Monday, October 3, 2011

social concern #2

Social Concern;

One of the things I noticed when looking over social concern posters was that they often rely upon images and symbols that we recognize and are familiar with, they then twist those images to mean something else, to bring awareness. You want to cause the viewer to question what you have said, to make them think about it carefully and then be driven to action.

There are a number of ways one can go about bringing awareness to their cause. It can be through shock factor, humour, powerful photographs, or even through offending others (though this is not always the best approach, and must be thought through carefully).

Another this is that you must make sure that you really fully understand what you are representing, that means knowing more than the surface level and taking the time to figure out what the arguments for your concern are and also the arguments of those who may oppose what you are trying to bring awareness to. Further, it is also always important to have a clear idea of who your audience is, who are you trying to reach because that can greatly impact the design and style of your poster.

The posters I have chosen as examples this time use everyday objects and stuff we see all the time to bring awareness to bring about social concern. I really like the first poster which uses the baggage tag for luggage to remind us how human trafficking. The second one is an international advertisement for concerns over fast food and the negative impact it can have upon your health. And the final one against uses a piano without its black keys to grab our attention and bring awareness to the issue of racism.









8 comments:

  1. p.s sorry for the widow, typographical mistake :( haha

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  2. I really like the first poster because it takes something that I would have never related to slavery and makes it relate. It just clicks and makes sense. I think it's very powerful. I also like the second poster a lot. The first reason that I like it is because it's from Japan and I can read the katakana on the bottom. But I also like it because it takes something that many of us eat quite frequently and shows the reality of it, by making it a weapon. It's so powerful and makes me really think about what I'm putting in my body. The last poster is amazingly powerful. I love how it shows that a piano can't work without both the black and white keys. It's showing that racism makes a society not work. It's so powerful.

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  3. The first poster is SO powerful! Everyone should know what those tags are used for, but putting them in the context of trafficking will absolutely get attention. The second one is probably my favorite of the three because it is so creatively set up. It's always said how bad fast food is for us, but making it so bluntly into a weapon gets the point across. The last one shows that without both keys the piano does not function as well.

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  4. The second poster is very impacting. I completely get the message that fast food can kill you. It makes ketchup and french fries look very unappetizing, which is surprising to me because I love french fries and ketchup. The second poster is very impacting as well. It shows that human trafficking is really not even them as people; they are treated like a bag of luggage. The racism one is very nice too. The piano is very incomplete without the black keys, which creates a lot of significant meaning.

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  5. This first poster I believe is pretty darn smart. It really is effective that they use such a simple object that we normally overlook (but not our wallets) to portray such a powerful image. It's simple, sweet, and to the point. I'm not entirely sure what the deal with the second set of posters is, but I can guess that possibly it's talking about how McDonald's can kill you. I watched that Supersize Me documentary and boy was it scary stuff. I feel like the idea is effective, but something about the layout (as it looks as if this is just one poster) just doesn't seem continuing to me. Maybe if they were side by side it would be more effective? The racism poster is super effective too. At first glance, nothing seems to be missing, but then you look closer and see the real message of the poster.

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  6. The first poster is well done but very simple. It's a simple photograph and it does a very good job of causing the viewer to think about the subject of the poster. I really like the second two posters. I especially like the french fry pistol. It is humorous on the surface level but when you think about it more it has a very powerful message. I also find it interesting that the designer used a red that resembles a McDonald's ad. That's what i thought it was at first when i saw it. I have seen the piano racism one several times and i still really like it. It's powerful and it gets it's point across. I like all of these.

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  7. The first poster shown has a huge visual impact on me. Almost everyone has been to an airport before and has see those tags on their luggage... not bound to the wrists of a child. I believe imagery is key to the success of the poster. The second poster also has a very good concept that it is expressing. It has good imagery that represents something more significant than just the picture and it is very clever! The final poster shown is a very good example using something that we see every day and making it different in some way to convey a very specific message. All posters do an excellent job of revealing different social concerns.

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  8. These posters are all very powerful and have clever ways of getting across commonly known issues, in a way that really gets the attention of the viewer. The one that really strikes me and catches my attention is the racism one. I especially like the fact that it is not just that one single poster. The poster also has another half to it that does the reverse effect. This shows that the racism is not a one-way issue. This is something that is commonly overlooked, but this poster makes very evident. The poster is also something that anyone can look at and relate to. Not everyone can play the piano, but everyone knows what a piano looks like and the imagery in the poster has a strong effect.

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