The purpose for this project is to work with Studentvote.org to develop a deliverable that will be an identity/messaging system that works within their brand. The overall goal is for to educate and inspire younger people to take action politically by evoking interest and empathy through out product!
RESEARCH 🔍:
In order to start, it is important to understand what kind of platform studentvote.org is! I browsed through their website to get a better gist of what they do, the purpose, and who are affected.
👀 Who is StudentVote.org
It is emphasized that this is America’s oldest and largest nonpartisan youth voter mobilization program. StudentVote.org was launched by the Student PIRGs in partnership with Rock the Vote. From those partners, they were able to expand and connect with organizations like NAACP, Surfrider Foundation, and many others.
“The Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project is a nonpartisan effort to help register young people and get them to the polls on Election Day. We believe the best way to raise the voices of young people and our issues is to register and vote. Together we can make change happen.”
They do not endorse any candidate or party and are neutral to allow young adults to make their own political choices. Their main priority is to get young people to the polls.
Why 🤔
To start, 18-year-olds earned the right to vote in 1971 because of the 26th amendment. However after each election, the voter turnout among young Americans have declined drastically. Why is that? To emphasize this decrease in participation, according to the American Political Science Association, they mentioned that in 2018, 7 in 10 young voters failed to vote. It is twice as more common to see older voters to go to the polls than younger voters. 18–29 year-olds take up 22 percent of the voting population, but only 13 percent of them participated in the 2018 election. There are many arguments on why there is a fail to turn out in the younger population. Down below are arguments that people reason to the lack of younger voters.
Apathy towards politics. Time. Lack of awareness. Enviornment. Culture. Family. Education. Distractions.
However, young people have much interest in politics and intend to vote. The issue arises when they fail to get to polls due to personal distractions. A big component that should be considered are how every individual has a completely different life. There should be better ways to cater towards each voter.
Potential Stakeholders?
When looking at potential interventions, it is important to consider different factors that affect people’s voting:
- Age
- Environment/Community/Culture
- Income
- Education Level
- Resources
Adding on, to focus on specific groups of young voters, here is a list to start:
- LGBTQIA+
- Women
- Men
- Religious Preference
- Racial Minorities (Black, Hispanic, Multiracial, Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Asian)
There are many reasons why young voters fail to get to the polls. It is very situational as some voters are moving due to college or have work and can not make it.
Concepts 💡 :
I want to engage people who feel uncomfortable due to ignorance. The message that I would like to convey is comfortability. The target audiences that I would like to reach are college students, voters from immigrant families, and those who are uncomfortable/uneducated with politics.
1. Comfortable Conversation Starter Pack
The first idea consists of approach communities and giving out monthly booklets that are informational while also can be used as “collectable/trading cards.” This is a great way to engage people and to make them want to talk with others. There is such a sigma to talking about politics, having these cards will allow students to discuss and exchange ideas while collecting a set to get a special prize!
- Resources to educate students on where to look
- There would be important dates on the booklet (election days, registration deadlines, mail ballot dates, etc)
- It will be interactive and allow users to want to pay attention to the information
- In the back, there will be trading cards that potential voters can have. Once they make a set, they will be able to trade it in for merchandise!
2. Voting is..? Digital Co-creative Walls
The second idea consists of having centers/spaces where people can write and draw up their concerns which will then be put up digitally on a wall. This could be put in college areas or places where there are lots of traffic.
- Allow people to have a comfortable space to talk about their concerns and questions, while being creative and fun.
- Engage potential users to go out and be more proactive.
3. Alienation 👽
The last idea is using the word alienation to manipulate to say different things. For example, “Alien” and “Nation” are two contrasting meanings, but that is how discouraged voters feel. It is ironic because a nation is supposed to be united, but young voters feel like an alien and isolated from voting due to personal perception.
- alienation or allienation
- a lie? or allie to the nation
- alien nation
Mood Boarding
At first, I looked at various types of campaign type posters. Then, I focused on looking at visual directions that would best fit the alienation concept. In order to do so, I looked at previous designs that worked well with manipulating visual trickery.
Storyboards 📝
Based on the concept of alienation, I came up with two different ways to execute the word manipulation. I first started off with my script.
I really thought it was interesting to look at folding paper to manipulate what the audience saw with alienation. I even tried folding paper on my own, but it was much more complex than I expected. I need more practice with folding paper 😭. There was an animation that Langston sent me which was also a super helpful inspiration — maybe I could so something similar but typography focused.
Feedback 👂
After presenting in class, I was able to get feedback from my classmates! Many seemed to understand the concept, but there were people who did not understand it and thought it did not make sense, so I felt unsure of what to do. There seemed to be a big misunderstanding with what alienation means in the context of my project 😭. I reached out to people about their comments, and it seemed best to move the direction to something more straightforward and universally known rather than alienation. The ambiguity of alien’s legal meaning and what I am trying to convey is making things very difficult.
- Alienated — who are we getting alienated by? Older genearation, different communities? Ourselves?!?! Interesting food for thought in terms of story arc, this will be very powerful if you can get the climax and resolution sequencing right. Like building it up and up and up, then slamming the hammer down.
- I just remembered that the word “alien” legally means people who live in the U.S. who do not have citizenship (ie. alien number on a green card). I feel like this could play a role into your message. I like the first idea a lot. I think it will be really powerful to use paper as a way to hide / reveal the message. For the visual styles, I like the second idea better (typography). I think the message would come across clearly.
- love that pun. it’s so powerful. i personally feel like the visual styles you are presenting don’t connect to making me feel comfortable. it feels more honest, more raw, a little bit angsty, more dramatic. but i do feel seen. especially when i think about “a lie,” it reminds me of mystery, investigative journalism, etc. it’s almost a little dark. maybe you can lean into that more.
- loveee the idea of folding paper to reveal different words, i think that will be super impactful and i think this is a lot of opportunity to play with emotions that people will inevitably feel when looking at your piece. im starting to get a sense of your color palette with the moodboards you showed, with darker pops of color of dark blue and red — though would be careful with those exact shades.
- I really like your first idea of folding paper and I’m curious to see more connection with your ideas and the concept of alienation
- A lie + nation & Alien + nation is such a great idea and has a strong message. The folding method sounds interesting, I want to know specifically what kind of information you’ll put in that folded paper and how you’ll utilize it.
- Although I like the idea of using blank spaces, I’m slightly worried if showing a hanging man is appropriate for a political campaign? I feel like it can be achieved without that visual? • The folding paper could be great to use as a social media campaign
- I could see you expanding the word “alienation” from the inside out, kind of like Paula scher did for LOC https://www.pentagram.com/work/library-of-congress/story. i.e you could do “a lie (visual, phrase) nation. if that makes sense. For me the important question is, now that you have visual ideas, what is the message of alienation? what are you trying to say with the word alienation? is it that “we are a nation of aliens?” et. How will you empower voters through the word “alienation”? Also looks at the NYT truth campaign again and how they craft sentences with diff. words being used multiple times https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8goJKQ_864c
- I love the play on words with alienation! I feel this will be really empathetic to the young voters (they may feel the real need to overcome this problem and speak up). How would the hangman work visually? (a very simple child “game” idea — how can this develop more from that?)
- I think we do need more context of what alienation means within your ideas, but overall love the pun and simplicity wn your concepts. I am a little confused (or just unclear) on how you want your audience to feel.
- I think I’m missing what alienation means for your concept. I love the “alien … nation” idea. It’s very smart and I can see how it will look great when animated with beautiful type
- The word “alien” feels like the term to describe people who does not have US citizenship or people who does not belong to the country. How do you differentiate with this literal meaning of “aliens” in a country is something to think about.
✨ Change in Direction ✨
I decided to go in a different direction with my campaign. Due to the confusion with my previous concept, I wanted my new direction to be more straighforward. I wanted to the viewers to feel overwhelemed with chaos due to so many different voices and opinions about voting. In the end, it will tie back by saying that you don’t have to listen to others to vote. Use your own voice.
Red tape is an “idiom referring to regulations or conformity to formal rules or standards which are claimed to be excessive, rigid or redundant, or to bureaucracy claimed to hinder or prevent action or decision-making.” I thought that this concept was super interesting especially the visuals of red tape. It is very powerful in the color and the use of tape.
Feedback 👂
After talking with Kristin, Jenni, and my classmates, I realized that this is not the direction I want to go. I was getting tunnel-vision and unconsciously strayed away from my whole purpose: engaging discouraged voters to want to vote or at least think about it. I was able to write down notes and suggestions that I got from people after my first animation iteration.
- Red tape is an interesting visual element but too much
- Difficult to know where to be looking on the screen
- Don’t use the current typeface — use a more classic one
- Simplify the content overall
- Suggestion 💡: Young voter keeps trying to say a fact but an old guy keeps interrupting
- Makes audience feel like “yeah voting is annoying” (opposite of what I want people to feel)
Stop 🛑
I decided to step back and reassess what my whole objective is. What am I trying to do? Who is this for? Why? Looking back, uncomfortable and ignorant may not be what I am trying to evoke. They are both extremely stigmatizing terms, so I am trying to redefine what I am looking for in a more positive manner. I kept trying to write in as few sentences as possible what I was trying to do.
This campaign is meant to evoke closure in discouraged voters by empathizing that others also feel that way, so they shouldn't think they aren’t qualified to vote, when they are more than qualified.
After I was able to reassess and redirect what my objective is, I talked to my roommate and suite-mates who are in technical majors like CS and Computational biology to get new perspectives. I also talked to friends back home in D.C.. It was interesting to talk to them, because they had a completely different perspective and way of thinking. I had a few questions ready to ask them about voting in general.
Why are you voting?
- I follow politics a lot and want to participate as much as I can. I vote even in state and local elections.
- It’s important!?
- It is my right. There are things that I want changed right now and I think voting will solve it.
- Stand up for myself and people that I love.
- I don’t agree with the gov’t right now.
- It’s the right thing to do.
- My parents immigrated here for me to have freedom and rights — It’s a must.
Why would you not vote?
- I don’t like either candidates
- I am busy
- I don’t know enough about politics
- I am lazy
- I am discouraged cause I think my vote doesn’t matter
- Seems useless
- Didn’t know how to vote?
- I am not interested?
What makes you feel discouraged?
- Having nowhere/no-one to get help from
- Failing an assignment that they worked on for days
- Not knowing enough
- Mistakes Mistakes Mistakes
- Getting in trouble for not doing something correctly
- Doing poorly
- Having no clue what is going on
- Feeling left out
- None of my family or friends supporting me
What makes you feel motivated to do something from a campaign? What doesn’t?
- I think it is corny when they are like “you got it” or “you, your family, loved ones, etc need you.” I am aware, but it doesn't make me feel more inclined. Information feels more important when there are real life cases for me to see — then I am like “woah, okay it is a real life issue.” Often, it is difficult to think about something that isn’t in your direct life like you can’t really imagine it personally.
- When it is minimal, but conveys the message in a powerful way. Like Nike or Sports ads that give you goosebumps.
- I don’t like them when they are too long. I don’t have time to wait, I want to know right away. I am more inclined when it is something that I have also experienced. I have seen the commercials with like children in third world countries, and I definitely feel sad, but that is just in the moment. I feel bad, but I don’t think about it a little bit later cause it isn’t something that I can directly relate and contribute to.
- Powerful music and text. Unexpected surprises in the campaign will make me stick more. Sometimes, if it is a really bad campaign I remember it longer than a really good one.
Reflection ✍️
I started to think more about what it means to be discouraged and how to empathize with young voters. I think previously my problem was that I was unconsciously bias cause I am voting so I wasn’t really understanding from where discouraged voters were coming from. I tried to empathize more and put my shoes in why people feel discouraged and uncomfortable with voting. I listed out my assumptions.
- Not knowing enough
- Feeling like their vote doesn't matter
- Not liking either candidates
It was difficult for me to truly picture the mindset of a discouraged voter, because I do have statistics, but it wasn’t personal. Also, all my friends and peers are registered so I felt that I could not really ask what their perspetives of not voting is. Afterwards, then it hit me! I reached out to my brother and his friends. They are high schoolers who are 16–17, so they are unable to vote yet, but are starting to get more exposure to it.
I asked him and many other high schoolers who will be eligible in the next election two questions: if you could vote in this election, would you? what does voting mean to you? Here are the most interesting responses that I got. Some of them use a lot of slang that I had to look up.
- I don’t know if I am woke (Urban Dictionary: being aware, and “knowing what’s going on in the community) enough for it.
- Politics gives me a headache. I don’t know.
- I would want to but I don’t know how to register.
- Nah. I don’t follow current events, so I don’t know what to vote for. Not old enough to vote — useless.
- I definitely would want to! It is super important to practice my right.
- No cap (Urban dictionary: not lying). I don’t know politics.
New Directions ✨
After talking with my friends, I thought it was interesting to look at single votes. I was able to find so many cases where an election was decided by a single vote. Someone said that it is obvious that they know that voting is important for them, their friends, and their family, but if they actually saw real life situations where it happened, they would feel more inclined to vote. They also mentioned that they are already super knowledgeable about voting so making it surface-level personal is useless. She suggested to bring up how voting doesn’t just have to be more the president + vice president. The state and local elections have a bigger impact on citizens with their everyday life stuff i.e highways, school fundings, water, etc.
(* I am still in the process of animating this*)
Looking at the responses, it was interesting to see that most of them used “I don’t know.” That phrase is one that discouraged people use. That is definitely something I empathize and have done various times when I felt lost and unsure.
I was able to animate it this weekend to see if the emotions and message that I want is being conveyed properly. Compared to my first iteration, I wanted both animations to be extremely simple and focus on the text.
Keep in mind 👁👄👁
- Transition to white and black background is very abrupt
- “No” in the second half appeared at the same time as the white transition, so wait a second or two and then let it appear
- Last phrase could be changed to: “there’s no excuse. vote 2020” “cast your doubts to the side. vote 2020” “you know enough. vote 2020”
- Too simple? Simple? Just right?
- Is it passive aggressive?
Feedback for New Iterations👂
- Introduce color
- Optically adjust the san serifs to serifs
- Make “over 1 million” a little bit bigger
- End it with “Do you know enough?”
- Add people’s handwriting in things that young voters don’t know
- Visually represent
- People liked the red tape and the aspect of layering — find a way to combine the direct conversation in the most recent iteration and the concept of layering!
- Crossed out and replaced: voting stickers, tape, red pen, scribbling, stamps, etc)
New Directions Again ✨
With the new feedback, I realized that the conversation in the most recent iteration was most thought out, however the visual concept was not there. In order to create a balance with the two concepts, I decided to create two storyboards that would help represent the direction I could go to.
The first direction is the use of layering stamps. I wanted to use use existing stamps as the images for my messages to talk about specific issues/ideas/movements. In the end, it turns the camera to the voter to say that they should create their own stamp for the 2020 election. The good thing with this concept is that the campaign assets are thought out in the sense that it would be a co-creative experience for young voters to create their designs and then have them printed and posted for them to have!
The second direction is going back to the red tape and layering it to create a deeper meaning.
I realized that the music used for the animation is way to fast and is not conveying the feeling that I want to evoke. I plan on changing the music, but keeping the flow and sequence of the animation from the previous iteration. In order to do so, I cleaned up my storyboard so that it makes more sense!
Social Media Strategy
- TATTOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSS: I have always had an interest in temporary tattoos. I have seen them used in campaigns before so I think it would be nice to look at, especially depending on the placement and manipulation of the tattoos people can have.
- Food (chips, candy, etc to add on)
- Tape!!
- Tote bag
- Stamps
- Shirt
- Poster
- Co-creative platform to see everyones view
