OUGD505-What issues?

When thinking about the brief it became evident that an issue in which faces the world should be resolved. In order to narrow down ideas a mindmap was conducted whereby multiple issues were listed. General world issues were also mentioned alongside that of issues specific to the UK. A broad range of subject matters were highlighted ranging from personal health to genital mutilation. As some of the topic areas are very serious, it will be critical that if chosen they are discussed appropriately, especially within crits as others may also have a personal connection to the issue, this is specifically important with mental health issues. 

As the original list explored issues in depth, it felt important to narrow down the ideas in order to confer what approach would be the most relevant to my personal design practice. Key issues were outlined, these are expressed in detail below:

Gender pay gap- It is still widely accepted that their is still is a large gender pay gap in which positions women to be less successful within a job role. 

Alcoholism-The negative relationship in which many have with alcohol and how it effects their lives.

Help for pedophiles-Obviously thousands of individuals have pedophilloic thoughts and thus a solution should be derived before they act upon them. 

Natural Disasters-Aid relief 

Mental illness-How mental health is treated less important than physical health

Heart disease -The UK'S number one killer 

Feedback-When discussing these ideas with my peers it was suggested that heavy topics such as pedophilla may be difficult to tackle, and thus extensive academic reports should be researched. They also questioned the relevance to it with many in my peer group having a split opinion. As it is an extremely heavy topic area I have decided to not take this idea further, as I would not want to cause offense in anyway. Alcoholism was further discussed with the idea of homelessness and alcoholism becoming a specific topic area, embedding the struggles of poverty and such condition. This would work effectively as a campaign as many are unaware that you should give to a homeless charity rather than the individual themselves. 

One of the most liked issue was that of heart disease as it was suggested that extensive research could be undergone into medical reports and real life individuals who have had such issues. It was also suggested that the prevention of such cause is highly important, and relevant to the 21st century. 

From the critique the 3 favoured issues were highlighted, these including: heart disease, natural disasters, and mental illness. Key facts were initially listed in order to discover how prominent these issues are.