“An advocacy poster is the manifestation of a charged social or political idea designed to inform and illuminate, stimulate and inspire, agitate and attack. When finely honed it communicates without ambiguity. When smartly conceived it imparts meaning through complexity and simplification. When on target – when message and image, form and function are one – it shoots a charge into the brain that pierces the conscious and subconscious triggering action, now or later” -Steven Heller
For the first project of the semester, we were asked to create two posters, advocating a cause we believe in; one using type and image and the other using type as image. I chose the ASPCA as my advocacy group, and anti-puppy mill education, for my cause.
Concept statements:
// Type and Image: It is no secret that dogs are often abused and neglected at puppy mills. However, the abuse isn’t always physical, and therefore not immediately evident. Lack of sunlight, exercise and poor nutrition can lead to psychological and behavioral problems that the dog’s purchaser may not be made aware of, until later in its life. This poster then attempts to draw attention to the problem by literally making the issue hard to see. The dog is cut from a chain link fence, to remind the viewer of the poor living conditions forced upon these dogs.
// Type as Image: Puppy mills contribute immensely to the pet overpopulation problem in the United States. As their sole priority is to make money, they breed whenever, and as often as possible, essentially “flooding” the market (pet stores) with their product. When the dogs don’t sell, they are then taken to already overcrowded shelters, and eventually, if not adopted, put to sleep. By tweaking the old idiom to read, “NOT every dog has its day,” the viewer understands there is a problem, and hopefully gets drawn in to learn what it is. The type is made from dog fur, which adds another layer to the concept.
// Reflection: I chose the ASPCA for my advocacy group because I am passionately against animal abuse. I honestly believe that if more people knew about puppy mills, and how easily we, as a whole, could shut them down, they wouldn’t buy their next dog from a mill, or a pet store that mill’s sell to. However, in regard to the project, the puppy mills weren’t the easiest issue to tackle. Limited imagery made it difficult to find a smart concept that didn’t seem to obvious or contrived and many ideas were considered before eventually finding two that worked. Ultimately, I think my two posters successfully pulled in the viewer, visually, and hopefully intrigued them enough to read about, and perhaps even be inspired by the cause.
