The Rx Risks campaign was the vehicle for my thesis as a fourth-year graphic designer at Arizona State University.
The campaign dealt with the growing issue of prescription drug abuse by teens in the United States. Raising awareness and giving a voice to those affected by this issue were my primary goals, which I attempted to accomplish with a variety of media.
In my research, I've found that many people see prescription drug abuse as a large gray area. After all, many think they are qualified to diagnose and self-treat feelings like pain or sickness. Depending on what is being used to treat ailments like this, casual use by the common man could turn into dependence, and probably easier than you think. For my senior thesis project at Arizona State University, I chose to create a campaign to raise awareness of this important social issue.
For the look and feel of the campaign, I wanted to make the design as simple as possible. Two-color, bold, in-your-face. Not the kind of in-your-face that most anti-drug campaigns take, with somewhat shocking imagery of teens acting out, but the kind that spells out the issues deliberately.
Let's be clear, I'm advocating the proper use of prescriptions drugs. I think that putting all of the facts out there and letting people decide which side of the issue they fall on is more effective than bold, red type saying "DON'T DO DRUGS OR ELSE".
My goals for this project resulted in a cohesive system that accomplished it's goal–to show that prescription drug abuse is common, dangerous, and worth talking about. Design-wise, it's mostly black-and-white, in order to be as bold as possible.
The campaign's typeface is Univers, used for its generous applicability. The secondary color is a muted purple. This color was chosen because it evokes a sense of being synthetic, much like the subject of the campaign. These elements, along with the liberal use of whitespace, give a complex issue a stripped-down and modern look.
