Compassion poster

Spreading the word about an issue that needs more attention.

Exploration

The goal of this project was to create a poster for a group in need. My first task was to brainstorm issues pertaining to specific groups of people or a group that could use and research this group or issue. I started by using diverging thinking about social media that landed me on the topic of how unrealistic the images that people share on social media are an the concept of the social media “highlight reel”. I proceeded to read up on the topic and found that social media use is related to anxiety, depression, and self-esteem issues. 

Putting It Together

I used magazine clippings to create two images stacked one on top of another. This was meant to imitate the way someone would look through their phone camera, with an image of the subject in the phone and the subject themselves behind the phone. My aim was to make the message simple and easy to digest or understand at a glance. “It’s filtered” plays on how filters are used in popular social media sites to change the way someone looks to be more conventionally attractive. I added imagery to represent the wealth and materialistic lifestyle that social media influencers frequently use. The content in the phone is brightly colored and the subject is dressed up and put together, while in the background the true subject is monotone and wearing a basic white tee. I think the reality is behind the lens most people we see online are quite similar and normal – boring even. We shouldn’t let the edited images artificially created to convey a certain lifestyle to distort our perception of reality. The link at the bottom of the image leads to a guide on social media detox, which is something that many people in my age group would benefit from.