Social ActionResearch

HomelessnessWhat I’d do:One of the social action topics that interest me is homelessness, it’s personal to me as I know people who are or used to be homeless. If I were to create a poster for homelessness, I’d want to make it personal to the people who see it, make something ordinary that is regularly used, and place it next to the homeless. This way they will stop and think, they will put themselves in the homeless persons place, and perhaps even think about what they could do to help the situation. I want to use a normal image which wouldn’t make you think of homelessness, but with the text and images around it, it’s becomes a shocking reminder of homelessness all around us, even if we can’t always see it. I don’t want to use too many words, as I want the image to speak for itself, and I want to use my own graphic art ideas along side it.

Other campaigns:There’s a lot of other campaigns out there for homelessness, such as Salvation Army, Invisible People, Crisis and Shelter England. They try and remind people that homeless people are the same as us, they just don’t have a home. I really like the ‘cardboard stories’ campaign which shows who the homeless are or used to be, to remind people again that they are just like us. Another campaign I really like, is the ‘Christmas light’ poster. It’s beautifully disturbing in the sense that fairy lights are portrayed in a happy and remind people of Christmas, yet they are wrapped around a homeless person. The campaign, done my Adot for The Amy Winehouse Foundation and New Horizon Youth Centre, is to make sure homeless people are not invisible at Christmas and that people will find it hard to have a Christmas knowing homeless people are on the cold streets.

Why it will be effective:Because I want to use a simple image with relatable graphics or other images on the poster, I think it will hit home for people and make them stop to look at the poster. I want to make the poster using my own ideas in graphic art to make the poster more interesting and unique to interest people more to look at the poster.

Homelessness Mood Board

DeforestationWhat I’d do: If I were to make a poster on deforestation, I’d want to make it creative and unique so it stands out when people see it. I’d use the colour associated with the rainforest such as greens and browns.

Other campaigns: Greenpeace, WWF, ForceChange, Friends of the Earth. These are just a few of the many deforestation campaigns out there. The aim of these campaigns is to show people the type of damage we’re doing to the planet, including the animals as they live in these forests we’re taking down for ourselves.

Why it will be effective:It will be effective because it’s something that effects us all, so with the right style and words, perhaps people will realise how serious this is so they’ll do more to help. Also, it will stand out due to it’s uniqueness so people will take more notice of it and what’s it’s for.

Deforestation Mood Board

HomophobiaWhat I’d do: Create a poster that uses shocking words or imagery to grab passerby's attention so they look at the poster and think about it. I’d either use bright colours or black and white with just one colour in the poster.

Other campaigns: LGBT Foundation, Stonewall, LGBT Youth Scotland. Their aim is to stop homophobia, they campaign in schools to encourage kids to use their words carefully and try to change their negative views at an early age to stop homophobia getting wore as they grow up.

Why it will be effective:Uses shocking images to make a statement. Shows normal people on the posters, and uses negative references against homophobic people to show their hateful words and judgments aren’t as powerful as they think. Such as ‘”Your so gay.” Can you spot two common mistakes?’ posters to show people are most likely to be uneducated if they’re homophobic to people.

Homophobia Mood Board

Women’s RightsWhat I’d do: I’d want to make use the stereotypical colours that a portrayed with girls such as pink as well as using elegant cursive font style but with a juxtaposed image of something not as girly, to show women shouldn’t be stereotyped as weak, feminine or girly. The image could be a play on the stereotype of men being more powerful, but replaced with a women.

Other campaigns: Equalitynow, Amnesty, Oxfam, The Circle, WomanKind, The Fawcestt Society as well as many more. All of these campaigns are working towards the same goals, to give women equal rights to men, to stop violence against women and to give every women human rights such as to an education.

Why it will be effective:It is a popular cause and it has been going on since 1848 with millions of men and women behind it. I know the posters will be effective because they are popular in main stream media.

Women’s Rights Mood Board