OUGD401 - Study Task 6 - Idea generation / prototypes

Idea Generation:

The first set of images are the slogan which I thought could be used as a typographic poster or combined with photographs. 'Don't ignore the signs' and 'Are you at risk?' are slogans that I thought could be used to make people aware of some of the consequences of not being careful with exercise and what you are taking. NHS do a lot of posters which involve listing signs and symptoms for people to be able to tell as and when they are in need of going to see a GP. The last four slogans are ones which I want to use to argue the point that there is a huge amount of pressure on men in this current culture to have the 'perfect body' but no one can be certain what that is. 

These are drawing of the photograph ideas I have for a photography shoot that I have lined up with one of my friends who is a personal trainer that I work with at the gym. I want some close up pictures of his body as he has a body which I think could be seen as close to perfect comparing it to the ones in the media. I also then want a picture of two bodies where the question 'what is perfection?' could be asked. I wanted some pictures of the substances that are on the market at the moment which can be taken for the gym. The second to last photo is taken from one of the references from my first essay. Kyle wraps himself in clingfilm to increase his perspiration when exercising and this is something that I intend to do with my model.

The first four drawings in this image are rough ideas of illustrations that I could do looking at different bodies and work outs in the gym. The last two are drawing of the supplements that can be taken. The first is all the different brands and packaging and the second is all of the different tablets that are taken by men aspiring to gain the 'perfect body'.

The final two drawing are again ideas for photographs. I thought I could get a full body photograph of my model which is seen in the first drawing. The second drawing is of a person with their hands over their face. I thought that this could represent the impact that feeling the need to have the 'perfect body' and body shaming actually has on men behind closed doors. 

Photos from the Shoots:

Prototypes:

Prototype 1:

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

The first prototypes are experiments which I did with just typography. I looked at layout and colour combinations for each of the different posters. For figure 1 I tried using the same colour as the NHS logo for the rest of the writing on the poster. I thought that it would make the poster stand out more by adding some colour across the whole poster and have consistency with the logo by using the same blue. For figure 2 I tried using green as is it a neutral colour which I thought would work well to be neutral when questioning what perfection is. Figure 3 uses the colour red as I thought it was more eye catching and gives the impression that the message is serious. I wanted the colour red to help stop people and make sure that they read the information on the poster. 

Prototype 2:

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

These posters are experiments with the photographs which I took. Figure 4 is the photo of my model wrapping himself in cling film which was influenced by the research into Kyle (Dying for a Six Pack Documentary). I used the slogan 'Where does it end?' to go with the image to question the extent of how far some people are going and the danger they are putting themselves in to gain the 'perfect body'. Figure 6 uses a close up of my models body. I wanted the picture to compliment the signs of a person suffering with body dysmorphic disorder which the poster is informing people of. The signs talk about spending a lot of time in front of the mirror so I thought this photo worked as my model is stood in front of a mirror. The final poster is the photograph of two people which I wanted to use to question what perfection. I thought this worked well in black and white people to much colour was too distracting from the message. I thought that it was important to use more than one body when talking about what perfection is because I wanted the message to be clear that no one really knows and that its all down to preference.

Prototype 3:

Figure 7

The final prototype was an experiment with the use of illustration. I wanted the illustration to be really simple and decided to use the same colour scheme as the NHS logo. I thought that a person would work well because the questions are asking the person reading the poster whether they have been having the certain signs and symptoms.