My final major project was an anti cyberbullying campaign, that consists of three posters and two online banners. The first strength of my final designs was the fact that they all had a simple, clear layout, which made it really easy to understand and to interpret for the target audience. Another strength would be that all ads/posters link in with the campaign and all look a part of the same group. For example the font, font sizes and logo was the same on each of the platforms, tying it in with the others and the overall reasoning for this campaign. I also liked the photography used in each of the designs, it made the look and feel of the ads very intense and involves the audience with the issue. For example, one image had a direct mode of address, which intensifies the poster further. I also made sure that each of the slogan titles were strong and powerful, making the posters compelling to the audience and even more eye catching. This may provoke an emotional response, therefore making the campaign memorable and effective.
The weaknesses of the design would probably be the online banners looking very similar to the posters. In hindsight, I would've adapted the online versions a little more, making it clearer that they were online ads and not just stretched out posters. Another weakness is the logo design, as I think this could've done with a bit more work. It is very simple and could of made it more detailed and personal to me and my brand. I would of added my own fingerprint rather than an image, making it specific to me and more interesting.
The main idea of this project was to raise awareness of cyberbullying and make young children and parents aware of the possible effects of this. This campaign is to spark a powerful and emotional response from my target audience, making the issue more well known and to intensify the effects that it could have on a child. It would then make the children and parents more cautious when it comes to online safety and how to be careful online. I did a variety of experiments throughout the research and production process, from simply asking my peers their opinions, to detailed focus groups on final designs. This greatly affected my development, as the audience's responses was very important to me. I changed many design elements of my layouts including; portrait to landscape, font, text size, images, colours and more.
I found a similar poster to mine online, to compare the similarities and differences of each design. The top is off Google and the bottom image is my design:
The most similar element between the two, is that they both have visually shown a physical wound as the same pain you would feel from cyberbullying, even though it is not specifically direct. This creates a 'shock' response from the audience, overall making it more compelling and powerful as an awareness advert. Both have a small logo in the bottom corner, relating it to an organisation or brand. This establishes a link between the campaign and therefore presents the posters as being reliable and professional. The main differences is to do with text, my design has considerably more than the image above. On the other hand, neither distracts from the image which is the main hierarchy of the layout and has the most impact on the design. Another difference is the background and eye contact, I do have few different layouts which do have a direct mode of address as I think this creates an intense affect. Although in this design, I do think it works and makes the model look sad and upset, again making the audience feel from the ad.
The key areas of development in this project was mainly layout and the actual design of the posters. I changed my idea many times as I just wasn't happy with the results. I developed my ideas in the initial stage of the project through mood boards, brainstorming and peer's feedback. Although the main area of development was with the changes and updates with layouts, as this is where most of the progress can be seen and evidenced through blogs.
Towards the end of assignment 3 I asked for feedback on my final (at the time) designs from friends and family. The response I got was really positive and I felt really proud and happy with what I'd achieved. I had a few more changes that I wanted to make and since then, the comments have been even better, I am pleased with what I have created and happy with the finished results. Something that I would change with my final project would be to create more of a contrast between the posters and the online banners. This is so that it is more obvious for the target audience to interpret and so the relation between the two platforms is more distinct. Looking back, I would also improve the logo design on each of the adverts, making it more unique and detailed. The final thing I would change is to make sure to take a larger variety of images during the photoshoot. This is because it could've given me a better range of photos to use when it came to the production process and therefore, offered a bit more variety and difference between the adverts.
After reviewing my statement of intent my idea has developed a lot. Originally I was creating a social issue awareness campaign, this had since got more detailed and adjusted to a cyberbullying awareness campaign. Apart from this, my reasoning and explanation remains the same, as I am interested in the visual creativity behind shocking and thought provoking adverts. Also in my statement of intent I was unsure of my target audiences. I have now developed this and through brainstorming and research, I have decided that my target audiences are children aged between 9-13 and parents. Overall, I did manage to do everything I set out to do and improved/adapted this slightly along the way.
Reflecting on my pitch to the client, I was fairly confident with my idea and felt like I had planned out what I was going to do. Along the way, I have had a fair few issues but overcame them with contingency plans and even a plan C! I think this project has gone how I expected, as I knew there would be hold backs, but was prepared for some in advance. The feedback was mostly good things and some improvements were mentioned from the lecturers. This was things like narrowing down my target audience and brainstorming further my research process. Next time, I would have clearly planned out a time schedule and given myself more time for the actual production and design portion of the project. I would also improve the research on my topic because I should of given myself more time to get the focus group organised and a date and time secure. Unfortunately this didn't happen so was rushed to get it completed.
In conclusion, I am pleased with my final project but there would be a few things that I would improve and change. However taking everything into account, I am happy with the final product and have enjoyed creating and designing my adverts.
