Researching Dog Stereotypes

Now that I am starting the research stage of my project, I wanted to take a direct look into Dog Stereotypes. Stereotypes are with us wherever we go, and consciously or not, people love to listen to them. They help us to make quick decisions and judgements, even if they are false and unfair. This is very common when talking about dog breeds – all dogs need proper training and a loving owner, but not all dogs recieve this and this is where the stories spread to create stereotypes.

Most dogs have been proven to not be inherently dangerous or aggressive. However, the stereotypes have stuck because of popular genralizations or media exaggerations of attacks aswell as the common stereotypes constantly being showcased in films and TV Shows. Below, I have listed a few of the dog breeds that have be unfairly judged and left with a bad reputation, outlining their stereotypes and truths:

American Bulldog¹

1. Bulldog

The Stereotype: These dogs are ferocious and dangerous

The Truth: Bulldogs make loving – and lovable – pets.

German Shepherd¹

1. German Shepherd

The Stereotype: These dogs are mean and overprotective

The Truth: German Shepherds are smart and steady.

Poodle¹

1. Poodle

The Stereotype: These dogs are skittish, fearful and unintelligent.

The Truth: Poodles don’t like chaotic environments, but they are very intelligent and easy to train.

Chow Chow¹

1. Chow chow

The Stereotype: These dogs are aggressive and have terrible attitudes.

The Truth: Chow chows just act like cats!

Mutts¹

1. Mutts

The Stereotype: These dogs don’t have the same personalities as purebred dogs.

The Truth: Mutts make great pets, just like many kinds of purebread dogs.

Great Dane¹

1. Great Dane

The Stereotype: These dogs are aggressive with other animals.

The Truth: With proper training and socilization, Great Danes are friendly with people and animals alike.

Saint Bernard¹

1. Saint Bernard

The Stereotype: These dogs are dangerous and aggressive.

The Truth: The Saint Bernard is a huge but friendly and affectionate.

Boxer¹

1. Boxer

The Stereotype: These dogs are aggressive and overly energetic.

The Truth: Boxers are smart and loyal, though they’re definitely active dogs.

Siberian Husky¹

1. Siberian Husky

The Stereotype: These dogs are stubborn, aggressive and destructive at home.

The Truth: Huskies raised in the correct environment become loving, loveable dogs.

Chihuahua¹

1. Chihuahua

The Stereotype: These dogs bite and bark like no other, and they are often mean.

The Truth: With proper training, Chihuahuas becone loving but lively pets.

Cocker Spaniel¹

1. Cocker Spaniel

The Stereotype: These dogs are snappy by nature and can’t be trained not to bite.

The Truth: Cocker Spaniels make gentle and happy pets.

Alaskan Malamute¹

1. Alaskan Malamute

The Stereotype: These dogs are aggressive and possessive.

The Truth: Alaskan malamutes just have a lot of energy, but they make loyal and playful pets.

Akita¹

1. Akita

The Stereotype: These dogs are mouthy.

The Truth: They make great pets, with proper training.

Doberman Pinscher¹

1. Doberman Pinscher

The Stereotype: These dogs get aggressive, especially around strangers.

The Truth: Doberman pinschers are loyal and trainable.

Rottweiler¹

1. Rottweiler

The Stereotype: These dogs are aggressive and difficult to control.

The Truth: The Rottweiler has an even temperament and is typically reserved with strangers.

Pit Bull¹

1. Pit Bull

The Stereotype: These dogs are vicious and dangerous thanks to their background in dog fighting.

The Truth: Pit bulls make loving and loyal dogs, and the attack statistics are unreliable.

I have to admit that some of the breeds mentioned above took me by surprise. For example, I wasn’t expecting a Cocker Spaniel, Poodle or Saint Bernard etc to be on the list, but I was thinking that people will most likely judge a Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Staffy), Bullmastiff etc (not that I think they are dangerous Dogs, I’ve actually met a Staffy who only wanted love, cuddles and attention, I just thought these would be the typical stereotypes). However, the list above only focuses on 16 dog breeds, and I am failry certain that there are more than 16 types of dog breeds in the world…

“In the United States alone, the AKC’s dog breed list currently includes 190 dog breeds. Worldwide, the FCI lists 360 officially recognized breeds. These don’t include experimental breeds that have yet to achieve official status. Official lists also don’t include mixed-breed dogs, not even “designer” crossbreeds like the goldendoodle (a cross between a golden retriever and a poodle) or the puggle (a mix of beagle and pug).”

2. How many dog breeds are there?

Some of the most influential stereotype pusher, I have discovered to be is the media and the TV and film industry. These platforms have an enormous public demographic that they reach, and they are very well know for either exaggerating the truth or playing within the stereotype to strengthen the audience’s already made-up mind. I think this is a potential issue I could try and tackle with my project and final piece.

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Sources

1. Cheatsheet. 2021. These dog breeds dont deserve their awful stereotypes. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/these-dog-breeds-dont-deserve-their-awful-stereotypes.html/. [Accessed 31 January 2021].
2. Hill’s Pet Nutrition. 2021. How Many Dog Breeds Are There? | Hill’s Pet. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.hillspet.com/dog-care/behavior-appearance/how-many-dog-breeds-are-there. [Accessed 31 January 2021].

Animal Advertising

Eventhough I have finalised my theme to Dog Stereotypes, and it is very likely that I will also try include a focus on bad dog owners as well as the media influence that follows and supports these stereotypes – please don’t ask me how yet, thats the next hurdle to overcome! I thought it beneficial to look into Animal Advertisements as a whole, by conducting this research I am hoping to find a common ground that all animal advertisements follow, while also looking for inspiration on how I can promote awareness for my own chosen animal theme. My found examples can be seen below:

1. Animals Are Not Clown

• Clear example of the mockery we treat animals with
• Impactful design
• Emotional campaign posters
• Thought provoking designs
• Animals are trapped in cages
• Strong message
  • Don’t support the use of live animals within the circus
  • Animals are not meant to be caged
  • Animals are not meant to be treated as puppets
  • Animals are not a joke
  • Animals are not meant to be on show
    • Wild animals treated poorly and kept locked up
    • Not their true habitat
• Painted clown faces showcases their torture

1. Horrifying vs More Horrifying

• What is scarier? The animal or the lack of the animal?
• Shark in it’s natural habitiat but still in danger
• Yes, a shark is dangerous, but so is an empty sea
• Born predator being hunted by humans
• Sharks help to keep control of the habitat
  • Without Sharks, what would happen to the fish? Over-populate within the sea? Loss of a species?
  • The balance would be lost
    • Circle of life would be lost
• Simple design but very effective
  • Limited use of text
• Thought provoking campaign poster
  • Makes the audience think about how important the animal is
  • Makes the audience think what would happen without them
• Animals aren’t even safe in their natural habitat
  • The shark has a greater right to the ocean than humans do
• Impactful design

1. More Space for the Big Ones

• Thought provoking poster
• The size of the poster acts as the cage for the elephant
  • Clever design style
• Animal put into a compromising position
  • Pain can be seen in the position
  • Unnatural
• Majestic creature is trapped
• Simple design, but very effective
• Emotional poster
• Strong message
  • Care for all animals, no matter the size
  • Elephant’s need to be protected at all costs
• Design plays on the audience’s compassion for the animal for donations
• Image of the elephant is the centre of attention
  • Very little text to draw the audiences attention away
• Detailed poster design
  • Feels as if the elephant is looking directly at the audience
  • The elephant looks like it is in great pain

1. Stop the Abuse

• Poster is very effective at making the audience take a double look
  • Image focuses on a football goal in a field
    • Can you spot the dog?
    • What abuse do we need stop?
• Thought provoking poster
• Dalmation is in the position and place of a football
  • Hidden design element
    • Very creative
  • Dog is seen in a ‘fetal’ position
    • Highlight abuse
    • Implies the dog has had to deal with this more than once
    • Dog is shown as scared and alone
      • Abuse and abandonment?
• Impactful design
• Dog is shown as an object to kick
  • Not the truth – this is the abuse asked to stop
• Very simple design
• Text and logo is placed within a belt
  • A tool used for abuse on dogs
    • A thought provoking design choice
• Text is kept to the corner, nothing to interupt the design and message
• Strong message shown in a simple manner
  • Stop abusing dogs
  • Dogs do not deserve to be attacked, you chose the dog so love and respect the animal
• The sky background is very powerful
  • Implies a negative environment for the animal

1. Last Meal

• A very emotional poster design
• No animal seen on the design, only the food for the animal
  • Strong image shown due to the lack of the animal
• Plain background used to enhance the food
• Simple text to explain to the audience what this design is for
• Thought provoking design
  • Who is ‘Rufu’? Why is this his last meal?
• Poster is trying to highlight the importance of adopting a dog
• Design implies the dog is on ‘death row’
  • Last meal holds connotations of the dog being put down
• The dog is treated as a human
  • People on death row are also treated to a last mean (as shown on TV and films)
  • The only difference is the character on the TV show/film did something to warrant the death penalty
    • What did this dog do? Fail to find a loving family
• Impactful design
  • Intended to pull on the audience’s heart strings
• Emotional is the intended response, the poster wishes to try and get people to understand the importance of a shelter pet rather than a privately bought pet
  • Save lives by supporting an abandoned and mistreated animal

1. WWF : Sewing Patterns

• Impactful design
  • Animal is seen to be in its natural habitat, but the hunter is thinking of what the pelt could be sold for when killed
• Majestic animal reduced to a sewing pattern
• Poster is trying to get the audience to recognise that ‘fur is murder’
• Animal is killed for a person’s enjoyment of a new jacket
• Thought provoking poster design
  • What can we do to stop this?
  • Why does this need to happen?
• Emotional campaign poster
• Sewing pattern is placed over the animal, a clear example of what is expected to become of this leopard
• Text is incorporated into the sewing pattern
  • Ensures the audience is truly looking at the poster
• Simple design but very effective

1. Same Dog, Different Owner

• A contrast of the same dog in a different environment
  • Clear example of the benefits of a good dog owner
• Strong message
  • Focuses on the importance of rescuing an animal
• Simple design, but very effective
  • Images are represented as images
    • Strengthens the impression that it is a true story
• Limited text, but a strong caption
  • “Same dog, different owner.“
• Emotional design
  • Intended to draw attention to the audience’s feelings
• Thought provoking poster campaign
  • What can I do to help this situation?
• Focuses the blame on the owner of the dog, not the dog itself

1. Plastic Bags Kill

• Very powerful design
  • Strong campaign that uses audience involvement/engagement
• Strong message
  • Person’s hand is seen to wrap around the animals neck
    • Implies the disadvantages animals have from the humans grasp on trying to take control of their natural habitat
    • Implies that humans have a hand in killing the animals/species
• Also highlights a secondary message – “Plastic bags kill”
  • Raises awareness for the ocean pollution
• Design is very effective when seen on the streets
• Thought provoking design
  • People recoil from the image of the hand hurting the animal
• Emotional campaign
• Impactful design
  • Very strong and compelling
  • Makes people think about their actions and use of plastic
• Highlights the importance of remembering to bring a ‘bag for life’
• Trying to reduce our plastic consumption
  • Where does the plastic go when we no longer need it?

1. What on Earth are we doing to our planet?

• Effective yet simple design
• Captures the animal in its true habitat, plays on the animals action
  • Lion is seen to be covering his eyes
  • Even the lion is upset with our actions
• Highlights the importance that all our actions have consequesnces
  • Why do the animals have to deal with the consequesnces?
• Powerful design
• Impactful design
• Emotional design
• Limited use of text
  • Focuses on a rhetorical question
    • Is the viewer meant to have the answer?
    • Makes the audience think about their contribution
      • Is is positive or negative?
• Lion is seen to take up the whole poster design
  • Makes the animal centre of attention for the audience
    • A powerful design move

All of the advertisements above focus on an impactful design style, used to make the audience think about their actions and focus on the emotion they are currently feeling when looking at the design. I for one can say that the designs I have looked into are very raw and emotional, having to really look into them was difficult, but it also made me understand the importance of using emotion as a powerful campaign tool – which is something I could potentially bring into play with my own designs. While some of these designs focus on animals in a broader sense, I can still learn something from these advertisements and I can try and use what I have learnt in my own project – I want to make sure that my project focusing on dog stereotypes acheives a similar sense of raw emotion and thought provoking elements seen above. I want to make sure that I educate the audience on the effects people, media and the film industry have on our pets, I want to do the dogs justice as they have no voice to do it themselves…

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Sources

1. Bored Panda. 2021. 33 Powerful Animal Advertisement Examples That Tells The Uncomfortable Truth | Bored Panda. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.boredpanda.com/powerful-animal-ads/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic. [Accessed 30 January 2021].

Creative Conscience Brief

This brief is different to the normal briefs I normally analyse for a project. For starters, this brief is instead issed by the Creative Conscience competition, but as I am expected to follow this brief, I will analyse it as I would any another brief. From the analysis I hope to gain a clear understanding of what this brief expects from me for my completed design. My analysis can be seen below:

For my project, I have decided to follow the Open Brief. Which allows me to select my own overall theme, which means my final piece will hold a clear connection to what I select. I remember that I also selected this brief for last years Creative Conscience competition, and from what I remember this brief is quite vague and doesn’t give much away of what is expected…

The Open Brief’s challenge is quite loose, it asks us to “create a project that deals with any issue you’re passionate about solving. Identify something that isn’t working in the world around you and look for a solution, however big or small.” Creative Conscience are looking for “solutions and provocations that have the potential to provoke action and have a genuine impact.” However, like all briefs, any submission for the Open Brief is expected to follow one or more of the mentioned impact themes:

• Community
• Education and Learning
• Environment and Sustainability
• Equality and Justice
• Health, Wellbeing and Disabilty
• War and Crisis

I have already spoken about my chosen theme – Animals : Dog Stereotypes – and I think that the impact themes I connect with are Community and Education. But as long as my final piece connects to at least one of the mentioned impact themes, my project and design are acceptable. When I reach the idea stage for this project, I will be making sure that I have these two impact themes in my head when deciding on what to create for a final piece.

As we are potentially entering into a competition, our tutors have said that we must submit our project in the manner that Creative Conscience asks for. In this case, a PDF (<15mb) of the project as well as 3 or less key images of my project in .jpg or .png format. If I decide to enter my design into the competition, I will be expected to pay a £20 admin fee.

The last section of the Open Brief focuses on how the project will be judged. If my project is somehow shortlisted, it will be judged based on your creative approach (in my case Graphic Design) and the potential impact of my project will be judged by a panel of industry experts. I think it is best to keep this in mind when I reach the final design stage of my project.

Overall, this brief is still quite vague, but it does outline everything that is expected of me and what will happen if my design (if I choose to enter) will be judged. The Open Brief doesn’t hold any information on what I should actually desing, but as long as I stay true to at least one of the impact themes, I should have a potential entrant for the competition.

Design Experience

For today’s lesson we focused on ‘Design Experience’. We have previously looked into this subject in last years Project X and the outcome was quite beneficial. But for this year, we instead had the lesson at the end of Project X to inspire the use of Design Experience with our personal Creative Conscience project. I have placed my notes from the lesson below:

Experience Design is a design practice focused on human outcomes. Particularly the level of engagement and satisfaction that the user derives from a product or service and the relevance of the experience to their needs and context.

1. Definition of Design Experience

• What is Experience Design? What is involved?
  • Different Kinds of Experience
    • Everyday
    • Recognised
    • Group Memory
• What do experiences have in common?
  • Active engagement in a physical sense, not just mentally.
  • Loss of ego (self) and boundaries – no agenda (like an aesthetic experience).
  • Designing for the experiences of others is like choreography or staging a show.
  • Specific experienced cannot be guaranteed (like Intentional Fallacy).
  • Experiences live (“read”) beyond the object/artefact. [Bill Moggridge of IDEO].
  • Fluidity of experience and how it unfolds: – stages – time – narrative – intensity – objects – spaces – textures
  • User co-designs or there is collaboration = interactive in some way
• Three Key Factors
  • Cognition
  • Sensory Perception
  • Emotion
• How can we measure of plan for experience?
  • Phenomenology
    • Both a methodology and a philosophy
    • Concerned with the physical relationship between ourselves and the objects around us
    • Awareness of bodies in space
  • Ethnography
    • The study of cultures
    • Self-ethnography – study if a self as a ‘culture’
  • Semiotics
    • Things signify something, what they signify is connotation – how users and others understandthe cultural symbols or meanings of objects (signifying practices)
  • Ideology
    • The assumptions about what is “common sense”, what is morally right or wrong. Built on shared cultured values and understood through signifiers
  • Cultured Capital
    • Describes how not only money has value, but also bodies of knowledge, especially cultural knowledge; expertise; how one shows possession of or skill in this value (also subcultural capital)
• How do you to test for design experience?
  • User Journey
  • Persona
  • Prototype
  • Audience/User Feedback

Video’s we were tasked to watch within groups and my notes:

Alter Bahnhof Video Walk

• How do people manage with memories they don’t want?
• Weird experience
• Appreciate the area
  • Think about the history
• Two different timelines involved in both timelines

James May’s Augmented Science App

• Talking to a celeb
• 3D representation
• Visual communication
• Raising interest in Science
• Can it be used to manipulate the audience/public?

El Bulli – The Last Supper

• Confusion
• Strange combination of foods
• Deconstructing dishes?
• Incorrect ingredients and appearance
• Food you have to interact with to eat
• Experimentation
• Artistic expression

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Sources

1. Foolroof. 2021. Experience design: a definition. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.foolproof.co.uk/journal/experience-design-a-definition/. [Accessed 29 January 2021].

Theme Connection

In one of my previous blog posts, I had a look at all the brief’s available for the Creative Conscience competition, and explained that I needed to find a connection between my theme and one of the briefs to ensure a good outcome for the project design. From the previous blog post, I had narrowed down my interest in the briefs to either Open Brief or Climate Change Brief and I have already mentioned that my theme for this CC will be focused on Animals. The next step is to finalise all the required details for my project, so I can start researching, idea generation and designing.

From my understanding, this competition focuses on community and education. Creative Conscience has a mission that focuses on embedding “purpose-driven creative thinking into every institution, brand + organisation across the world.“¹ With the hopeful outcome of a “positive social equality and environmental impact.”¹ The competition has always had the purpose of empowering, training and rewarding creatives to use their talents for a positive change. And I think the theme of Animals can play a part in this positive change.

Animals is a theme that everyone can connect too. Whether its a favourite animal, a beloved pet or a campaign against animal abuse. It is a theme that everyone can relate to on some level, which is why I want to focus on this theme for my project, but I need to narrow it down to a smaller field for the project. Due to the attention on community and education, I think it would be best to keep my finalised theme close to home, prehaps looking into issues within my own community that I often see being a dog owner? In addition to this, I also need to make sure that my finalised theme is something that can educate people in someway. I think for this, it would be best to focus on an area that I feel quite passionate about, and think I can execute well with information.

With all the above in mind, I think it would be best to take another look at the list of potential theme routes that I wrote on a different blog post so I could either select one, or develop the list further, hopefully deciding on a final theme idea for the project:

• Raising awareness for animals in general
  • This could focus on all animals, or a specific area or type or animal.
    • Specific area?
      • Ocean, Jungle and Desert?
      • Local?
    • Type of animal?
      • Animals we keep as pets?
      • Wild animals?
• Raising awareness for animal abuse
• Raising awareness for animal testing
• Raising awareness for dog stereotypes
  • This potential idea was inspired by own dog. I have a German Shepherd in the family, sweetest thing but I am constantly aware that other people judge, take a double look, cross the road/path, move their own dog away from mine and generally think of her as an evil breed.
• Raising awareness for animals left in homes/abandoned
• Raising awareness for animals confused due to Covid-19
  • Zoo animals?
  • Dogs and cats only adopted during the pandemic?
• Raising awareness for the effects of climate change on animals

The list above is quite big, and focuses on the theme of animals is a very diverse manner. I have already mentioned that I think it would be best to choose a theme that is local to be sure that it connects to the CC’s community interest. With this is mind, I am able to reduce the list above to a more managable version.

• Raising awareness for animals in general
  • This could focus on all animals, or a specific area or type or animal.
    • Specific area?
      • Ocean, Jungle and Desert?
      • Local?
    • Type of animal?
      • Animals we keep as pets?
      • Wild animals?
• Raising awareness for animal abuse
• Raising awareness for animal testing
• Raising awareness for dog stereotypes
  • This potential idea was inspired by own dog. I have a German Shepherd in the family, sweetest thing but I am constantly aware that other people judge, take a double look, cross the road/path, move their own dog away from mine and generally think of her as an evil breed.
• Raising awareness for animals left in homes/abandoned
• Raising awareness for animals confused due to Covid-19
  • Zoo animals?
  • Dogs and cats only adopted during the pandemic?
• Raising awareness for the effects of climate change on animals

With this reduced list, my eyes keep falling to the idea of Dog Stereotypes. It is something that connects to me personally, and with the stigma that surrounds a lot of dogs is unnesscary. I have been brought up to respect and love all dogs, but if I look at my Mum, she was brought up to fear all dogs, which in turn has restricted her with most dogs. She has a preference, she has a rule and when she meets strange dogs, she fears them but, she still owns and loves a German Sheperd/Alsation because of my Dad. I think if I went down the route of Dog Stereotypes I could show the truth behind the feared dog breeds, hopefully raising awareness for all dogs.

With an idea now in mind, I need to look back at the briefs. At the start of this post, I had an interest in both the Open Brief and the Climate Change Brief, but now, I think my theme clearly connects to the Open Brief. Climate change doesn’t really play a part in the theme of Dog Stereotypes, but I do think, if I work with the Open Brief, that I can raise awareness for dog breeds – which stays in line with the CC’s interest on community and education.

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Sources

1. CC. 2021. Home – Creative Conscience. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.creative-conscience.org.uk/. [Accessed 28 January 2021].

Creative Conscience Briefs

Before I finalise a theme and brief, I wanted to take a look at all the briefs offered by the Creative Conscience Competition. It was stated within our own brief (the one outlined by our tutors) that whichever brief we choose to focus on for the competition, we must follow carefully and complete our designs to the briefs specification. I first wanted to look at all the available briefs offered and determine which ones would fit in more with the themes I have already generated, I personally feel that the Open Brief and possibly the Climate Change brief will connect to the majority of my themes but this could change. All of the briefs focus on social or environmental impacts, but the design I enter can be anything as long as the project fits into one of the Impact Themes:

Open Brief

The Open Brief is your chance to create a project that deals with any issue you’re passionate about solving. Identify something that isn’t working in the world around you and look for a solution, however big or small.

Creative Conscience is looking for solutions and provocations that have the potential to provoke action and have a genuine impact. It is suggested that we can identify something that isn’t working for you about the world around you and look for a solution. The competition is interested however big or small the ideas are. The project submitted can be conceptual or have the potential to develop into real life-changing solutions – the themes explored can be broad and varied.

Mental Health

How can you use your creative skills to aid those with mental health issues?

Mental health can affect anyone, and the negative experiences happen in everyones life. But mental health has a stigma surrounding mental health that we unfortuntely need to tackle. Any aspect of mental health can be used as possible entry points into the brief and as a means of research to explore potential routes and solutions. The challenge is boundless, but the results are asked to be optimistic and empowering towards the audience, hopefully leading towards positive change.

Equaltiy

Can you think of a way to change current behaviours and inspire people to understand the value brought by treating everyone equally? You may simply want to raise awareness, or perhaps you can think of a way to actively change human behaviour and understanding.

Equality is a human right for everyone, but not everyone has equality. Instead they are being suppressed or living in fear because of who they are and what they believe in.

Conscious Consumption

The Conscious Consumption brief is an opportunity to create solutions to help re-direct our worlds trajectory towards self-destruction. This could explore themes on not just what we consume, but how and why.

If we continue to consume and buy ‘stuff’ at our current rate, we will recieve serious consequences. This brief focuses on the sustainable products and a positive ecological impact on the world and its users. The solutions to these questions should aim to educate, inspire excite and encourage new behaviours, so we can consciously consume.

Climate Change

It’s frustrating for many of us who understand the urgency of the climate crisis – the good news is we can all make a difference and have the power to create change.

We need to positively educate what we can do as indivisuals but more importantly as part of a global movement for the Youth Climate Strike and Extinction Rebellion who Creative Conscience support. As creatives we have the tools to change things, touch the lives of people and make a difference. We can have fun and change things for the better.

I am still unsure on what brief I will follow for this project, however, I do think that the next step in finalising this issue is to think how my theme (which I think I have decided will be Animals) plays a role with the briefs mentioned above. Hopefully finding a connection between my theme, a brief and the overall aim of Creative Conscience will allow me to come up with some ideas for the project.

Possible Themes for CC : Visual Communication

In my previous blog post, I started to look into possible themes and ideas I could focus on for the project. But as they are just possibilities, I wanted to take a deeper look into possible visual aspects that focus on the themes I have already mentioned – Hospitality, Space/NASA, Animals, Reading and Gluten Free eating/dining – and see if these found examples could help me in the idea generation stage of the project.

Hospitality

1. UK Hospitality Footfall Trends

2. Help our friends in Hospitality

3. UK Hospitality

Space/NASA

4. Journey to Mars

5. Journey to Mars Posters

6. Osiris-Rex

Animals

7. Zoo Animals Campaign Poster

8. PETA Campaign Poster

9. Animal Adoption Advertisement

Reading

10. Literacy Foundation Poster

11. Blind Date with a Book

12. Penguin Random House Book Campaign

Gluten Free eating/dining

13. Gluten Free Infographic

14. No Gluten Free Food at McDonalds : Poster

15. Genius Bread Poster

By finding these examples, I have a greater understanding of the importance of each theme. The pieces above are not meant to conform me to an specfic theme, but they have open my mind up into what I could possibly focus on for my own project. Some of the found imagery, are very direct and offer a clear impact, very common for a campaign piece because they make you think about what you are seeing – I think this could be a very interesting design route to follow. But, in addition to this, some of the pieces are also more friendly and inviting, which reaches out to the audience in an engaging way. Every found imagery above represents a different campaign or raising awareness technique, which has given me more to think about in terms of my own project direction.

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Sources

1. Twitter. 2021. Hospitality footfall trends. [ONLINE] Available at: https://twitter.com/markstretton/status/1238854587639005191/photo/1. [Accessed 27 January 2021].
2. A Lush Life Manual. 2021. How to Help Our Friends in Hospitality – A Lush Life Manual. [ONLINE] Available at: https://alushlifemanual.com/how-to-help-our-friends-in-hospitality. [Accessed 27 January 2021].
3. morningadvertiser.co.uk. 2021. UK Hospitality one year old in 2019. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2019/06/03/UK-Hospitality-one-year-old-in-2019. [Accessed 27 January 2021].
4. NASA. 2021. NASA’s Journey to Mars | NASA. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-journey-to-mars. [Accessed 27 January 2021].
5. Pulse Headlines. 2021. NASA’s Journey to Mars’ posters invite you to go!. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.pulseheadlines.com/nasas-journey-to-mars-posters-invite-you-to-go/35604/. [Accessed 27 January 2021].
6. OSIRIS-REx Mission. 2021. We The Explorers – OSIRIS-REx Mission. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.asteroidmission.org/wetheexplorers/. [Accessed 27 January 2021].
7. Discover Animals. 2021. Film raising awareness for zoo animal welfare released by charity | Discover Animals. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.discoveranimals.co.uk/news/film-raising-awareness-zoo-animal-welfare-released-charity/. [Accessed 27 January 2021].
8. PETA. 2021. ‘Joker’ Star Joaquin Phoenix Joins PETA to ‘End Speciesism’. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.peta.org/features/joaquin-phoenix-we-are-all-animals-end-speciesism/. [Accessed 27 January 2021].
9. Bored Panda. 2021. 33 Powerful Animal Advertisement Examples That Tells The Uncomfortable Truth | Bored Panda. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.boredpanda.com/powerful-animal-ads/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic. [Accessed 27 January 2021].
10. 37 original campaigns to promote books and reading. 2021. 37 original campaigns to promote books and reading. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.culturepartnership.eu/en/article/book-promo. [Accessed 27 January 2021].
11. alvin in the room. 2021. Visiting local bookstores — alvin in the room. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.alvinintheroom.com/blog/2017/2/20/visiting-local-bookstores-while-traveling-1. [Accessed 27 January 2021].
12. Penguin Random House and Anyways Creative Promote the Joy of Reading with New Holiday Campaign. 2021. Penguin Random House and Anyways Creative Promote the Joy of Reading with New Holiday Campaign. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.dexigner.com/news/32662. [Accessed 27 January 2021].
13. Gluten Free Infographic | Demi & Cooper Advertising. 2021. Gluten Free Infographic | Demi & Cooper Advertising. [ONLINE] Available at: https://demicooper.com/?project=gluten-free-infographic. [Accessed 27 January 2021].
14. Facebook. 2021. Log into Facebook. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/CampaignForGlutenFreeFood/. [Accessed 27 January 2021].
15. Behance. 2021. Genius Gluten Free on Behance. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.behance.net/gallery/4597337/Genius-Gluten-Free. [Accessed 27 January 2021].

Possible Themes for CC

Before looking at the briefs available for Creative Conscience, I wanted to first see if I can come up with any generic ideas based on my own interests and passions. From here, I can then look into the briefs, and select the one that I think best captures my theme and possibly idea. This isn’t an idea generation post, I know that the research comes first, but I did want to narrow down my research field a little bit by focusing on potential ideas on a few themes that I find quite interesting. I have made a short list below, I didn’t want to spend too much time listing my passions and interests:

• Hospitality
• Space/NASA
• Animals
• Reading
• Gluten Free eating/dining

From this short list, I then started to think of routes I could take for the research and hopefully generate a few ideas that I can either pass on or develop over time:

Hospitality

An idea was created from this interest when watching all groups present their journey maps during Project X. I remember quite a few groups looked into sterotypes that often surrounded their theme, and the view of stereotypes made me think of the bad reputation and stereotypes our pubs have received during this pandemic. Throughout Covid-19, pubs and restaurants have been the governments scape goats, they recieve all the abuse and blame for the spread of Covid, but now that the hospitatlity trades have been forced to shut – what is the real reason for the mass Covid spread?

My potential idea for this theme was to create an informational based piece that highights the safety procedures most hospitality trades have put in place and contrast this with the supposed safety procedures seen within the supermarkets (chaos down each aisle). This information could be expressed through floorplans, anecdotes, quotes from landlords, chefs, waiters and waitresses etc. to show that the hospitality trade is not the issue it is made out to be from he government.

Space/NASA

I decided to think of using this as a theme for Creative Conscience because it is a large inerest and passion of mine. I have always been fascinated by the work NASA does, but I am unsure if this will be an effective theme to focus on. Mainly because Creative Conscience asks us to raise awareness or solve an issue within society, and I think NASA is already well established, and I am unsure if there are any issues focused directly towards them. They are such a hige company, and issues is something that discover and resolve fairly quickly.

Animals

There are many different routes that I could take with this theme. Animals are such an important aspect in our life, and with everything that is currently happening in the world – climate change, global pandemic, abuse, abandonment, etc. – they are having a extremely tough time. Raising awareness for them in anyway is extremely important, and it is something that has been sitting on my mind for a few days now, the only issue is deciding which route I want to follow and how…

• List of potential ideas
  • Raising awareness for animals in general
    • This could focus on all animals, or a specific area or type or animal.
      • Specific area?
        • Ocean, Jungle and Desert?
        • Local?
      • Type of animal?
        • Animals we keep as pets?
        • Wild animals?
  • Raising awareness for animal abuse
  • Raising awareness for animal testing
  • Raising awareness for dog stereotypes
    • This potential idea was inspired by own dog. I have a German Shepherd in the family, sweetest thing but I am constantly aware that other people judge, take a double look, cross the road/path, move their own dog away from mine and generally think of her as an evil breed.
  • Raising awareness for animals left in homes/abandoned
  • Raising awareness for animals confused due to Covid-19
    • Zoo animals?
    • Dogs and cats only adopted during the pandemic?
  • Raising awareness for the effects of climate change on animals

Reading

This theme has been inspired by the lack of reading I have actually done. Normally, I am a bookworm and can’t stop myself from reading book after book, but recently I have been picking up a book less and less, and struggling to find the time to actually read it. Reading is an important aspect in everyone life, and I think this theme should have more awareness about it – but how to do this I do not know. At the minute, school children are at home due to the pandemic, most poeple have more time on their hands due to being furloughed and the importance of reading is being overlooked.

Gluten Free eating/dining

Having an intolerance to gluten has made me notice the lack of information and awareness there is for the celiac disease, as well as how difficult it is to eat safely. I am not a celiac, but I do hold an intolerance to gluten which means that my symptoms to eating it are lot less severe than if a celiac consumes gluten. What I have noticed however, is the lack of understanding there is for this intolerance/disease.

My potential idea for this theme is to raise awareness for people who have either an intolerance, disease or just prefer to not eat gluten. While shopping, it is very difficult to determine if a product contains traces of gluten and it normally results in the buyer having to check every single food listing on the packaging to see whether or not it is safe for them to eat. To make this easier, many companys could have a symbol on the front of the packet that clearly states if the product is gluten free. This will save time and energy for the buyer, the company will be seen as a more inclusive company and the fear of eating something with gluten will decrease for many celiac’s.

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I think from my thought process above, I have quite a passion for Animals, even though the ideas are all potential, I have created quite a large list of possible routes I could go down for the project. I do think raising awareness for animals is a good theme, and definitely allows me to focus on a fresh start for Creative Conscience. It is a theme that I feel inspired about, and there is a very high chance that this is the overall theme I take for the project but I do think that I need to look into the briefs first, and conduct some research before I barrel into the project with a hot head. I think it would also be an effective idea to talk through these themes with my tutors, and due to timing, we are all scheduled in for a 1-to-1 tutorial later this week.

Do I want to stick with the Project X Theme for CC?

For Project X, I worked with the theme of Abilty within the group, while this is an interesting and important topic to focus on for raising awareness for. I think I need a break. I think everyone can tell that I struggled with working in this years Project X, so I am sure that it comes to no surprise that I want to start fresh and look into a completely different theme and topic that I can raise awareness for. What theme and topic is a different question…

In last years Creative Conscience, I focused on a issue that I relate to and can effectively raise awareness for – White Coat Syndrome. It was a topic that I felt passionate towards because it not only affected myself, my father and a majority of the public but because it was something that I generally thought could help people – a folder to help people keep calm when visiting the Doctor’s Surgery. It is this type of effectiveness and passion that I want to channel for this years Creative Conscience.

Focusing on Abilty/Disabily, while an honourable and important topic to raise awareness for, I personally feel I have created a block for the theme due to the stress of Project X. Due to this, I feel that if I carry on working under the theme of Abilty/Disabilty, I will burn myself out while also design something that won’t be to the best of my standards. Because of this, I feel it is best to move away from Abilty, Project X and group work and instead focus on something that allows me to start fresh for the Creative Conscience Project.

The Final Campaign

We have come to the end of Project X! Below I have included all of the final pieces listed within the deliverables as well as the written evaluation:

Social Media Post Designs:

Megan:

Tom:

CJ:

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Joe:

Olivia:

Campaign Mockups:

Mockup of ProjectXAbility Profile Page by Tom

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Mockups of ProjectXAbility Feed with Captions

Collection Board of Mockups

Evaluation

In what ways does the visual communication/message of the piece meet the needs of the brief?

The Project X brief is quite vague, and allows us to determine what visual commication we want to design and present within the form of a Social Media campaign aslong as it relates to raising awareness on a complex issue. The final piece should effectively be somehing that can potentially help society. In terms of our designs for the campaign, I think the idea of raising awareness is well constructed and thought out. The designs all seem to stay consistent with one another, and in some areas is quite provoking for the audience.

In what ways does the visual communication/message of the piece fail to meet the needs of the brief?

Again, as the brief is quite vague, it is difficult to see how this visual communication fails to meet the needs of the brief.

What are the strengths of the visual communication? Why?

Every design created for the campaign has its strengths, but I think the use of a black and white image has a more impactful visual communication. However, when all the pieces are together within the profile page mockup, the strengths of the visual communication from every design can be clearly seen.

What are the weaknesses of the visual communication? Why?

In terms of weakness, I think we could have possibly made a few of the statements/questions more provoking, but I have to be honest and say that we were starting to loose clarity on what to actually produce as a final piece.

In what ways could the piece be mis-read or mis-understood by the audience?

Due to the fact that we are focusing on a very complex yet delicate issue within society, some members of the audience could take this campaign very personally, it could come across as an attack or condescending design – which is why I am quite grateful that this project is only mocked up on instagram and not an actual account.

In what practical ways could the piece be developed or improved?

I think with a more indepth brief, we could have created something more specific. Not only this, but the confusion that occured during the middle stages of the project, clouded are judgement and understanding of what was truly expected – I think with more clarity we could be created a more developed piece than the one we have now.

How was my time keeping?

Because this project follows a group dynamic and we are in constant zoom/team meetings with our tutors, it was quite easy to stay on top of my time keeping. However, being in a lockdown greatly helped the situation as I had no job to distract my self with or excuse for procrastination.

How was my research? How did I draw conclusions from my research? How did I use research to generate and develop ideas?

The research took place at the start of the project, and helped us to narrow down to a theme that we wanted to focus on for the campaign – Invisible Disabilties. Not only that, but I also conducted my own pieces of research throughout the project – facts/statistics and inspiring case studies – which greatly helped my design portion of the project.

How did I use experimentation during the project?

Due to the fact that we were working within a team, I soon learnt some new techniques. One being how to use the artboards within Illustrator to my own advantage. With the use of the artboards, I was able to create a design flow chart that clearly highlighted the changes and developments made within my social media post designs. I think this is a technique that I will continue to use throughout my time as a Graphic Designer because is helped me follow my own design process and think of different paths the aesthetic could take.

What parts of the project did I enjoy the most?

I enjoyed the group work, discussing ideas has always been a key part of my idea generation, and working with a group only improved this. In addition to this, I enjoyed completing my own tasks for the group, it allowed me to ensure that I was contributing to the overall project – the research, persona cards, designs and mockups allowed me to work with the group but within my own style.

What parts of the project did I enjoy the least?

As mentioned throughout my blog, Day 5 was my most difficult day and the activities were my least favourite portion of the project to complete. I won’t go into too much detail because I have already covered this within my reflections blog post. But I will say that the activities were difficult to grasp, understand and complete, and I personally found them extremely difficult to manage and generate any ideas from them.

Anything else?

No, I think I covered everything above as well as throughout my blog.

Final Presentation for the Campaign:

Ability – Final Campaign Pieces Presentation