Communication is a Virus - Visual Research

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Having been given the problem ’10 000 Steps’ the initial research was done into what it was we proceeded to research into our possible ideas and concepts.

10 000 steps is a campaign to get people to walk more to gain and maintain a healthier lifestyle. Although it has not been scientifically proven and has been dismissed by many, it is said that walking 10 000 extra steps a day will improve your life.

Our initial idea was to create something that would encourage people, specifically students to walk more. To do this we wanted to create a points system so the more you walked the more points you got, this would also link to social network sites so you could compete with friends. On top of this we thought that pedometers are not something that would get people to walk more, where as something worn on the wrist would be.

After doing research into this concept it came to our attention that Nike have their own product that is almost identical to what we wanted to do. Nike also have a massive range of running equipment and extras that aim to get you fit and that you can connect with your iPhone to share, view and compete.

Nike+ Fuel

Nike+ Run

As well as Nike, another American company, Larklife, have another very similar product that also incorporates food and other lifestyle elements.

After a crit, we discovered that we had to produce the product and as the product had been done before and we didn’t have the technology, this concept was scrapped.

We then decided we wanted to raise awareness instead of producing a physical product. As the brief was titled Communication Is a Virus we wanted to create something that would make people react and in the long run walk more. To do this we though the best way to raise awareness was through a poster campaign that would be accompanied by handouts and leaflets. We wanted to create something that was different to everyday basic posters and flyers.

We looked into various different forms of innovating flyers, business cards and posters as well as shock advertising as we thought this would be the best way to catch someone’s attention and make them react.

Business Cards

Environmental Advertising

Clever/Innovative Advertising

Risky (close to the line) Advertising

Shock Advertising

We chose to focus on the shocking and risky advertising as the basis for our posters as we thought that people, specifically students, would react more to that type of awareness, visuals, tone of voice and language.