employ a lateral and considered content selection process for your posters by initiating the ideation phase with mindmaps. the central element should be "vote" or "get out the vote". from there, try to list signs and ideas relevant to your audience.
classify your signs as either icons, indexes, or symbols.
this activity goes hand in hand with this reading on vertical and lateral thinking from "type & image" by philip meggs.
create an analog matrix for the following:
• 4-5 rows (horizontal) for rhetorical tropes (your choice)
• 3 columns (vertical) -- 1 each for icon, index and symbol
• 1 additional column for copy (text as symbol)
explore the matrix via both text and image. think through the matrix in phrases and write those down in the matrix where they might best fit. if you want to address low voter turnout, for example, can you think of that issue in terms of a hyperbole (nobody shows up)? a metaphor (a garden with no vegetables)? antithesis (crowded voting booth/empty one)?
next, select signs from your mindmap that have the greatest potential for further concept development and pair each with a trope. using our voter turnout idea, signs could include a voting booth or building, a (culturally relevant) garden, etc.
for me personally, it's easiest to think "what do i need to say?" and jot down that message. then i can plug it into the matrix and ask myself, "how do i make this into a metaphor?", "can it be personified?" or "what parodies might exist? what popular symbols could i play off of?", and so on.
iterate several hand-generated thumbnails for each slot in your matrix.
total matrix = 40+ thumbs.
due end of class next class session.
reminder: professionally document all interim process, both for ongoing blog evaluation, and for your project documentation book.
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