Social Action

Jamie Mellors

Lets Fight Racism

This poster is engineered to challenge people for held beliefs about stereotypes and prejudices. “What do you see?” is the message behind the image. The language used is designed to make the viewer think about how this person is perceived by you and the community. Below this is a list of possible occupations and past times that is left to be determined by the viewer whether these are true or not. The purpose of the poster is that the viewer should not be able to tell if the text is linked to the image. Did you consider that the man in the image might be a “human rights activist” this spurs the imagination to see through peoples appearance. The main message is to not judge a book by its cover and be ensnared by stereotypes that may come with someone's ethnicity, class or any defining feature such as weight, choice of clothing or career. This is summed up well with the caption, “MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE” written in block capitals to attract the viewers eyes to it after the main focal point of the image has been addressed.

Techniques Employed • The image is used to attract the curiosity passing people. However it is the

question at the highlighted in blue that is what will convince the viewer to spend a moment studying the poster. “What do you see?” is a personal question the poster becomes about the viewer. This method of making the poster interactive, it certainly draws attention and more importantly gives the viewer added reason to further explore the poster. The options listed below the question are presented by a tick box. Does this imply that the viewer should attempt to guess which of these occupations are genuine? If the viewer guessed any on the options whether they are considered positive or negative by society the viewer is always wrong as they have judged the subject based on their appearance and more importantly possibly their race. The viewer then looks down to see the caption “MORE THAN MEET THE EYE” suggests that this previous thought should be reassessed. Its clear that this is suggesting that people could be anything or a lot more than first might be assumed. The viewer should walk away feeling like they have turned a learning curve. It will be more though provoking to have discover you have been guilty of stereotyping and categorising a race, and will most likely have a greater impact on you after.

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Drawing the viewer in with a question

Studio Shot Photograph

Website for more information that also reveals the issue that is razed

List of thought provoking occupations that challenge us to think empathetically

Designed to question your own views and stereotypes.

Explanation of the image designed using thought provoking language, written in block capitals

Use of blue to highlight question

The image and poster design is simplistic which mirrors the message it sends out- don’t judge a book by its cover.

The purpose of the image•The purpose of the image is to raise awareness of racial inequality and stereotypes. The poster should challenge dominant beliefs that exist in relation to race. For example someone who is black may be considered a lower class citizen based on prejudices that are associated with crime and drug culture. Which is of course not the case. The poster will hopefully change attitudes such as these to see these people based on their individual characteristics, traits and the person that they are. Groups of people must become disconnected from the actions of others. The example that has been used features a man of African ethnicity although this example applies to any group of people. The website the user is directed to “www.letsfightracismtogether.org” which shows us the direct objective of the campaign. •Racism has been a problem since the beginning of humanity so how much impact can a campaign such as this truly make? Racism will never be eliminated entirely unfortunately although this poster hopefully can be an eye opener to a number of individuals. The United Nations are the people behind the project. They are an organisation developed to “Protect Human Rights”, “Maintain International Peace and Security” and “Uphold International Law” these promises are taken from the UN website this issue of racism is directly related to these three objectives and therefore the poster is an international project meaning that that one of the purposes of the poster is to bring about global change. •Attitudes are changed if the poster is a success. Over then years dating back to the first appearance of anti-racism posters racism has become a very taboo topic that is generally avoided as the news has been packed with scandals over issues of racism. No one in the mainstream media even dares to voice an opinion on the matter. Whether this has helped the situation or made it more fragile and tense will never be determined. Although what interests me is whether the increase in awareness of racism is in anyway correlated between campaign posters such as these. This may not be the posters working as intended, if individuals have become enlightened on the topic and now see fellow man as equal and individual then the poster has been a success in strengthening community ties. The individual who may have had a change of mindset will then continue to live in an accepting way and will not be contributing to the ignorance of racism. The dominant view has then been challenged as a result of this. Previously people openly voiced their opinions on racism as it was the norm and widely accepted point of view that it could be casually made use. •Communities can come together to fight against issues such as racism. Racism has widely become unacceptable social behaviour partly due to posters and campaigns such as this. Communities ties can strengthen as they all come together to show support of such matters and create an environment in which racial minorities feel welcome and belonging.

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Labour’s Double Whammy

Political posters often entail negative publicity for an opposing party. Traditionally in the UK the Conservative and Labour party are big rivals. This is a poster taken from the 1992 general election, it was created by the conservatives to dissuade people from voting for Labour. This was a particularly effective campaign, mostly I think this is because they have put facts in their poster. It is a simple and self explanatory design that would undoubtedly make people think twice about there before held beliefs on voting and allegiance. The poster was paid for by the conservatives in the hope it would benefit their cause.

Techniques Employed • The designers behind the poster have intelligently used the could associated with the

Labour party, red. The image uses subliminal messaging for the colour of the gloves to the shady figure behind the gloves which represents the Labour party. Signifying they are not to be trusted and unclear in their objectives and views.

• “Labour’s Double Whammy” displays clearly that the party is at fault not only have they done what thing unfavourable but two. Cleverly these two offences are written on boxing gloves heading in the viewers direction, designed to make you feel as if they have hit you with two metaphorical blows. One being “More Tax” and “Higher Prices” two things that are sure to lose votes and favour from the public. It is a perfect example of how to taint your oppositions reputation, those were placed on larger billboards nation-wide which means that everyone would be seeing them. To those more ill-informed in political matters this could be a stand alone indication for change. It is made categorically clear that Labour is to blame, “Labour’s”. Underneath, the poster offers us the safe and preferable alternative “Conservative” according to the campaign. If you are against these two things vote Conservative. An ultimately clever and successful election movement, as seen on the next slide the idea was so successful that Labour made one themselves in recent years to combat the Conservative-Libal regime.

• On a more basic level of creating an eye catching poster they have uses bright colours and an interesting theme. The large bold font and word “Labour” informs us that the poster is political and worth a read. They have made sure we are well swear of the fact that two problems have been caused by the party from the text ‘1’ and ‘2’ written on the gloves.

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Evidence of the campaign’s Success and impact of the Campaign

A Labour imitation of the original poster. Evidence of the originals success.

The amount of votes won by the conservatives in the 1992 election, shown in blue. The conservatives won the election with a 42.2% majority.

Purposes of the Poster• The overall purpose of the poster was to win the 1992

general election. Posters such as these assist to meet these ends. This is done by providing information to the reader that is bad publicity for their opposition, which it turn will determine whether the individual will vote for them or not. The poster is ultimately designed to change voting behaviour. The poster is part of a major nation wide campaign that will determine the future of the county. If the campaign is successful and the conservative party is elected then national change has been achieved and the poster deemed successful. The information is designed to raise awareness towards the labour parties mishaps.

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“Why a 'plump' runner on a magazine cover matters”

What has now become a successful global agenda began when one overweight runner became frustrated with abuse in public. She wrote a comprehensive Facebook status expressing her feelings which has now been shared 37,370 times. Although unintentional her post has been noted by health and rights organisations. The result of this was a feature in “Women’s Running” magazine which followed by a BBC article on the subject. Her tweet details abuse she received from a man in a van who sarcastically sung at her. Another message of importance her is that it was a man was the aggravator of the abuse. After Lindsey’s post on facebook and the BBC article others have come forward with their similar stories. Matt Warr, a male runner told of how “someone threw at milkshake at him” and interestingly, he continued to say that feels he receives “less abuse about his weight than a female runner” raising the issue that sexism is involved. For her efforts and contribution to the community “Womens’ running” used her as cover model to showcase the image of the real female runner.

Purposes • Although Lindsey stated to Woman’s Running that she had no real

intention for her post it “was only ever intended for her friends” and the main message of her post was that she is not taken aback by offensive weight related comments and that no one else should be she has unintentionally created a public outcry. Once the campaign was commandeered by Woman’s Running magazine it has become apparent that they are out to bring a change of attitudes towards overweight female runners. Traditionally the cover of the magazine would feature a woman in peak physical condition, the editor of Woman’s Running, Elizabeth Hufton, says “there’s a perception that you shouldn't be doing it unless you look like someone in a sportswear ad”. This is dominant representation that is now being challenged, judging from how the post has spread it is a topic that needs addressing Elizabeth says she “speaks for many women”.

• The campaign has been successful in infiltrating the mainstream media. The topic has been discussed on the BBC news website after it began on social media at a very small scale. The intention from here using its large gain in supporters is to change attitudes towards overweight runners and raise awareness of the struggle they go through when running in public. If the campaign is successful the strength of the community will have increased as someone else is accepted to do as they will.

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Lindsey original Facebook post that started it all.

Deaf festDeaf fest was established and became popular instantly in 2006. It is a “Film and Arts” festive for those hard of hearing. http://deaffest.co.ukThe purpose of the campaign is to create access to mainstream media for non-traditional groups and also the opportunity for younger people to get a change to work in an industry that is not ordinary available to them. In the 9 years that it has been running it has become large and well-known amongst the deaf community which helps to strengthen the community. It is created by deaf people with the assistant of others which builds relationships with the audience of deaf and non deaf people that enjoy these events.

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This is their logo. It features a direct connection to the subject it is promoting through the use of sign language. The bright colours draw in the audience and the use of the word “fest” helps us associate with togetherness and down time. The organisation is not educational but used for leisure. The other image shows the project at work. Volunteers spend their time there making the opportunity possible, as a non-profit organisation it does also accept donations to keep itself running.