COP3 - BERNIE CAMPAIGN // BERNIE AND MARTIN LUTHER KING

The original concept of the campaign was based on both images from the 1960's of Bernie Sanders being arresting for protesting civil rights and Hillary Clinton showing support for segregationist, Barry Goldwater. The concepts demographic is prominently aimed at the black community as they were the most affected by segregation and have always been second class citizens in America. The image of Bernie Sanders on his own demonstrates a loyal dedication towards black people, he had fought for their rights. This portrays a man who sees everyone as equal and will stand up for people's rights no matter the consequences. 

In 1958 Martin Luther King was arrested for loitering (image below) this image gave the perfect opportunity to combined both images of Bernie and MLK together to create one powerful visual imagery to subconsciously place Bernie on the same level as MLK. Black people respond strongly to MLK he was their saviour and their leader who stood up to the government and said enough is enough. This emotional trigger will then be applied to Bernie Sanders subconsciously acting as their next leader without Bernie Sanders making it look as if he is taking over as the new MLK.

The black community will see the tagline "our fight for civil rights" and subliminally digest it as Bernie walking along side MLK fighting for their human rights. Two leaders together. The tagline avoids the issue of individuality and making it seem as if Bernie is taking over the fight from MLK, which could cast Bernie as being ignorant and cultural appropriating. Also, if you look closely you can see that MLK's body is positioned in front of Bernie's body, it's a minimal design decision but on a subconscious level it will act as a hierarchy; MLK always being their leader, always first, never forgotten, and Bernie will be the one who's supporting and carrying the legacy of MLK message.

COP3 - BERNIE CAMPAIGN // FINAL COLOUR CHOICE

The following colour choices are as follows:

Bernie Sanders poster

For the Bernie Sanders poster, I decided to go with blue. With all things considered in terms of primary research, blue was the best colour to represent the overall message. In the primary research, blue came on top for the most patriotic colour and the top colour for approachability/attractiveness. These two attributes demonstrate a colour that voters can engage with as it will be visually attractive and engaging enough to entice voters to read on. Having a patriotic appliance will ensure a loyalist approach filling all minority communities with passion and a drive to make America, their America. To emphasise the notion of passion and drive, the image of Bernie and MLK in the background will know doubt spur the fire within their belly, a passion for drive and passion for revolution, to continue the fight of Bernie and MLK.

Hillary Clinton poster

The findings from the primary research and the investigation into the Pantone 448 C, aka officially the world's worst colour, were the premise for the final colour choice. The panton represented disgust and off a vile nature. The image of Hillary holding the sign already represents an America that was backwards in the 1960's and the aim is to still apply that stigma to Hillary in the 21st century. With an already damaging photo the appliance of Panton 448 C, should excel this sense of disgust and vileness that the minority communities will attach onto Hillary. The colour should be an emotional trigger for whenever they see Hillary or the colour in a separate scenario. Ensure Hilary is always seen as an eyesore to all minorities in America.

COP3 -BERNIE CAMPAIGN // PAGE LAYOUT // CANON 'ARRANGEMENT' AND ETHOS

'Arrangement is one of the five canons of rhetoric that discusses the importance of hierarchy and the structural set up of the page. The persuasive mode of Ethos is also at work when talking about page layout. 'Ethos' discusses credibility through important figures but alongside the importance of professionals, credibility can also be found in the aesthetic of the design. A professional aesthetic portrays to the voter,  knowledge and understanding of how the subject matter should be approached and communicated.

With this summed up, below are a few layout ideas with the last layout being the final layout I decided to move forward with as it was the most successful in terms of 'arrangement' and 'Ethos'. 

Layout one

This layout was one of the first. Large featured image to visually represents the most important aspect on the page. Dark overlay on top of the image to ensure readability and legibility of all text and branding on the page. In essence the page works, it's effective and clearly portrays a clear hierarchy. The main issue is Bernie's logo, the logo should be bigger and more prominent on the page as well as in original colour to ensure the American colours can be used to still influence people. The white-out logo is more of a contemporary approach but may not hold as much credibility than using the original logo.

Layout two

A clear improvement from the first image. A white strip has been implemented on the bottom to allow for the logo to be in full original colour and to have space to breath. However, we can question whether the white strip is big enough? It's important to ensure that visibility is of utmost importance and with a political poster you want to make sure the voters who are walking by know who's campaign poster this is even if they don't have the time to stop and take in the full poster. They might not take the full concept in but the logo being big and bold will subconscious stay in their heads and continue to persuade.

The black overlay has been removed from the image. There are both pro and cons to this removal. Pros are that it allows the image to be more visible and blocked, obstructed or overcast by the black overlay. Cons are that the text may not be as legible to the audience, which could cause problems in regards to reliability.

Layout three // Chosen layout

The logo is now more noticeable and nearly spans one-third of the page. This change will slightly change the hierarchy. The image is now nearly as important as Bernie Sanders campaign logo, crucially demonstrating the need to make the branding as visible to the voters as possible for that extra persuasive measure. The issue of the black overlay has been solved by using a gradient. The gradient's strongest part will be positioned where the most important information is positioned and then gradually fade out to where there is no information. This gives us a 'best of both worlds' scenario, ensuring the text is clearly visible while still having most of the image uneffected by the overcast of colour.  

COP3 - BERNIE CAMPAIGN // PANTONE 448 C // WORLDS WORT COLOUR

In an effort to portray Hillary Clinton as boring, disgusting, and vile, I stumbled across what is called the world's worst colour or what it's officially known as 'Pantone 448 C'. It was first displayed on cigarette & tobacco packaging in Australia and now other Governments in the UK, France and Ireland have all said they plan to follow Australia's example to use the colour as part of measures to 'standardise' tobacco packaging.

The colour was tested on around 1,000 regular smokers which revealed that Pantone 448 C had the lowest overall appeal. Anti-smoking campaign group Ash expresses: 'Brand imagery is much more important to younger age groups and they respond more effectively to it than older groups. 'Moving to standardised packaging will, therefore, reduce brand appeal and reduce smoking initiation.' Faber Birren, an academic who, for the majority of his professional career studied the impact of colour on human behaviour recommended that cool colours created a soothing and calming effect while warm colour enhanced creativity. He also remarked that colours such as browns and greys were the most likely colour that left people with the feeling of boredom and disgust. The attributes of brown and grey that Birren stated are emotional triggers that I want to be implemented within Hillary's portrayal.

Angela Wright, a colour consultant and author of the Beginner Guide to Colour Psychology, told CNN: 'It makes perfect sense that smoking packets would use a vile green that looks like bodily fluids and makes people feel slightly nauseated.'  However, Dr Carolyn Mair, from the London College of Fashion, said she actually quite liked the colour as it reminded her of 'nature'. In this case, you can tell that colours and their emotional connection are subjective, as long as people have the freedom of thought and experiences growing up, colour can trigger different emotions or memories for different people.

As I expressed in my essay, rhetoric cannot be applied to everything, so this is why it would be beneficial to apply the colour with another emotional trigger such as the image of Hillary supporting a segregationist. But if the colour was applied onto of a landscape of nature then  Dr Carolyn Mair would mostly be attracted visually and emotionally by it.

COP3 - BERNIE CAMPAIGN // PRIMARY RESEARCH // COLOUR // PATHOS

Colour will play an important role in how the overall message will be received. Not just received but also how strong the persuasion will also be. Colour evokes emotion and emotion is the rhetorical mode of 'Pathos', out of everything, the colour will be the most important design element when it comes to emotional persuasion within my campaign.

In order to discover what certain colour evokes a certain emotion, I assembled primary research to see what the best colour was to represent Bernie in a good light and Hillary in a bad light. In the research below, I asked four questions to around  23 people in total.  

Bernie Sanders Research

What I wanted to get out of the primary research for Bernie was what the most effective colour to use in regards to approachability, likeability, and patriotic. Making sure to avoid colours that give off a sense of danger, as this may lessen the effectiveness from the meaning of the image. 

The results were:

What colour Increases likeability of the image? = Black and white WINS

What colour makes you feel alarmed? = Red WINS

What colour is most patriotic with America? = Blue WINS

What colour makes the image less impactful = Purple WINS

Conclusion

The results definitely answer some of my worries, Purple is the top colour that makes the impact of the image less effective. Red came out on top for the colour that evokes danger, which is no surprise as the colour has also been associated with danger and panic. Not a good choice for Bernie's overall portrayal but may be effective as an emotional trigger for Hillary. The patriotic question was a bit problematic to ask. The questions were asked to British people of all ages, which means we don't really understand American patriotism in itself. But in a way, we may do... the British flag has the same colours as the American flag, therefore, British people can essentially answer this questions based on the same colour scheme and see what colour they favour and from their base an assumption of the credibility of the result. It was tight between red and blue but blue took the top spot.  Blue also is very appealing, calming and approachable, therefore could be the option to pick in order to portray Bernie and the image of Bernie in a professional and approachable manner.

Hillary Clinton

What I want to get out of the Hillary research is the opposite from Bernie's research. I wanted to find the most horrid and off-putting colour, a colour that will subliminally attach onto Hillary and act as an emotional trigger every time anyone from the minority groups sees her. I'm trying to portray Hillary as a horrible person who is against the progression of minorities across America, a potential president that minorities detest and reject for her beliefs when she was younger. We already have the beginnings of this approach by using the damaging photo of Hillary supporting a segregationist and the implementation of colour will only excel this emotional persuasion. The results were:

What colour makes you feel at ease/cool? = Blue WINS

What colour makes you feel alarmed? = Red WINS

What colour is most disgusting? = Brown WINS

What would you avoid? = Red WINS

Conclusion

In conclusion, the colours to avoid using with Hillary is blue, black and white, green, purple as these colours seem to have the less impact in regards to disgust. It seems to be out of red and brown. Red is a successful colour in terms of danger as explained above in the Bernie research. There is no surprise that brown came out top for most disgusting colour. This colour is the same colour used in the previous blog post, where I spoke about Pantone 448 C and it's use on cigereet packets. It is the world's worst colour, so applying this colour to Hillary's photo should hopefully apply the same persuasive effect it has on putting off a current smoker or new smokers from buying the cigarette cartons.

COP3 - BERNIE CAMPAIGN // TYPEFACES

Jubilat 

Jubilat, a serif typeface and a typeface used by the current Bernie campaign. As a typeface, it represents strength, power, legibility and professionality, all attributes that you would need for such a series statment.Another way to see these attributes is how they also represent Bernie as a leader. Bernie is old, so by using strength and boldness as a typeface Bernie image is subconsciously transformed into someone who is a lot stronger and bolder than he seems. Also, the professionality of the typeface contributes to the overall credbility and the mode 'Ethos'. A sans serif typeface wouldn't be as professional looking especially when the subject area is so serious and visible to the world.

Futura

Sans-serif type. This font is softer and more contemporary but as I mentioned in the previous analysis, san-serif typeface doesn't represent the serious nature of the campaign. It doesn't represent strength and community, It's lighter, rounder and not as vigorous.  

I also looked at two more typefaces, Universe and Garamond. Universe represented more of a contemporary typeface that was trendy but essentially it didn't work due to the same reasons as Futura. Finally, Garamond as a serif typeface did work. The problem I found was the thinness width of the stems. Thin stems subtract from the boldness and strength, losing the overall impact. Essentially, the typeface would work as it contains all the professional attributes needed but it still doesn't compete with Jubilat.

Univers

Garamond

COP3 - BERNIE CAMPAIGN // TAGLINES

I knew I needed an effective tagline to bind the whole concept together. A tagline that defined the concept within a few words. A tagline where the American voter looks visualises the tagline and the onset of emotions start to build up and passion fires up in their stomach ready to stand side by side with Bernie Sanders but at the same time having feelings of anger and frustration with Hillary Clinton.

From the images below, you can see the potential tagline I came up with. The taglines were: 

"A History To Fight For. A Future To Believe In." - This tagline implements the topoi 'Past Fact' as it talks about the past and the consequences of the past repeating itself if action isn't taken. It talks about the battle that Bernie faced and all others before him. Influential members of the minority community who fought for change such as MLK. "A future to believe in" talks about the progress of the past and that progress will determine how the future is. People sought change to make the future a better place. It should want to drive the minority community to keep pushing for change and with Bernie Sanders, it can happen.

"Us Against Them" - This famous mentality of 'us against them' works well when trying to undermine Hillary Clinton. The 'Us' is Bernie sanders and the minority community trying to push for change and the 'Against them' is the other part of society, the wealthy, elitist, the one percent, and Hillary Clinton. A category that most minorities don't fit into.

"My Fight For You" - This tagline portrays Bernie Sanders as a hero. Bernie leading the way to fight for the Americans who don't have a voice. He is fighting for them, against the rich and the establishment. The only issue with this tagline is white privilege. Bernie isn't a minority therefore, he can't know the pain and suffering these communities experience and to say 'My fight for you' indicates that he is a part of the minority groups and he is leading the change when he hasn't since he isn't a minority and hasn't been around since the dawn of time.

"Our Fight For Civil Rights" - The best and most effective tagline out of the lot. What it implies is that Bernie Sanders is with the people, alongside them. Instead of using 'Me' which sounds like it's only him solving issues which come across as some kind of dictator. using 'Us' includes everyone before Bernie and everyone after him. In relation to the images, Bernie has fought for the minority in the past and will continue to till he dies. The tagline can be used on Hillary's image to cause anger and outrage. The tagline changes slightly to "Hillary's fight for segregation" showing the contrast between Bernie and Hillary. Portraying Hillary as a segregationist and who is different and has nothing in common with the minority groups of America.

COP3 - APPLYING LOGOS, ETHOS, AND PATHOS INTO VISUAL COMMUNICATION

In order to apply any rhetorical theories discussed in my essay, we need to understand how they can be applied to visual communication. Understanding the definitions within the context of spoken and written language and then through keywords, we can start to understand how that can be connected to visual communication.

Aristotle's triad model

Definitions are taken from my dissertation


Logos appeals to the sense of logic from the audience. Logos can be developed by using advanced strategies such as abstract or theoretical discourse whether it be written or oral. The use of citing facts and literal or historical analogies is extremely crucial while constructing arguments based on logic reasoning.

Pathos, greek for ‘suffering’ or ‘experience’ is best related with emotion. It specifically aims to draw upon the emotions of the audience, as well as their interests, sympathies and imagination. With the persuasive mode in effect, the audience is encouraged to identify with the writer or speaker to connect or experience the emotion of the speaker/writer. “As the meaning of pathos implies, the audience "suffers," in the realm of the imagination, what the rhetor suffers.”

Ethos, meaning ‘moral, showing moral character’ forms the root of ethos. The mode of Ethos appeals directly to the authority of the speaker. It’s how effective the speaker can persuade the audience of how competent and knowledgeable on the subject matter they are. There are a variety of ways the speaker can demonstrate this method of conviction to the audience: Being significant in the field in question, such as a professor or a senior figure within a company relating to that subject.

Below are ways each mode can be related to visual communication

Logos
Logos refers to using reason and sometimes, we can be persuaded simply by facts (like if you was to change something about you because of a fact that someone mentioned about a better way to look after yourself). Reason can be built into an argument through storytelling (for example, if you say that you broke your leg playing football to convince someone else that playing football is dangerous), through using statistics and other facts, or by listing a number of features (like when you buy a phone because of what it can do , rather than because how it looks).  When using logos to persuade, it's important to locate facts and information that matter to your audience and to understand the best way to communicate them. For example, if you say that something is 18,120,000 long , that means hardly anything to most because it is too large to fathom. But if you say that something is twice the length of the entire Australia, everything comes into perspective. Facts and opinions can be applied to any form of visual communication to demonstrate a logical message.

Pathos
Pathos refers to emotional appeal. When you remember a time where you felt a sense of emotion. It could be from a radio advert about starving children or a commercial on T.V about children in need or the visual images on cigarette packages that made you feel emotionally distressed and disturbed that it put you off from buying on. When you want to use pathos to persuade somebody, you make them feel an emotion that effects their actions. Emotions such as anger, excitement, passion, scared and jealousy can cause people to act in small and big ways. (small, being too clean your room or big, to persuade a smoker not to smoke)

If Pathos isn't used correctly you can look overbearing, silly, cheesy, or just plain obnoxious, if the user knows that you are trying to persuade their emotions. Also, there are ethical considerations, it's important to be responsible for how you go about persuading the emotions of people.

Ethos
Ethos refers to your credibility. Whether you are creating a flyer, presenting, or applying for a job, people won’t be persuaded by you unless they trust you. When it comes to communication, trust is built in a number of ways. It's the designer's job to understand how to adapt your communication to the audience in every situation. In written communication, you need to pay close attention to aspects such as style, voice, organisation, clarity and vocabulary. In spoken communication, you need to consider confidence, movement, and the way you dress. In visual communication, you need to consider design details such as functionality cultural awareness, and structural clarity. To improve your ethos, you always need to be aware of what you use as credible sources.  Credible sources could be celebrities, scientist or anyone who is an expert in their subject matter. The more your audience trusts your sources, the more they will trust you. Ethos can also be a challenging thing to acquire and can be destroyed in a short amount of time. Credibility can take a long time to build up. Trust isn't acquired within a day but weeks, months and years. An example of how ethos can be lost within a second is how Tiger Woods lost all sponsorships when the revelation came out about his affair. Within a split second Tiger woods lost all credibility and trust, companies don't want to support you if you reflect negatively on their brand image as they could also lose credibility if they supported Tiger Woods.

COP3 - TARGET AUDIENCE FOR BERNIE CAMPAIGN // DOES RHETORIC NEED AN AUDIENCE?

The target audience for Bernie's campaign in support of minorities will obviously be the minority community but not the community as a whole. The practical will specifically be aimed at the Black demographic. With this in mind, we have to consider a different perspective. The issue, stereotypes and assumptions about what black people want cannot be understood from an outside perspective or from the perspective of anyone else who isn't black. Therefore, by conducting research I can begin to understand the needs of the black community in America.

One can also assume that rhetoric doesn't need to the audience. For example, when Hitler was touring around Germany giving speeches he didn't change his rhetorical approach to suit different towns, cities and classes of people. Therefore, within a reasonable limit audience shouldn't need to dictate how I apply rhetoric to my campaign. But essentially I will need a basic audience to decide the design decisions such as typography, images and colours but further than that wouldn't be as necessary.

COP3 - APPLYING ARISTOTELIAN TOPOI INTO VISUAL COMMUNICATION

In order to apply any rhetorical theories discussed in my essay, we need to understand how they can be applied to visual communication. Understanding the definitions within the context of spoken and written language and then through keywords, we can start to understand how that can be connected to visual communication.

Topoi

The following definition is taken from my dissertation

Topos refers to a theme or convention. In writing, topoi are used as metaphors for building a story. Aristotle's defines topoi in his book Rhetoric “I call the same thing element and topos; for an element or a topos is a heading under which many enthymemes fall.” (Rhet. 1403a18–19) . The concept is an argumentative scheme that enables either a dialectician or a rhetorician to construct an argument for a conclusion.

There are 7 kinds of topics (with about 27 total) and 8 special topics. But for this purpose and the subject area that I'm looking to base my practical around these are the four most common topoi relating to political visual communication:

• Greater/Lesser
• Future Fact
• Past Fact
• Possible/Impossible

Below are ways each mode can be related to visual communication

The Greater Good / Lesser Evil
The “greater/lesser” topic is a perennial favourite among arguments since it focuses on whether something is better or worse than something else. Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton. Manchester United vs Manchester City. This topic would cover these kind of arguments. In relation to visual communication using images of the 'lesser evil' to really portray them in a bad light, therefore making the 'greater good' more appealing. For example, a pro-Clinton campaign could portray Donald Trump as the devil to make Hillary look more desirable.

Future Fact: Look What’s Going to Happen
An argument based on “future fact” is about what should happen right now because of what will happen inevitably. This can be applied within a tagline and made stronger with imagery, for example, a campaign could state that immigration will rise by 50% in the next 5 years and then back that up with an image of riots and chaos caused by the immigrants to demonstration the future of immigration. Using imagery and text makes the audience react emotionally as it gives them a visual to connect to and in essence, they begin to understand the true reality of the message.

Past Fact: Look What Happened
This argument must prove that her point is either inevitable or highly likely to happen because of something that has already happened. Again, this can be applied within a tagline and made stronger with imagery, by stating a point about what happened in the past and then by using imagery, so the audience can visually understand the point which adds emotional connection to the overall message.

Mission Impossible (or Possible)
This Topoi considers whether your point is actually possible or what you're arguing against is impossible. This argument is normally made through the use of a tagline or text within the design but can often be made through the use of images to further explain the concept or to apply emotion to the argument.

COP3 - BERNIE CAMPAIGN // PROBLEMS TO AVOID

One of the problems that I've come across when approaching the practical element is being a non-American. I can't approach this project as an America because I'm not and therefore can't speak for all Americans or the minority group that I will be representing within Bernie's campaign. As a non-American, I cannot truly understand the American society and the American way of life. The issues, policies, Government, stereotypes, as well as social, environmental and health issues in which i cannot truly understand. Only by conducting research can I begin to have an insight into the lives of the Americans I will be trying to communicate too.

It's important to be open minded, non-judgemental and considerate, whilst trying to be as knowledgeable as possible about the subject matter (or if we're talking about rhetoric, the rhetorical canon of  'memory' would apply in this case) However,  if I'm creating a campaign around British politics then these restrictions would not apply as I am a British citizen and know the culture and issues that are affecting society and the political system, therefore, I can be as direct and judgemental and personal within my approach wherever it's deemed appropriate.

COP3 - BERNIE CAMPAIGN // WHY BERNIE LOST

By identifying areas where Bernie lost the election will give me a good understand of what went wrong and what could be improved on. Once all areas have been investigated then we can start to look into how Bernie Sanders campaign could have been improved to make that certain area stronger. For example, if Bernie's attempt at a political revolution or his socialist views worried voters then how could his campaign attempt to reassure his voters that these ideas were the best for the future of America. Or did Bernie not address these problems and only aim his campaign at voters who were supportive of these views.


Below is the following issue that could of cost Bernie the Democratic nominee for president:

Lost the minority vote

Bernie couldn't convince minority voters. Sanders either tied or won the white vote in nearly every state beating Hillary Clinton by significant margins. Bernie struggled and lost minorities in the big, diverse states such as Florida, Virginia, Texas, New York, and Arizona which all those states have a majority of Black and Latino demographic. Essentially it all comes down to Sanders inability to connect with minorities. He struggled to sell his vision to these communities but would be the nominee if his vision was sold correctly. But they overwhelmingly rejected him and therefore, he lost.

Money and building relationships

By the end of may Bernie raised $212 million to Clinton's $205 million. This fact is proof that money isn’t the be-all, end-all in politics. Hillary has spent decades building relationships within the democratic party and the senate. This factor alone is worth more than hundreds of million and to a certain extent, you can't buy relationships and influence. Bernie as a democratic socialist hasn't built many relationships, he is often seen as a lone figure who has had to build relationships from scratch.

Democratic National Committee

A Russian hacker who leaked official Democratic National Committee documents showing that officials of the democratic parties and also elites within the media were working with Clintons campaign dating back to 26th of May 2015. Coincidently this date the official day Bernie launched his big for the Democratic nomination. 

Within the documents, they highlight details about how the DNC would work hand-in-hand with the media to discredit any other nominee from the republican party. They also pointed out how they would highlight Hillary's positive whilst downplaying her negative points.

Age

Bernie Sander is 75 years old and if he was elected president would be the oldest person ever to become president. Age is a factor that instantly goes against any candidate. Hillary has tried to avoid the question about age and when she almost fainting while on the campaign trail, her capability came into question. Bernie is 6 years old then Hillary and therefore, a lot of people would be sceptical of Bernie ability to run for president. 

"The job is too important to entrust to a 75-year-old man, and it’s too hard to remove an impaired president. Whatever positive attributes he has for the job, voters need to face the fact: Sanders is just too old."  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-bernie-sanders-is-too-old-20160205-story.html

References

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/5/23/1529938/-11-reasons-why-Bernie-Sanders-lost-this-thing-fair-and-square

https://medium.com/soapbox-dc/why-bernie-lost-and-why-his-supporters-need-to-face-reality-a61deb84104e#.m50xp3hqy

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-north-patterson/why-bernie-lost---and-wha_b_9813988.html

http://redalertpolitics.com/2016/06/16/bernie-never-stood-chance-hacker-leaks-reveal-dnc-clinton-coordination/

COP3 - BERNIE CAMPAIGN // CHOSEN ISSUE // MINORITY VOTE (BLACK PEOPLE)

From the previous blog post, I listed a few issue that could have affected Bernie's chance to win the democratic nominee. Upon further review, I decided to choose one issue that had the most potential to be integrated within my practical project and visual communication as a whole. There were a few issues that couldn't be communicated within visual communication, such as the issue about Bernie's ability to build relationships within the Democratic party. It's not an issue that will encourage voters to vote but it's an issue that is internal and away from public view. In contrast, the minority issue is very real. The minority vote makes up around 13% of the vote so this issue if solved effectively could win Bernie the nominee.

The issues that surround minorities and the black community was the biggest issue that was raised over and over again. Anyone from outside the US would think that Bernie's policies would appeal and connect with blacks. But unfortunately, this is not true. Below, I have broken down further the reasons why the black community didn't support Bernie in his quest for the Democratic nominee.

What Black Voters Want

The black community as a historically marginalised group is always looking for better opportunities economically. They want access to better jobs. Under Bill Clintons administration there was a significant drop in black employment and with a growth in the black middle class. With this in mind, black people prospered under Bill Clinton and essentially would like to see that again with Hillary Clinton.

Black people want to stop gun violence or at lease address it. Gun violence affects the whole black community from rich to poor. Therefore, they look for politicians who can help with their struggle with gun violence and who share their views on the matter. But this is where Bernie stumbles, Bernie has a connection with the National Rifle Association who donated thousands of dollars to help Bernie get elected. This has no doubt caused scepticism within the black community and trust in Bernie's loyalties.

Why White Liberals Don’t Get Black Voters

Within American society, a lot of white people don't have black friends. Therefore, there is a massive disconnect in what white people think of black people. The majority of Bernie's supporters are young whites and white independents. What this means is Bernie's supporters don't often interact with the black community. If you are not interacting with black people then understanding their needs or wants as a black American. Even from the Bernie campaign they struggle to understand how to connect to black people and what issues truly matter to them.

Why Black Voters Aren’t Feeling The Bern

Black people are the poorest community within America. The median net worth of black people is only 11 thousand compared to 141 thousand for white people. Bernie never attempted to build relationships with black leaders, according to black leaders from Bernie's home state of Vermont, they suggest that he ignored them and their needs. Bernie has shown support against the mass incarceration of the blacks but hasn't attempted to tackle this issue within his own state, which shows hypocrisy and false pretences.

Sources

https://medium.com/@marcushjohnson/black-voters-aren-t-feeling-the-bern-here-s-why-aaca90e7d5d#.t1ad494vt

http://fusion.net/story/323539/how-bernie-sanders-lost-black-voters/

http://blackagendareport.com/bernie-sanders-black-vote

COP3 - BERNIE CAMPAIGN // ISSUES WITH PRIMARY RESEARCH

Whenever it comes to persuasion it's very challenging to conduct primary research to understand how people react. Rhetoric is all about applying persuasive methods and techniques to make an argument stronger. In other words, persuasion is subconscious and subliminal and isn't meant to essentially be obvious to the audience. Some persuasive methods may be obvious but that's only if the concept is poorly designed and the application of the rhetorical approach is messy. With all this in mind, it becomes problematic to truly test people's reaction and exposure to the rhetoric. The only way to test the techniques is by analysing design decision such as colour theory, typography and imagery. This would only work an individual basis but not as a whole without stating your agenda of the research. This also leads onto another area where you have to state intentions but then you jeopardise your whole research as you may receive answers that would not be genuine and honest because your audience knows what reactions you are after.

Moving away from rhetoric, another problematic approach is gathering feedback from my target demographic. Gathering research from the minority community in America has become a massive challenge and near impossible. To start with, I'm not American, nor am I a minority which means that I don't have access to any minority communities. Second, is that politics is a touchy subject for many people. Many people don't disclose their political views in case of being judged for supporting a controversial party or candidate. For minority communities, this fear is intensified as they already feel judged and marginalised and this will make them less willing to speak out.

COP3 - BERNIE CAMPAIGN // CONCEPT

This blog post is purely meant to explain the concept and approach to the Bernie Sanders campaign that I will be undertaking. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are roughly the same age (6 years difference.) They grew up in the same era when America went through a lot of social issues that affected minorities, especially the black community within America. My concept is to demonstrate that Bernie isn't an elitist politician who's agenda is to represent the 1% but an ordinary human who represents the everyday person. Bernie fights for everyone including minorities, he isn't a politician who stands around and watches minorities being unfairly treated.

This is what I'm trying to represent Bernie Sanders as. How I'm going to achieve this is by using photos of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton as university students to represents their mindsets and how they were as ordinary people (to a certain extent) before becoming influential politicians. Bernie Sanders campaigned and protested for civil right and in the 1960's and as a result got arrested for it. This, in essence, presents Bernie as a compassionate human being, who fights alone side minorities so they can have freedom even when his freedom is already secured for life due to white privilege.  In contrast to Bernie's photo, there is a photo of Hillary Clinton in the 1960's holding a sign which advocates her support for Barry Goldwater, a segregationist. The sheer contrast is apparent and damaging on Hillary's behalf. Hillary, dressing as an upper-class citizen showing support for segregation is a total opposite to Bernie and this represents Hillary as an elitist who doesn't support the minority community. This may have been over 50 years ago but it demonstrates the past and the mindsets Bernie and Hillary had back and no doubt their views and opinions they had back then would in some sense still be apart of them today even if Hillary doesn't want to admit it.

Bernie Being arrested for protesting civil rights

Hillary Clinton showing support for the segregationist Barry Goldwater.

COP3 - BERNIE CAMPAIGN // PRACTICAL BRIEF PRESENTATION

As our written dissertation is near to completion, It was time to write out a practical brief that clearly explains our practical intentions, which demonstrates a clear synthesis between the two. 

Practical brief:

Brief 

Bernie Sanders has quit the Democrats and will return to life as an independent senator after losing the race for the party's presidential nomination to Hillary Clinton. One of the main reasons why Bernie Sanders lost to Hillary Clinton is that Hillary won the minority vote and Bernie didn't.

Create an effective campaign using the appropriate rhetoric theories discussed in the dissertation to design a better alternative that could persuade the minority community of America to vote for Bernie Sanders over Hillary.

Background/Considerations

Understand why Bernie lost the minority vote and what he didn't do that Hillary Clinton did. Was it the effective campaign or her policies that related more to minorities?

Consider the dissertation and understand how the link can be made between rhetoric and visual communication.

Mandatory Requirements

Blog
Design Boards
Dissertation between 6-9000 words.

Deliverables

Set of Posters
Other campaign collateral (that you see appropriate):
Badges
Stickers
T-shirt 

Leaflets
Website

Flag

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Synthesis

The synthesis between my essay and practical is the appropriate use and implementation of three rhetorical theories investigated within my essay. The three theories are, Aristotle triad model, which includes, Logos, the use of logic argument through facts, statements and statistics, Pathos, which provokes an emotional response through design elements such as colour, imagery, type or other aspects such as delivery of the concept or application through collateral. Ethos, the last of the triad model embodies the very essence of credibility and trust through the use of influential figures or celebrities to promote or give credit to the fact, statement or statistic. The next theory is the Five Canons of rhetorics, The Five Canons implement a guide for creating powerful and dynamic speeches and writing; the five canons also acts as a template to critique effective rhetoric. The five canons include style, memory, invention, arrangement, and delivery. Finally, The last theory was Aristotle's topoi concept is an argumentative scheme that enables either a dialectician or a rhetorician to construct an argument for a conclusion. All three rhetorical theories demonstrate a diverse range of persuasive methods, approaches and tools in which are unique from each other, giving the opportunity to pick and choose where and when to implement the theories. The essay also discussed other forms of visual rhetoric not displayed in the three theories such as rhetorics tropes, semiotics and structuralism that can also be applied alongside the three main theories to strengthen the persuasive tendencies

To construct a concrete link from the three theories to the practical, the creation of a political campaign will act as a gateway to effectively apply these rhetorics methods and tools within the visual communication. The campaign will be situated around the recent US presidential election. The aim of the campaign is to persuade the minority communities of America to vote for Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton. Bernie Sanders lost the minority vote, which to many Americans was a huge surprise considering Bernie’s political and liberal views. Taking this problem on the board, how can the persuasive power of rhetoric be applied to the campaign's concept and collateral to gather positive support for Bernie Sanders but provoke feelings of disconnect and anger towards Hillary Clinton. By having a diverse range of rhetorical theories with an arsenal of methods and tools, we can begin to form a strategic approach to the application of the rhetoric. By considering the intended audience along with the main concept and end goal, we can begin to structure and craft our campaign around the rhetoric. Strategically implementing the three theories where appropriate to effectively and beneficially strengthen the main agenda of the campaign.

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Feedback From presentation

Everyone got split into small groups of 3-4 and presented their practical brief and synthesis to gather further feedback or considerations. 

I came into the presentation with a couple of questions that I wanted to ask about my practical element. The questions were:

1.  Is a political poster campaign with a few other collaterally significant enough?

2.  Is the synthesis clear and strong enough?

In regards to the first question. It was recommended to produce a second campaign along side the Bernie Sanders campaign. To represent politicians who lost or political candidates who where forgotten such as the 'raving loony party' who never make any kind of impact in the election. 

This is a good point that will be consider. But this is essentially what I'm doing with Bernie sanders. He lost against Hillary and I'm investigating why he lost and how I can apply rhetoric to persuade and win over votes. Creating a political campaign that looked into forgotten parties like 'raving loony party could be problematic in terms of gathering sufficient data and general opinions of the public as they aren't a known group. 

The second question got a lot of positive responses. My question is sometimes difficult to explain to other people as I have to explain three theories of rhetorics in a way that other people can understand. This often leads to people just nodding their heads even if they do understand. But unless they truly understand rhetoric then explaining it becomes a very problematic. But the overall response was positive and my group could understand the process and how everything links in with each other.

COP3 - BERNIE CAMPAIGN // PRACTICAL FEEDBACK WITH SIMON 1

Today was the first 1 to 1 feedback session where my practical was discussed instead of the essay. Coming into the session I had a rough idea of the direction I wanted to take practical work.
The direction at this time was to create a pro-Trumpp poster series trying to persuade the liberals and especially Bernie Sanders supporters to trust Donald Trump as president. Taking his most controversial policies such as the 'building of the wall' and these seem more reasonable and necessary for the greater good for America. By understanding this approach and having an effective concept, I can begin to apply one or more appropriate rhetorical theories discussed within the essay to maximise the strength of the overall campaign.

Simons feedback was mixed. He suggested it was doable but that his main issue would be that Trump's campaign was ultimately successful so it is difficult to improve or suggest an area where he failed. Another point was that I should focus my efforts on an area that I would be happy to be involved with professionally. This is a very good point as I wouldn't want to create work that promotes a person like Trump as it could reflect negatively on me professionally and would be a controversial piece for my portfolio.  Lastly, Simon suggested looking into Bernie Sanders and what could have been done to make his campaign a success. Understand what went wrong and then apply the rhetorical theories to improve his communication.

In conclusion, Simons feedback was very helpful and constructive. I will take it on board and see where I want to go in terms of the area of politics I want to look into. Simon's scepticism around the Trump idea was totally valid and correct. As a person, I dislike Donald Trump so creating a campaign around his success wouldn't be an exciting project to work on whereas Bernie Sanders would be the complete opposite and a person I would want to investigate.

COP3 - BERNIE CAMPAIGN // DEVELOPMENT IDEAS // VISUAL MOCKUPS

The following blog post will discuss the further development of all ideas from the earlier initial sketches blog post. The discussion will be situated around the chosen aesthetic, individual design decisions, and brief expansion on the concept where necessary. Next, I will be looking at the different rhetorical techniques implemented with the design and demonstrating the impact it has on the overall concept. 

Concept

The aim of this poster is to portray Bernie Sanders as a politician that represents the minority community. A candidate that stands in solidarity and hears the cries of the American people. In order to represent this message the tagline "I'm with you" is used to inform this sense of community and personal connection by using the key term "I'm" as opposed to using 'we' or 'Bernie Sanders' which isn't as personal. 

The poster series that will run of this concept will feature all minorities and their communities in America. For the mock-ups below, the minority groups I've represented are Muslim, Black, Hispanic, Indian, and Tribal-Americans. Each poster will represent a group, red and yellow for China and so on. On the back of the poster will be policies from Bernie Sanders that will benefit that group of people, again, Chinese policies for the Chinese poster and so on.

Rhetoric

The predominant rhetorical theory that has been implemented within this idea are Aristotle's modes of persuasion. We see a logical argument through the use of the information on the back of the poster. The poster claims that Bernie is with the people by using the phrase 'I'm with you', the policies on the back present solid proof of his commitments to that certain minority group.

Ethos is in use by the overall professional aesthetics of the poster and delivery. The area of focus is politics and the democratic nominee, so the tone and style should be professional and contemporary to represent the new wave of modern politics and a revolution that Bernie promises. The all-caps typeface 'circular' represents a contemporary, strong and bold aesthetic, all attributes that represent a professional portrayal of Bernie. The colour scheme alongside the typeface back up this style, emphasising individuality and boldness, a key element that allows the campaign to stand out and be seen by the masses. 

Pathos is evidenced by the use of colours, colours that will spark the patriotic side of the minority communities. The emotional feelings of their heritage and culture would be instilled within the colour schemes of each poster. The attachment from their background will be attached to Bernie, seeing him as their 'saviour' and leader. The policies on the back will also give an emotional sense of security, knowing and having confirmation of the promises Bernie has committed too. Even using the poster as a leaflet will allow all communities to carry the poster with pride.

Different posters representing 6 minority community within America with the policies on the back as shown.

Badges that the minority voters can wear which inputs the mode of Pathos through the attribute of pride and community.

Concept

The aim of this idea is to give voters, especially minorities their voice back. Minority groups are often seen as second-class citizens within the US but this campaign changes that, making sure they speak out on any issues or concerns they may have with Bernie or politics in general. Using the tagline 'Let's End...' the voter will enter the website and have the opportunity to submit political issues they might have. Once submitted the issues/messages will be used across a number of platforms such as leaflets, posters and digital displays (as you can see from the poster below). This functionality and the presentation of the issues raised by voters will portray Bernie Sander as a candidate who listens to people's concerns and someone who wants to interact with the people of America as their voices are the fundamental structure of America's future.

Rhetoric

In terms of the triad model, here we can see Pathos and ethos. Logos wouldn't be evidence within this concept due to the information coming from the voters and not from Bernie Himself so the implementation of logos wouldn't be necessary. Pathos is found from the use of the colour scheme, the overall branding off Bernie uses the colours of the American flag. This colour scheme will implement a feel of patriotism and love for their country. The interactive nature of the campaign will appeal to their emotions of acceptance and passion, knowing that they can have a direct affect on what issues are raised and even see by other Americans. This feeling of passion and change will also be heightened by the tagline 'Let's end...' acting also as a war cry for change. Ethos is used in a similar context as the previous poster. Professional aesthetics portrays credibility and trust to the audience. The clean, contemporary style along with the big bold typeface and colour scheme, the overall campaign is professionally produced and visually attractive instead of a sloppy, unprofessional and confusing campaign.

Campaign website where the voters can submit their political concerns with either Bernie or other political issues

Campaign poster with a user submitted issue they want to bring to attention. 

Concept

The concept is to demonstrate that Bernie isn't an elitist politician who's agenda is to represent the 1% but an ordinary human who represents the everyday person. Bernie fights for everyone including minorities, he isn't a politician who stands around and watches minorities being unfairly treated. By using photos of Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton as university students to represents their mindsets and how they were as ordinary people (to a certain extent) before becoming influential politicians. Bernie Sanders campaigned and protested for civil right and in the 1960's and as a result got arrested for it. This, in essence, presents Bernie as a compassionate human being, who fights alone side minorities so they can have freedom even when his freedom is already secured for life due to white privilege.  In contrast to Bernie's photo, there is a photo of Hillary Clinton in the 1960's holding a sign which advocates her support for Barry Goldwater, a segregationist.

Rhetoric

Right off the bat we can see that the concept revolves around the 'lesser evil' rhetorical topoi, by having Bernie and Hillary going against each other and the objective of the concept is to portray Bernie as the (minorities) people's champion and Hillary as the segregationist and upper class white woman who represents only the wealthy. Out of all ideas, this one had the most effective use of the triad model. The emotional mode of Pathos is strongly injected into the visual images. The image of Bernie will feed on people's compassion and connection with Bernie. It represents him as a leader who has battled for minorities all his life and isn't one to just stand around and watch. Emotionally, it will connect to the black community but also all minority communities who know the struggle and by seeing a white male fighting for their civil rights we subconsciously link Bernie to the qualities of MLK. Hillary's photo, on the other hand, will be the complete opposite, it will persuade voters to feel rage and disappointment; to also see Hillary as a candidate who will not able to support the minority community not because her abilities but because it's evident from the photo that she hasn't been supportive of civil right and what's to say she doesn't still hold the same views today.

Ethos can be seen from the image of Bernie Sanders, the tagline 'Our Fight, For Civil Rights'  is a big statement to make, which will need some kind of proof. The proof would be Bernie being arrested for protesting for civil rights. This aspect will instantly give credibility to the statement and the same applies for the statement about Hillary supporting segregation. If these elements aren't enough proof of credibility then the posters will have a bit of text to add context to the poster so it becomes as clear as possible and in return adds more potency as everyone will understand the concept and not only guess from the image. Logos, similar to the set up to Ethos is seen within the image and headline information. The headline statement for both Bernie and Hillary is a fact, which is a logical and reasonable argument, therefore, a successful implementation of Logos.

COP3 - BERNIE CAMPAIGN // CHOSEN IDEA // BREAKDOWN OF RHETORICAL METHODS USED IN EACH IDEA

I developed three concepts in a previous blog post and the idea below (IDEA 3) is the one that I've chosen to move forward with. The idea of contrasting photos of Bernie and Hillary was the only idea that I could successfully implement the most rhetorical theories. The triad model, five canons and Aristotle's topoi can all be implemented successfully within not only the poster series but across all collateral. 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 use of informative policies on the back of the poster.

Ethos = YES & no, no credible source. The only source of credibility is through the professional design aesthetics.

Pathos = YES, through the demonstration of colour schemes to represent different minority groups within America.

Five Canons

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

Style = NO, no personality of Bernie Sanders has been implemented.
Arrangement = YES, Hierarchy is represented effectively through the use of large text to let the user know what they should be looking at first and the arrangement of the information on the back.
Memory = YES, policies on the back, back up the statement on the front, demonstrating the knowledge needed to back up the statement on the front.
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 TWO

Modes of persuasion

Logos = NO, as the facts and information will be coming from the voters and no Bernie Sanders.

Ethos = YES & NO, no credible source. The only source of credibility is through the professional design aesthetics.

Pathos = YES, by using the American colour scheme of blue, red and white injection the compassionate emotion of loyalty, but apart from that the Pathos isn't as strong

Five Canons

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

Style = NO, no personality of Bernie Sanders has been implemented.
Arrangement = YES, through the use of large text and organising the website and posters into coloured sections for an efficient user journey and to let the user know that the information is in sections. Vibrant colours (blue & red) being the most important and the neutral (white & grey) being least important.
Memory = NO, as all the information is coming from voters so this canon doesn't apply.
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 = The campaign's message is stating anything that may be impossible or possible as no persuasive argument is taking place.

IDEA THREE - CHOSEN IDEA

Modes of persuasion

Logos = YES, through the tagline and information claiming a logics and reasonable argument.

Ethos = YES, what's being claimed or stated is evidently backed up by the images of Bernie and Hillary. For example, Hillary is a segregationist support and this claim is backed up by the image of her supporting Barry Goldwater who is a segregationist.

Pathos = YES, through the use of images, colour and type.

Five Canons

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

Style = NO, no personality of Bernie Sanders has been implemented.
Arrangement = YES, through a number of design decisions, such as type, imagery, and colour.
Memory = YES, through the small paragraph of text adding context and educating voters on the message of the campaign.
Delivery = YES, this canon is universally applied to all.

Four Topoi

Greater/Lesser = YES, by comparing Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton against each other. Hillary being the villain and Bernie being the saint.
Future Fact = NO
Past Fact = YES, because the campaign is claiming that the past could influence the future. If Hillary becomes president then her thoughts and opinions from the 1960's may still be the same today, therefore, severely damaging the progress of miniorites in America.
Possible/Impossible = NO