Women Have the Right to Choose.

Research.

For the poster project I have been given the topic of Pro-Choice, which is the stance that women have the right to choose to terminate a pregnancy because of women’s basic human rights to decide what is best for their bodies and personal life. Advocators of pro-choice have been waging a war against pro-life advocators, who believe a fetus, regardless of how underdeveloped it is, has the same rights as any human being and abortion should be illegal. According to Wikipedia, many pro-choice campaigners don’t agree with abortion but support the decision in an effort to reduce the amount of back-alley abortions that cause numerous deaths due to unlicensed practitioners and unsanitary conditions. Pro-choice advocates are supportive of the decision for women’s right to choose because situations arise where having a child is not the best solution. According to AbortionProCon.org, abortions are necessary because of financial situations, women who are victims of rape, failed contraception, unwanted pregnancies, or terminating a pregnancy because of mental or physical disabilities of the fetus. Advocators of pro-choice as well as those who support pro-life are in a constant battle through lobbyist groups, legislative hearings, and even rallies outside of clinics that offer services such as free contraception and pregnancy termination.

Pro-choice is a sociopolitical movement, having roots stemming from Roe vs. Wade in 1973 (link) up through present day activist groups such as the National Abortion Federation and NARAL Pro-choice America (link). The major objective of such activist groups are to achieve greater access to contraceptive methods to reduce unwanted pregnancies in order to bypass the need for abortions in the first place.

I stand on the side of pro-choice and that is the message my poster project will represent. I feel every woman should have the choice to decide what they put their body through and that no piece of legislation should dictate that right. I understand the opposing viewpoint and the value of life even in the smallest of forms, but I believe in human rights and the right to take ownership of your own body above all. I stand with pro-choice activists who demand wider availability of contraceptives and increased funding in sex education classes because educating the public is the first step to reducing the need to terminate a pregnancy. Facilities such as Planned Parenthood offer websites like this one here that offer free education on the various methods of contraception and how to handle emergencies that could help in preventing unwanted pregnancies. Another essential reason that pro-choice supporters work so diligently to continue to keep abortions legal is the thousands of women that have died because of unprofessional, underground abortions. According to Our Bodies Ourselves, 98% of unsafe abortions are practiced in countries where it is outlawed, contributing to rising numbers of maternal mortality. Women have never truly had a voice but this is one issue that should be undebatable, it is their body, therefore it is their choice.

Design Elements to Consider.

The poster is an excellent example of one direction a pro-choice stance could be represented. The mood of the poster is very gloomy, grim, and primitive. The use of the wire fence with the red coloring symbolizes a coat hanger, which once was a common method used to terminate pregnancies, that has a very negative connotation. The coat hanger is a symbol of a woman’s desperation to practice the rights to do what she wants with her body even when no other option is available to her. This poster takes a very serious and borderline unmoral stance on the topic of pro-choice. Using repetition of words, the point comes across that unsafe abortions result in outlawing the right for women to choose. This poster is an example of an extreme viewpoint of pro-choice.

This poster is a representation of how government has torn apart the subject of women have the right to their own bodies, leaving women feeling exposed and without a voice. The contrast of the red text and the white figure of the body embody the harshness and sad reality that women feel when they are left without a say in their own lives. This poster, much like the one above, both depict a helplessness and desperation through the use of symbols and colors, without showing graphics or being as bold as to disgust viewers. The use of red ropes symbolize women being held down by religious beliefs that try to dictate their rights through political lobbying.

 

 

The use of this image would be powerful for a pro-choice poster because the symbol for woman, combined with a fist is essentially a logo promoting women empowerment. The colors are also important in the effectiveness of this image because the two contrasting shades of purple are feminine colors that would attract female eyes if it were on a poster. I feel that using a symbol of women empowerment to portray a message that is based on the rights of women to choose would help relay the information on the poster exponentially.

A Pro-choice Poster Should Be:

Empowering

Dramatic

Voiceless

Demanding

Feminine

Forceful

Edgy

Protecting

Controlled

Submissive

 

Font matters.

Besides the visual images on the poster, the words are the second most important aspect.

Impact

Arial Black

Segoe UI Black

The fonts in the examples above would be good fonts to use for my poster because they stand out and act as a call to action, which is necessary when creating a pro-choice poster.

The theme I want my pro-choice poster to exude is empowerment and strength. I have seen many pro-choice posters in my research that are dark and brooding with a lot of use of the color red and black. Many pro-choice posters often use graphic images to get a point across, I want to explain my message that does not try to guilt people with harsh images, but sense the need to give women a voice for a cause that supports the right to choose. The color palette I am looking to use for my poster is a bright spunky hot pink complimented by softer pinks and ivory tones, to show that women, while being  feminine and classy, can still have the willpower and determination to fight for their rights.

 

 



Playing Critic For the Day

Take a Look, Did You See That? 



The most effective aspect of this poster is the stark contrast of the red tickets located directly in the center which signifies as the purpose of the poster being for a film festival. The use of movie tickets as the focal point of the poster draws the attention to what would have been an otherwise bland poster. Coupling the heart shape of the tickets, the color of red symbolizing love, and the quote at the top that states "All you need is film" allows one to draw the conclusion that the film festival being advertised is about romance movies. The use of multiple sized fonts and various colors indicates the larger sized words hold more importance than the smaller words, and the words highlighted in red are what the artist wanted the public to pay attention to more. The off white color of the background makes the poster look like it has been posted for a long time and subject to dirt or dust.

If you've lived under a rock for your entire life, then you wouldn't know the symbol on this poster was for The Rolling Stone's if you hadn't of looked at the black text covering the lip symbol. For the rest of the world, viewing this poster would be an automatic giveaway to exactly what is being advertised on this poster, a Rolling Stones concert. The varying sizes of each letter and the way they are placed into columns lets the red lips and tongue in the background play equal parts in grabbing a viewers attention. The black text is also slightly opaque so the view of the red lips is not completely lost behind it. The vertical and sideways text of the location of the concert allows the title and logo to take a visual center stage. The background of this poster is an off white color which gives the poster a vintage vibe, where a stark white background would make the black and red too harsh. The off-white color mellows the whole poster out.

The large sized fonts that bring to attention all of the most important pieces of information on the poster such as who is performing, when, and where bounce the viewers eyes around so that each aspect of the poster is seen. The background indicates a musical performance will take place through the use of guitar and keyboard icons which further help highlight the fact that the poster is for a concert. This poster uses a bottle of hot sauce as the focal point, which is contrast with the colors that are used for the rest of the background. There is a small hand that points to the words "In Person" which draws attention to that phrase as being something people should remember. The design elements used in the poster exude a rock and roll, crazy eager event and also give off a patriotic feel with the use of the white starts and the red and blue colors.



These Ones Missed the Mark a Little.

Where to begin with this poster? Lets just work our way down this craziness. First, the eye is drawn to the word Zac Brown Band in the bandana(?), so it would be normal to assume this poster was for a Zac Brown Band concert. When you let your eyes wander a little you also begin to see the names of about 30 various artists, some too illegible to read because of the wacky fonts. When your eyes reach the bottom of the poster it is then introduced that the poster is for a southern music and food festival, something that should be brought into a more focal point instead of as an afterthought on the bottom. The purpose of the poster would be better suited in place of the Zac Brown Band at the top of the page or even in the mouth of the skulls head would be a better place than located at the bottom. The 30 or so artists are squeezed in every corner of the skull that can possibly fit a name which one, makes it hard to see because of the small font size, and two, there is so much information to digest atoll clustered together at once that it overwhelms the viewer. The font size makes it difficult to read even the larger words as well. Lastly, nothing about this poster exudes food besides the fork in the hand of the skeleton which just seems as an afterthought due to the rest of the poster being focused on music.  

The poster has a psychedelic feel that would stand out amongst other posters if it wasn't ruined with the almost illegible text. The words in the banjo all string together even though they are in different colors and various sizes because the shapes of the letters are so distorted. The visual hierarchy would work well if the writing was clear. Also, the time and place of the event seem like an after thought that was just thrown at the bottom of the poster. The text is in extremely small plain font that does not pop against the background. The girl in the background and the array of colors is a strong attribute of this poster that is lost in the poor choice of text fonts and placements.

The poster has no visual qualities that should signify this as a Beatles concert. The grayish background gives the entire poster a boring, bland look that is egged on by the use of plain black text. Also, the text is not switched up much and gives the poster a monotonous feel. The image used in the photo looks like it was exposed to light and is washed out with continues to complete the boring and sad vibe of the poster. The Beatles were an iconic band and this poster says the complete opposite of that. The tour dates are so miniscule, they have become illegible. The design elements were not thought of in this poster whatsoever because nothing about this would draw in a viewers eye. If some of the text was enlarged and switched to a more festive font, as well as an introduction of color, it would change the feel of the poster.