Week 3 - Interim Presentation

During class today, we divided into small groups of 4, and we then showed each other our 4 different posters. Within these groups, we analysed each one, and then had to present one of them to the class. The four that I presented to the class have been attached below (as well as a slight variation of one of them):

The above poster is looking at how a lot of people have been complaining about the cost of the flag referendums etc, with $5.80 being the price per person in NZ to cover the costs of changing the flag. The poster is looking at how changing the flag will give our country freedom ad independence, rather than the flag directly saluting to British Imperialism, with the Union Jack. Therefore I have used a set of handcuffs, a universally known symbol for being 'locked up' or 'trapped', and attached it to a pricetag/flag shape, with a silver fern. The group quite liked this one, although tomorrow I will show some of these other ideas to the teachers to get their input.

This poster is another take on 'escaping the British Imperialism' and finally becoming our own independent nation, by being 'set free'. I have used a kiwi as the imagery as they are known as flightless birds, although the pair of wings and flying kiwi in the poster symbolise our chance to be free. The group thought this one was quite cool, and made a few comments on what to change in terms of colour, imagery etc.

The above image is a parodic approach, creating a poster similar to the well-known Disney Castle logo. I decided to try this as I thought that it would be quite interesting to have the beehive replace the Disney Castle. This poster was more looking at how we are quite often confused with being Australia or vice versa, so I was trying to take a more humorous approach towards this idea. An idea like this would be far more effective if it was a parodic version of an Australian poster, partly because the inclusion of the Disney theme doesn't have any relevance towards the debate of the New Zealand flag.

The images above were a parodic attempt at creating the 'Obama Hope' poster. The one on the left was my initial creation, with the one on the right being an attempt to show how we quite often get confused with Australia (hence the Australia gold and green colour scheme) and therefore should change the flag. These were the ones which my group wanted me to pin up onto the board for the presentation. However, these posters were the ones I presented, and the class/teachers didn't really think they conveyed a particular message. On hindsight, although I really like how they look, I can see that it is quite difficult to see the meaning and Ihi behind the posters, as the symbolism isn't very strong. As mentioned for my "Australia?" poster above, these "Hope" posters would be better off being a parodic response to a famous Australian poster, as the original Obama Hope poster doesn't tie in with the theme of changing the New Zealand flag.

Following the interim presentation, we continued to think of ways to develop and craft these ideas. Tomorrow in class I will speak to Caroline and Matt and get their opinion on my other ideas, to see which ones they think have the most potential, and which one to carry on and develop.