Creeping in Closer by anmcches

Angela McChesney

CREEPING IN

LOSE

An inside look into my senior year as an ASU VCD student.

Creeping in Closer Angela McChesney GRA 462 Vis Com VI Visual Communication Design Herberger School of Design Arizona State University

TABLE CONTE

E OF ENTS Scam Call Fraud Why? Research The Clock The Presentation

#04 #08 #20 #34

Connected Poster Show Poster Ideation The Events Poster Donations

#50 #56 #70

2021 Senior Exhibition Poster Ideation Digital Committee The Structure

#84 #92 #96

The End of an Era VCD Class of 2021 A Final Word Colophon

#104 #112 #114

102 04

WHY? I get scam calls every single day. I’m so tired of it, and I’m sure you are too.

Photography by Pavan Trikutam

Scam Call Fraud ~ Why?

I’m sure we can all agree, receiving a call from a scammer is a very personal matter. We carry around our cellphones because they’re a source of comfort, trust, and security, often reserving phone calls only for people we know. So when a scammer calls and invades that trust, often calling with bad intentions and personal information about you, that can be a significant invasion of privacy. This has changed the way we react to phone calls. According to RoboShield, 3 in 4 people said they answer the phone less often than they did five years ago.

Data from RoboShield 2019

People like you and me. People can become easily pressured and react without careful consideration when they’re in intimidating situations, making rash decisions they otherwise wouldn’t. While grandparents might be the traditional prey for fraud, the target audiences for scamming are becoming more diverse as the techniques become more invasive. Scammers are finding ways to target just about every age, education level and income bracket.

Photography by Robin Noguir

Scam Call Fraud ~ Why?

RESEA Scammers are calling potential victims with one thing in mind, stealing their money, identity, or time. They call you, on an unsuspecting weekday, telling you about a prize you won, taxes you owe, or a loved one in trouble.

The scammer’s main goal is to induce a state of fear, and make you panic. While the Imposter scam is the most popular, other types of scams include Banking, Romance, Lottery or Sweepstakes, One Ring Call, Tech Support, False Government Grants, Fake Tickets, Kidnapping, and even Coronavirus scams, scammers never fail to take advantage of every situation possible to create a scam that’s a perfect fit, just for you.

Scam Call Fraud ~ Research

ARCH...

X X Photography by Jorge Cesar

IMPOS The most popular scheme is the imposter scam, where the caller intimidates you by impersonating a law enforcement officer, a well known business, or a romantic interest.

Scam Call Fraud ~ Research

STOR! The Social Security Scam is the most widespread imposter scam. In 2019 there were 166,000 reports, with an average individual loss of $1,500. Although the real SSA will never call to threaten your benefits, thousands of people still fall victim to this scam every year. These fraudulent organizations make use of data breaches to access billions of personal records and appear credible, creating false trust between the scam caller and victim. Alarmingly, 17% of victims said scammers could identify all or part of their social security number.

Photography by Michael Effendy

Scam Call Fraud ~ Research

Scam call fraud is growing exponentially every year. In 2017, 2.7% of all U.S. calls were spam. By 2018, this figure jumped to over 26%, and by 2019, 40% of all U.S. calls were spam.

$ $ $

$ $ $ $ $ $ $

Scam Call Fraud ~ Research

Losses are also becoming greater every year. In 2019 fraud losses were more than $1.9 billion, a 28 percent increase from 2018. Unfortunately, once people realize they’re being scammed, it’s often too late and the damage is already done. Scam calls are hard to trace and it’s almost impossible to get your money back once it’s been transferred.

Photography by Lyffe Williams

HOOK LINE, SINKE Aside from threats & high pressure tactics, scammers are continually developing more effective luring techniques to scheme and con us. Neighborhood and enterprise spoofing is becoming more prevalent, when scammers use a local area code to convince the victim to pick up the phone. In 2017, almost 0 calls used spoofing. By 2018, 70% of calls were spoofed. According to First Orion, 1 in 3 people who lost $1000 or more thought they were answering a call from a business they knew.

Scam Call Fraud ~ Research

K, & ER

Photography by Alexander Andrews

18 101

IT MIGHT MAKE YOU BETTER KNOWING W

Data from Truecaller 2019

Scam Call Fraud ~ Research

U FEEL WE’RE NOT ALONE Scam calls are pervasive in many other countries as well as the United States, running rampant in places like India, Mexico, Indonesia and Peru. Brazil leads the world in the most scam calls received per month, per person, nearly 50. Brazillians have a hard time keeping their data personal in a society where cyber-criminals’s behavior goes unregulated.

THE

75% of victims were called by scammers who already had their personal information.

My original clock focuses on the statistic that 4 in 10 victims said scammers knew their home address before calling them. I used a dark image of a house with a single lit window to convey isolation and invasion. Loss is written on a third longest hand, which moves at 6x the speed of the minute hand.

Scam Call Fraud ~ The Clock

E CLOCK victims are 6x more likely to experience loss when the # know i ### k ## ### wher #### re scammer had their personal # know i ### k ## #### where h ## yo # i know k who h you are ar a re information before calling. i know k who h you y ar a ie kn kve n

who who who w who w who who who who who who ho o

you you you you you you you you you you you you you you u

are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are e

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know w

i know k who h you y y i know k who h you know who i k h you i know who you i know who you y i know who you y y i know who you know who who you are i k h you who you are i know who you wh you who you are i know who y who you are i know who you y y who you ar i know who you know who who you are i k h you who you are i know now who you y ow who you who you are i know y who you are i know w who you y y who you are i know who you ho you who you are i know who h who you are i know who o you who you are i know who you y who you are ar i know who you u y who you are i know who you who you are i know who you who you are i know who you y who you are i know who you who you i know whthey 17% ofare victims saidwho you ar i know

ar are e i ar are e i are ar a re e i li are ar a re e i ar are a re e i ar are a re e i ar are a re r e i are ar a re e i li are ar a re e i ar are a re e i ar are a re e i ar are a re e i are ar are e i li are ar are e i ar are are e i ar are e i ar are e i are ar are e i li are ar are e i ar are e i ar are are e i are ar are e i are ar are e i li l are e a

kn k kno know kno kn ow o k i wk know know k know kn k know k know know i k know k know k know k know know i k know know know know know i k know know know kn kn

scammer could identify all or part of their social security #

This variation is pushed a little futher, conveying information through slices of type. The copy reads ‘I know who you are’, ‘I know where you live’, and ‘###-##-####,’ the social security # format.

Take the social issue concept and apply it to a clock face.

w wh ow who h ho wo who ho who w who who h w who h wy who h y who who who who who wh w

ou live live ve live live live ive ve e

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

ow know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know now ow

ho o who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who ho

you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you

are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know

w wh where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where whe wh

y you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you u y

liv live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live liv l

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

This clock is the first iteration using the red location icon, as both a marker for a rotating hour hand, and a space for the minute hand to live (inside the inner circle). At the 11am position, when most people are called by scammers, the word Target lines up with the ‘ed’ on the icon - the target becomes targeted.

k kn know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know kno k

w w w w w w w w w

Scam Call Fraud ~ The Clock

I was imagining this version of the clock to live in 3D, as opposed to the final digital direction taken.

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

ow w kno know know now know w kno know know no ow kn know now k know n k know now w kno know ow k know now k know k know now kn know w k know ow w k know w k know ow w know no ow know no ow know now w know kn know now kn know now kno know ow kno know kno know ow know no ow know k know n kno know kn

who ho w who w who ho o w who ho w who w who h who wh who who wh who ho wh who ho w who ho w who h who w who h wh who w who o w who o w who who who ho who ho who h wh who wh who wh who wh who wh who ho who who who

y you o you you u yo you u yo you ou y you ou y you o you u you you you you y you you u y you ou y you ou you you you you you you you you you you you y you u y you u y you u y you u

a are r a are e are re are e ar are re a are r are re are are are are are are are re e are ar are re are e are e are e are e are are are are are are are ar are ar are re ar are re ar are re

i i i i i i i i i i i

k know ow know k ow w k kno now no ow w k know know w k ow know w know know w know now o ow know now know now know now know w

wh w who ho who who wh who who wh w who w who wh ho who ho o w who ho o w wh ho ho w who ho ho wh wh ho wh wh ho

you you you y you yo yo ou yo ou you y you yo you ou you u you

i i i i

know now know ow w know ow w know w

wh w ho ho wh who w ho h o who w ho w who h

y yo you ou u you yo ou y you ou y you ou

i i i i i i i i

know know know kn know ow know know know know

who who who who w who who o who who

yo you you you you y you yo you u

are are are are are are are are are are are are i i i i i are ar re r e i ar are re r e i a are re i re ar are re r e i

know know know know know no know kn k know no ow o k kno know w know no

who ho who ho who h who who who wh who who who

y you yo you you you yo you you you you you

ar are are e are e are

a are re re ar are a are are are are are a

Experimentation shown with the red and blue transparent panels as both hands and percentage data.

Layering the type and creating visual illusions respresents the emotions of the victim while being scammed. Confusion, gaslighting, and blurred realities are all common with scam victims.

The Process Clock

Scam Call Fraud ~ The Clock

This clock stops time and shows the stages of process my clock went through before my final animation. I explored different ways of visualizing statistics, a variety of key phrases, and distorted type.

e re re ere ere ere ere ere ere ere re re e

u ou you yo you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you yo ou u

ve liv ive live l live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live l live liv ve

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

know know now know k know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know k know now know

This is the final clock before I added animation and sound. Each section of type represents a statistic about scam call fraud, and the red location markers on each you represent the amount of victims scammed with their home addresses known prior to being called.

who ho who w who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who who ho

you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you

are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are are

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know know

Scam Call Fraud ~ The Clock

where whe where re where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where where whe

you you y you ou you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you y you

l live liv live e live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live live liv

i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

k kn no know ow Variations of the Targeted wordmark. know w The red type looked too similar to the know Targetwstore logo. I settled on the white know variation know w with the ‘r’ removed from the rest know of the w word, representing victim isolation. know w know w know w know w know w know w know know know kn k

Scam Call Fraud ~ The Clock

Initially testing warped type, I started to animate the clock to mimic the text you would see on a computer. Using the red icon as both a hand and a visual marker was effective, but the story was unclear.

*Final Animation Includes Sound

Scam Call Fraud ~ The Clock

This clock tells a clear story through the animation of revealing text and eye-catching icons, without unecessary type distortion. Instead of confusion and chaos, the clock demonstrates organized manipulation.

Scam Call Fraud ~ The Clock

My goal with this clock was to show that scam call attacks are getting more and more personal. The animation follows a sequence of events that tells the story of scam call fraud, starting with the scammer and ending with the victim. The Social Security #’s come in first, each one representing a victim being identified. These numbers morph into type that reads ‘I know who you are,’ and ‘I know where you live. Rows of type are highlighted to represent the statistics. 75% of all scam victims were called by scammers who already had their personal information 4 in 10 victims said scammers knew their home address 17% of victims said scammers could identify all or part of their social security number Victims are 6x more likely to experience loss when scammers have their personal information Most scam calls happen around 10-11am on weekdays Once these victims have been identified with personal information by the scammer, their location is found and the red icons come in one by one. My clock shows exponential personal vulnerability as a direct result of fraudulent scam call attacks, and just how urgent the situation has become. When each icon comes in, a different voice is heard saying ‘hello?’ as if they are answering the phone. The voices begin to layer and muddle together into one vulnerable mass. As the story unfolds, the clock tells real time. At 11am, the time when most people are called by scammers, Target and ‘ed’ line up to form the word Targeted.

THE PRESENT

Uhhh... this is Chief Invesitgat Similar to a scam call, hooking in the audience at the very start is the key to a successful presentation. Before even introducing myself, I chose to begin my presentation with an intimidating audio clip and sound wave.

Scam Call Fraud ~ The Presentation

Final Review Fall 2019

The final project in Vis Com V was a five minute zoom presentation about my social issue, scam call fraud. Presenting to our professors, alumni, and guest designers posed a difficult challenge of relaying my issue to an audience that knew nothing about it.

TATION

tor

Sharon Wright. Again, my name is Investigator Sharon Wright. I am investigating a criminal complaint that has been forwarded here in the office against you by Cash Express. We are in the process of proceeding against you legally. Now, prior to forwarding this to your local authorities, and, in return, them issuing a warrant for your arrest...

The presentation begins with a black screen. The audience hears a dial tone and a voice wave comes in. A 34 second recording plays of a woman imitating a law enforcement officer, threatening a victim to pay up or face an arrest.

Scam Call Fraud ~ The Presentation

Imagine you receive a call just like this, how would you respond? … Do you think your instinct would tell you that you’re being scammed? Good afternoon, my name is Angela McChesney, and today I will be presenting my senior topic on scam call fraud.

This recording was all part of a debt collection scheme led by John Todd Williams, that went on for five years before his arrest. Williams and his team of employees would go to any lengths to collect money, even threatening to send the victims to jail and revoke their drivers licences.

Scam Call Fraud ~ The Presentation

In just five years, this debt collection scheme exploited 6,000 people and stole over 4 million dollars. Williams is now serving time in prison, but what about the thousands of victims that go unnoticed every day?

Most importantly, let’s talk about the money that could be stolen from you.

Scam Call Fraud ~ The Presentation

People become easily pressured and react without careful consideration when they’re in intimidating, high-stakes situations. In order for everyone to become more aware and less easily victimized, we need to hear what these scammers say outside of the real situation.

Scam Call Fraud ~ The Presentation

Brazil leads the world in the most scam calls received per month, per person, nearly 50. Data from TrueCaller 2019

Scam Call Fraud ~ The Presentation

Only by paying attention can you prevent yourself from falling victim to the scammer’s trap. Thank you.

Scam Call Fraud ~ The Presentation

Visual communication can help by bringing attention to the issue in a normal setting. A series of campaign videos could give the audience the tools they need to educate themselves.

POSTE

IDEAT Before we could begin planning the poster auction, our class needed to design a theme for the branding of the event. Each of us designed a poster with a phrase that commemorates our class’s experience in the VCD program. Many students related their poster’s theme to their experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, with themes like ‘stuck inside’ and ‘immersed’.

Connected Poster Show ~ Poster Ideation

ER stuck inside.

You know how it feels. Bring the outside world inside with a new poster.

You know how it feels. You wouldn’t want our posters to feel the same.

asuvcdpostershow.com

TION Posters Designed by Emily Romero, Ciara Cisneros, and Hope Kiesling

A DROP OF INK IN A DIGITAL WORLD A SILENT POSTER AUCTION ASUVCDPOSTERSHOW.COM FEB 15–19TH 2021 7–10PM

RAISING FUNDS FOR THE ASU VCD SENIOR SHOW AND COVID RELIEF

Poster designs for the poster show. With an undecided theme, options are limitless. Wanting to convey the physical, printed nature of the posters being auctioned off digitally, I used the phrases A Drop of Ink in a Digital World, and A Spash of Ink in a Virtual World.

Connected Poster Show ~ Poster Ideation

ASUVC

ITY

DPO

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RS NIVE

L A SP

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ASH

COM

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MET H D SO

FEB 15– 19T

ING

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E TO LOO N G A DA S T. BRI HO KA F C O L OR TO Y

H2 02

AL 1

A SI LENT POSTER

F O R T H E V C D SENIOR

R SP A C E A F T E R S P E N D I N G TO O MAN

YH O

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AUC

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RS S TA

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In this version, the type flows more organically to match the freeform shape of the ink spill. As your eye travels through the poster, you take in the information about the poster show piece by piece in layers, like a ripple in a puddle of liquid. The copy reads, We know you need something else to look at. Bring a dash of color to your space after spending too many hours staring at a screen.

Connected Poster Show ~ Poster Ideation

In order to decide the final theme for our senior poster show, our class voted anonymously on everyone’s submissions. The winning poster design was called Connected, by Mackenzie Humphrey. The curvy, playful character illustrations and layered type were key design elements to be further expanded on for the poster show’s look and feel.

THE E To fundraise for our senior exhibition and raise money to donate to local COVID-19 charity relief, the VCD senior class designed and organized a poster auction. Collecting donations from across the country and even overseas, our class coded a website, printed posters, led a live auction, organized Q&A panels, and hosted both a live illustration event and multiple guest speakers on Discord.

Connected Poster Show ~ The Events

EVENTS An event was planned for every day of the week-long poster show.

Mon: Guest Speaker Tanner Woodford Tues: Guest Speaker Jim Atkinson Wed: Live Stream Illustration on Discord Thurs: Live Poster Auction on Discord Fri: VCD Professor Q&A Panel

The Connected Poster Show website was created by our talented student web committee. The website was made in Wordpress, and featured a seamless auction system with a cart, notification, and purchasing mechanism. The audience was encouraged to explore the Discord server to watch the week’s events and participate in the live auction.

Connected Poster Show ~ The Events

The poster show went off with a bang! During the week long poster show, visitors were able to bid on posters and see the bids live as they were being placed. Many posters had fierce competition and last minute bidders. All proceeds were donated to The Arizona COVID-19 Community Response Fund, or went to funding our senior exhibition.

Illustrations Designed by Mackenzie Humphrey

DISCO

Choosing Discord as a hub to house all the video calls, audio, and chatting for the Poster Show events was challenging yet rewarding. As a member of the Digital Event Committee, I was in change of arranging the spaces for calling and chatting in Discord for each event, as well as creating separate ‘roles’ for students, professors, guest speakers, illustrators and bidders. This allowed us to have specific, back access into our Discord server to control and manage the events.

Connected Poster Show ~ The Events

ORD

To run the live auction smoothly, we also downloaded a Discord ‘bot’ - an integrated robot plugin that can create automated actions within a server. The auction bot was able to let us easily enter posters for auction during the live auction, and have people bid on them in the chat by using the item’s unique code. Anna Nygren and Mackenzie Humphrey faciitated the auction by voice chatting over the Discord channel.

Instagram posts to promote the poster show, designed to match the look and feel of Mackenzie’s Connected Poster

Connected Poster Show ~ The Events

Posted on Mon, Fri, & Sat

THE L AUCTI Nine of the most coveted posters and five original illustrations from the Live Illustration event were auctioned off during the Live Discord Auction. Our highest bid on a poster was over $200.

Posters Left to Right: Pecha Kucha, Mahatma Gandhi, Houston Holocaust Museum, and the David Matthews Band

Connected Poster Show ~ The Events

LIVE ION A live auction was hosted on Discord - Thursday, 2/18/21

Posters Designed by Pentagram, Mookesh Patel, Milton Glaser, and Graham Erwin

Merging by Josh Hernandez - madcharcoal.com

Connected Poster Show ~ The Events

Stay Connected by Namaha Shetty

WRAP

Pictured Left to Right: Tayler, Angela, Alyssa, and Hope

Connected Poster Show ~ The Events

IT UP

After the week long poster auction ended, our class came into studio for the first time since mid March 2020. We organized the printed posters, printed and cut the digital posters, packaged, and labeled them. Poster bidders came to pick up posters or paid to have them shipped. It was so nice to be in the studio and see everyone’s smiling faces for a change.

DONAT