Practical research

The question in which I have decided to complete is how Graphic Design can be influential during periods of political and/or social upheaval. An hypothesis for my chosen question in relation to Obama's Hope campaign is how art can position an audience to have a certain outlook on  political figures, and also how specifically Obama's Hope campaign targeted a specific demographic profile. The contexts of my research interests primarily focus upon that of American politics, and the generic voter that was present during the 2008 election. An in depth approach will also be taken when looking at the artist Shepard Fairey, who developed the imagery for the Hope campaign.

Some sources I have already discovered surrounding these topic areas are listed below:

• Art For Obama: Designing Manifest Hope and the Campaign for Change
• Obey: Supply & Demand: the art of Shepard Fairey
• The rise and fall of the poster, street talk
• Art and Agenda: Political art and activism 
• http://www.streetartbio.com/#!shepard-fairey/cd7u
• thistory.about.com/od/namesff/p/fairey.htmar
• http://www.e-ir.info/2010/06/28/the-visual-culture-in-politics-the-obama-%E2%80%9Cprogress%E2%80%9D-poster/

When creating my practical work for this question, the 2016 American election will be my first point of call. In a similar way to that of Shepard, I will create a range of political posters targeting a specific demographic profile. I will experiment with multiple art techniques and may even follow the design of Shepard himself. In order to assist me with this task I will gather research surrounding the voting demographics within America, each presidents manifesto, and art surrounding previous political campaigns. I will experiment with many techniques, including some that have not yet been high profile within political campaigns. As I currently have family friends within America, I will ask them their response on the subject matter and may even get them to express my work to others, asking them for specific feedback upon the designs. I hope for my work to be completed before the 25th of March, as this is before Americas general election.