Degree Project Redirect

After our first round of presentations today I have made some very critical decisions about the direction in which my project is heading. When I first began this project I was really wanting to focus on cervical cancer awareness. As I began doing my research I was beginning to encounters all of the politics and general disagreement of the topic of teen sexuality. This was becoming a huge problem considering that sex is the leading way to contract cervical cancer. I also found that in most cases girls have hpv that then leads to cervical cancer. May girls have already been vaccinated with Gardisil to prevent a few forms of the hpv. Upon completing my 1st experiment, trying to prove that girls look and act older than parents and adults think they are, I found that parents dont think that the girls I was showing them could be their daughters. And my experiment found itself to be quite unrevealing.

This lead to my new thought, the problem behind the problem, parents have a hard time communicating with teenage girls. This time is hard on both parties. The daughters feel misunderstood and as if they are being held back. They think their parents are generally stupid and dont know anything. Teen girls are such a roll-a-coaster of emotions HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY to having the worst day in the history of worst days. When there is a fight among friends the teenage girl can feel like the world was coming to and end. Teenage girls are full of D-R-A-M-A! This is the time when communication is the hardest because both the parents and teenage daughter are no longer speaking the same language. Not only that but there are many conversations that are hard to have with a teenage girl. Conversations about puberty, love, and sexuality. Also more serious questions like drugs and alcohol which are very present in todays youth culture.

I wanted to refill out my Creative Brief to reflect the new direction in my project.

My question I plan to answer is:

How can graphic design help parents to effectively communicate with their teenage daughters.

Social Objectives

Use this section to list the social objectives or goals for the project.

To aid in the communication breakdown that tends to occur between a teenage girl and her parents. By creating tools which will make conversation between both parties clearer, more accurate information can be conveyed and parents can be more involved in their daughters lives. On the other side teen girls will feel like they can share more information with their parents keeping them in the loop with what is going on in their lives.

Message

Simply put, what do you want to say to your audience? A message can, and usually does, have more than one dimension, especially in addressing a complex issue. In this section, clearly and completely define your primary and, if applicable, secondary messages.

My primary message will be that your teenage years are a few of the most confusing times in a everyones life, especially for a teen girl. Teen girls are notorious for being rather hard to handle in their adolescent years. This is primarily due to their raging hormones and generally sassy attitudes. Distance can easily occur between parents and there young lady. This breakdown in communication can have great consequence when the parents dont know what is going on in the girls life from exposer to drugs and alcohol and even sexual encounters. If daughters feel comfortable talking to their parents then she can look to her parents for guidance and information when approached with these adult decisions.

Audience

Use this section to describe your audiences (primary and secondary) for this project or product. (who needs to hear your message?) Include any information that you have about your audience. Be as complete and specific as possible.

My audience will be girls in their teen years 13-18 and their parents. This is due to their general dramatic nature and sassy attitudes this relationship between them and their parents tends to generally weaken during these years. This breakdown can do serious damage to the relationship between the teen and her parents for many years to come.

Communication Stratiges

Use this section to pose and answer strategic questions designed to set the parameters of your Design project. You may wish to speculate on appropriate media.

I would like to create a system of tools that will help teen girls and their parents better communicate with each other. Right now I am thinking through the idea of some sort of kit what would contain elements in which to promote healthy communications. There is also the idea of what way could these individual interact more efficiently? Maybe by embracing other ways of communicating other that face to face. This could be via the internet or go old school and write a letter to each other.I would like to create a mix of print and digital elements all forming a cohesively branded system.

Competitive Landscape

Use this section to list some examples of competitive products, what they are doing, and how they can inform your design process. What has been done previously, and what is currently being addressed? This section is intended to help you contextualize your intended project.

There are any self-help books out there are detail out "how to talk to you daughter", and "how to understand your teen". Rarely are their books for communicating primarily with your teen daughter. Many parents go the wrong route and try to act like there teen girl to understand them. This is not the case. Parents have a very important role in these young ladies lives that they may not understand at the time.

There are also some online forums for parents to talk to each other in hope to find answers among other parents this is assuming that other parents hold the key to understanding your child. No one knows your daughter better than you should.

Alot of parent in todays society turn to counseling as a way to find a way to communicate through other people. A mediator in a sense.

Bibliography

Use this section to list all of the resources that will inform your initial research. You will add more as you progress.

Live Strong Site (article on How to help your teenage daughter)

http://www.livestrong.com/article/244741-how-to-help-your-teenage-daughter/

"The Secrets to Having the Teenage Daughter You Actually Like"; Cheryl S. Guy; 2009

"Raising Girls"; Gisela Preuschoff and Steve Biddulph; 200

The ProfessorsHouse (artical on fighting with your teen daughter)

http://www.professorshouse.com/Family/Teens/Articles/Fighting-with-Teenage-Daughters/

Effective communication with kids

http://www.child-discipline-with-love.com/effective-communication-with-children.html

Communicate with your kids through writing

http://life.familyeducation.com/teen/communication/42922.html

Spending More time with your teen

http://www.teenagerstoday.com/resources/articles/qualitytime.htm

Teen Pregnancy

National Research Center for Women and Families (2001). "Early Puberty in Girls". http://www.center4research.org/2010/04/girls-to-women/. Retrieved 2009-07-22.