I was assigned to create a body of visual research in response to a story, issue or theme found in the national press on Tuesday 23rd of October.
I purchased multiple newspapers including The Sun, The Mirror and The Times as they all have different tones of voices and I wanted to explore the ways in which they indivually covered their news stories.
Whilst thoroughly reading through each newspaper I found 3 stories that captured my interest and attention. I began to analyse what tone of voice was being used, the issues raised and the layout and content. Due to the first article being so in depth I chose to research other stories further to see what I could reveal before making my final decision on what story I wanted to use.
"Letter to killer cabbie" The Times, The Sun and The Mirror
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This particular story ran through all three newspapers and showed a different coverage, points of view and tone which I found interesting. The tone of voice is serious, bold, questioning and opinionated. The story is on-going with new threads of information and personal accounts from the people involved. There is also a lot of evidence through the use of pictures, letters and comments. The themes within the article are murder, rape, abduction, crime, justice and heartbreak.
"Bang to rights" - The Sun
The article uses a very humorous tone and reflects the pop culture of today such as networking sites "twitter" and how everything is so out in the open. There is a platform of all different media combined into the story such as newspaper, video and twitter which all represent different tones of voice. The themes within the article are controversial, sexual and represents young people.
"Clubbers ignorant of physical damage 'legal highs' inflict" - The Times
This particular article is serious, opinionated and questioning possibly due to the fact that The Times is directed towards a middle class audience. There is also interviews with specialist doctors that bring anchorage on the factual tone. Also a personal account 'case study' from a 22 woman in the media business who explained how easy it was to get hooked onto drugs and the influence from others. The themes and issues raised within the story are drugs, legal highs, physical damage, pop culture, youth, peer pressure, health, night life drug abuse and dependency.
After my research on the 3 articles I chose to focus on "Clubbers ignorant of physical damage 'legal highs' inflict". I think the theme of drugs is very diverse in the fact there are multiple points of view / tone of voices on them, from the victims of close ones that have died, addicts and young peoples attitude towards them.
I chose to focus on the theme of drugs and to research all different types of media and the tone of voice they portray.
Online articles surrounding the theme of drugs
- http://www.talktofrank.com/drugs-a-z : Informative website on the effects, names and users helpline
- http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120530100247.htm : Positive article about how ketemein can help people with depression and how the side effects make people happier
- http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2011/october/pharma : Graphic design on phramasucitcal drugs
- http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=194125 : Online forum where people exchange positive drug experiences and ways to mix drugs to get the best effect
- http://checkyourself.com/stories.aspx : personal stories from drug users and informing young people on the dangers of drugs
- http://www.redcafe.net/f13/police-investigate-deaths-two-teens-linked-mephedrone-288998/ : Forum on a inquest on a death where two teenagers died from using Mcat with various opinions and tones of voice
- http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4258732/Tragic-girl-collapses-and-dies-on-party-drug-meow-meow.html : Report on a young girl who died from Mcat with readers comments with various opinions and tones of voice
- http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/2077-worldwide-illegal-drug-deaths.html : Statistics on drugs, dangers and death rates
I looked a different types of graphic design and media to gain inspiration for my designs and to see how different mediums approach the issue of drugs and their tone of voice.
Advertisements and campaigns
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The advertisement campaigns sourced show multiple tones of voices from serious to humours reflecting my thought that there is a multitude of attitudes towards drugs. The campaigns are striking and either reflect a shocking message or a sarcastic tone for it's audience.
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Infographics
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The infographics show a clear and concise representation of the type of drugs available and there effects. Again there is a multitude of tone of voices represented but overall the message is clear and direct to it's audience by informing them about the culture of drugs.
Image and Type designs.
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The image and type design sources display innovative ways of representing drugs from collages to moving gifs. The designs changes the tone of voice of drugs and in a subtle way glamorises them due to the beauty of the work.
Playing on childhood ideologies
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These designs explicitly play on childhood ideologies through the use of changing well known and loved characters from known franchises such as Disney and Nikelodeon to drugs users. It breaks the innocence that these characters are associated with and subtly reinforces the idea that anyone experiments with drugs. The images also explore and humorous and careless attitude towards drugs as stated in the newspaper article
Type and Quotes
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The type a quote images and posters show a variety in time era, style and message. The posters majorly promotes or glamorise the drug culture through taking quotes from idolised celebrities or documenting fun experiences with them.
Through my research I realised that there was a lot of media directed at a younger audience that presented a humorous or careless attitude to the use of drugs. This then prompted me to work with a serious tone of voice and recreate media that shows the serious effects on drugs but making it relatable for my audience to interact and engage with.
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