sva anti-smoking campaign

The Anti-Smoking CampaignDesign for Good

Fall, 2010

Design for Good, Fall, 2010

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How it began

The first assignment of the semester is for students to choose and design a presentation on ten things they want to see more of in the world, and ten things they’d prefer to live without. It was immediately apparent that the majority of students had included in the latter category the people that huddle and smoke cigarettes just outside the door of SVA’s main entrance.

We decided to test our communication design skills, and our insights into the audience, to persuade them to lighten up on their habit, or at least to be more sensitive to non-smokers.

On the following pages we present the work, and the reactions. The class learned a great deal about the fact that it’s easy to get attention, and difficult to inspire people to change.

Cheryl Heller, InstructorChristine Aaron, Ben Avny, Tonia Badagoff, Jamie Connell, Kenia Del Rosario, Adly Elewa, Danielle Guzman, Michael Hefner, Mike Kuhn, Sonia Patel, Alex Place, Yeojin Tak, Trisha Wong and Hayato Yamane.

http://svaantismoking.wordpress.com/


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http://svaantismoking.wordpress.com

http://svaantismoking.wordpress.com

Christine Aaron

Go ahead, smoke.You may be young, but you are not invincible.


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Christine Aaron

Although my campaign didn't receive any comments on the blog we set up as a class, I was able to get a few responses. As you said in class, the white space on my posters ended up being quite inviting to SVA smokers, and two people wrote short messages on them. On the poster that describes the increased risk smokers face of developing heart disease, a student wrote,"And what is the age range?" On another poster, this one discussing emphysema, a student wrote, "Well thank you, I will!" next to the line, "Go ahead, smoke." As I was putting up the posters, a young man passing by observed me doing so. He then coughed loudly, and said, "I love smoking!" The first cough seemed to be just to get a laugh out of his accompanying friend, but the several coughs that followed seemed very involuntary, and very unhealthy. The goal I set out to achieve in the brief was for the!campaign to reach and inform as many students as possible, encourage smokers to quit, and non-smokers to join the effort in preventing young smokers from starting. I feel that I was partially successful in this, having piqued the curiosity of at least a few students. I hope that the information turned into knowledge for the people who took the time to read the campaigns messages, and influences their decision to smoke in the future.


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Christine Aaron

Ben Avny


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Ben Avny


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Tonia Badagoff


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Tonia Badagoff


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Tonia Badagoff


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Tonia Badagoff


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Since our SVA-antismoking campaign had

first gone up to address students as to

what our feelings were to smokers, I believe it took our fellow students by

surprise. There is no doubt that students

are used to the idea of communicating

different ideas and projects within these

walls, but I think that our campaign sent a little shock amongst the very crowd who

would benefit from the campaign the most.

We worked hard to present, as best we

could, a subject that isn’t new and many

times overlooked, making it a challenge but I think we managed to catch the

attention of some of our peers. There is no

data or proof to know for sure, what our

efforts can or will accomplish, but here is

the feedback I received.

I noticed a little discomfort from the

normal group that is just outside SVA,

puffing away happily in their groups. After students had come back from a holiday

weekend and our campaign had been up

for two weeks, there was no longer the

group that boasted cheerfully outside the

main SVA building. Instead, there was a handful, at the most, of scattered students

standing and leaning in the creases of the

building, up against doorways, hiding in

corners, and crevasses. No longer was

there a majority outside who smoked and related smoking to SVA as before. There

was a visible line drawn amongst students

who smoked and a new awareness. There

were suddenly smoke-free benches and

you no longer had to make circle eights around the groups to enter or exit the

building.

Tonia Badagoff


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In looking for the reaction that took place

in my own campaign, it was somewhat

sudden and needed to be captured immediately in order to see it. Immediately

after posting, I didn’t take long for

someone to come by and take notice. To

review, it was made to create a moment of

reflection, serving as a mirror to the actions of a smoker. The headline was

printed on mirror paper to represent the

idea and the headline invited smokers in

by saying “ So you smoke? I know your

secret. The air is full of it.” (The blog addresses were visible to find out more

about how addictions are illusions and the

sva-antismoking class blog to invite

feedback.) Once the initial poster was in

place in, scattered in areas that one would invite the viewer when alone or waiting, it

became a matter of increasing paranoia by

adding signs with new subheadlines that

continued with the theme of “I know your

secret,” but provoked the viewer even further. The others were: “I know your

secret. It’s written all over your face” and “I

know your secret. It’s eating you up

inside.” These were placed Tuesday and

Wednesday evenings. Since I put these in inconspicuous areas they were to be

discovered over a period of time, either by

the same, or different persons, it was

difficult to keep track of. I put a few up

near and in the elevators and stairways, hoping to get the attention of someone

going out for a smoke. These areas with

the heaviest traffic on the first floor and I

the elevator were the first to be reacted upon by a group and taken and taken

down as a result. The ones in the

restrooms stayed up longest throughout

the week and may have done the most

good because they were created for the person on a break, thinking about needing

a cigarette or just after having one. I think

it promoted the most thought and it helped

that the posters were reinforced by

another accompanied slogan soon after.

Reactions: When looking alone: The

longest lasting message that that stayed

with the viewer the longest since there

weren’t others to make them conscious of

their reaction (at least they stayed up the longest). Conclusion: The majority of

viewers got the message best when alone.

When looking with friend or group:In the

first floor restroom, after I had put one up,

two girls had entered the restroom. They saw the poster as they walked by and

something together (I couldn’t understand)

As one girl waited for her friend, I noticed

in the lifted a corner to examine it and was

inches away from it. Even as I exited, she continued to look at it, not noticing or

caring that I observed. Conclusion: It was

a different reaction when their friend has

left.

Jamie Connell


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Jamie Connell


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I woke up early Tuesday to put my anti-smoking posters up in the hallways, as I was hanging them up in threes, I had a student ask me if I designed them. I thought this was a weird question since I was the one hanging them up, but I told him yes, and he said, "Wow whatever class that is, I've seen all the ads and I can't wait to take it. I love your design." At first I was really appreciative of his complement, but then I realized he was paying more attention to the designs we had made in class rather than their actual meaning. He hadn't mentioned once if he was a smoker, or if the message affected him. Throughout the day I watched to see people's reactions to my posters. Walking behind a group of kids down the stairs I saw them point at my work and laugh saying "Dude, did you see the french fries cigarettes, that's awesome, so funny." Also a great reaction and complement, but I don't think they really took the time to see the statistics featured on my posters. Overall, I saw a lot of witty chuckles from my posters, but I doubt I single-handedly helped someone quit smoking. The task we were given was a very hard one, and I'm not sure we all got the reactions we would have wished.

Kenia Del Rosario

The SVA Anti smoking campaign was a unique opportunity to voice my opinion about an issue that really concerned me—the young smokers that crowd around the entrance of the building to smoke. When I first thought of the campaign I wanted to hopefully teach smokers some courtesy. Being a non-smoker and having to walk through a cloud of smoke everyday before class is no fun. At first I used the symbol of Bo-Peep and her sheep, however the metaphor of the sheep and how they follow each other was a much stronger message.

In my research I also found a shocking story about 400 sheep that followed each other to their death in turkey. On the poster I included the story on one end along with images of the sva smokers with sheep heads. I posted a poster on each floor of the main building and saw a couple of students stopping to look.


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Kenia Del Rosario


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Kenia Del Rosario


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Kenia Del Rosario


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Kenia Del Rosario


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Kenia Del Rosario


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Danielle Guzman


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Ode to DeathEau de Parfum Spray

Danielle Guzman


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In the beginning of the antismoking campaign I was a little worried about how to go about reaching out to those who smoke. I realized that in order to get their attention we really had to use two tactics: for one, we could use the power of sympathy and comfort to show them that they aren't disgusting people, but they are just people who have a harmful, expensive habit and there is a way to end the addiction, Secondly, we could use comedic relief and poke fun at those who smoke, making them feel that what they are doing is wrong, disgusting and unacceptable. The tactic that I chose was comedic because I found that people responded more and we got more of a reaction from them like for example I saw people walking by some of the funny antismoking campaigns (the one about a sewage plant) and they stopped and read it and laughed. The more serious ones almost seemed to just be walked by and not read or paid attention to. My anti smoking campaign was put up on a monday morning around 8 am and I sprayed the "perfume" (cigarette filter water) on the poster and hung it up. I then went to my 9:00 am class and came back to the building to check on my poster

Danielle Guzman


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and it was removed. I don't blame them! It smelled JUST like a smoker and I just think people realized how disgusting that is and became more aware of that aspect. Also, my boyfriend's brother smokes cigarettes and I showed him my campaign and explained to him the concept behind it and he seemed taken aback and almost embarrassed because I'm sure he knows he smells terrible after smoking. He literally shook his head and felt bad and walked away, which is exactly what I wanted. I believe the SVA antismoking campaign was a success.

Adly Elewa


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Michael Hefner


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Michael Hefner


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Michael Hefner


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Michael Hefner


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Michael Hefner


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Mike Kuhn


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Mike Kuhn


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It was roughly 1 pm and I had almost finished hanging all my bright cyan signs around the school. I hung the last sign in the elevator about 6ft up on the back of the elevator door, so the sign would only be visible when the doors are shut. I had just finished hanging my last sign in the elevator and I had one last cyan sign in my hand as well as a roll of double sided tape. I thought I was all-alone in the elevator until a rather tall student who I had taken classes with stopped the elevator as the door was about to close. He had clearly just smoked a cigarette and took notice to the cyan sign/ roll of tape in my hands. He stood close to the doors to avoid any conversation with me. When the doors finally shut, the sign was directly in front of his face. I watched as he read the sign and made the connection that I was the non-smoker lovingly informing him that he smelled like a slaughter house dumpster. It was by far one of the most awkward elevator rides of my life.

Sonia Patel


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Sonia Patel

If you want to quit smoking, it’s all about the FIRST week (generally speaking). If you can survive it, your nicotine cravings can actually disappear. That is why I created a 7 day plan comprising of 7 activities to help SVA student smokers keep their mind off of their cig. And how did I reach SVA smokers? Guerilla style of course. You may have seen me handing out these cards to students outside the main building, asking them questions and handing them, yes, a FREE cigarette. This free cigarette was meant to launch the 7 day plan since the first day’s activity was actually Last Cig. This strategic act of “kindness” encouraged many of them to open up to me about their addiction and interests (if any) in quitting.


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Sonia Patel


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Sonia Patel


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Sonia Patel


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Sonia Patel


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Alex Place

Alex Place


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Alex Place

Yeojin Tak


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Yeojin Tak

In New York city, I find numbers of smokers on each street. When I walk behind a person with a cigarette, I have to stop breathing to avoid inhaling the smoke. But the time when I arrive at our school building, it is almost impossible to avoid the smoke. I don’t understand why art students seem more likely to smoke, but I find it true that our school has a higher number of smokers than other schools have. People tend to forget how bad the smoking is, because there are so many smokers who look all fine. Even though my campaign was only for two days and it did not work for every smoker, I believe it was worth doing it. I think I have gotten the best result at the first time when I posted the signs. At the second time, people seemed like that they noticed it was a student’s work, not the real sign from SVA. Some people still smoked although they obviously saw the sign. (I would never understand why they have to smoke that desperate because I have never smoked a single cigar..) But for many of them, it worked. They walked away from the door and tried to find other place to smoke. Since my main goal was not to make them quit smoking, but was to make them not to smoke in front of the building, I think it pretty much succeeded. After the campaign, I thought it would be great if SVA really put up some no-smoking signs outsides the building. It would help non-smokers to breath freely, and also would help smokers to limit their habit.


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Yeojin Tak


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Trisha Wong

Coughing, bad breath, yellow teeth, and white!tongues!are the most!predominant symptoms in a smoker. !Talking to a smoker can be foul and unpleasant even if the last cigarette was smoked more than twenty four hours ago. !I designed these masks to not only shield the odor from others and scare people, but also to make the seemingly obvious statement that cigarette mouth is a bad mouth. This anti smoking mask was placed in bathroom stalls through out Manhattan to make a statement about smokers breath. The masks illustrates a mouth with cigarettes overflowing from within, this image is to help signify the raunchy stench coming from a beautiful smile.


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Trisha Wong


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sva anti-smoking campaign

Documents

good fall

smoking campaign design

communication design

majority of students

campaign didnt

sva smokers

students data

address students