AVT 280 Project 2: Art, Activism, and Interventionism Christina Miller

Digital Sketch

Draft Composition This poster was modeled after numerous college advertisement posters that I have seen throughout this area. I did not name a specific college because that is not the focus of what I am trying to point out to my audience. Instead I am trying to point out the costs of college and lack of guarantee of a better life. The images contained in the poster are of common scenes like students in class, students at college events, and then I wanted one image to point out a common problem for graduates after college: “Now what?”. The “Now What?” image points out the issues after graduating from college with most students facing repayment of large student loans and finding a decent paying job. The colors are mostly dark hued to give more emphasis on the lighter colored pictures and text. The image is sized 17”x 24” with white text and a white colored logo at the top that says “Collegiate Debt University”.

Proposal for Place of Advertisement

Proposal for Place (cont.) The are that I am proposing for my advertisement is the GMU shuttle stop at Vienna Metro Station. This area is private area, but it is frequented by heavy foot traffic from commuters and students going to and from GMU and Fair Oaks Mall. Frequently, there is a large amount of commuters and students that stand in this area for long periods of time which makes it very likely that they will look at the advertisement and notice the details of it.

Target Audience My main audience for this advertisement is college students, prospective college students, and parents of kids about to go to college. I feel that it is important for people to realize the real costs of education and the fact that it does not guarantee you a job even though there are many college advertisements out here actually promising that their students get high paying jobs. My concept was to make this look like a normal college recruitment poster like you normally see at bus stops, within the metro trains, and other places. However on closer inspection of my poster, people will be given perspective about just how much college education has increased in comparison with health care and food costs. I thought that it was very important to make these comparisons due to that many people already complain about health care costs, and it is a very popular topic. However, when putting health care cost in perspective with college tuition I feel it will raise serious questions on how the cost of education has gotten out of hand.