Week 1

Peace Poster Research

 To start my research I tried to look up other posters on the topic of peace, much of what I found seemed to be done by children and included symbols of the world (globe), a dove and the peace sign used in many combinations. Blue, being a calming color was also used often.
While when I look into the visuals about human rights(also mentioned in the creative brief) they have more depth of meaning to them, it almost seems as if peace is such a broad concept that it become diluted visually.

I feel that peace deserves more of a focus, but it needs to be specific in a way, or find a way to engage with or interact with the viewer.

To find more examples historically I looked towards propaganda.

Propaganda is a form of communication aimed towards influencing the attitude of a population toward some cause or position. (Wikipedia Definition)

The above definition perfectly describes our goals for this competition, to influence a movement towards peace. Propaganda also has a negative connotation because of movements throughout history that have manipulated the public with skewed facts. This is one of the reasons that I'd prefer to have as small of an amount of text as possible on my poster and that none of the text be "fact".
I feel that posters that have taken that approach have mislead the public so often that viewers today tend to ignore when they see something designed in a similar way.

Next I looked into cultural color associations since the poster will be for an international audience.

examples:
yellow- is the color of mourning in at least 2 countries and is also connected to sadness and jealousy
green- while in most places it means new life and beginnings and hope, in nations of Africa and South America it is connected to drug culture and corruption
Because of the olive branch symbol, olive green is considered a color of peace


 http://webdesign.about.com/od/color/a/bl_colorculture.htm
http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/cultural-color.html

What I found from these articles is that all colors have good and bad connotations, some worse than others, so as I design I need to be aware of my choices.


symbols of peace- white poppies, paper cranes
Fire is a symbol of peaces due to fire in temples.
Peace Flag- 7 stripes,(rainbow) with white letters spelling out peace

The human rights campaign has its own symbol that creates a hand and a simplified dove.


Shapes and Meanings

Circle- protection, completion, eternity, associated with sun and all the elements unified
Squares- order and stability
Triangle- the trinity, summoning, (pointed up) strong foundation, (pointed down) air and fire.



Definitions-
amity- a friendly relationship
Tranquility- state of being calm
repose- state of rest, or being kept in a particular place
quiescence- being still, marked by inactivity or repose
truce- an agreement between enemies to stop fighting for a certain amount of time
pacification- attempt to create and maintain peace.
     pacifist- someone who is against fighting and wars.




Interview Questions/Survey Research

overall question Ideas-
What is peace to you?
Is there a certain hue you think of?
What do you think of when I say human rights?
Is there a group you think of first?
In an ideal world _______
What can the everyday public do to help?
Do you pay attention to posters with facts?
Do you feel shapes have certain connotations?

Do you look at visuals posted around campus?
Why or why not?
What makes you look?
Where are you most likely to look at/for things on campus?

With the questions above (or refined ones) there are many ways my group can approach the public. I feel that choosing to survey and interview multiple ways will allow us to receive information from multiple demographics which will help us reach more people with our designs. I feel that going through social media (mainly Facebook) and interviewing a small group in person will allow us to receive more thorough explanations.

I researched online survey sites and found that both Survey Monkey and Question Pro are great options. Depending on our question types Question Pro may end up working best.