I started this project and decided pretty quickly that I wanted to focus on a campaign against vaping. I learned about the dangers of nicotine as well as other chemicals present in most vapes, and how dangerous it can be especially for teenagers. Vaping is often advertised as a "healthier" alternative to smoking, and although it might not be quite as bad as traditional cigarettes, it still comes with a large amount of danger, health risks and addiction. I wanted to create a campaign that communicated the danger of this activity that would reach the kids who are the most tempted by it. 

I knew that my audience would be gen Z highschoolers. Kids who want to fit in and be cool, and who feel like vaping is not dangerous or a problem. I wanted my posters to stand out and have a sarcastic or cheeky edge. The first poster I came up with, was "if you like DEPRESSION keep vaping" and I loved the idea of making depression girly and cute, since depression is something that is void of vibrancy and life. I loved the tongue in cheek feel it had and was excited to bring that tone to these posters. However, I struggled to add the same dynamic to my other two posters. After speaking to peers and my professors, I realized I had added two layers of sarcasm to these posters. The first being, "if you like this clearly negative thing, then sure keep vaping" and the second being dressing up "depression" as something colorful and sparkly. With these two sarcastic elements, my message was getting a little lost. I decided to focus on the phrase "if you like....keep vaping" as the backbone of the posters and to have the typography reflect the feeling of the side effect, instead of trying to contrast it. 

Making my audience think too much by adding layers and layers of nuance is a trap I've fallen into before. I get so inside of my head as a designer and I forget that the best message is a simple one! Once I clarified my message and stayed with only one layer of sarcasm, my message was able to be clearly communicated and still with the tone I was looking for. 

Once I had determined what I wanted the posters to look like, I pivoted to refine my color palette. For my first version I tried to move away from the juvenile feelings I had created in my first drafts. I toned down the background making the wording easier to read, but I lost some of the spark and fun I had felt with the first color scheme. My second version brought those colors back into play, but it had a vibe that was too happy and bright for my subject matter. For my final version I focused on a really fun purple, with a dark background and red wording. I didn't want the posters to lose their slightly playful edge, but I did want to convey the seriousness of the message as well, and I think I accomplished that with this final version.