Audience Strategy
There has to be an understanding that not many things that we (people of color) would love to do but have fewer opportunities to do, those opportunities do not come our way. So I want people to feel a bit of anger in a way because this is not fair and there should be more art classes available during the regular school day. Anger is what I want the audience to feel when they look at the visual that I provide. The audience should understand that classes in creative expression are just as important as academic classes. Since school officials, the school board, and those who fund for the school have the authority to change things in school, they could be the ones giving the option to these students to have more art classes during the regular school day. Since I am targeting an audience that mostly consists of adults, my visual essay should be something that is clear on the message that it is trying to give out and doesn’t have too much going on, simplicity could mean more for them, but the way that I am sending out this message should trigger a reaction.
My visual will be appearing as a poster in various train stations. The main source of transportations for people is usually the train, there is less traffic and you would arrive on time to your destination. So it would be the most convenient way to get to your job, especially if you work in the city. So if school officials would commute to their jobs by the train so they would not have any delays. That’s why I chose to present my visual as a poster in train stations, I imagine my audience to take the most convenient way of transportation and it is a place where they will have to pass by everyday.
Reflection:
My intended audience affected the choice of genre because it had to be something that they would be able to pass by everyday and would have a moment to pause and read it. A train Station poster was the best choice considering that most adults take their time in the train station. The visual itself had to be something that was eye catching to them and something that they all are able to understand without there being too many unnecessary details in the visual. Adults vary in ages so it had to be something that they would commonly pass by and actually see it and have time to read it. If my audience were to be teenagers the genre would be a humorous post on social media, since I know that that would be eye catching for them. But with an adult audience, my choice was hard to make since I wasn’t sure what exactly would catch their attention. But since it is mostly for people who take charge at school it would have my visual be more serious and to cause a reaction. I chose to make my visual simplistic because I didn’t want to lose the focus on the main topic that I was trying to bring forward through the image. A simple and understandable image that any adult would get the message right away. But then again, a train station poster would come across anyone so it would reach a broader audience, like adolescents and parents, the message in the poster is clear enough for them to understand as well. If they agree with the issue that I am bringing forward then they would bring up this topic to their school and the school board. The visual is intended for school officials and those who fund for the school, but a train station poster will bring in other people to be aware of this issue since it is out for the public to see.
In order to engage my audience I used pathos. For an image I found it very difficult to incorporate logos, I wouldn’t really know how to show that through an image. Pathos seemed to be more of an easier approach and it could cause anger from other people and they would actually want to reach for change and to raise voices about wanting more art classes. In my image I added in people of color and others who are privileged. The kids that are privileged are being looked at by adults who represent the school officials, and then the students who are people of color are seeking out on them because they also want and need attention. In order to involve some sort of wording, I decided that the students would hold on to posters expressing that they need funding for their school and want more art classes. I also included a little box in the back of the students that says “exam papers” and they are flying away. This small detail shows that that is not what the students are focused on right now and it shows that art is just as important, needing art classes should be paid more attention to because it is just as important. I thought this visual would be the best fit for the adults, because it would affect them on a more serious note and they would actually pay attention to this image since they too are being represented. An image that could cause an argument or a debate shows that it has really impacted a group of people. The purpose of the visual is to have school officials/authorities and the people who usually provide funds for school to make art classes available for minority students during a regular school schedule, not after school or as a separate program. Some students have work or family responsibilities so they would not make it after school. That is why these art classes need to be available during the regular school day so minority students would have the chance to actually take these classes and enjoy it.
Composing a visual essay was definitely different compared to writing a traditional essay because we, well at least I have not done a visual essay before so in a way it was challenging to have it being brought back to the op-ed. But then after getting an idea, it was easier to put it all together and actually make a drawing off of it. Since it is a visual we have to make the audience actually look our way and make it different. A traditional essay would consist of facts and perhaps statistics depending on the topic, but there is a lot you are able to use in order to support your opinion or argument. But when it comes to a visual argument there is more to think about, it is a different platform but you are able to use creativity in order to show the argument. Coming up with an idea that will catch the audience’s eye is difficult but when you finally have something in mind everything else just starts to come together, which is how I felt about this visual essay. The visual has to basically say what you wanted to say in an essay, and it could be very limited in way. Like I said before, I wanted it to be simplistic so the visual does not lose its message and the main images pop up, the main focus points.
