Level: Junior and Senior Elective
Faculty: Chaz Maviyane-Davies
Duration of Project: Two Weeks
The world is in precarious shape and what we manage to do to each other, even worse. "Human Rights, Human Wrongs" is an extremely broad-based theme that allows students to choose and interpret a social issue.
Students will voice their opinions on their chosen issue by creating a visual, conceptual statement for a general audience, using the integration and/or juxtaposition of type and image, possibly in a new or unexpected way. The poster should aim to heighten public awareness of their topic and make viewers question their own beliefs and lifestyles.
How does the effective poster achieve its aim? Remember, by its very nature, the poster has can seize the immediate attention of the viewer, and then retain it for what is usually a brief but intense period. During that span of attention, it can provoke and motivate its audience. It can make the viewer gasp, laugh, reflect, question, assent, protest, recoil, or otherwise react. This is part of the process by which the message is conveyed and, in successful cases, ultimately acted upon. At its most effective, the poster is a dynamic force for change.
The image(s) can be "borrowed" from books or magazines (e.g., photographs and press cuttings), photocopied, rescaled, recombined to create the desired effect, or better still, you can photograph your own imagery. Make sure you credit the photographer. Illustrations have to be your own.
To explore and express, via images and typography, questions related to the profound effect we have on each other and the environment and to confront the issues that constantly jeopardize the respect for others, thereby encouraging universal values. Remember, fraternity and solidarity are embodied by helping each other and by reciprocity.