Drinking Age and Voting

18-24 years are one of the largest blocks of voters, yet consistently they have one of the lowest voter turnouts. All sorts of excuses are used for reasons why they don’t vote. However, this year there is something big that has the potential to raise their voter turnout drastically. College campuses around the US are banning together, trying to have the legal drinking age lowered once again to 21. The presidents of Universities such as Harvard and Ohio state, have seen that excessive beinge drinking and students having to sneak around to drink are severely hurting college students both physically and legally, and these problems are dividing campuses everywhere. Lowering the drinking age, many argue would make younger students see that drinking is not something you should have to sneak around to do, and once you can do it, no longer is such a big deal/its really not that cool of a privilege, and less kids will hopefully rebel by doing so.

Think about when you were 18 (you may still be for that matter). I’m willing to beat you had more than a couple of alcoholic beverages as a part of an innocent night of fun. However, you are not really innocent in all accounts; you are breaking the law...which many 18-20 year olds would consider ridiculous. If they are old enough to vote why are the not considered responsible enough to drink? My motion graphic will help show that this demographic has the right to speak out and make a positive change which will directly effect them.

I plan on using a for the first few screens, alternating red and blue circular shapes flashing in different places on the screen to represent police. Then the words “these lights are all to familiar to many 18-20 year-olds...but they don’t have to be” As the lights morph into a bottle under which the words “the legal drinking age is 21.” The bottle then morphs, into a voting ballot which will read “yet the legal voting age is 18.” The ballot will split into two heads of college looking students. Under them their ages will slowly appear along with the words “they are both responsible enough to vote, yet only the one on the left can drink...” then the heads will morph again into the words “you have the vote, use it. Make a change. “ and the final screen “Good design makes choices clear” will appear.

The environment and Voting

With the growing concerns of global warming and going green on the news and in the minds of people more than ever, actions need to be taken to encourage sustainability and protecting our environment. In the up coming election, Candidates from both sides would agree that environmental concerns are among the top issues. With these matters in mind it is important to consider the following information: since pre-industrial times the levels of carbon dioxide have doubled. With all of the go green hype bombarding voters of all ages, in one of the most literate countires in the world, a weak 4% of all colleges in the U.S. require their students to take a class on the environment and sustainability. The 18-24 year old block of voters especially, needs to stand up and vote, in order to voice their opinion about becoming more educated about one of our countries/worlds greatest issues.

My project will start with illustration of a university campus, with greens smiling trees, that over the course of the motion graphic, will show the changes of the seasons. A bright smiling sun with shades will hang in the sky as fun, energetic, up beat music, like the song “the perfect day” plays. The scene will be brightly colored and spunky. Eventually the trees will fall over very dramatically and make dead/sad faces. The university will begin to disintegrate, very irry music will play in the background, and the whole landscape will turn dark shades of greys, as facts about environmental concerns are presented on the screen. Than when it looks like all hope is lost a college student in frog goloshes will come and plant a seed. Things will start to grow beautifully and it will show that students play a huge roll in the future of our planet and that our futures are directly related to that of our planet. Then the last screen will say “Good design makes choices clear Vote!”.

Project Brief: In My Own Words

First we will be researching both information graphics and current statistics about elections, voting and the voting process. We will be creating stories of the data and exploring ways to visually represent them. We will create associated word lists, define key words and make a mood board.

Ultimately we will be designing a motion graphic of our choice that will help the viewer to better visually understand and experience a non-bias statistic about elections or the election process. We can use sound, shapes, scale, color, fades and other effects to best represent our statistic. Our pieces should have some sort of a sequence and narrative and both type and image. There should be a “kinetic sensibility” to our pieces, meaning they should flow and be full of simplistic or complex movements. The piece should morph as the project goes along and become a masterpiece of design!

Famous Information Graphics Designers

Richard Saul Wurman:

Wurman is best known for being the creator of TED which stands for Technology Entertainment Design. According to www.wurman.com, he dedicates his life to "making information understandable." Throughout his life he has been an incredibly prolific writer, as he has published 81 books dedicated to information graphics. Some of the titles are as follows: Information Anxiety, Access Travek guides, Guidebook to Guidebooks, The Nat

ure of Recreation, and Understanding Healthcare.

Here are some links I found useful about him :) wurman.com
ted.com

Nigel Holmes

Nigel Holmes is very interested in explaining things and thus his work greatly focuses on this. According to nigelholmes.com he is the Principal of a New York company Explanation Graphics, which naturally is a graphic design company. He specializes in charts, diagrams and maps which visually explain problems or statistics to people. He also has the ability to create straight forward, informative illustrations. Personally, I am not a huge fan of his work, as it for the most part seems fairly predictable, however, tis the nature of his work. Obviously, however, many people enjoy his work as his client list ranges from GQ, Life, Time and Sports Illustrated magazines to Apple, Nike and Visa. His works are normally basic black and white drawings with a one or two punch colors (which could be why I do not prefer his work, it looks very 80's...but thats just me). Though I cannot say Nigel is my favorite designer, I cannot forget to give him the credit he deserves, as he is a pioneer in the information graphics field and his work is simple, clear and easy to understand. He has also written several books including: A Designers Guide to Creating Charts and Diagrams, Pictorial Maps and Best in Diagrammatic Grahpics. {Just for future reference...this Nigel is not the same as the Nigel Holmes who is a photographer...do yourself a favor and do not click on that website!! it is very icky!}

Photography Website

Hey guys I was talking to one my my friends from TCU about some interesting photography websites and here is one of them http://www.jenniferstrainphoto.com/

The bright colors jen uses in her photography give her images a sense of youth and energy. The website itself is also very organized and extremely easy to get around on (which is always a life saver when you are looking for a great photographer!).
The website also emphasizes the idea that simplicity with a little spice is beautiful!