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.