Comment on Poster 6, Group 1
In my second blog task I will be discussing the poster that deals with task 6. Even if everyone is probably going to discuss this particular poster in their blog, too, I think that the poster is just too special to be skipped over. Those who cannot remember how it looks like from class (although I doubt that anyone would forget such a quite extraordinary approach) can have a look at it, before I continue its discussion.
It was created in response to the following quote from The Atlantic Monthly, July 1997:
A 1996 poll of US teachers found that they ranked computer skills and media technology as more ‘essential’ than the study of European history, biology, chemistry, and physics; than dealing with social problems such as drugs and family breakdown; than learning practical job skills; and than reading modern American writers such as Steinbeck and Hemmingway or classic ones such as Plato and Shakespeare.
The poster is a very creative and fun realization of the quote and captures the whole issue nice and simple. First and foremost I have to highlight its artistic qualities. Both characters – the professor who seems to be inexperienced in new media and the ‘hardcore geek’ who seems to have no clue about the real world – are comical caricatures of two extreme opposites. Although they are drawn in a simplistic manner, the character’s portrayal works out their function as avatars of two partially unreasonable lifestyles regarding nowadays education appropriately.
Next on the list are the statements in the center of the poster. The boldness of both statements translates the provocativeness of the original quote, but simplifies it further which makes it a lot easier and more comfortable to read. The statement itself carries a bit of a pessimistic undertone towards new media. The claim that “[…] there is no way around [sic]” sounds like new media are a neccesary evil which one unfortunately has to accept to keep up with technology. Furthermore the simplicity which is represented by the two futurephobiac and unworldly characters suggests a narrowed black-and-white-world view of “either this or that”. Although both statements are positioned in the center as kind of balanced solution to the problem, it should have been made more obvious, maybe even with another drawing.
Overall, this sounds more negative than it is actually the case. I do love the approach that was chosen to handle the issue and, again, the drawings are hilarious (especially the geek). From all posters I definitely like this one the best. It sets the bar a little higher for new posters that may come in future classes.
