Course Introduction

This course, Visual Communication for Advocacy, centered around learning how to effectively communicate using graphic design specifically through promoting a cause or brand. Prior to this course, I have had minimal experience with graphic design. One of the primary things I learned in this course was how to successfully translate the ideas I formulated in my head into a well-crafted piece of design. Another part of this course that I feel furthered me as a designer was the cycle of feedback and reiteration of my work. Much of the design that I had done up until this class although at times in an academic environment was designing for myself not for someone else. The process of designing for others is much different and requires that you meet the expectations of someone else for example a client, which is a much more difficult process. I learned how to take the feedback of others even if I didn’t completely agree with it and successfully implement it into what I was working on.

To me, advocacy is the act of furthering a cause through any sort of means. That cause could be anything from a major rights movement to just advocating for oneself to get whatever resources one may need. Learning how to advocate is a super important skill, as in life there are many times when one finds themselves in a position where they need to take a stance for something. Advocacy is much more than a method of communication; it takes courage. I have a few learning differences and there have been many times throughout my life where I had to advocate to get the accommodations I needed and that wasn’t always easy. Communication is however one of the most important parts of advocacy, and this class has shaped my ideas around advocacy through this lens. I now realize especially for larger causes the way that you communicate for your cause is extremely important so that it can also move others to support that cause.