This week we were assigned a project to create an activism poster surrounding a chosen issues and statement. The idea of the project is to create an A3 poster based around a chosen statement which could help communicate the message in a positive influential way.
After deciding I wanted to create a co creation project surrounding childhood cancer i felt this would be a great time to begin testing the waters and looking at how i could tackle the difficult subject. Therefore, for my project, i decided to look at how mental health is affected during and after chemo in teenagers. I feel the idea of post treatment life is really looked over when it comes to cancer as a whole, but for some it can be some of the hardest times as they adapt back to a new normal. After doing some research on a range of websites from charity pages to reports, i found a couple of facts which linked to my topic. However my chosen topic which i feel could be communicated in an educational way was “PTSD symptoms occur in 75% of youth during or after chemotherapy”. I found this a really strong statement which really resonated with myself and my own experience and therefore felt it was a good idea to tackle.
I knew i wanted my poster to have a positive aspect that although the image may not be the mossy positive it has purpose in a way that can be considered helpful.
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Thumbnails sketches
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Above shows my page of my sketchbook in which i began producing a range of thumbnails looking at different ways i could communicate the idea of PTSD within cancer. My first idea was including a character to help that patient feel a connection and find it more relatable. My other idea repeated more towards the idea of a blood transfusion bag, and the idea of as it pumps into your body it also bumps the trauma. Maybe a bit of a darker idea compared to the first, but could be effective in a different way.
The third idea was slightly more metaphorical with the idea being about the idea of the PTSD being a storm cloud that sits above you making you feel heavy and surrounded. Within this clouds i wanted to use symbols that could represent the idea of the treatment and things that haunted them. I do really like this idea and feel like ti could work in a way of communicating feelings, however, out of all three ideas i feel the strongest connection to the first and feel as a patient looking at it i would feel more drawn in.
Finalising the design
After going over my ideas I decided to take my work digital and took the sketch and began working with colour looking at a simplistic style that focused on flat base shapes. Below shows the final coloured design i created. I really loved the colour palette and feel it has a fun contemporary style that would help catch the attention of a patient. My idea for this piece is to have it develop into a poster that could be hung in a clinic with a helpline which a patient could feel they could turn to when experiencing these problems during and post treatment.
After reviewing my design with my lecturers I did understand maybe the use of bright colour palette appeared too much like sunshine, and didn’t get the idea off the serious message across. We also said that although i like the composition of the text and how it framed the patients, we did feel it was missing a sense of strength and connection.
Therefore, after reviewing this drawing i did see this elements and did feel like altogether it did not fully communicate the message I was aiming for. Therefore, I decided to work back into the artwork thinking about the background colour and how the text could be incorporated in a way that could help further explain the statement.
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| First with text all in cloud and a lighter background |
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Second with separated text and a darker toned background
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After reviewing the first piece it was nice to go back in and play with that idea of colour, I knew a darker dull grey would work much better and create a contrast between the brightness of the person and the darkness that is slowly surrounding them. I also added in one bigger crowd to add this idea of the cloud looming in above them, and stuck to a simple flat colour so i could layer the text on top without it feeling too heavy. I then began playing around with the text a mixture of fully being included in the cloud whilst the other was split in half with the rest curving at the like the original piece. After reviewing the two I definitely feel the first one works better with the text, however, needs a darker background to make the whites of the pills and blood transfusion bag stand out better.
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Final design
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Above shows my final design with chosen text and altered elements such as darker background, and higher definition of the whites within the image. I am really happy with how this progressed and feel t definitely communicates a much stronger meaning with the use of darker colours and shadows, Which highly contrasts to the person sat in the middle, showing how they are surrounded by the feelings of PTSD.
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