1.) Why do you think the author used the word "beauty"?
2.) What effect does the black and white theme have on the message?
3.) Why was only half her face "on drugs"?
4.) Why did the author put the word "drugs" in a larger and different colored font?
Blog Prompt #1
ReplyDeleteBecause of the contrast between sides of the face, one side could be the girl’s face before she began using drugs, while the other side is her face after she began using drugs.The two halves of the face suggests the idea that there are two sides or options: one is to abuse drugs, and the other is to stay away from drugs. The right side of the face is clearly the latter. The two sides or options are emphasized by the black and white aspects of the picture. This is saying that when it comes to the after-effects of drugs, whether or not someone abuses them is black or white. You either use, or you don’t. The author puts the words beauty and drugs in the same sentence to juxtapose them. One side of the face is the beauty that existed before drugs, while the other side is the wearing away that occurred after the drug abuse began. The author put the word “drugs” in a larger font and a different color because when the word “drugs” is white in a dim picture, the word stands out and almost takes over. This emphasizes the way that drugs have taken over the girl in the picture. The message this picture gives off with its portrayal of two sides is that drugs take something good and turn it into something bad.
Blog Prompt 1:
ReplyDeleteI feel that the illustrator of this picture wanted to make an instant impact on those who view it. The mutation of half of the girls face is what instantly draws your attention. It immediately makes you think, “What happened to her?” After the initial shock value wears off, you notice the text beside it. The text, “Beauty of the Drugs: Choose not to use,” is also meant to grab your attention. On one half of her face, her beauty shines through. On the other side, the drugs are in full affect. In society today, drugs are viewed as a type of social standing. A person doing drugs is seen as an icon. The image of an ugly face immediately turns people away. No one wants to be seen as ugly, which is why the image has such a big message. Most teenagers see drugs as a key to being a part of the in crowd or popular group. The advertisement’s goal is to turn people away from drugs by painting them in a negative light. This picture shows a drug turning a beautiful person ugly, which no one wants to happen to them.
Blog Prompt #1
ReplyDeleteI think the illustrator used black and white to make the picture more gloomy. I also think it gives the picture, and what it's about a more "deathly" feel, because generally when you see black and white photos they are older photos from the past, suggesting maybe this girl is from the past, or that drugs can put you in the past (they kill you). I think the use of a girl also presents innocence, and each side of her face represents the innocence of the girl both before and after the use of drugs. Generally speaking, I think the picture is ugly, and i think the illustrator did this on purpose. The illustrator also put the word 'Drugs' in white and bigger font on purpose, making the audience focus on the ugliness of the picture and the words drugs, suggesting that drugs can turn you into something ugly.
There are a lot of contrasting aspects in this poster. This first that stands out is the two sides of her face, which presumably are before and after the use of drugs. While drugs won't literally peel the skin off your face, I think that the emphasis is added to add more of a "spook factor" to the piece. Another interesting contrast is not only the size of the text, but the fact that drugs is the only word in a white font. Usually when you think of black and white texts that are used to show a contrast it would be normal to think of black as bad and white as good. However, I think the author of this piece wants the word "drugs" to stick out for the predominately dark piece of work.
ReplyDeleteBlog Prompt #1:
ReplyDeleteThrough several visual elements, the creator demonstrates the central theme of contrast, and that using drugs is a choice. When looking at the image, the first noticeable detail is the woman with half of her face contorted, and half of it normal. It is assumed that the artist is displaying that the contorted side of her face is the side of her that uses drugs. This contrast ultimately represents the decisions one must make in their daily life, and more specifically, the decision to use drugs opposed to not.
Additionally, the creator uses black and white theme for a significant purpose. The purpose is to add even more emphasis to the mood of the picture. If the image were in color, it would not have as great as an impact on the viewer mainly because it brings a gloomy feel when interpreting it. Also, the color of the lettering "drugs" is in white opposed to black in order to designate drugs responsible for the damage of the woman.
Furthermore, the words "beauty" and "drugs" sum up the contrast of the whole poster. The two words conflict with each other, such that drugs do not bring a beautiful image to one's mind. This poster also influences people to stay away from drugs by showing what they can do to you, as well as showing the ironic "beauty" of drugs. This beauty is not true beauty at all. Moreover, it explains why only half of her face is on drugs because it is a simple choice that can ruin one's beauty and innocence permanently.
Blog Prompt 1:This author is using contrast as his scheme to get viewers attention. In the poster, the words "beauty of the" is in small black lettered font and then uses a big white font for the word "drugs" to get all of the viewers attention. Also using the contrast of the two sides of the face gets the audiences instant attention. The author is trying to convey a before and after shot of using. The contrast makes the audience realize exactly what type of affect drugs can have on our body. I find it interesting that the poster uses beauty as a word choice however because it makes the poster seem much more geared towards women.
ReplyDeleteI found the phrase "Choose not to you" interesting because it rhymes. a catchy simple statement like that will stay in your brain longer and would give you more reason to remember the whole picture and what it represents.
DeleteI think the word beauty is used because i think this poster is geared towards women. The author uses the word "beauty" because a lot of women view themselves based on their beauty. By showing the atrocities of what can happen to a women's "beauty", the creator seems to think that it will be more beneficial. The black and white theme of this poster sets the mood as a dark and gloomy mood. The dark theme also makes the word "drug" much easier to stick out as everything else is a dark color scheme. Also, the reason the girls face was half on drugs is because the creator wanted to show a before and after picture of what drugs can actually do to a person's face. The creator uses this strategy to get the attention of women because sometimes picture proof is more important than words.Finally, the author uses a different font and color for the word "drugs" to emphasize the drug part of the poster and show everyone what harmful effects drugs has on the body.
ReplyDeleteWhat this picture represents in my eyes is that drugs destroy your body. Half of her face was on drugs because it showed the before and after effect of this lady. Considering her age, she looks to be around her early 20s. Smooth skin on one side, but when drugs took effect, you can view her as and older women. The author uses the phrase "beauty of the drugs" in a very sarcastic way. As shown to most people, they would state that she looks better when her face appears not to be on drugs. The reason the photo is in white and black would be because the author is using irony. He is pretty much saying when your using drugs, this is what happens. When people say its right here in black and white, they refer to the real deal. The author has taking that concept and put it in this picture to visual show the facts of someone being on drugs.
ReplyDeleteBlog prompt 1
ReplyDeleteI think that the author used many interesting ways in engaging the viewer in the image. The author shows half the face of the girl destroyed. This is meant to represent the effect that drugs had on her. I think she uses only half the face so theta viewers can compare what her face looked like before the drugs. The use of black and white puts a gloomy outlook on the image and sets an instant mood when first looking at the picture. As well, the authors use of the word "beauty" represents a sarcastic intake on the effects of the drug. The author is trying to convey a point that there is nothing beautiful about drugs and it that it only does harm.
Blog prompt # 7
ReplyDeleteAlthough this post is simple I think it does a lot. It allows the audience to see the effector the drugs. Most people just think drugs are bad, but they do not know exactly what drugs can do to their body. It makes the side effects seems much more real by showing half of the girls face ruined. They only show half of her face affected to allow the audience to see exactly how big of a change drugs can cause to them.
I think the Irony of the picture also plays a role in relating to the audience the author/artist is trying to attract. As mentioned above drugs are often a symbol of fitting into today's society. Another model staple of today’s society is Sarcasm. Sarcasm is a very large part of presenting a "cool" image today. Most teenagers are very sarcastic, we all go through the phase and even as adults we often use sarcasm. The message is attempting to relate to the teenagers their message about drugs by employing this sarcasm in the phrase "the beauty of drugs."
ReplyDeleteBlog Prompt #3
ReplyDeleteThe creator of this poster shows half of the girls face normal and the other on drugs. This plays a great part in strengthening this posters message because it really shows how pretty the girl is and what the drugs can do to her. There are many posters that show the whole person effected by drug abuse, but this one shows what she actually looks like. This makes the situation more real because the girl looks like a normal person that the audience can relate to. However, seeing the drug side of her face makes one realize that this could actually happen to them.
The author uses beauty to show the negative effects of drugs on the human body. The black and white theme gives more emphasis on the negative effects. Only half her face is shown with drugs because its supposed to contrast the health and drug side. Drugs is capitalized to support the overall theme of the ad
ReplyDeleteBlog Prompt 1)
ReplyDeleteThe author obviously used the word beauty as a sarcastic remark. The depiction of the girl is deemed rather hideous by the normal person, and using beauty simply mocks the picture. Also the left side of the face appears to be beautiful. This also depicts of what drugs are capable of doing to you. This poster aims to target people thinking about using drugs, and shows them the consequence...severe damage or death.