The Power of Visual Language in Fake News and Persuasive Media.

A Research Book

Ellie Atkinson

The Power of Visual Language in Fake News and Persuasive Media.

1

3

07 Introduction 09 Field of Study

21 Focus 35 Media

77 Conclusion 81 Final Essay

57 Case Studies

79 Personal Reflection 85 Bibliography

The Power of

Visual Language Contents 5

Introduction My FMP will explore how language and the structuring of information influences interpretation and how design can be used to alter behaviour and thought. I will consider the varying possibilities of reading text and how typography can be used as the main method for creating. This area of study will enable me to expand on my typographic studies and develop a better understanding of how written language can be used as a powerful device to communicate, enhance or inform an idea.

My project seeks to investigate, interpret and speculate on the complexity of fake news and our objective post-truth culture in the context of visual language. With the traceless-ness of mass media and the constant stream of misinformation, my aim is to educate and encourage readers to pause and question whether the information presented to them is true and reliable. By examining a variety of case studies, I will consider how the framing of content can add or devalue a piece of information and explore how the curator’s biases shape truth or create new narratives.

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How the Structuring of Information Influences Interpretation

The designer’s choice of type and image, composition and arrangement, colour and hue can all make a big difference in how we receive and interpret messages. Seemingly, the design is a framing mechanism. From the modernist point of view, it creates order and when it is operating at its best, “the audience is less aware of the design tropes than how the design functions” (Heller, 2012: 11). Although readers are conscious of how things look, the meaning is ultimately more important. However, we can begin to question how the design language can inform the message and subsequently, alter the audience’s thought.

In contrast to images and shapes, typography has a semantic property which, instead of solely looking at the visual language, demands reading, processing and understanding. According to Garth Jowett, writer of Propaganda and Persuasion, “our language is based on a variety of associations that enables us to interpret, judge, and conceptualise our perceptions” (Jowett, 2012: 8). The construction of words and the way they are presented in visual form has a strong influence on how readers interpret and interact with information.

In the context of fake news, text can slyly be manipulated to provoke misleading information that attempts to shape public opinion. Notably, fake news sites use typefaces, colours and online platforms to normalise their content and deceive viewers.

Steven Heller, author of “Stop, Think, Go, Do: How Typography and Graphic Design Influence Behaviour”, views the design language we use to alter thought as behavioural design and organises it into eight categories: Inform, Advocate, Play, Caution, Entertain, Express, Educate, and Transform. From this, I focused my reading on the design frames for the presentation of valuable and not so valuable information. As Heller states, “what better way to influence behaviour than to inform?” (Heller, 2012: 11). However, information is often empty and unnecessary, or it is propaganda, manipulated and untrue, but nonetheless, made to be important. Whether true or false, when information is presented in a designed context, it is given authority.

How does the design language intersect with a message in a way that the audience’s behaviour is altered?

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The Power of Typography Typography is “the means by which a written idea is given a visual form” (Tselentis, 2011) and is one of the fundamental elements of a design. It impacts the readability of text and informs the design’s emotional quality and character. The construction of words and how they appear in their visual form also influences how the reader interprets the information.

If well-considered, it can make information flow easily before the eyes and also increase legibility.

Notably, clear and distinguishable typefaces are best suited for body copy, whereas, bolder and more eyecatching fonts are primarily used for headlines.

It seems there are two opposing ideas of what typography is and how it should be used. Modernists demanded that form should intensify the content and convey ideas and information. Whereas, following the postmodern ideology, designers have transformed typography and view it as more of a decorative art form. The traditional sense of typography and the way we access language has been challenged, becoming more visual and less linguistic and linear.

Many designers view the art of typography as a performance that should seek to evoke an emotion from its reader. Notably, designers like David Carson completely dismiss the idea of readability to form their own expression.

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The History of Typography

The practice of typography has undergone some monumental developments, from the invention of moveable type, which allowed the transmittal and sharing of knowledge, to technological developments.

With the ubiquity of computers and online connectivity, people have become more aware of the power of typography. As Jason Tselentis explains, “type is no longer the invisible servant of design, but rather recognised as design of the highest order” (Tselentis, 2011).

The history of type dates back to the ancient Greeks, where letters were carved into hard surfaces. The Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, and as a result, changed several letters and created the foundation for Western writing. This was then adapted in second century BCE, where letterforms developed into more modern Roman shapes and proportions. Later centuries saw the advent of square capitals, formal hand-written letters that evolved from Roman monumental capitals and the standard lowercase alphabet. By briefly touching on the history of typography and widening our typographic knowledge, we are given a context as to why and how type design is used in today’s modern age.

FIG. 1

FIG. 2

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FIG. 3

Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is the formation of a word from a sound that it is associated with and in the context of typography, there are many typographic equivalents for words. Typeface, size, weight and position on a page all play a dynamic role in creating strong representations of concepts, objects and actions that a word describes. Simple arrangements of type can have a big impact on how a word is portrayed by the reader. By understanding how words are most commonly perceived and exploring the different ways in which type can be presented, the meaning of the word can be emphasised.

This is an interesting typographic element to analyse, as the designer should think about how a typeface can be used and placed in order to give the form the most successful representation and expression of the word.

15

Elena Etter

Elena Etter is a Colombia-born graphic designer with a strong fascination with language and communication. Her typographic projects explore the materiality of language, looking at how notational systems manifest visually but also syntactically. By treating type like images, Etter is able to break down the construction of language and explore the standalone qualities that typography has. Her work also highlights the idea that it is not just seen as a vehicle of speech but a complex communication device.

Her publication Visual & Syntactic Materialities puts particular emphasis on the importance of content and design through process. The book is bound at a five degree angle, which reflects the measurement system of distances between celestial objects.

This unconventional outcome was used to create engagement and curiosity in the reader. Interestingly, she considers her role as a designer is to translate and explore the multiple ways of thinking and perceiving. She explains that form should always follow function; “graphic design is not only about making beautiful things but building strong visual concepts and making a statement” (Boddington, 2017). Her well-considered and research-driven projects put into focus the power that language has in the communication of ideas.

“Graphic design is not only about making beautiful things but building strong visual concepts and making a statement.”

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FIG. 8 & 9

FIG. 4-7

Jenny Holzer

Truisms/ Exhibition 2018

Jenny Holzer’s Truism series began in 1977, where she uses the written word and challenging slogans to play on commonly held truths and turn them on their head; creating critical dialogues with her audience. Her deliberately challenging, aggressive, or comic one-liners aim to subvert and reverse the functions of wellknown advertisements and form a thoughtful commentary to shock and receive various responses from the viewers. Her work, often classified as street art, seeks to break open social and political structures and aims to enlighten the reader and highlight the instructional and authoritative quality of design language that is often used in mass media.

Holzer’s work centres around the written word. Early in her career, she delivered messages on posters and T-shirts, which have now taken the form of electronic signs that were recently exhibited at Tate Modern. Her work addresses the information overload we are exposed to and asks the audience to consider the words and messages that we read daily. Notably, In a post-truth world where suggestive memes and images attempt to manipulate our behaviour, word-based art seems more relevant.

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The Era of Fake News

During the 2016 election, topics of fake news, post-truth politics and polarised opinion began to surface and it became increasingly evident that the curator’s biases could shape or create truth. The phenomenon of fake news, a term defined as “news that is demonstrably false, not just politically angled” (Sumpter, 2018: 165) is now seen as one of the greatest threats to democracy, free debate and progress. Notably, “there were at least 65 fake news sites during the election” (Sumpter, 2018: 165), which highlights the inundation of false information that was consumed daily. Notably, our capacity for independent thought and action reduces because we cannot The Oxfo rd diction filter the overwhelming stream of aries defi truth” as ne “post“relating information that we are exposed to or den circumsta oting nces in w to. With “the obfuscation of facts, hich obje are less in ctive facts fluential abandonment of evidential standard’s in shapin opinion th g public an appea in reasoning and outright lying that pers ls to emo onal belie ti on and f. marked 2016’s Brexit vote and the livi ng in a so ” It seems we are ci US presidential election” (McIntyre, e ty w here veri is no long fication er necess 2018: 1), we can speculate that truth ary and p opinion, ersonal a lo n g with th is no longer relevant in modern of messag es seemin e simplification society and we are now living in a gly has m influence ore a n post-truth era. people’s vi d power over shap ing ews. Gart h of Propag Jowett, w anda and riter Persuasio out that “e n, points ven when it is obvi a messag ous that e is prop aganda, p respond fa eople wil vourably l to it” (Jow 327). He ett, 2012 exp : that inform lains that the kno wledge ation is p or demon ropagand strably fa istic lse does necessari not ly influen c e to it, part icularly if people’s reaction the messag correlate s with thei e r own opin or beliefs ions . The perv asiveness informatio of false n has con tributed idiom of to the “post-tru th ” and has the verifi cation of devalued facts.

“Our societ y [is] the m ost uninformed in history, despite hav ing all the t ools to inform u s.”

21

FIG. 10

23

Is Fake News a form of Propaganda?

“The d el to sha iberate, sys pe per t ceptio ematic atte cognit mp n s ions, a nd dir , manipulate t ect be haviou r”.

atic berate, system as “the deli d , ns ne fi io it de gn be co can ate Propaganda ons, manipul rm of ape percepti : 6). This fo 12 20 t, attempt to sh et ow (J d is used r” an ou es vi gi ha te and direct be employs persuasive stra and to ce in nv ion ideas, to co ar ul communicat ic hieved rt ac pa promote rceptions primarily to shaping of pe through language e Th . ce en di ed convert its au ually attempt ng negative aganda is us d as somethi fie ti en through prop id n and it is ofte and images t. es on sh and di Fake n with ews, lie s, di prop s can expl aganda. tortion o and If w featu re ho ma e r “Fak es and d w news conside nipulat o e ne r pro ion a o r g wnp an w p cont r radi s is the laying n isations aganda e words c d in jo shap egat can t t e s l i t b h ra ive o urna hat are e inf erate e fac o l n o opin nge fro m m ts” (Jow spread es” (Jow rmation ism and ften ass ions o ad et of m .T m , mess islea ett, 2012 “empha ass me ciated ages he Fren e-up ar t, 2012: dia, sisin ding : 1). ticle ch P (Jow 3) a i n we s g M h n s o e a prol tt, 2012 ciety we ilosophe found o d attemp nd false uch like positive ifera : 3). n so r Jac re pr t p i s n ropa form to sh cial tion Nota as “o ques opag gan ati ap m o b r a tacti ganised f propag ly, techn ndistic Ellul “co edia to e public on that da, exag cs” ( andi even olog pers nten o p i n gera s Jowe u d y w ted, ion. It tt, 2 asion” a tic infor has exp hen the ed that bi 012: n n m o 3), c d associ ation. I sed soc biases w early al ased ie l a an w f e e co ted with propaga ty to a w re unco biased nsid n n “ o scio d u r ne a ld er fa us” ke n thical, h is comm wide ews o a n rmfu l y as a d form l and u efined n of p ropa fair gand a?

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How Propaganda works in Modern Society:

MY TH SO F

SO C

A CULTUR

Instit

TY E I

Propagan

Mess

Internet, TV, Radio, Prin

The Public’s

Opinion

NTS E V E

Cognitive Laziness

Act

Voting Joining Groups

SOCI A L PR A CT I S ES

The process of propaganda uses a Cultural Rim, a term defined by Jowett as “the

tution

EC O Y M NO

nda Agent

sages

nt, Social Media, Apps

n/Biases

Rationalisation

tion

Demonstrations Counter-Propaganda

GOVERNMEN T

s Response

infastructure that provides the material context in which messages are sent and received� (Jowett,2012:322).

AL RIM :

27

GY LO EO ID

Propaganda Timeline

The Advent of the internet, which later broug the invention of social media. The growth of internet has created a whole new series of difficulties regarding the spreading of rumou a form of both deliberate and unwitting propaganda. With the inundation of informat the internet has inevitably disrupted the abil to control information flow.

Advent of Television: Because of its inherent attractiveness and accessibility, television offers the ideal opportunity to propagandise in the disguise of entertainment.

Alternative facts became a b when Kellyanne Conway, cou president Donald Trump, ass NBC’s Meet the Press that th House’s assessment of the sc size of the inauguration cro alternative fact compared to reported by the news media

1622

1665

1886

1928

1980

1987

2016

The Oxford English Dictionary named the word Post-truth the 2016 word of the year.

Propaganda and the containment of inform The evolution of Chinese censorship, known a Great Firewall,” a “vast digital barricade tha prevented Chinese users from seeing newspap stories critical of China’s leaders or reports human rights groups.”

Origin: The term Propaganda first came into common use in Europe, as a result of the missionary activities of the Catholic church. Originally, Propaganda was described in the neutral sense, as the dissemination of particular ideas. In 1622, the Vatican established the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, meaning the sacred congregation for propagating the faith of the Roman Catholic Church. Because the propaganda of the Roman Catholic Church had as its intent spreading the faith to the New World, as well as, opposing Protestantism, the word propaganda lost its neutrality, and subsequent usage has rendered the term negative.

ght f the

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tion, lity

buzzphrase unsellor to serted on he White cope and owd was an o what was a.

mation: as “The at per from

The invention of radio the late 19th century altered the practice of propaganda, making it possible or messages to be sent across borders.

Ultimately, Radio has become a major medium of International White Propaganda, in which the source of the message is clear and the audience knows and expects to hear different political views.

Cyber Propaganda: 2016 presidential election demonstrated the spread of fake news on social media and how they influenced voters decision-making skills.

2016

1987

1980

1928

1886

1665

1622

The term Fake News has been weaponised. Government leaders have taken to labelling legitimate sites that disagree with them as Fake News.

The first real newspaper in England was printed in 1665.

29

UNCLE SAM

FIG. 11

ADBUSTERS > SPOOF AD

FIG. 12

31

1989

Adbusters

Adbusters is a Canadian-based, non-profit organisation founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz. The organisation publishes an advertising-free, reader-supported activist magazine, creating a space where they can remain independent in what they do and say. The network of artists and activists focus their time on speaking truth and challenging consumerism, often through satire and spoof ads. The subversive nature of the Adbusters’ publications helps us to make sense of natural and human-made phenomena at a time when we are overwhelmed with data and induced by propaganda machines.

In a post-truth world of increasingly targeted experiences, the subversive nature of Adbusters’ “Keep Consuming” poster (see fig.

12) turns the idea of intentionality in propaganda on its head and sets out to create a sense of transparency on our modern capitalist culture. The 1917, “I Want You” poster showing Uncle Sam pointing his finger at potential recruits for World War I (see fig. 11), is a primary example of propaganda, which “demands attention and commands behaviour” (Heller, 2012: 8). Adbusters uses this framework and turns the content on its head, replacing words to form its own critical dialogue with the audience. This satirical approach reverses the function of the iconic poster and creates a sense of rebellion, which seemingly challenges the intent of propaganda. This subsequently forms a piece of counter-propaganda. By keeping the same tone of officialdom and maintaining an instructional quality, the poster highlights the authoritative power of propaganda and challenges the controlling effects that consumerism has in today’s economically-driven climate. Using the poster as a mask, the aim of the Adbusters’ campaign is to satirise the power of design and advertising as a form of visual communication which demands obedience.

33

FIG. 13

Marshall McLuhan

Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian Philosopher and Professor whose work explored the effects of mass media on thought and behaviour.

In 1964, McLuhan coined the phrase “The Medium is the Message”, a term which was first introduced in his book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. The wellknown philosopher proposed that the way we consume and produce information is equally as important as the information itself. For McLuhan, it was the medium itself rather than the content that should be the focus of the study. For example, in today’s digital world, a viewer can watch a programme and later discuss it on twitter. It is evident that new stories are now being replaced with 140 character tweets and emojis have taken the place of conversations. The value of information is no longer determined by

1964

its content, but by how it has been received and consumed. Thus, the process of sharing, reproducing, altering and distributing has seemingly become more relevant in contemporary visual culture.

For McLuhan, “It is impossible to understand social and cultural changes without a knowledge of the workings of media” (McLuhan, 1967). In modern society, online platforms have become a place for people to broadcast their views, whether they are factually correct or not. Made easier by social media, the information that we consume daily encapsulate universal thoughts and practices.

Therefore, we can say that technology engineers our behaviour and the way we connect with each other.

35

“It is impossible to understand social and cultural changes without a knowledge of the workings of media.�

MARSHALL MCLUHAN

MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE

1964

37

39

The exhibition briefly touches on ‘Surveillance Capitalism’ and explores how companies and employers are tracking our interactions, facial expressions and eye movements. It also highlights the fact that devices and apps mine our activity and are designed to encourage our addiction to them. Furthermore, the exhibition explores the idea that ai systems, trained by machines, may soon be making decisions that will control our experience of the world.

Overall, 24/7 highlights the inundation of information that gets presented to us daily and asks us to pause, reflect and question what its purpose is in our non-stop culture. The exhibition invites us to question why we have been presented with this information on our timeline and news feed. Is its purpose to inform? To persuade? To control? Or to manipulate our thoughts?

24/7 is an exhibition held at Somerset House, which explores the nonstop nature of modern life. Inspired

by Jonathon Crary’s book 24/7, the multi-sensory experience highlights contemporary issues of sleep deprivation, an unrelenting pressure to produce and consume and our search for every opportunity to connect and work. It examines our always-on culture and invites visitors to take a step away from a daily routine to engage, reflect and reset. The exhibition encourages us to question whether we have lost control of our time. Have we forgotten to pay attention to the world around us?

24/7 EXHIBITION

SOMMERSET HOUSE

2020

Our Non-Stop World A

Wake -up

Call

For

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INFORMATION OVERLOAD

CASTING OUT THE SELF V3.1

Dominic Hawgood

10.01.20-01.02.20

Dominic Hawgood takes a very different approach to our image-saturated, overloaded reality. The artist’s installation invites you to close your eyes and press yourself against the screen. Instead of looking at it, monochrome flickers get filtered through your eyelids, making you reflect on the world’s algorithmically induced screen addiction. He explains that ‘If people won’t look at my photograph, I’ll put them in the photograph, I’ll make them feel the thing I’m documenting’ (Frankel, 2020). This reflects a need to constantly scroll through social media timelines without truly processing and digesting what is presented to us. If we are merely glancing and skimming through information, what are we missing?

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How has the Internet played a role in Fake News?

“The badly flawed Paris Climate Agreement protects the polluters, hurts Americans, and cost a fortune.

NOT ON MY WATCH!” Donald J. Trump

“The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S manufacturing non-competitive.”

Donald J. Trump

“It’s freezing in New York - Where the hell is global warming?”

Donald J. Trump

“The weather has been so cold for so long that the global warming HOAXTERS were forced to change the name to climate change to keep $ flow!”

Donald J. Trump

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Online Media Social media platforms and personal networks have facilitated the hyper-fast dissemination of pictures and information, and have become the dominant way we consume information. The promise of free access to information, along with the ability to reach wider audiences has meant that the rise of misinformation and fake news has become more pervasive and inescapable.

Online platforms have enabled polarised opinions to surface and ideas to circulate, which subsequently get translated into an “alternative truth.� This means that in an ever-escalating virtual and technological world, authenticity and truth become increasingly harder to identify and determine, leaving consumers to search for it even more.

FIG. 14-17

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The Creation of Truth

In contrast to fake news encountered online, when the graphic language gets established in print media it has an authentic quality, that people seemingly put their trust in. Printed media adds a sense of authority and truth to any content, whether it is reliable or not. We can thus speculate that there is a culturally conditioned understanding that a physical object must have a relationship with the truth.

It is considered that with the invention of social media and the rise of online journalism facilitating the rise of misinformation, a printed newspaper acts as a signifier for journalistic integrity and freedom of the press. But what happens if this is not the case?

The radical history of newspapers has been considered a revolutionary movement but for many an oppressive

state propaganda machine. For Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky, writers of Manufacturing Consent, “the media serve, and propagandise on behalf of, the powerful societal interests that control and finance them.” Consequently, journalism has become a part of a mechanism guided by political and economic interest, which displays “a predictable bias.”

The idea put forward by Ryszard Kapuscinski, a Polish Journalist, discusses information and its ability to become entertainment, which, as a result, makes it valuable and tradable.

If this is the case, we can speculate that news media is in itself a form of propaganda and uses entertainment as “an effective vehicle for hidden ideological messages” that can divert the public from its true intent.

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FIG. 18-22

that-i.do/ not_think?I=know_what&I_ do_not=know that-i.do/ not_think?I=know_what&I_

do_not=know _Â 51

STEFANIE TAM

“THAT-I.DO/NOT_THINK?I=KNOW_WHAT&I_DO_NOT=KNOW”

FIG. 23

2019

Recognised for her own distinctive style by Its Nice That, Stefanie Tam merges cultural and political systems with a concise and unique visual language. The LA-based graphic designer has worked previously with Wax Studios, Stink Studios, TPM Magazine, and The Underground Museum. Her conceptual projects take the form of research, archives, books, websites, photographs and installations and looks at how each different format affects the reader/viewer’s interpretation and engagement with its content. Notably, each medium adds new layers of meaning. Her work explores the relationship between print and web to reflect the contrasting nature of digital and physical materiality within the ever-evolving design world.

I am particularly inspired by her multifaceted personal project “that-i.do/not_think?I=know_what&I_do_not=know”, which examines the consumption of information in today’s physical and digital spaces. It is an installation, book and website addressing the production, consumption and digestion of digital information in 2019. The project archives 300 quotations of proponents and opponents of media production, 150 datasets on consumer and producer habits, and 150 images found in articles about information distribution. Through the words “Consume, Digest, Produce”, she highlights our exposure to an overwhelming abundance of information in a digital age. Alongside this, she explores the effects of semiocapitalism and questions the search for truth and meaning in a pervasive and insatiable visual culture. Her work also discusses topics such as, surveillance capitalism, incessant advertising, and algorithmically-induced screen addiction.

.pdf

53

News Media Consumption

PRIMARY RESEARCH

TARGET AUDIENCE > ADULTS (PREDOMINATELY 18-25)

Where do you mostly access the news?

53.33% TV 33.33% News Apps 26.67% Online News Articles 6.67% Newspapers 33.33%

60 % Social Media 13.33% Radio

53.33%

26.67%

13.33% 6.67%

60%

Which Medium would you trust the most to give you reliable, unbiased news?

TV Radio Social Media Newspapers Online News Articles News Apps

01

0%

20%3

0%

40%5

0%

60% 55

Designers’

Response

HOW HAVE DESIGNER’S RESPONDED TO FAKE NEWS?

In contrast to the unprecedented exposure to ephemeral imagery consumed through the internet and social media, designers and artists have responded to the current antagonistic, overloaded reality in various ways. The contemporary case studies I have looked at have either taken a more observational approach to fake news or have subverted “known truths” in order to make a statement. Notably, the designers I have chosen to examine, have used the information they have gathered to form either a campaign or a publication.

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2019

Daily Noise

The Infiltration of Fake News

Daily Noise is an insightful publication which explores the infiltration of fake news and questions why the phenomenon is so successful in shaping public opinion.

Created by Annika Soja and Lena Manger, the aim of the magazine was to address the psychological reasons why fake news stories are spread and why we believe them, as well as encouraging the reader to question their news consumption as part of this problem. Through the use of bold, text-heavy spreads and digital, textured backgrounds, the design

duo intended to replicate the inundation of information consumed through our television and phone screens. The design uses a harsh, monochromatic colour palette, which aims to reflect feelings of uncertainty and mistrust which form from news-watching. Through the graphic elements that we are familiar with like comment fields and hashtags, the publication challenges the reader to change their perspective on their media consumption.

Daily noise prompts us to reconsider the news as a form of narrative that has been shaped with bias, according to its context.

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ANNIKA SOJA AND LENA MANGER

CUT THROUGH THE NOISE

FIG. 24-28

Eye on Design Is what you’re reading real or fake?

In this issue called “Gossip”, Eye on Design provide a guide to the visual clues of fake news online. These involve unusual URLs, a no ‘Contact us’ page, no company logo and inconsistent design.

I thought the contrasting diagrams for real and fake news was a really helpful way to inform readers and make them more aware of the information they are consuming every day.

FIG. 29 & 30

ISSUE #3

GOSSIP

61

FIG. 31-36

The Columbia Journalism Review The Columbia Journalism Review attempts to inform people about the dangers of misinformation with an “impressively legit fake newsstand”. Developed with the creative agency TBWA\Chiat\Day, the Columbia Journalism Review created a pop-up installation, which included fake magazines and newspapers that looked exactly like real publications at a glance, along with a publication which educates the public on how to identify fake news. The stand’s publications copied the typography and layouts of publications such as Bloomberg Businessweek, People, Vanity Fair and The New York Post and used the design cues that traditionally signal how the contents of their respective titles should be perceived. The content itself was curated from actual “fake news” stories that received high engagement online.

Notably, when the graphic language gets established in print media, fake news often looks more fake than when it is encountered online. This is because social media platforms strip away visual references, leaving a headline and a picture, and a comment from whoever shared it. Social media platforms make it impossible to see all of the graphic elements and

contextual clues that help signal a story’s trustworthiness or newsworthiness. Kyle Pope, Editor of The Columbia Journalism Review explains that “When you take this misinformation out of the context it’s in, which is some website or on your Facebook feed or Twitter, and you put it on a hard copy in the real world, you realise how ridiculous and absurd it is”. Their work contains a sense of irony, they achieved a sense of journalistic integrity through its fake-ness.

Contrary to this, many visitors “read the headlines but didn’t register them as unusual” (Pope, 2018), which suggests a susceptibility towards fakes news and other forms of strategic misinformation when it sits within a designed context.

This experiment demonstrates the idea put forward by Steven Heller when he points out that “whether true or false, when information is presented in a designed context, it is given authority.” The Fake news stand used, what appeared to be credible newspapers, to normalise the fake content they collected online. Consequently, if we are presented with misinformation in a designed context, the boundary between what is seen as true and false is nearly impossible to distinguish.

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THE FAKE NEWS STAND

THE COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW

2019

FIG. 37-41

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The Daily Telegraph I drew particular inspiration from The Daily Telegraph’s “Words Chosen Well” Campaign which aims to charter a chronology of key moments in time through to the present day. By referencing newspaper design from their 162-year archive, they created a series of animated videos to promote their mission statement “Words are powerful. Choose them well.”

Today, factual material and strong opinions are getting harder and harder to differentiate, especially with online platforms being the primary way we consume news. Whilst other curator’s biases shape truth or create new narratives, the campaign wants us to consider how important it is to use words responsibly. The Daily Telegraph recognises that with a constant flow of information, it is their duty to provide unbiased, factual news.

FIG. 42

WORDS CHOSEN WELL

2018

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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

WORDS CHOSEN WELL

FIG. 43 & 44

2018

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“In a post-truth era, all news is fake news.”

SIDELINE / NEGATIVE NEWS

Negative News is a series of limited edition prints where all the positive space of a newspaper front cover has been blackened and turned into negative space. This project aims to reveal the idea that truth and facts no longer matter. In the age of “Trumpian political-journalism”, facts are no longer verified and sources now get discredited and undermined.

Seemingly, in the age of the internet, anyone with a camera and twitter account is a journalist. As Sideline points out “it’s almost impossible to know who to trust, what news to believe, what is real, and what is not” (Sideline, 2019).

2019

FIG. 45

Sideline is a small collective based in London who create non-conventional work. In our pervasive, contemporary visual culture, their aim is to cut through all of the noise and create work that people will both talk about and remember.

Negative

News!

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SIDELINE

NOTHING IN THE NEWS

2019

FIG. 46

Nothing in the News!

As part of Sideline’s most recent project, artist Joseph Ernst created newspapers from around the world with nothing in them. Looking from the outside in, Sideline recognises that we are bombarded by a constant inundation of information.

With every online platform competing for our attention, this project offers a break from all this sensory overload. Sideline explains that in a world addicted to breaking news, gossip and social media, they offer the one thing that we seemingly need more than anything else; nothing.

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2020 ELEPHANT MAGAZINE

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What will the outcome be?

Drawing on my research, my FMP will explore how and why people are susceptible to fake news and other forms of strategic misinformation. Through a posterzine format, the aim of my FMP is to encourage the reader to question the information they’re engaging with and to re-evaluate the role they play in spreading misinformation. I have chosen to produce a posterzine because I think that being able to open and intersect with a design as both a poster and zine is a great way to grab the attention of my readers.

As well as this, my FMP will employ the idea of creating more interactivity with a printed publication by using the AR app, Artivive. By incorporating augmented reality in my project I hope to reflect the growing consensus that digital media has forced creatives to rethink how stories are presented in print.

4 PAGE BROADSHEET

NEWSPAPER CLUB

350mm x 500mm > 10mm Margins

Conclusion

What is the pattern?

My research set out to discover the fractured relationship that visual communication has with truth by looking at both historical and contemporary case studies. My case studies demonstrate that whether true or false, when information is presented in a designed context, it is given authority and power. The basis of my analysis also points to how design can be used as a framing mechanism, intended to alter behaviour and shape cognition. Thus, the way information is presented and the context that it sits in links with what the curator is trying to achieve and the ideas they are trying to communicate.

By focusing on selected design projects I was able to contextualise theories put forward by Marshall McLuhan, Steven Heller and Garth Jowett and place these ideas in the modern day. Many of the projects work by providing information, either as a form of satire, a campaign or a publication. The projects also demonstrated how people interact differently with information across physical and digital spaces, with a strong focus on dwell time, participation and the idea of authorship.

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Challenges:

After collecting my research, I decided to produce a posterzine, a format which I found works especially well in creating interaction with an audience. However, the format presented a hierarchical challenge. I wanted to create a sense of flow and ensure I had enough positive space, however I had large amounts of text that I needed to place. Thus, I split up my text and placed it throughout the publication strategically; making sure the structure made sense and read well. To double check this, I further tested the layout by printing it out. By stepping away from the computer, I could look at the work from a different perspective and see what stood out and needed to be improved.

Alongside hierarchy, I found colour was another challenge for me and is still a skill that I am trying to improve. I began using a complementary colour scheme of orange and navy, however I found it wasn’t quite suitable for the topic at hand. I wanted the colours to create a sense of uncertainty and mistrust, and so I decided to use a monochromatic colour scheme with a pop of red. I then found it was hard finding the right balance of colour. I didn’t want the zine to be overwhelming, however I still wanted it to have an impact and reflect the pervasiveness of fake news. To figure out what worked most successfully, I showed my target audience and allowed them to choose what they thought was most engaging.

My Design Practice:

By reflecting on the design process, I found that I successfully reviewed my work and made appropriate changes to help improve my designs. For example, stripping down parts of the design to form a more clear and concise outcome. However, I can see that I needed to have taken a more decisive and pragmatic approach. At the beginning of the project, I was very set on coming up with this ‘great idea’. I became very skeptical about my ideas when I should have let the process inform my outcome. Next time, following my plan closely would have been more beneficial, as I found myself going off in tangents throughout the project.

Alongside this, I think more in depth target audience research would have benefited me. To improve the research, I would have created a focus group that included a variety of ages and backgrounds and examine who can spot fake news and how. This would have helped me to successfully narrow down my target audience and thus, better inform my content.

To take the project further, I think producing a campaign would be my next step. By creating promotional graphics and perhaps a promotional video showcasing some of my aftereffects skills, I could promote further awareness surrounding the topic of fake news.

POSTERZINE

NAME OF ZINE

2020

Personal Reflection

LO1: To demonstrate a rationale behind subject choice.

I am fascinated by the power that visual language has in the communication of ideas. Thus, the basis of my investigation outlines the use of visual communication techniques in fake news and forms of persuasive media. I thought it could be really interesting to find out how design language can alter the audience’s thought and decision-making skills.

As part of my experimental process, I wanted to translate theories on misinformation into a piece of design, focusing on the semantic property of typography. I feel typography is one of my strong points so I thought the subject matter would give me a chance to experiment and explore how language can get manipulated.

LO2: The ability to engage in sustained research and analyse complex problems to inform your work and practice.

The designer’s choice of type and image, composition and colour can all make a big difference to how we perceive and interpret messages. My research works in providing evidence that although information is often empty and unnecessary, or it is propaganda, manipulated and untrue, it is nonetheless, made to be important, thanks to its design language and the context that it sits in.

Through this analysis of my case studies, I began to question the best way to inform my audience and create engagement with the reader. Was imitating fake news a productive way to promote awareness around the topic? Or was forming a satirical response more engaging?

I came to the conclusion that the project would be most successful by building strong visual concepts that attempt to explain the psychological reasons why fake news stories are spread and why we believe them. Contrary to design campaigns like the Fake News Stand, my aim was to avoid replicating the inundation of information that gets consumed every day and create a clear and concise design that seeks to educate my readers.

LO3: To demonstrate the use of credible research methods.

Through the application of theoretical background and exploration of contemporary case studies, I could then form a critical response to theories on fake news and misinformation.

By expanding my research and looking at documentaries, exhibitions and scholarly articles, I was able to produce content that was well-informed.

LO4: To employ professional, technical and conceptual methodologies.

Drawing on my research, I could examine the professional techniques used to present information most successfully. Making sure my work is both clear and visually appealing will increase engagement with the reader. By incorporating AR, I could further develop my skills in After effects. Although the software is relatively new to me, I hope that by practising I can keep improving.

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A Web of Lies

Final Essay

In an age of fake news, post-truth politics and polarised opinion, authenticity and truth becomes increasingly harder to identify and determine. Following “the obfuscation of facts, abandonment of evidential standards in reasoning and outright lying that marked 2016’s Brexit vote and the US presidential election” (McIntyre, 2018: 1), we can see that facts are not verified, they are subverted. Sources are continuously getting discredited and undermined.

Reason loses to bias. It seems that anyone with an opinion is an expert; ignorance is now paraded as wisdom. In a culture where we are constantly overloaded with information, it is impossible to distinguish what is real and what is not.

Social media platforms and personal networks have facilitated the hyper-fast dissemination of pictures and information, and have become the dominant mode by which we consume news. The promise of free access to information, along with the ability to reach wider audiences has meant that the rise of misinformation and fake news has become more pervasive and inescapable.

Evidently, online platforms strip away visual references, leaving a headline and a picture, and a comment from whoever shared it, which makes it impossible to see all of the graphic elements and contextual clues that help signal whether or not a story is trustworthy. With the unprecedented exposure to targeted, data-driven information, how do we filter the truth from the lies?

The phenomenon of fake news and why it has infiltrated people’s opinions and decisionmaking skills has become an urgent question in recent years. In general, our political culture seems to be increasingly populated by people who make outlandish, false claims that often align with their political ideology.

Studies have explored what stops people seeing through propaganda and have resulted in debates amongst researchers over two opposing theories.

The first explores the idea of rationalisation, which is built around a set of theories, which argues that people persuade themselves to believe what they want to be true, rather than searching and discovering the truth.

This attempt to explain or justify behaviour and attitudes has resulted in a culture where truth does not matter anymore. This stems from the theory of biased assimilation, which can be defined as the selective interpretation of new information in ways that reinforce pre-existing beliefs. This term implies that people’s general belief about the reality of a subject can influence their acceptance of specific information.

Contrary to this, the second theory investigates cognitive laziness, especially in the context of social media, where news articles are often glossed over and glanced at.

Viewers often take a mental shortcut and skim over vital details which can inform whether something is true, false or misleading. For example, “if you’re running in a race and you pass the person in second place, what place are you in?” If you’re not thinking you might say first place, when of course the answer is second place.

Both of these ideas suggest a susceptibility for people to buy into propaganda, which is reinforced by the free, easy to access information we are exposed to through online platforms. From this, we can see how easy it is to manipulate and control people’s behaviour and thought through visual communication.

Furthermore, it reveals why political parties and lobby groups find using fake news and propaganda so appealing.

FACT FAKE

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George Lakoff, Cognitive Scientist and author of Don’t Think of an Elephant, which discusses the power of framing in the 2016 US election, explores the idea that the way we say something often matters much more than what we say. The title of his book seeks to demonstrate the fact that if you negate a frame, you strengthen a frame. According to Lakoff, Trump’s constant repeating of things like “Crooked Hillary” in the election, was strengthening a particular frame, subconsciously causing the public to view her in that way.

Trump uses repetition as a basic mechanism to control unconscious thought. The more a word is heard, the stronger it gets. Knowledge that

communication is propagandistic does not necessarily neutralise people’s reaction to it.

By simply repeating a word, it creates a sense of familiarity in the message, which may produce resonance in a particular audience.

Both politically charged misinformation and biased opinions seem to have real implications for public policy. By highlighting how and why fake news is a powerful strategy for manipulating behaviour, the publication hopes to encourage people to think more critically about the information that gets presented to them. By knowing and understanding the effects of a frame, we can look past the frame and examine how it may be influencing us.

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List of Illustrations

Figure 1 & 2. Tselentis, J. (2011). History of Type.

[Illustration]. In: Type, Form & Function : A Handbook on the Fundamentals of Typography. Beverly, Mass. : Rockport Publishers. pp. 5

Figure 18-23. Tam, S. (2019). THAT-I.DO/NOT_ THINK?I=KNOW_WHAT&I_DO_NOT=KNOW. [Publication, Exhibition and Website] At: http://stefanietam.com/TIDNTIK. html (Accessed on: 26/01/20).

Figure 3. Kane, J (2002). A Type Primer. London: Laurence King Publishing. P. 65-69.

Figure 24-28. Soja, A and Manger, L (2018). Daily Noise. [Publication]. At: https://www.itsnicethat.com/ articles/annika-soja-lena-manger-daily-noise-graphicdesign-020518 (Accessed on 01/02/20).

Figure 4-7. Etter, E (2017). Visual & Syntactic Materialities.

[Publication] At: https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/elenaetter-graphic-design-121017 (Accessed on: 05/02/20).

Figure 8 & 9. Etter, E (2017). Designing as Translating.

[Poster] At: https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/elenaetter-graphic-design-121017 (Accessed on: 05/02/20).

Figure 10. Title Sequence (2017). [Documentary still] In: Post Truth Times: We The Media.

Figure 11. Flagg, J. M (1917). Uncle Sam. [Poster] At: https:// time.com/4725856/uncle-sam-poster-history/ (Accessed on: 02/04/20).

Figure 12. Adbusters (s.d). Keep Consuming. [Poster] At: https://www.adbusters.org/spoof-ads (Accessed on: 11/02/20).

Figure 13. Mcluhan, M (1967). Medium is the message [scanned image]. In: McLuhan, M. (1967). The Medium is the Massage. New York ; London : Bantam: Penguin. pp.14.

Figure. 29 & 30. Eye on Design (2019). Real or Fake.

[Publication] In: Gossip Issue #03.

Figure 31-41. The Columbia Journalism Review (2019). The Fake News Stand. [Campaign]. At: https://www.behance.net/ gallery/80692393/The-Fake-News-Stand?isa0=1 (Accessed on: 22/01/20).

Figure 42-44. Why Not Associates (2018). Words Chosen Well. [Campaign]. At: http://whynotassociates.com/motion/ words-chosen-well-telegraph (Accessed on: 15/02/20).

Figure 45. Sideline (s.d). Negative News. [Poster] At: https://sidelinecollective.com/negative-news (Accessed on: 25/01/20).

Figure 46. Ernst, J (s.d). Nothing in the News. [Publication].

At: https://elephant.art/read-all-about-it-the-crumpleable-appeal-of-artists-newspapers/ (Accessed on 01/02/20).

Figure 14. The Washington Pundit (2020) [Facebook Feed, Screenshot] At: https://www.facebook.com/ thewashingtonpundit/ (Accessed on: 22/02.20).

Figure 15. Tweet by Donald Trump (2017) [Twitter Feed, Screenshot] At: https://www.usnews.com/news/bestcountries/articles/2017-12-30/how-fake-news-chargesspread-around-the-globe (Accessed on: 22/02.20).

Figure 16. The Onion (2020) [Website, Screenshot] At: https://www.theonion.com/anti-cyberbullying-campaignencourages-kids-to-get-out-1841838133 (Accessed on: 22/02.20).

Figure 17. Tweet by Donald Trump (2018) [Twitter Feed, Screenshot] At: https://projects.newsday.com/gdpr/ (Accessed on: 22/02.20).

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This research book reflects on the culture of fake news and investigates how design is used as a framing mechanism in persuasive media. The book explores the idea that how we say something, often matters much more than what we say and considers the persuasive nature of visual language.

“Whether true or false, when information is presented in a designer context, it is given authority.�

(Heller, 2012: 11)