Project 1: Audience

Baby Boomers— Atheist/Agnostic —Teachers

Being teachers, these baby boomers are likely to be the first college graduates in their family, and generally feel as though they have transcended the unreason that governed the lives of their parents. This does not necessarily mean that they view their upbringing with disdain, but merely that their present leanings toward empiricism were not there from the start; in short, they were raised religious.

This perceived rise from ignorance gives them an acutely independent personality, along with a good deal of cynicism and skepticism.

This audience may either read or be Richard Dawkins



Whether active or passive in their opposition to religion, all members of this group view it as manipulative, and are on the look out for manipulation in everything.

They are constantly bombarded by marketing like this…



and even this...



And would most likely appreciate the makers of this remix video.

This barrage of advertising, along with their already deeply held skepticism, has an effect on how they view graphic design.

This group is hyper-aware of manipulation, and may feel that anything too flashy, expressive, or illustrative is attempting to work them over. This may result in their design tastes being rather conservative and subdued, expressing a more direct, trustworthy, no-bullsh*t feeling.

Ex: graphics like these probably won’t appeal to this group (note: you only need to watch the first few seconds)



While other Boomers may spend more time online doing hobby or entertainment oriented tasks, these Boomers have the unique responsibility of shaping minds, and use the internet as their main research tool. They often get their news and information from articles and blogs and consider themselves web and tech-savvy.

They absolutely loathe oversimplification and “sound bite” modes of communication. They appreciate a topic discussed at length, and don’t mind doing a lot of reading.

Additional...

This group may be wary of graphic design in general, especially when it comes to their news and information. One would assume that a likely design direction for this group would be clean, spare, minimal. But this group will be constantly scrutinizing the content and the visual delivery of that content; too spare and minimal, and the audience may not trust the delivery, and surmise a level of unprofessionalism, amateurishness, and ultimately unreliability.