Evaluation

I have researched everything i could think of when it came to the visual graphic elements in terms of layout, typography, colour, look and feel and textures.

How i managed my time
I went through the brief high lighting key points and then went off and researched them. i should have produced an excel spreadsheet for each key point and this would have kept things as organised as possible.

What i think worked well was the graphic elements i used all came together in the end, the poster isnt brilliant but i have included everything proposed to me in the brief.

What could be improved
The organisation both with the digital files and organisation of time. i would have liked to have included more sketches and visual images into my sketch book in order to fully expand ideas. At first i confident at all in terms of my digital design skills, and i did find it challenging at first to get to grips with the software itself. More preparation needed in future in terms of knowing the software.

Overall i feel that i met the brief requirements in terms of the appropriate design, theme, colours and made a correlation between Facebook and the graphic visual language of a researched propaganda era, which in my case was 1942 Japanese invasion.

My Finalised Facebook Propaganda Poster

I have produced my finished poster... 

This is my propaganda poster completed. I think that my design is a success in terms of graphic elements and relating to a specific propaganda style. The layout is very common with the main interest located in the centre and the text is eye catching. The typography use dis very suiting to the poster both bold for the heading and the slogan has a hand written effect which makes it seem a bit more real. The colours are very basic, contrasting and vibrant, i think they all work well with each other. 

Sketches And Ideas For My Own Poster

After gathering ideas from research i then began sketching my ideas into my sketch book. These sketches ranged from small graphic elements through to visualisations and mocks ups.

In the above image i was expanding on my ideas visually trying to get a feel for what sort of sketches i could produce and what i could add or subtract towards other ideas.

This was my first full visual  idea put into a sketch. I thought about including Uncle Sam into this idea, as if Facebook wants you to sign up. Same sort of layout and typography however the colours would we that of my colour swatch that i created.

I then put this idea into illustrator to see how it would come up, experimenting with colour in certain areas...

Here was the rough sketch put into illustrator, just looking out the graphic style and type of font. I personally don't think that the typography is the right font type as it seems a little plain and a bit to modern. The typography used in this image was Arial Black.

I then sketched another idea into my sketch book, looking at the same graphic styles i researched.

As you can see from the sketch above i wrote down the sort of colour for each area just to sample the sketch. I really liked this idea, using the japanese rising sun as a Facebook symbol and the earth a notification sign. i then put this into illustrator to see how it would turn out as a mock up.

Here was the turn out. I really liked the graphic style and the colours so i decided to peruse this idea and take it to the net level adding more graphic elements and colours.

I then decided to change the blue rising sun to red in order to keep the original feel and theme of the rising sun however i am going to add the F letter in the sun to symbolise Facebook.

I added more graphics in terms of the notification sign, colours and typography. The notification i feel is a nice touch and makes it more relevant to my chosen social media Facebook. The colours i think go really well, contrasting but not clashing. I think the top header/ typography is great as it copies the colour on the earth. The bottom typography how ever is a bit dull and could do with some stylising both layout and font type.

Feedback From Presentation

Showing some good research into existing designs and graphic styles. Need to expand on my own graphic styles more. Imagery that i included into m presentation was good so far however typography choices need to be more defined and thought about in more detail.

Pitch/ Presentation

Whilst i have been researching for my propaganda poster i have also been putting together a presentation/ pitch to show my findings, ideas and plans. I will include information about existing graphic styles to that of my own. i will receive feed back from my peers and my tutors in order to advance and expand on what works and what doesnt.

Colors And Typography

I researched colour swatches and pallets in order to finalise the colours that i will use in my own. I used a website called Adobe Kulart, this website allows you to browse different colour swatches by typing in search terms. Here are the colour swatches that i looked at...

Colour Swatch One

 

Colour Swatch Two

 Colour Swatch Three

 Colour Swatch Four

 Colour Swatch Five

I found these swatches to be most useful. I found these swatches by simply typing in the terms propaganda and Facebook. These swatches are all relevant to the graphic style how ever after expanding my ideas i decided to make my own.

My Colour Swatch 

I think my colour swatch has kept to the appropriate graphic style and isn't to dull or to extreme. 

Mood boards

I created mood boards in order to gather ideas on graphic styles and to help me understand the certain look and feel needed for a propaganda poster.

Mood board one

This is a mood board of propaganda posters ranging from all different eras and different social backgrounds.

Mood board two

This mood board was that of my chosen social media, Facebook. i wanted to look at the graphic styles that Facebook already has in order to try and combined ideas.

Design Research

I have looked into design ideas in which i could include into my own poster(s) ranging from colours, typography, mood boards, visualisations and graphic styles. 

My Chosen Social Media

After looking into the social medias in which i was presented with within the brief i have chosen to go with Facebook as i feel i could incorporate some good propaganda graphic ideas into the the theme.

Brainstorms

I made some brainstorms in order to expand my ideas and think about what i could incorporate into my own propaganda poster from the social media sites listed in the brief and/or ones of my choice. 

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As you can see from the brainstorms i mostly looked at the main headings and what the social media sites offer to the users for example images, email, sharing, music, job searching.

Conclusion To Existing Propaganda Poster Graphic Element Research

My conclusion to my poster research was...

Layout
The layout to the posters i researched were all centred and the typography either above or below the main image, sometimes even both.

Typography
The typography of the posters seemed to favour the big bold text as the header. This really stands out compared to other font faces.

Colour
The colour used were all very basic colours however they contrasted very well making the image more powerful. for example background colour and typography colour to add depth.

Existing Propaganda Poster Graphic Element Research

I have looked into many different existing examples of propaganda posters from the twentieth century. These include that of the second world war, the spanish civil war and russian propaganda.

http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~pv/pv/courses/posters/posters1.html 

The image above is my first example i analysed. As you can see the poster is clearly promoting the fact that they want you to join the RAF. This is a type of 'specialist recruiting' because it is targeting a key aspect instead of a vast aspect. 

Graphic elements

The graphical style used is very simple yet effective. They have used the imagery of the planes in the sky to emphasise that of the text, adds meaning to the slogan or text. You can see that the top line of text 'join and air crew' is coloured white, and the bottom line of text 'in the RAF' is in blue. This contrasts the the text from each other and the background which adds depth to the poster. Because the depth of the poster makes it eye catching you are then drawn in to the small text at the bottom of the poster which gives you more information. 

http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~pv/pv/courses/posters/posters2.html

The image above is my second example. The poster above is promoting the fact that the government was to speed up production in there factories. This is telling the public that they need to put in 110% when working in factories in order to help with the war. This poster is very simple in the way it is designed and its straight to the point. There is no small text to read all the text is in bold. 

Graphic elements

The positioning of the graphics are all centred and are all in big. The font is all bold which makes it stand out, the colour is very contrasting and adds depth to the poster. They have incorporated the slogan into the graphic imagery by making the 'o' in 'production' a saw blade.  The background is very plain that allows the images to stand out more. 

http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc192/ 

This is the third example in which i looked at. Nazi sticking a dagger through the Holy Bible. Freedom of religion is one of the cherished rights of Americans and a freedom not often honored by dictators. This poster symbolised to many people an important reason why we were fighting the Nazis in World War II.

Graphic elements 

This is a strong image of a nazi stabbing a dagger through the bible. It seems very aggressive against the bright red background. Emphasises emotions and ideas. The bold text against the black background colour at the bottom of the poster makes the text stand out and adds depth to the image.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:He's_coming_South.jpg 

This poster is from Australia from 1942. This propaganda poster represents the Japanese invasion letting people know that war is on the horizon and everyone should prepare for what is in store. 

Graphic elements 

Japanese flag is clearly visible and in this case is representing the sun coming over the earth. These is a japanese man stepping over the world as if to symbolise that they are not far away and everyone in Australia should prepare. The typography is clearly visible at the top because it is in bold. this typography at the bottom looks hand written which give it a realistic affect. there are wear and tears on this poster, for example rips down the side. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Sam 

The propaganda poster above is Uncle Sam and its promoting the army's need for people to sign up and join. This is a very popular poster and has been used for generations. This poster was created and used by the American government during the war of 1812. 

Graphic elements 

An elderly man with a goaty beard is the main image, this backs up the bold text which helps to promote the purpose of the poster. The layout is centred and basic. The colours represent that of the American flag mainly consisting of blues, reds and whites. the background colour however makes the image look old. 

Existing 20th century 2.0 Posters

Here is my research into existing 20th century 2.0 posters... 

http://worldfamousdesignjunkies.com/djunk/social-networking-war-propaganda-posters-released-by-aaron-wood/attachment/facebook-propaganda-poster-2/

This is an existing social media propaganda poster promoting you to join by saying if you join then you automatically are victorious. This is definitely a type of original propaganda style but mixed in with Facebook. 

Graphic elements

I like how they have incorporated the like hand into the design and theme. the typography is bold and laid out in space, not all cramped up. the hand is coming out from the left hand side but is mainly centred. The colours are all vibrant and contrast one another. 

  http://www.usernetsite.com/creativity/show-your-loyalty-in-the-social-media-war.php 

What is Propaganda?

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda 


In my own words...
Propaganda is a political scheme created or promoted to advertise and publicise a biased view or cause. This scheme is to push people into a certain frame of mind or understanding about subject (that of best interests of who ever started the scheme). 

Web 2.0 Propaganda Poster Assignment

The Brief - Outlined 

You will produce at least one poster promoting as aspect of Web 2.0 Social Media which can be printed at up to A1 size.  You should choose social media from the following list or discuss an alternative with your tutors:

·       Facebook

·       Twitter

·       Flickr

·       Google+

·       LinkedIn

·       Blogger

·       Vimeo

·       YouTube

The design must be based on propaganda posters from a period of the twentieth century.  You will research, collect and analyse examples of propaganda posters then generate ideas which match these to social media services, creating a suitable slogan which links the design to the service being promoted.

You will generate ideas for this project based on research and design development techniques (such as brainstorms, mood boards, sketches) and you will prepare a pitch which puts forward your proposed design solution with a review of how you reached those decisions.  You need to explore type choices, colour palettes, poster designs and layouts in this pitch.  Illustrator work in progress can be shown as part of this.   

Your colour palette, graphic style and type choices must reflect the style and content of posters from your chosen period. The graphics will be entirely vector and you will create the artwork in Illustrator at A1 size. 

You will keep a blog of research materials and project development, including research into propaganda posters, placing these into their historical context and analysing their design characteristics, design decisions, problem solving, software techniques, comments on drafts and crit, with notes on changes and improvements made in response to feedback. 

You will also develop a sketchbook of visual research and analyses, sketches and idea development, experimentation in things like colour schemes, typography, drawing style, and proofing.