Moodboards

To generate some ideas I put together a moodboard of images in my book. This is the first moodboard I created, in this moodboard I have put together various images of propaganda posters from many countries and time periods. 

In this second moodboard I have put together images off of Facebook and Twitter, these images are to help me get an idea of what sort of features and styles I could add to the propaganda posters to modernise them.

Brainstorms

After reading over the social media sites that I coud pick in this project, I decided that I would focus my attention on just Facebook and Twitter, this is because they are the sites that I know the best, as well as having the most features that could translate onto a poster or into a slogan. Below I have made up brainstorms to start my ideas, these also help me to think about what features are important from the sites and would be helpful to include on the poster. The fonts and colour choices I have researched and have found that these are the actual colours used on the sites and the fonts are either from the site or the closest to the site fonts that I could find.

Facebook and Twitter posters

After looking at some of the posters from both World Wars, I decided to look at some of the existing propaganda style posters for Facebook and Twitter, here are just a few that I have found. 

This poster is promoting Facebook, when you first look at this poster your eyes are instantly drawn to the "like" hand in the centre of the piece which for all Facebook users and for some non-Facebook users a huge give away to what the poster is about. The hand is also a play on the idea of the clenched fist which many propaganda posters featured, especially Russia's cold war posters, the fist symbolised victory which is where the text then makes sense. The large lettering saying "Victory" works very well as it is bold and works with the play off of the victory fist. The font is large and easy to read like many of the original propaganda posters, the same goes for the easy to read font at the bottom of the page. This part plays to the more modern idea of the "like" hand and confirms that the poster is advertising Facebook. The only think I struggle to understand with this poster is why they have decided to put the "like it on" in lower case. From what I have seen in other posters it is rare to find one with lower case letters when using such a punchy quick sentence. Apart from this the poster works well, you can see how they have thought about the layout and symmetry of the piece as the top half is blue with pale writing and the bottom is pale with blue writing, this ties the whole poster up nicely without making the background plain. 

This poster is also for Facebook and you can instantly tell this from the large, bold font saying "Facebook" this is a typical font as we have seen in many other posters and the use of capitals works well as this seems to be the general theme of propaganda posters. Using the words "join the cause" is the sort of phrase that would have been seen on real propaganda posters and this is followed by the phrase "Your friends' farms need you" this is clever as it is referring to a game on Facebook called FarmVille, this game is very well known in the Facebook community, however outside of Facebook it is not something people have heard of. This suggests that this poster has been made to target Facebook users rather than non-users, as you would not understand the reference if you had not already heard of the game. The image works well with the text on the poster as it is showing a farm, but is is also complimenting the idea of a propaganda poster as it has that effect in the sky which is commonly used in Japanese and Anti-Japanese posters. 

This poster is looking at Twitter and is playing hugely on the "someone talked" poster which was warning people that if they talk about war an enemy may be listening and it could cost lives. In the original of this poster is it set out exactly the same with the same image, colours and font choice, the only difference is that instead of "talked" they have used "tweeted". This poster is very clever as, like the FarmVille poster only reached out to the people using Facebook, this poster will only effect the people who have seen the original, as without having seen the original poster and knowing a small amount about its history and meaning, this poster doesn't seem to make a huge amount of sense. However if you know the original this poster is very effective and humorous. This poster on its own would stand out from a wall and make you stop and look at it, many effective posters used in the wars, it has a strong connection to the viewer, using this technique of pointing and eye contact, however in this poster it is not about a confidence boost, it is about guilt. Making you feel like you are responsible for this mans death and stopping you from talking (or tweeting) without thinking.  

Here is another Twitter poster, this poster has a reasonably strong link to the first Facebook poster I wrote about. The font choice is very similar and they have both used "Victory" in large letters at the top of the image. This poster however, carries on the sentence onto the bottom half of the poster, changing the well known phrase "Victory is sweet" to "Victory is tweet" this play on words shows that the poster is about Twitter without having to plaster the logo over the whole image. Both Twitter users and non-Twitter users will understand this poster making it useful to persuade people to join Twitter as well as making sure that the users don't leave. The image in the centre of the poster is of an egal with its wings spread creating a "V" shape, this compliments the use of the word Victory and also symbolises power. The use of this bird is also clever as it is a more agressive play on the Twitter bird and this is backed up as they have changed the egal to a twitter blue. The whole poster has been made in blue to make it eye-catching as well as make people link it to Twitter. This poster works well as it is simple and straight to the point, using easy to read font and clever text.

Propaganda posters- WW2

World War 2 was the most widespread war in history and lasted from 1939 to 1945. During the War all countries involved were using posters to recruit people for all sorts of jobs from joining the fighting forces to being a nurse to running farms and growing their own food. Along side these posters there were also a lot that were telling people to keep their mouths shut to stop the enemy countries from finding out what their plans where and in England and America there were also poster about buying war bonds and giving money to help fund planes and guns. Propaganda posters were everywhere and different countries had very different ideas as to what worked well. 

Here you can see how English posters and American posters are using similar techniques, both of these posters were used to get people to enroll into the armed forces, this type of poster is possibly the most iconic style of propaganda posters. These posters both have an extremely strong connection to the viewer, they both have eye contact with the person looking at the poster and the use of the pointing hand really makes the reader feel like it is addressing them personally. This idea of the poster reaching out to you personally is very clever, it makes the viewer feel wanted and needed which is a huge confidence boost, this may well be the small boost that they need to finally join. Both of these posters use a large, very easy to read font and the word "you" is highlighted in both again going back to this idea that the reader is being personally talked to. 

This is a Russian propaganda poster which has a similar idea to the English and American posters above as the text says "Your motherland needs you" but there are some huge differences between the posters as the look on the woman's face is very stern and the way she is holding out the forms makes it look very forceful. The English and American posters make you feel like it is your choice to join however with this poster it comes across a lot more like you are being told to join. The other huge differences in these posters are the colours both of the posters above are quite dull and the colours they use are dark, however in this Russian poster they have used a very eye-catching, bold red which from what i have seen is used in most if not all other Russian propaganda posters, this does work well as it makes you link the posters back to Russia as well as catching peoples eye. A lot of these posters would have been put on dark, dull walls, using such a bright red makes the view stop and look. The last huge difference that I can see is how this Russian poster has used guns in the background. Almost all of the English posters I have seen that are recruiting show people completely untouched by war, they dont have a cut or scratch on them, it is like they have stayed away from the idea of aggression and hurt in war, however the Russians didn't seem to have a problem with showing things that cause pain and death. Many people fear guns and stay away from anything they are involved in which is why most countries stayed away from showing that side of the war in their posters, this Russian poster has taken war on head first and it has actually made he poster look very powerful and gives the impression that they can not be beaten. 

This is another American poster promoting war bonds. War bonds were the best way for the government to fund the military while making the public feel involved and giving them the feeling of importance. This poster is very well put together, the colours are the perfect balance between being eye-catching but not too overwhelming and too bright. The text in this poster is effective as the first part is written in slang, using "'em" instead of "them" and using quotation marks, this sort of text brings the poster back from being about war and the government and makes it a lot more personal and really brings it home, because it is as if the man in the image is talking to you or possibly writing home. The fonts choice backs this up as they have used a slightly hand written style of font making it look like a message home. The man in the poster looks very happy and positive restoring peoples faith that the war is going well and in their favour. This sort of image shows how different the approach from Russia's harsh, agressive, guns blazing sort of poster is to this friendly, positive, unscratched man. The font at the bottom is much like other fonts used in other propaganda posters as it is bold, large and easy to read. This poster makes Americans want to put money into the war, while maintaining the image that no one is getting hurt and everyone is staying positive.      

Proaganda Posters- WW1

Britain entered the war on the 4th of August 1914, at this time they needed as many people to join the armed forces as possible to give them the best chance, to do this they started posting poster around to make people see war in a different way. Many posters glamourised being in the war while others played on emotions and personal achievement. Here I have analysed some posters from this period and have looked at why they might have been effective. 

Here is one of the posters from WW1 that is really emotive. It plays on the idea that in a few years time when the war is over, what stories will you have. This poster may imply that if you dont join the war and fight for your country your children will not look up to you. The idea of this poster is very clever as it shows a gentleman, unmarked from fighting in the war, in an expensive suit looking proud about fighting for his country and people. He has a happy family and children that look up to him and as the caption implies, it was due to him doing a good service for his country. This poster was created to make people think about life after the war and how they can be proud and their children can look up to them and aspire to be them which is implied by the son playing with war figures. Along with its strong theme of emotion, the colours are also very eye catching, bold rich greens and a eye catching blue dress make this poster stand out from a dull wall or board. It is the ideal lifestyle and makes people think that if they join the war they will too have this perfect life. 

This poster is much less emotive than the last, however it is a lot more direct. Instead of saying "look at this man" it is directly addressing the reader. The use of the word "you" makes this poster really effective as people feel personally wanted. This is well complimented by the use of strong eye contact and a finger pointing out towards the reader. Posters like this worked extremely well as no one goes into something knowing they are going to be just another person, this poster makes people feel like they are greatly needed and boosts the confidence of any man having doubts about going to war. The colours in the poster are reasonably dull and neutral which makes the Union Jack shirt really stand out. Using the Union Jack is another way to make people think about how it is helping the country and serving the people. The Union Jack is bringing this poster closer to home and also the rich colours of it bring the idea of wealth and pride. All of these things together along with bold fonts and a punchy, straight to the point message, make this poster effective and would make people want to join. 

Propaganda and Web 2.0

After having read the brief, I realised that I wasn't 100 percent sure what Propaganda really meant. To find out more I did a definition search on the internet. There were many definitions that, although thorough, were complicated and hard to understand. After reading many that I didn't quite get, I came across this definition.

"Propaganda, simply put, is the manipulation of public opinion. It is generally carried out through media that is capable of reaching a large amount of people and effectively persuading them for or against a cause. The exact meaning of propaganda is constantly debated, however, and no specific definition is completely true. Some argue that any persuasive communication is propaganda, while others hold that propaganda specifically alters political opinions. However, it is doubtless that propaganda is material which is meant to persuade or change public opinion, and though it often varies in form and technique it always serves the same purpose. Propaganda is communication for the purpose of persuasion." - http://library.thinkquest.org/C0111500/whatis.htm

This definition was the one that made me fully understand that propaganda is a way of changing peoples' opinions and views on something (often political). This definition also mades it clear why posters are so effective, as they reach a large audience with minimal effort. Just so long a poster is large enough and stands out it could reach a whole town of people within a day. 

The other thing I need to look at before I start the project is what is Web 2.0?

Finding a simple definition for Web 2.0 was difficult, I found that the best way to describe it was to view it in table form.

http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html 

This table shows the 2.0 versions of the old 1.0 sites. From looking at this and reading a number of definitions I have come up with my own simple definition. Web 2.0 is all about interaction and communication. Unlike Web 1.0 sites which were very static, Web 2.0 sites are built to involve you. Things like tagging photos, commenting and updating from your mobile phones are there to make your surfing experience easier and more interactive and that is what Web 2.0 is all about. 

“A Web 2.0 site allows users to interact and collaborate with each other”- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

Propaganda Brief

For our new project we have been asked to create a poster in Illustrator promoting an aspect of Web 2.0 social media. This poster must be made so that it can be printed at A1 size and has to be completely made up of vector images. The design of this poster must be based on propaganda posters from the 20th century.
The social media sites that we have been given to look at are
Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Google+, LinkedIn, Blogger, Vimeo and YouTube.


I am looking forward to this project as I feel I will learn a lot from it and as I haven't used Illustrator before and look forward to being taught how to use it effectively. My main concern for this project is getting the work done on time. This is a concern as I am not sure how quickly I will pick up Illustrator and how easy I will find it to produce a poster based around a propaganda theme. I think the best way to get around these concerns is to plan this project well, do plenty of research into propaganda and posters and just get as much practice on Illustrator as possible.
The first thing I will be looking at in this project is what propaganda and web 2.0 really are.