Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Social Concern & Poster Design

The first project that the Graphic Design 2 students will be working on focuses on designing for a ”social concern.” The objective of the project is to teach students  how to develop a social voice through their design work using poster design as a delivery method. By focusing on ‘Content’, ‘Context’, and ‘Concept’, the students will design a poster expressing a social concern close to their heart. Understanding the context of the message is an important part of developing an affective conceptual solution that will connect with the hearts of the viewer. 


Recently, I was looking through the November/December 2009 of Communication Arts magazine. The issue is their Design Annual 50, looking at 50 years of design. I came across a brilliant ‘public service’ anti-war poster campaign for the School of Visual Arts, Art Director: Jeseok Yi (New York, NY) Creative Directors: Frank Anseimo/Alfred S. Park/Richard Wilde, and Writers: Francisco Hui/Willaim Tran. 


This is what the designer said about the campaign:


“We came up with a simple and elegant outdoor poster campaign that focused on the spiraling cycle of war. It reminds viewers that the violence perpetrated abroad will breed the hatred that fuels tomorrow’s violence—what goes around, comes around. To achieve peace, we must end violence…”


The poster campaign relies heavily on the distribution context to communicate the concept successfully. The 100"x60" posters are designed to wrap around  pillars to present the full meaning of the content. When the posters are flat a viewer would see a image; of a man shooting a gun, or throwing a grenade, at some undisclosed target in the distance, but when wrapped around a pillar the target becomes the one actually shooting the gun or throwing the grenade, reinforcing the idea that “what goes around, comes around.”


The designers understood their environmental context and developed a concept that would reinforce the cyclical idea of war. The text on the poster “What goes around, comes around,” is broken up and confusing when flat, but when placed on a pillar, the text comes together to work. The poster is simple, elegant, and convicting. It reaches the heart of the viewer and successfully voices the concerns of the designers.

14 comments:

  1. the main part of these posters that I enjoy is the fact that they were able to get the point across without shoving it in the viewers face. a lot of times when people give their opinions about social issues its super intense and somewhat like an attack, but I dont get that feeling from these posters. its refreshing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Sara. These posters are nice, simple, clean, and are straight to the point without being all up in your face. I think the posters get the point across well. I think it has some positive and negatives in the design. The positive being that from a distance all you would be able to see is part of a picture wrapped around a pole, so it draws the person in closer to see what its all about. However I see this also as a negative because of the fact that from a distance no one knows what it is, so the point doesn't get across. People are usually in a hurry so if they are rushing to meetings, work, school, whatever, they aren't going to stop and take the time to see what it is. I think the poster is a creative and unique idea, but im not sure it serves it purpose completely.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kristen said…

    Social Concern Posters:
    I would like to see more of these "social concern" posters because right now the only message I am receiving from them is an anti-war message or social awareness for the war. I would like to see other social awareness posters on world hunger, crime, racism...etc. I think the message is clearly displayed in this instance, but I'm not too sure how someone would design "what goes around comes around" for world hunger. While America is becoming an obese country, other places around the world are starving. How can the designer integrate that in this design? I DO like these posters, but I think it is only bringing up one social awareness to everyday life. -Kristen Hanko

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I had a different thought process when I first saw this poster. Sure it looks great from this view, but what if we are walking from the other side. Will it not look like a stretched image of an army man? It is great for one side, but why not for the whole 360? The designer is effectively portraying the "coming around' part by wrapping it around a pole, but I am still thinking about the other side of the pole and how off it might look. Just a random thought.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think this poster is an amazing design, yet very simple. When I first saw it, I was really taken back. I think it would be that way for most people, because it is a very real thing to us, and to see the direct affect of the war, it brings it closer to home, and to a reality more than ever. If you look at the poster at any point, you can't help but continue to walk around and view the whole thing. I love the poster, I believe it is very effective in getting their view across.

    ReplyDelete
  7. One thing I'm noticing people are commenting on is the wrap-around effect of the poster - that draw to see the whole thing. What I'm curious about though is how they ran the rest of the campaign. What do you do in a situation where there aren't many ideally placed poles?

    For the grenade poster on a flat wall I could picture moving the thrower to the middle and placing the grenade behind him to imply a wrap. However that's still just a workaround at best.

    Do you happen to know what other artwork they used (or if they even used anything else at all)?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kristen, you said (I DO like these posters, but I think it is only bringing up one social awareness to everyday life.)

    I do not think that these posters were intended to make commentary on anything other than war. And on that subject, i think they did a very good job...

    Very simply and elegantly, they demonstrated the message that violence will only inspire more violence. The beauty of their idea is that the posters themselves do not actually condemn war, but rather they present it in a way that allows you to condemn it yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I like how this poster really has a unique way of delivering it's message. It isn't so much in what it says but in how it says it. There's a lot of posters that do the same thing but this one both separates itself and limits itself (in that it can only be displayed in standard circumference telephone poles). I can see placing itself exclusively in those conditions as a deterrent from reaching the target audience or much of anyone besides some hipsters biking to their loft on their one-speed. But as far as being an effective and well done poster I think it clearly excels.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I think the anti-war posters are brilliant. Their simplicity is so powerful, and the message is very blatantly portrayed without too many words. It's refreshing to see something that is not so in your face. It's a lot more powerful when it's not so invasive. People become defensive when something is thrown at them and they are told what to believe, but if you portray something in a simplistic way, portray a different side of a social issue, then they are much more likely to address the opposing side.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It is easy to agree with the comments of "brilliant" and "simple" and "powerful" because the vision of the campaign and design integrate perfectly. I think that Adam put it well when he said, "The beauty of their idea is that the posters themselves do not actually condemn war, but rather they present it in a way that allows you to condemn it yourself." Arriving at the place where the design pushes the viewer to arrive at the desired conclusion for himself is the core objective of social issue design.

    The only thing that I find problematic with the campaign is the delivery. Mitchell's thoughts lend themselves in a similar direction to my own. The message in the pictures that we have all seen is clear and simple because the photography was straight on. If a passerby on the street saw the poster on a pole at the midsection, for instance, I am highly skeptical that it would translate—at least 60% of the images are abstract/empty. Between that and the overall declined powers of observation Americans, particularly, often seem to have in our "busy", stimulation-addicted culture, the wrap-around delivery seems lacking. As the designer himself said, "The poster campaign relies heavily on the distribution context to communicate the concept successfully." Is it successful? Perhaps one would have to see it in its true context to decide. Nevertheless, the posters are a bold message that are actually being propagated on public street corners. The attempt alone impresses me.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think this is quite clever. We often see posters, especially "social concern" posters, that are just straightforward. They shock us with horrifying pictures, and give us their message. This one actually make me chuckle. Not because this topic is funny in any way, but simply because I really like the way this idea is shown: so subtly, yet perfectly clear.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you Jason for your comments. Your insights are thought provoking.

    ReplyDelete
  14. In my opinion the poster gets the message across, but there is no real impact. The idea is clearly antiseptically transmitted. What would have really made it pop is if the rifle had been fired and the photo captured or was modified to show the bullet leaving the barrel. Showing the bullet in flight would provide tension and action to the piece.

    ReplyDelete