GOAL
This project was meant to create awareness for the national day of unplugging and the fictitious events put on by the Bethel University student government as a way for students to participate.
IDEATION
First, Research was conducted by asking peers and friends about their relationship with technology. I found that many people used technology as an escape while at the same time see it as a stressor in their lives, an interesting dynamic. Then visual research was done to hone in on a feeling that could be captured through simple elements to highlight our culture’s relationship with their mobile devices.
Mood boards were created to give direction to the visual ideas. The modified type on the “RETRO” mood board and the relaxed backgrounds and iconography of the “Simple” mood board were used in the final poster.
Mood Boards
CONCEPTUALIZATION
In this early stage I was exploring the use of simple images related to rest and technology to create intrigue about what the event might be. I liked the idea of including a simple reference to a phone so I took this idea and cleaned it up for the final poster.
ICON METAPHOR 1
ICON METAPHOR 2
ICON METAPHOR 3
Ultimately I thought that a mix between interesting type and simple illustration would work best but I wanted to bring the message about in a more nuanced way than I had been able to so far. The event was supposed to highlight the juxtaposition between peace and discomfort caused in part by our reliance on our screened technology and that is what I wanted to capture.
FINAL POSTER AND BANNER STAND
The final poster and banner stand have a calming light blue to white gradient as a base and attention grabbing text that digs right to the heart of the issue.
The banner stand relies on the headline to catch attention. Such a bold statement will prompt some people to respond to it in their head with a “no I don’t”, or “yes I do”. Either way it is intended to beg the question, “do I really need my phone?”
The phone and notification symbol on the poster will likely capture the visual attention of many people, and whether they notice before or after the headline they will hopefully realize just how strong these symbols draw us in. Why is this the case?
