Audience Analysis

Me and my partner, Jordie Bellaire, are going to a total of 5 images of a propagandist nature for our final project. They will tell a narrative story, use differing techniques, and will be a chronological sample of how propaganda can change over time during one event to suit the needs or mood of the occasion. I apologize if I somehow mix up some of the concepts or have them in a differing order than Ms. Bellaire may state. We've only had a couple serious sessions about the project but are very in tune with our concept and are enthusiastic to begin the project.

The First Poster:

The first poster will be very similar to what I refer to as the "passive H1N1 propaganda". While being influenced by the current coverage of such a widespread illness, I think that the digital media (such as television news) has a much more successful time inciting fear about H1N1. All print materials I have seen appear pretty passive, with the same listings of ways to prevent the disease that I believe the CDC distributed. I think the importance of listing mundane yet common knowledge things to prevent illness is a great start to a narrative on any disease outbreak.

The audience for the first poster would be the general public, anyone who could comprehend the material. I think if the same information the poster boasts were instead on a paper pamphlet, then it would be distributed at schools, government offices, and any high traffic areas (like boarding a cruise ship). However for a poster to be affective I think it would be displayed in hospitals, doctor's office waiting rooms, post offices, human resource offices, and in school clinics. In these cases the audiences would be the adults or employees of said institutions. I'm sure these posters would often be ignored.

I think our audience would have the knowledge commonly associated with these posters, like using hand sanitizers and washing one's hands. It would not be broadcast with anymore haste or importance than a regular flu outbreak in a controlled area. The intention of this specific poster would be to remind, more than teach or to provoke thought. Like a loving mother who calls to make sure you set your house alarm and turned of the stove, these posters would be a silent piece of paper that if read would perhaps give people impetus to go those little steps to prevent the onset of illness. The poster will also contain symptoms that someone might not consult a doctor over. Running noses, dry mouth, coughing, etc. Anything that could be associated with a common cold that could be treated with drug store medicine or perhaps could be a associated with seasonal allergies. Again these symptoms are listed but with no sense of urgency behind them.

The audience will most likely care about the issue at hand like most flu outbreaks. There are the section of people who will pay attention, take their vitamin C and have a preventative agenda. Then there will be those who will not alter their habits dramatically or might not even care.

It will be visually dominated by text with a simple line drawing of someone washing their hands. It will be a simple and easy to understand design that appeals to all who wish to view and or respond to what the poster will have to say. All text and the drawing will be white on blue (the predominant color of our campaign) which is associated with hospitals and other medical organizations.

(In all honesty I have forgotten what the second poster will contain! I could carry on with the third, fourth, and fifth, but for sake of surprise and buildup of our viral narrative I will post this now and edit it further later. I think the concept will come across as a much stronger sequence if this information is given. The second poster is the beginning of the turn of events and the crux on which the true propaganda begins. Forgive me, for the first poster is rather mundane but almost sets the stage for the "before" mentality of this epidemic, which is how I (and perhaps Jordie) feel is the common cultural regard to illness or epidemics from flu to H1N1.