OUGD401 Evaluation

This module has helped me to understand graphic design at a deeper level and gain knowledge on how it has effected past political and social events. I really enjoy looking into the history of design especially WW2 which has always been an interest of mine. A weak point of mine has always been writing essay's critically however this module has made writing an essay a more easy task through study tasks. I found the Cop lectures in this module both interesting and important to my development in this module and my others. I really enjoyed the practical aspect of this module because I could use my research and essay to help inform my design decisions which I believe made my outcome better than what it would have been prior to writing the essay. I also was able to screen print my outcome which worked better than digital print and I found this was also good for mass production. Next year for cop I will explore more to do with my interests in publication design.

Final Outcome and Evaluation

Overall I think that my final outcome is strong as a piece of propaganda, I used influences for WW2 propaganda to make a modern day design be strong and powerful. I picked a topic that has been a focus in the media and a subject that is controversial as my subject as I wanted to focus or a current affair and make a poster that can help people be safe. My choice of image stands out and represents that true person who is behind the culture and religion. I experimented with colour until I found the blues that represented the message I wanted to put across. I put my statements in the font Avenir Next Bold as I wanted it to stand out and be easy to read from afar. I also wanted my statements to be straight to the point and not take much attention away from my image along with the use of white space. The production method of screen printing also means my poster can be reproduced in mass at a lower cost on any paper or material. Overall my modern day propaganda poster turned out as planned and I would work well in modern urban environments.

How my Poster links to WW2 Propaganda

There are many links in my propaganda poster to the propaganda used in WW2 England and Germany. Something that I found in my essay that I found important to include in my own propaganda was a memorable slogan, propaganda's purpose is to put across a strong message. The statements tell you what is expected and what you must follow and never seem like an opinion. Thats why I made my states 'Syrian Refugees Welcome' and 'Everyone deserves a home' as if they are true facts, when it is known that everyone in the UK does not believe in this or want them in the UK.  WW2 Propaganda could also be controversial in its purpose, this was something I targeted when showing the Niqab and the girl behind it. This meant that my poster was not just showing immigration but about the UK's problem with muslim headwear.
Something else that stood out in WW2 propaganda was the use of people on the posters usually of leaders, soldiers or more interestingly Aryan Children. I decided to use the image of a muslim to mirror how Germans used the image of a perfect Aryan child. This is how I used my essay and research into WW2 propaganda to inform my design choices on a modern day propaganda poster for a modern day cause.

Screen Printing My Posters

I made my design into two layers for the two shades of blue and printed them as Key Black ready to expose onto my screen.

I mixed my inks to make a light and dark blue. I thought it best to print the light blue layer first as I did not want to print over my dark blue text. It was my first time print screening and I did come across some problems of printing the niqab first so when I lined up and printed the second layer the text would not fit on the paper, However some of the posters did turn out as planned. I choose quick thick white stock and printed around A3 as I wanted to create bigger prints. I could also print in other sizes if I need to.

Development and Final Crit

Taking on board the comments from the last critique I developed my poster ideas. The main problem I had to think about was colour and what it represented.

I looked into colours that represents certain things I was trying to put across.

Olive Green is the traditional colour of peace.

Aqua is associated with healing and protection

Light blue is associated with health, healing, tranquility and understanding.

I decided to keep my image of the girl as I thought it worked well but I changed the words to say 'Everyone Deserves A Home' so it is not implying that the image is a child but just a women and that it is more broader.

The first of my poster ideas was to create it completely out of black to create a hight impact feel.

My second Idea was to use the colours of the Syrian flag

And my final idea was to keep the layered technique and use blues as in my research I found they were calm colours that resembled healing, protection and understanding.

I made a presentation for the critique and asked some final questions

1. Which is your favourite design?
2. Do you have any other suggestions?
3. Shall I produce this in multiple sizes?

A majority of the feedback was that people liked the 2nd and 3rd poster but mostly the third. They liked the idea of seeing the girl behind the head dress and that it focus's the eye. There was also comments that the third looked the most friendly and welcoming. I got a few suggestions and many people said that the print would work at many different sizes however large would be the most impactful.

After this critique I knew I wanted to go ahead and produce my blue design.