YCN – Save The Children: Read On Get On campaign

The Brief I got a pack of information that included the brief, research into literacy and reading and also their style guidelines. Brief For this brief they want us to get across to adults, fathers in particular, children and anyone who supports children to get them reading well before the age of 11 – doing so by 2025. They want dads who see the campaign to have an increased awareness that reading for 10 minutes a day with a child could make a difference to their potential. Their personality, for the read on get on campaign, is fun, enthusiastic and engaging . Style Guidelines Their type face they want to use is Gill Sans, regular or light, they have a select colour palette – this is so they can build a strong and consistent identity across communities. The tone of voice and focus is fun and enjoyable - it needs to be separated from school and this uncool image of bookworms. Inspiring with enthusiasm – reading can help bring children's passions and imagination to life. Childlike but not childish – the campaign must appeal and engage children up to 11. Everywhere and everyday – its part of daily life; from reading the cereal packet to making stories up about football. Beyond books – telling stories and talking about what's been read are as important as reading.

Moodboard One – Brand/company

I looked at save the children because I want to work with children designs so I thought that this would be the ideal brief. Who are they? Save the Children are a charity who have worked in the UK since the 1920’s, they have done campaigns on children’s nutrition since the 1930’s and today they work across the whole of the UK and more than 120 different countries. They usually do hard hitting adverts, the most hard hitting for me was the if what was happening in Syria happened in London. I think this was because you don’t expect it and we don’t come across what's happening in Syria very often, when we do we choose to either not look or pay little attention – it goes against our human instinct to feel anything less that helpless. This campaign is to get children reading and be read to by their fathers, this is so they have more of a chance at being able to read and write better by the time they reach high school. Their promotional video for this campaign is of a boy who cant read or write because his parents didn’t take the chance to read to him, he grew up and missed chance after chance, whether this was jobs or children or simply everyday tasks.

Moodboard Two – Target Audience

I think that the target audience is the parents because the campaign is aimed at getting children reading, it is specifically aimed at fathers because fathers can have a particular impact on a child's reading. I also think that the campaign is targeted at children, this is because they benefit from it and they’ll look at more visually than an adult would. I think that the target audience also includes anyone a child can have contact with, whether this is family or teachers or friends, they are all influences on a child and their learning. The campaign is aimed at fathers and them reading to their child, this is because they can have a particular impact upon a child from the age of 5. A father reading to a 5 year old on a daily basis means that the child will be up to half a year more advanced than a child who has been rad to less than once a week.

Moodboard Three – Approach to Brief

I like the idea of having a simple design because I feel this would appeal more to children and it would also be different to any of their other campaigns, I don’t want the campaign to be too hard hitting because it could come across as offensive. I like these campaigns because they are simple but effective, I like the poster for Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (we need your help), its simple and its child friendly. It will also make an association to how some children feel, the bear has no ears or eyes – makes them different and this charity have shown this through creative means. The hour glass is to show how global warming is happening, its slowly filling the city at the bottom with water and one day it will just flood. The help japan campaign posters are simple but they are also effective, they all have one focus – help put japan back together. They have represented this using japans flag and things that are constructed – puzzles, construction sites etc.

Mindmap

I did a mindmap so I could plan what ideas I had at the start, hat to look and how I could approach the brief. I want to look further into the help japan campaign, WWF save the planet campaign and minimalist designers. I want to do minimalism because it isn't aimed at a particular audience, its really simple but it is also appealing and your drawn to look at it.

Research: Amnesty International

Amnesty International are a charity that work to protect men, women and children wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied. They operate all over the world, they investigate and expose abuse, educate and mobilise the public and help create a safer more just world. I like how they have this hard hitting approach but also a more simple and not hard hitting approach, I think that both are equally as effective but people might shy away from looking at something that’s graphic. I like the stop poster because its calling for an end to torture, they have made it look like a noose and I think that this gets the message across. You want to view it, you want to know more and you look at it a lot more.

Research: Saul Bass

Saul Bass was an American graphic designer and film maker, he was well known for his design for motion picture title sequences, film posters and corporate logos. I like the environment poster, it shows that cities or earth as a whole can be as fragile as an egg, there are cracks which we have out back together. I like it because its original but also because its simple design with a huge meaning.

Research: Kareem Magdi

Kareem Magdi is an Egyptian illustrator and graphic designer, she has this style that is recognisable, her work looks like paper that’s been folded down the middle. I like the simple minimalist representation of movies, tv series and games, you know what they are because they are so recognisable. I think the designs that are just in the middle with a line of text are the best because they caught my eye more and I wanted to know more about them, you see the school bus and you instantly think of the scene it represents in the man of steel.

Research: Olly Moss

Olly Moss is an English graphic designer, artist and illustrator, he is well known for his remakes of film posters. His style is to put scenes within the characters from the film, I think that these posters are really interesting and you never get bored of looking at them. I like the jungle book one because of the orange fading to red, the colours capture your eye then you notice the scenes within the image.

Research: WWF Save the Planet

WWF are a charity that value the natural world and their goal is to have people living in harmony with nature, they work closely with communities, politicians and businesses too. I like the range of campaigns that they have done, they are all really simple but they are effective. They show people and nature living in harmony in the campaign where people painted their hands, I think that this campaign is particularly effective because children and adults took notice.

Research: Help Japan Campaign

The help Japan campaign was started in the aftermath of the tsunami and earthquake, a group of artists, designers and illustrators made posters to advertise the help japan campaign. I really like how they have all incorporated the Japanese flag, the colours and showing that Japan needs putting back together. I really like the construction one because its so interesting visually, it is so simple but it is also really full of things that your eye is picking up.

Research: St Johns Ambulance – The chokeables advert

I started to look more into animation and videos, I want it to be child friendly and I think that this campaign is, its aimed at children but also adults. It engages children and though the message is quite serious they’ve made it less frightening and more playful, it sticks in the mind more than if it were hard hitting. This campaign was launched to show you how to save a choking baby, I think that they’ve played on the word baby and used a jelly baby, this will make further associations to a babies life. They have used toys that a child would usually put in their mouths, the marble, the pen lid, the crayon and even Barbie. I think that this is so children associate and remember this video based on what is around them in daily life.

Research: Think! Hedgehog road safety

The hedgehog road safety videos were aimed at children and adults about how to cross the road, they are all memorable because of the soundtracks. You then remember the hedgehogs, for this I think it’s a good campaign and advert. I think that the hedgehogs dancing across the road makes it more fun because kids will want to join in with it.

Research: Milky Bar – Red car, blue car

This is one of the most memorable children's adverts because of the catchy song and the simplicity of the overall design, it is literally about a red car and a blue car racing. I like the idea that they did with the blue car going down the right path towards the milky way bar, the wrapping is blue and so you have this association to the blue colour. They also made it look futuristic and like its on its own planet, I think this makes you want to buy milky bar more.

Research: Kelloggs - CoCo Rocks

The coco rocks advert is aimed again at children by using a bad evil crocodile and a monkey that constantly saves the day. I think that the detail and attention that these adverts have is what makes them so successful because they tell a story that builds up over time, they stick with the crocodile trying to steal the recipe. I also think that this makes kids remember it more because its funny and exciting.

Research: Oreo’s – Play with Oreo

This advert promotes that Oreo are fun and you can have fun eating them, its quite playful and they play on their slogan wonder filled – it is filled with wonder, its got a lot going on and kids would be mesmerised by it. The video goes with the soundtrack, the track is also quite playful and it is centred around the twist it dunk it lick it motto that Oreo have.

Research: Channel 4 – Its payback time

Channel four took a really hard subject and made it less upsetting, they made it playful and funny despite the underlying message not being so funny. I like how the newspaper read there's no need to panic and when the guy exploded it now reads as need to panic, it play on how we stand up to cancer and we make cancer scared instead of the other way around.

Research: Metro – Dumb ways to die

I think that this advert is really simple, its catchy and children will want to sing along but they will also remember safety around trains. They leave all the train safety until the end, the first sets of characters all die through taking helmets off in outer space or pressing a big red button that destroys the world. Its fun and exciting to kids, they’ll remember it because of the tune. I like the character designs, they are really simple and playful. They have simple colours too, the video is funny and you cant help but laugh at how some of the characters die.

Design Ideas: Sketches: Poster

I sketched out some ideas based on my research, I like the idea of having things pop out of the book but I think that this would be better as an animation because they could unfold along with the story. I also like the idea of having a really simple poster, like the book in the middle of the page, I think it fits in with the minimalist style and its also really eye catching. It would appeal to all types of people, I don’t want it to make children feel dumb or stupid. The idea of having things a child could do with reading and writing skills is another good idea, this is because children will associate themselves with this character and maybe these will be some of their dreams too.

Design Ideas: Idea One: Poster

For this idea I looked at creating a child with the thoughts of what he could do if he was able to read, I did a couple of professions such as scientist and doctor, graduating from uni and getting a driving license. I don’t really like this idea that much because its too dull, its not colourful enough and it wont attract children's attention. I think to improve this I could make the icons bigger and make them the centre of focus, I also think that the text needs to be further away from the edge of the paper.

Design Ideas: Idea One: Poster

I think that this design is better but I feel it could still be improved, I think some that the design needs to be more colourful and child friendly, I also think that it needs to appeal to adults as well so it needs more information on it. I like the icons because you can tell what they are supposed to be but I think they are all bunched up too much and they need abit more room.

Design Ideas: Idea Two: Poster

I think that this idea needs refining because the logo has to go over the text at the bottom, I also think the colours could be better. I like the idea of having to decode it, how it reads across and diagonally but I don’t think children or adults will find it encouraging or engaging. I think this idea could be improved if I used different colours, however I don’t think that this idea will be anymore engaging because it doesn’t get the intended message across.

Design Ideas: Sketches: Animation

I also want to look into animation because I think that this type of campaign would benefit more form an animation. I want the text to be bold and be the first thing that they see, I like the idea of it being mostly text but I also like the idea of a book coming to life because that’s what the message is. Save the children want to get across that reading doesn’t make you a book worm but that it opens up opportunities and can be fun and engaging. My other idea was to have the screen fill up of jobs that this child could become because they are able readers, I think that this would be a good idea because children would get excited about some of the jobs. As my target audience is also children I don’t want it to be a blunt message, I want it to be fun and exciting so children want to read. I don’t think that the first design would work because of this reason, I think its too blunt.