Learn

• Learning Exercises
• Teacher Resources

Learning Exercises

The following 3 exercises are designed to acquaint the viewer with the multiple ways in which artists and designers use the medium of the poster to engender visual solutions to social and political problems.

1. Critical Comparison Exercise: Social Commentary

Enter the poster search database by selecting the "Search" - "for Posters" link from the toolbar at the top of the page.

• Locate an image in the collection which contrasts greatly with the poster Dia de la Tierra by Antonio Niko Perez. [If you cannot find another related image then try Happy Earthday by You-Hong Won from 2001].
• Explain why you think the artist chose the particular object(s), line(s), or shape(s) to communicate his or her perspective on the topic.
• For what societal problem is each artist providing commentary?
• Explain both why and how these images express a solution to this particular problem visually.
• Do you think each of the artists communicates such ideas effectively?
• Which of the two posters do you think most effectively conveys its message?
• If you were the artist or designer what would you change, and why?
• Repeat the exercise by locating two images on your own from the poster database that convey a message related to one of the following:
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Hunger
  • Poverty
  • Racism
  • War

2. Creative Design Exercise: Create a Poster

You are a graphic designer. You have been hired by a nonprofit agency (choose a desired location in or outside the United States) to create a poster which will be used to raise awareness on the issue of child hunger and malnutrition. After you create your image, answer the following questions:

• What is the central point expressed in your work?
• Why did you choose to depict particular objects or shapes in a particular manner?
• What were your reasons for using the colors you chose? Do the colors symbolize something particular related to purpose of your work?
• How has the process of creating this image given you new insights into this problem?
• Finally, explain how your poster offers a visual solution to this social problem.

3. Writing Exercise: Cultural Divergency

Use the "Search" - "for Posters" links from the toolbar at the top of the page to find two different posters from two different continents.

• Search by country name by selecting the country from the options on the pull down menu.
• Explain in a one-page essay, the differences between these two images relative to subject and artistic rendering of the subject.
• Elaborate on your current assumptions about the cultures from which the creators come.
• After completing the essay, explain the ways in which writing this essay changed or help to redefine your assumptions and stereotypes of particular cultures, countries, or groups.