For ART 469, Advanced Graphic Design: Interpretation, Translation, our assignment was to create a visual narrative consisting of three or more panels that communicated something meaningful about a subject of our choosing. I decided to focus on animal cruelty, particularly when it comes to the meat industry.

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Originally thinking about how lobsters can feel pain, I began to think more broadly about how different livestock are treated during their entire lives up until they are slaughtered for consumption. For instance, in industrialized farming systems, animals are often subjected to overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, routine use of antibiotics, and unnatural feeding practices; these practices compromise their physical and psychological well-being. Additionally, the methods used for slaughter are oftentimes inhumane, causing unnecessary pain and suffering. 

 

When designing these panels, I needed to think of an effective way to communicate the pain that these animals feel. I decided to employ the use of onomatopoeia, specifically words that humans typically use to express pain. Doing so allows viewers to initially sense urgency and threat, as if this concerned a human being, only for them to realize that it concerns animals. In addition, by manipulating the typography through enlarging, warping, repeating, etc., I was able to make the expressions seem more loud, dynamic, and real.

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I chose to display imagery of different types of commercialized packaged meat behind the text to remind viewers that these grocery items were once live beings who experienced pain. The imagery was spread across all six panels so that one image would continue onto the next panel and so on. This design choice intends to communicate the never-ending and continuous cycle of these types of farming and slaughter practices. The human hand on the last panel reaching out to grab one of the packaged meats represents society's consumer culture and how we are blind to the unethical practices that occur behind the scenes. Furthermore, the red color scheme aims to emulate the blood and flesh of these animals, in addition to the power the meat industry holds over these animals.​

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Ultimately, this series of posters aims to uniquely address animal cruelty in the meat industry as not only a matter of compassion for animals but also a call for more sustainable and ethical food production. It aims to provoke deep reflection and empathy within viewers.