especially relevant. Together, we developed a compact ABCDE guide for self skin checks, created specifically for the surf community, practical, accessible, and easy to share among surf buddies.

As part of this collaboration, Spot the Dot founder Marije Kruis wrote a personal article for Vampire Surf Club, connecting lived experience with education and prevention.

Read the full article Spot the Dot: A Surfer’s Guide to Skin Cancer Checks, here: 
https://vampiresurfclub.com/blogs/news/spot-the-dot-a-surfer-s-guide-to-skin-cancer-checks

Download the ABCDE guide as a PDF here

More interesting reads:
Cold Water, Warm Advice: a conversation with Dr. Sissy Waschkowski 
Beyond Sunscreen: A Dermatologist’s Guide to Sun Protection for Surfers

This project is part of Spot the Dot’s mission to bring skin cancer awareness into real-life communities and cultures. More to come.

Feature photo by Aljaz Babnik / Vampire Surf Club

Der Beitrag Spot the Dot x Vampire Surf Club erschien zuerst auf Spot The Dot.

When the Music is Loud, the Message Should Be Too?

Sonic Blast is no ordinary beach festival. Its lineup pulses with stoner rock, post-punk, synth, and doom genres known for their raw energy and immersive sound. The visuals are bold, the crowd embraces edge, and the vibe demands an equally fearless approach. Spot the Dot rose to the challenge.

Instead of quiet reminders, the team went all in with a statement impossible to ignore: “Fuck the Sun.” The phrase appeared across merchandise, flyers, stickers, fans, and temporary tattoos. The design wasn’t intended as pure provocation—it was carefully crafted to harmonize with the festival’s aesthetic while driving home an urgent sun-safety message.

The impact was instant. Festivalgoers smiled, sparked conversations, and shared genuine moments of connection over the bold campaign. It wasn’t just about getting attention; it was about delivering life-saving advice in a way that resonated with the environment and its audience.

This campaign is the latest chapter in Spot the Dot’s 10-year journey to raise awareness about skin cancer—through everything from art exhibitions and street murals to educational talks and collaborative, unconventional projects.

The takeaway? Awareness doesn’t always have to whisper. Sometimes, the most powerful messages are the ones shouted over the music. Spot the Dot proves that when you dare to be loud, bold, and a little unexpected, you can make an impact that lasts long after the final encore.

Der Beitrag Awareness at Sonic Blast Festival in Portugal erschien zuerst auf Spot The Dot.

Get Your Temporary Tattoos

We partnered up with the lovely people behind Young & Smitten and made a set of 3 Spot the Dot themed temporary tattoos! We hope these fake tattoos remind you and your loved ones to spot your dots! Even though we hope you love our designs as much as we do they will wear off again after a few days…

You can buy the temporary tattoo in a set of 3 via www.youngandsmitten.com or send us an email via contact@spotthedot.org

Calling All Photographers, Influencers, and Tattoo Studios

We believe in the power of community and storytelling. If you’re a photographer or influencer, we’d love for you to help spread awareness by showcasing our tattoos and sharing their message. Likewise, if you run a tattoo studio, we’d be happy to send you some of these temporary tattoos, along with other giveaways, to help educate your clients on the importance of skin cancer prevention. Why tattoo artists, you ask? Well, who better to champion this cause than those who work intimately with skin every single day? Their keen eye and understanding of skin’s intricacies make them perfect advocates for skin cancer prevention.

More Than Just Ink

These tattoos aren’t just about aesthetics—they’re conversation starters. Whether seen in a tattoo parlor or shared online, they create an opportunity to talk about the importance of early detection and sun safety. After all, who better to highlight the significance of skin health than those who work with skin every day?

Safe to use

The tattoos are printed with a special combination of offset and serigraphy print technology. They are conform with the strict European standard EN 71T3 and all colours and glues are scientifically developed ingredients for the use on skin. As such, they are 100% skin friendly and safe. Read more about our quality standards as well as the ingredients of our temporary tattoos here

Young & Smitten support Spot the Dot

«At Young & Smitten, we’ve been creating temporary tattoos for various purposes for quite some time. But a tattoo as a reminder for regular skin checks? That’s a first! We love that our medium can also be used to raise awareness about health-related topics. After all, healthy skin is the canvas for our creative work. That’s why we’re thrilled to support Marije’s important initiative, which promotes prevention and education in the fight against skin cancer.» – Team Young&Smitten

Together, let’s use creativity to shine a light on melanoma awareness—one tattoo at a time.Spot your dots. Protect your skin. Make a difference.

Der Beitrag Ink to Think: Spot the Dot Temporary Tattoos erschien zuerst auf Spot The Dot.

What Kind of Images Stand Out to You in Health Awareness?

«For me, changing the look of skin cancer awareness is essential. At Spot the Dot I aim to create visuals that break the mold—moving beyond the typical beach scenes of blonde women applying sunscreen and images of doctors in white coats looking at moles. I want bold, memorable images that represent the diversity of people impacted by skin cancer. Showing people of all backgrounds in these campaigns isn’t just refreshing—it’s necessary to truly connect with everyone at risk. Skin cancer does not discriminate.» – Marije, founder of Spot the Dot

Skatedeck made by Gentlemen Skateboards, designed by DeDonLeon

Spot the Dot had developed a limited edition skate deck in 2023 along with a few pieces of merchandise, providing chosen skaters to spread the message of sun safety and skin health within the skating community. Unfortunately these skate decks are currently sold out. If you want to have a piece of merchandising or if you are a skater, photographer or filmmaker who wants to help our cause, you can send an email to contact@spotthedot.org

Photos by Manuel Peric

Der Beitrag Skate against skin cancer erschien zuerst auf Spot The Dot.

Der Beitrag Spot the Dot in Retiro Park erschien zuerst auf Spot The Dot.

SPOT THE DOT & TRAKTOR PRESENT: Before it’s too late

This is a public awareness campaign to raise skin cancer awareness around the globe. Each year millions of people globally are diagnosed with skin cancer. This means you should keep a close eye on your own skin. Remember, when prevention of skin cancer fails it is still highly treatable if detected early. Keep a close eye on changes on your skin and make sure you do a regular skin check with a dermatologist or your general practitioner.

Traktor is a well known Design Agency from Vienna, they approached Spot the Dot because they love the campaign and wanted to contribute to raise skin cancer awareness. Here you see the result of our collaboration. The official launch of this ad took place at the first official Art Against Skin cancer event organized by both Traktor and Spot the Dot.

Launch event

Der Beitrag Before it’s too late erschien zuerst auf Spot The Dot.

We started this new campaign with a group of cyclists and an interesting discussion about what is the right thing to do concerning sun protection and enjoying your sports.  We found out there are still many misconceptions around the topic of skin cancer. This conversation was the motivation that led us to start a sports-related skin cancer awareness campaign which goes beyond cycling…. the campaign «Faster Than Skincancer» was born.

We don’t tell you to stay indoors

«We love nothing more than being outdoors and enjoying the sun, whether cycling, running, surfing, skiing or any other type of outdoor pursuit but we want to ensure that people can experience this joy without problems down the line; I launched the foundation after treatment on melanoma myself so I know the risks very well.» – Marije Kruis, Founder of Spot the Dot

We want you all to keep enjoying sports, indoor and outdoor. Nobody wants to spend the entire summer indoors, and indeed some sunshine, below sunburn level, can be good for us, helping the body to create vitamin D and giving many of us a feeling of general wellbeing as we enjoy outdoor summer activities. However, all too often we over-do our sun exposure which can lead to a range of skin problems, the most serious of which include skin cancer. Too much UV radiation from the sun can damage the genetic material (the DNA) in your skin cells. If enough DNA damage builds up over time, it can cause cells to start growing out of control, which can lead to skin cancer.

We do ask you to spot your dots

We ALL have to keep an eye on changes on our skin. Each year more and more people globally are diagnosed with skin cancer. With early detection, the chance of survival is almost 100%, but a melanoma spreads relatively quickly and survival with metastatic melanoma is very limited.

Regular (self) check of the skin is important, but there is still a lot of ignorance about melanoma and especially among young people. They underestimate the dangers of unprotected sunbathing, getting sunburns while doing sports outside and the use tanning beds. They also often do not realize that the skin damage they now incur increases their chances of melanoma and other forms of skin cancer in later life. Make sure you do a regular skin check with a dermatologist or your general practitioner.

Now go and have a look at our campaign website:

www.fasterthanskincancer.org

Photo by Oliver Toman

Der Beitrag Faster Than Skincancer erschien zuerst auf Spot The Dot.

A collaboration between Clínica Dermatológica Internacional & Spot the Dot

On February 2023 we got to exhibit a series of photographs curated by melanoma patient and founder of the non-profit Spot the Dot, Marije Kruis at the prestigious Clínica Dermatológica Internacional in Madrid, Spain. An exhibition aiming to encourage body positivity and awareness of skin cancer.

Press featuring the exhibition

Vanitas El Confidential
Telva
La Vangardia
Leonoticias
El Independiente
Bee Magazine
Ruber Internacional
Diario de Burgos
Consalud
Salamanca
Time News
El Plural
Nouvelle du Monde
and more…

Visit the exhibition in Madrid

From 24.02.2023- 30.06.2023

9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday * To visit the exposition, please write an email first to exposicion@clinicacdi.com

Location

Clínica Dermatológica Internacional

c/Marqués de Villamagna, 8

28001 Madrid

www.clinicadermatologicainternacional.com

#LoveYourBodyCDI #SpotTheDotCDI #RevisaTusLunares

Credits

A collaboration with Clínica Dermatológica Internacional

Coordination: Frida Muntión / Marije Kruis

Photography / Art direction: Max Manavi-Huber

Analogue photography & film: Marko Mestrovic

Assistant: Valentin Schörghuber

Models by Das Deck

Styling: Sabine Ortlieb

Makeup: Nil Stranzinger

Set Design: Studio Tina Hausmann / Studio Sprosse

Studio: PPM Foto

Thank you

Der Beitrag ‘Love Your Body’ exhibition in Madrid erschien zuerst auf Spot The Dot.