A friend studying history at Edinburgh University was putting on a charity ABBA night, fundraising for Refugee Support.
Brief:
A group of students at Edinburgh University are holding a charity club night to raise money for Issy Snouck Hurgronje and awareness for the Rohingya Refugee Crisis. Due to last minute issues the night before the event, they were in need of last minute posters that would be put up in the toilets and walls of the club to remind people of the cause.
It is important to note that people will be drunk when looking at them, so due to the nature of their context, the posters should be clear, shocking and to the point (simple).
Outcomes:
- Posters outlining the key issues
- Hand drawn imagery
- Digital files to be emailed and will be printed off by client
- Deadline 6pm
Message from client:
The fundraisers are coming to do a talk in Edinburgh on March 17th, about where the money is going and what they are doing to help in Bangladesh. We are looking for posters with a couple of key facts about Rohingya Refugees and about what Refugee Support EU are doing to assist the situation. We would like some hand drawn imagery on the posters if possible.
Research:
Design:
Looking at the nature of posters on toilet doors, going around uni and the area
- clear text
- framed if more official
- flyering sort of scruffy nature
- often about important issues / raising awareness
- A4
Refugee Support website: http://www.refugeesupport.eu/projects/tumbru-bangladesh/
Need to focus on the issue of children, as well as the sheer scale of this issue, and why it is important to be focusing on this crisis as opposed to others for now. Bangladesh is not a stable climate with vulnerable land and lots of flooding, meaning the already poor infrastructure to house these families are also in danger.
*10,300 refugees reaching Bangladesh a day
*more than 600,000 have fled the violence
*it is the fastest growing refugee crisis - thus needs more awareness
Summarising their goals:
*providing fresh food
*prenatal checks
*child friend spaces
*winter clothing
Initial Ideas:
Taking screenshots of the video outlining the crisis on the Refugee Support page was a good source for imagery that best reflected the issues. The idea to do a series of three posters came off the selection of imagery and how it was important for each poster to state its individual goals and not be crowded with information.
A statement/ or fact with a photograph that reflects the issues would be more effective than a list of facts and a group of photographs, as this would be too much information for a viewer on the toilet to take in and would disinterest them. Instead, the design should communicate for its purpose and be as direct as possible.
The diversity in imagery captures the emotion of these victims, the poor living conditions and the harsh weather that is making the situation worse for them. I thought it was important to cover all of these factors for people to fully sympathise with the situation.
As people on nights out are drinking, they visit the toilet more often and usually use different cubicles. As such, having a series of three posters also means that the information communicated to them builds throughout the night, and if it is the same layout but a different message, then they are subconsciously being fed more information without realising.
Design Development:
TO BE NOTED: The posters needed to be sent off at 6pm so that they could be printed and set up in the venue in time for opening. At 3pm the first two posters were complete and the design work for the third was almost done. The computer I was working on in the studio was unplugged and all the development work was lost, as such the process behind the drawings were lost however, the consistent nature of the design meant that the template could be copied for 1 and 2 for 3 and they could be completed as a consistent set and sent off in time to be used for the event.
To be efficient with the time restraint in place, using a tablet I drew over the screen-shotted images to give this hand drawn aesthetic that was in the brief. As the photos were not good quality this technique allowed for the imagery to have strong and accurate depictions that were of higher quality/ visibility.
The digital drawing aesthetic allowed for the murky and sombre colours to be communicated well, as well as for the realistic qualities to come through better through its realistic qualities. For poster 2 the emotion from the refugees is well translated, as well as how children and babies are being effected as well by the crisis. Another gain about having hand drawn imagery is that is makes people look twice and possibly even closer, to examine it in more detail, due to it standing out for an everyday photograph.
The development played around with various colour options for the background using colour swatches from the imagery themselves. It was an initial thought to have 3 different coloured posters with backgrounds that complimented their particular imagery, but after trying some variations out it was important to go back to what the initial ideas resolved, in having a consistent format that would feed into the viewers psyche.
As a result, the colour was responsive to the Refugee Support logo. The vibrant shade of red enhances the white text and would stand out on a dark background. The psychological effects of using red was also relevant to the context and content of the design. Red is associated with danger, strength and determination and is noted to attract attention more than any other colour as times signifying danger - thus adhering perfectly to the intentions of the design.
Where the Refugee Support logo would go was also tested in terms of layout and aesthetic. It was concluded to be placed in the bottom right hand corner of the text, in line with the image box, as for the second two posters the statements were more weighted on the left, so this gave a better balance for the size of the imagery and the overall layout.
Production:
Showing the client how it would work on a brick wall is important for them to envision the design in context. It was also to be flyered up around the venue to keep people aware that although it was a night of fun music and dance, it was foremost to raise money for an important cause, and to build momentum behind the campaign.
Pictures from the night:
Due to the last minute nature and technical setbacks experiences, certain details could not be communicated as well as would've hoped. Having the posters all in one area took away from the momentum that was hoped to be stimulated from their separate yet cohesive designs. Additionally as they were printed on thin paper they lost their clarity, and so if the budget was higher hopefully in future they could be printed on a thicker card stock to prevent creasing.
Nonetheless, the posters themselves are successful in responding to the day brief in an efficient and effective way. There is a clear identity that is constant throughout the series of three, and the colour choice is in line with Refugee Supports visual identity of the rosette. Using Helvetica was also responsive to typography choices on the refugee page. As it was a fundraising event for uni students, the neutrality and contemporary qualities of the san-serif font were relevant for a youthful and diverse crowd. It's simplicity and boldness from white on red meant it was clear and easier to read against a black background, which most club toilets and walls are, as well as the factor of nighttime being dimmed lighting. The sufficient gap between the lines also meant that each line had a heightened sense of clarity and the words would not get jumbled up amongst the expected intoxicated viewers.
On reflection, I would make the text take up a higher percentage of the page in comparison to the image so it was around a 70 by 30% instead of 50-50.
The clients were extremely happy with the final designs, and felt it added that extra informative aid to the night. The fast turn around was a really good experience for me as a designer to work fast and in direct response to a brief. The time cap made me a lot more focused on the simple and straight-forward qualities that the design needed, as well as not being able to play around too much and re-touch/ modify basic things like type choices and layout meant the design wasn't overworked. Design that communicates an important message definitely motivated the work a lot more, as the substance behind the design was for a legitimate and positive service.
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