COP3 - EU REFERENDUM // FINAL FEEDBACK

COP3 - EVALUATION

Module Evaluation

Overall the project was a success. The dissertation expanded on from Level 4 and 5 in terms of the subject area. In Level 4 the essay researched into a number of techniques from Nazi Germany and from Level 5 I investigated Vance Packard’s 8 hidden needs. Therefore, It was a natural process to expand on techniques of persuasion and further investigates other areas that demonstrated a powerful discipline of persuasion. The research question I had undertaken was to investigate Rhetoric and understand how we could link verbal and written practises into visual communication. The question compared to Level 4 and 5 require a lot more critical thinking. It tested my knowledge and understanding of academic texts. I’d had always struggled to dissect and understand academic texts in the past two years of COP, so when I knew I’d be investigating rhetorical theories and the foundation of where rhetoric started I knew that this could be an issue for me. Greek philosopher Aristotle was the main focus of the essay and his theories, therefore the texts that discussed him and his theories were often complicated. However, I felt It gave me a lot of insight into dissecting texts and it forced me to understand what I was reading. I don’t consider myself a strong essay writer but the dissertation pushed me a lot further and from this, I can say that my essay this year has been a lot stronger in terms of research focus and writing than the previous two years.

In regards to the practical element, I felt the two campaigns I had designed and created were a massive success. The campaign situated around Bernie Sander communicated an outlet where the minority communities could hold on to. It gave minorities a sense of hope and community to feel that they were finally being represented and not seen as second class citizens. Targeting the black community the aim of the Bernie Sanders campaign was to portray Bernie as the embodiment of MLK. Seeing Bernie as the continuation of MLK legacy and 'dream'. However, even though I felt the campaign was a success, the research aspect was very restricted. I couldn't fully gather sufficient feedback or understanding of the subject matter. I wasn't American nor was I based in America, therefore, I couldn’t truly understand the needs of minorities within America. With this in mind, I had to use what I had around me to still test the rhetorical theories to see if the implementation of these methods and tools were a success even if it meant testing on people from the UK. In relation to this problem sparked the second campaign. A campaign based on UK politics fixed this problem I had with generating appropriate and effective research/feedback. Based within the UK I was able to gather the thoughts and feelings of a pre-referendum Britain, the feelings were still raw and everyone had an opinion. Therefore, the overall campaign was more successful in terms of this factor. In regards to which campaign was more success, I suppose that would be down to the rhetoric injected within the campaign. The Bernie Sanders campaign implemented more aspects of the three rhetorical theories, so you could base the success of this matter but as discussed through the development process, rhetorical theories should be implemented where necessary to the campaign. If it doesn’t need a certain rhetorical method then it shouldn’t be implemented within the design.

Overall, I felt extremely challenged throughout the module. It gave me a wider perspective of what I could be facing once I proceed onto the postgraduate course. I feel this is where the extensiveness of academic understanding and writing will come in handy. I enjoyed the overall process and created work that I was extremely proud off.

COP3 - UK REFERENDUM // CHOSEN IDEA // BREAKDOWN OF RHETORICAL METHODS USED IN EACH IDEA

The below analysis demonstrates how many rhetorical methods is used within each idea to give the best indication of what the best idea is. It's an efficient method in order to quickly evaluate each idea in comparison to the rhetorical methods.

IDEA ONE

Modes of persuasion

Logos = YES, Through the display of true and false facts.

Ethos = NO There is no credible figures or celebrities to give credit to the facts made. 

Pathos = YES, The false statement would no doubt stir up an emotional response as voter understand just how many lies are told by the "Leave" camp

Five Canons

Invention = YES, this canon is universally applied to all.

Style = NO, no personality or the creative voice of the "Remain" campaign has been implemented, as this could jeopardise the credibility nature of the idea.
Arrangement = YES, Hierarchy is represented effectively through the use of the big and bold 'Tick' and 'Cross' to spark the curiosity of voters.
Memory = NO There are no links or other sources of text that could expand on the facts presented.
Delivery = YES, this canon is universally applied to all.

Four Topoi

Greater/Lesser = YES In simplest of terms the concept is applying that the "Remain" camp tells the truth and the "Leave" camp tells lies.
Future Fact = NO, no statement applying that something will occur in the future.
Past Fact = NO, no statement applying that something will occur in the past.
Possible/Impossible = NO, The campaign's message isn't stating anything that may be impossible or possible as no persuasive argument is taking place.

IDEA ONE

Modes of persuasion

Logos = NO, no facts, statements or statistics used within the idea.

Ethos = NO & YES If there are no logos then there is no Ethos apart from understanding if the idea's professional style and aesthetics could constitute as a source of credibility.

Pathos = YES, The headline will no doubt provoke an emotional response. Generating anger and disgust at the fact that the "Leave" camp is lying.

Five Canons

Invention = YES, this canon is universally applied to all.

Style = NO, no personality or the creative voice of the "Remain" campaign has been implemented, as this could jeopardise the credibility nature of the idea.
Arrangement = YES, Hierarchy is represented effectively through the use of large text to let the user know what they should be looking at, at first glance.
Memory = NO There are no links or other sources of text that could expand on the facts presented.
Delivery = YES, this canon is universally applied to all.

Four Topoi

Greater/Lesser = NO, there is no comparison of two objects within the campaign.
Future Fact = NO, no statement applying that something will occur in the future.
Past Fact = NO, no statement applying that something will occur in the past.
Possible/Impossible = NO, The campaign's message isn't stating anything that may be impossible or possible as no persuasive argument is taking place.

IDEA ONE

Modes of persuasion

Logos = YES, Yes, the implementation of the two facts supply the mode of Logos.

Ethos = NO There is no credible figures or celebrities to give credit to the facts made. 

Pathos = YES, and NO The only emotional response may be when the voter finds out the true answer. Apart from the that, there isn't a lot that could provoke an emotional response.

Five Canons

Invention = YES, this canon is universally applied to all.

Style = NO, no personality or the creative voice of the "Remain" campaign has been implemented, as this could jeopardise the credibility nature of the idea.
Arrangement = YES, Hierarchy is represented effectively through the use of large text to let the user know what they should be looking at, at first glance.
Memory = NO There are no links or other sources of text that could expand on the facts presented.
Delivery = YES, this canon is universally applied to all.

Four Topoi

Greater/Lesser = NO, there is no comparison of two objects within the campaign.
Future Fact = NO, no statement applying that something will occur in the future.
Past Fact = NO, no statement applying that something will occur in the past.
Possible/Impossible = NO, The campaign's message isn't stating anything that may be impossible or possible as no persuasive argument is taking place.

Overall, all ideas implemented the same amount of rhetorical theories. The best option would be idea two. Even though idea two didn't implement Logos or Ethos the development of the idea could work on these issues. The main reason for chosen idea two was the recent primary research results where people felt the biggest issue o the EU referendum was the misleading statement and lying politicians.

COP3 - UK REFERENDUM // INTIAL IDEAS

IDEA ONE

This idea portrays the politicians who are running the "Leave" camp as liars by using image manipulation in a form of a smear campaign. Using Pinocchio's nose with the caption "I'm a real liar!" will portray the politician such as Nigel Farage or Boris Johnson as deceitful and untrustworthy. I've sketched out two versions one with image and text and with type only, to see if the concept is stronger without the image.

IDEA TWO

This idea lists the lies told by the "Leave" camp and Truths by the "Remain" camp. The idea is meant to showcase to the public what facts are true and what are false whilst damaging the credibility of the "Leave" campaign.

IDEA THREE

series of poster comparing something trivial to a fact. Playing on this notion that people will believe anything without question. For example, in one of the adverts, the two comparing things could say "what came first, the chicken or the *Enter false fact said by the Leave camp*. These comparisons will make it out that there is an obvious answer but then the advert reveals that that's not the case and that you should always fact check.

COP3 - UK REFERENDUM // DISTRIBUTION // COLLATERAL // INVENTION CANON

POSTERS / BILLBOARD

The billboards/poster are the starting point for the campaign. The billboards designs are a stand alone creative, different design to the rest of the collateral but still expresses the same concept and message making sure the uninformed link is still apparent.  The design can be used as a poster or billboard, ensuring flexibility. The UK is a rich and powerful country, therefore, the price of billboards shouldn't be an issue for the "Remain" party. The billboard size is extremely large, allowing for maximum visibility and also legibility. The billboards act as a gateway and opening for the campaign used to really emphasise the campaign's smear of the lying politicians. The other form campaign collateral acts as an incentive for education and continuity of the agenda in a more approachable and reasonable format.

BADGES

Badges serve as a tangible piece of memorabilia that communicates inclusion and purpose, something that the billboard posters cannot achieve. Badges are something you wear on your person, something you carry with you, and something you wear with pride. Badges are fairly cheap to make, so the mass production aspect is cost effective and can be achieved for little to no cost. The badge acts as an opportunity for people to see true facts from the "Remain" campaign. Nothing is misleading, the credibility is there and so is the trust. The # also provokes a sense of pride to wear the truth and educating people about the benefits of fact checking.

Bags

Bags act in a similar set-up as the badges. It's an effective way to effortless promote the campaign. Essentially, It's on someone's back which means that it will constantly be in someone's face. Bags are also cheap to produce if the material is thin and by avoiding backpacks. The bags can have a variety of facts and not just the same fact. Spreading a number of facts and statements throughout the country with no advertising fees.

T-SHIRT

The t-shirt has a similar distribution effect to badges. Again, they are tangible, interactive and highly visible. The voters who wear the t-shirt become a walking promotion, a free source of advertising. The t-shirt is highly collectable and a piece of collateral that people love to collect to show support for the "Remain" camp.

The T-Shirts can also display the images of Boris and Farage in the same way as the posters do. It may not be presenting anything positive which demands any positive action but it stills spreads the emotion mockery and smear of both politicians. 

WEBSITE

The website acts as a gateway for the public to fact check and educate themselves on the number of policies being thrown at them. The aim of the website is to act as a credible source. A place where the public can turn to for the truth and for real, credible policies. The website also allows the public to check facts from the "Leave" camp. If the website acts as a place where voters from both sides can check the fact on the "Remain" website then the opportunity is there to subconsciously persuade "Leave" voters to change their minds. This is been done within the design. Subconsciously, using the negative connotations of red to provoke an emotional response and using the positive connotation of blue to represent "Remain".

Flyer

The flyer acts as an initial point of contact to many voters on the street. Above all other campaign collateral, flyers are the cheapest to mass produce. The flyers incorporate the branding of the campaign used across the rest of the campaign. In a similar fashion to the campaign posters, a common phrase was used to entice and spark curiosity from any voter walking past. The famous phrase "LET THE TRUTH BE TOLD" incorporates the notion of truth which perfectly sums up the concept of the campaign. To make the phrase personal to the concept, the word "TRUTH" was replaced with "FACT". This ensures continuity with the concept and portraying the truth with fact checking. On the back of the flyer, a fact is presented which works in conjunction with the front. Every flyer can be different and presents all true facts from the "Remain" camp.

COP3 - SYNTHESIS DIAGRAM

In order to explicitly demonstrate the connection between the dissertation and practical, the diagram below was created to visualise this link. It all starts with the dissertation, the dissertation is where the investigation took place, uncovering and researching the three chosen theories; Aristotle's Triad model, Five Canons of Rhetoric and Aristotle's topoi. The dissertation also dissected these three theories within the practical analysis of existing political campaigns, therefore we know what strategic rhetorical methods were most popular and what ones weren't. Furthermore, the three theories can now be implemented within the practical elements, picking and choosing what appropriate theory to insert and what not according to the concept.

COP3 - UK REFERENDUM // IMPACT OF MISLEADING STATEMENTS

The impact of misleading statement is a huge problem as you saw from the list of lies from both camps in the previous blog post. Researching into this matter was slightly changeling for what I wanted to understand. I wanted raw thoughts, emotions, and opinions from the public and not just news articles stating statistics and figure about the referendum results, It doesn't allow me to comprehend how the voters really feel as the voters were the real victims and the voters will be able to give me the biggest indication of what I need to be further investigating.

When researching into the problem I stumble across the comment section of Richard Corbett (member of the labour party) article on 'long list of Leave Lies'. There was a raw discussion about the impact it had on many people and how they should resolve the issue by wanting a second referendum to hiring lawyers to prosecute politicians of the Leave camp.

Here were some of the comments:

Kathie expressed her concerns and reveals that she might have been swayed by a mislead statement.

Suggestions at how lawyers could be hired to prosecute Leave campaigns' liars. This comment thread also showcases the anger and resilience to stand up and fight against the lies.

Demonstrating the urge to fight back against the lies.

Again, demonstrating how the lies have affected families. The disappointments and turmoil caused by misleading statements.