Based on other public health campaigns, I began to develop ideas for gun safety promotions. Some ideas I explored were:

-Making a gun/shape out of different things (hospital bracelets, hundred dollar bills, etc.)

-Comparing gun statistics to other events (this many die a year…as opposed to 9/11, war, etc,)

-Comparing guns with seat-belts and other things that we use to keep us safe)

-High-quality ads for guns as “accident starters”, etc. (see beer goggles ad)

-Replace guns in pictures with something else (what else could soldiers be holding); replace everyday objects with guns (what if a baby held a gun instead of a bottle)

These early ideas were visualized and expanded upon in the sketches below. As I worked, I began to understand the challenges that I am facing in doing this project…

Challenges:

-How to portray controversial ideas in a way that makes people curious rather than offended?

-Maintain pro gun safety rather than anti-gun, or expose these subtle differences through the work

-Avoid playing into stereotypes (or use them to my advantage)

-How controversial/gruesome/shocking is appropriate? What are the limitations?

In order to create a gun safety campaign that is compelling and thought-provoking, I have been looking at existing public health campaigns for various other hazards. The following are examples of print, media, and installations that succeed at challenging perceptions through provocative imagery, careful design, and innovative messages. Some consistent themes/methods used in these ads include vanity, design fiction, images of children, visualizations of more abstract ideas, objectification, disturbing imagery, and symbolism.

Anti-Smoking

Drunk Driving/Binge Drinking

Seatbelt Safety

Meth- Not Even Once (Arizona)

Other

(Speeding)

(Sleeping with a baby)

(Soda)

(Lung Cancer)

In 1986, this anti-smoking commercial was released detailing how in the future, humans would have new features and adaptations that allowed them to be “Natural Born Smoker”.

Features include a larger nose to filter smoke, self-cleaning lungs, extra eyelids to protect from smoke, and a natural resistance to heart disease and lung cancer.

Based on this idea, and related to my individual project goal of creating a public health campaign around guns, I thought it would be interesting to explore how in the future, human could be adapted to live in a world with guns.

“Natural Born Shooters” 

What if we were adapted to best utilize guns? How would our bodies physically change to accomodate the gun, rather than designing objects to fit our existing physical form?

Features might include: extremely strong and dexterous thumb and pointer fingers, extra padding on the palm to make a tight grip more comfortable, extra muscles in the hand for a sufficient grip, larger eyes, enhanced eye sight, and perhaps the ability to “zoom in” to increase target accuracy, extra padding in the hip area to increase comfort when the gun is holstered

“Natural Born Victims”

How might physical features change to allow for better chances of survival in a gun-centric society?

Features might include: Larger eyes and ears to better anticipate surrounding dangers, a protective layer around the torso as a sort of ‘built in’ bullet proof vest, enhanced reflexes to dodge oncoming bullets

How would these adaptations exist? Would there be some people adapted to be natural born shooters or some adapted to be natural born victims? Would there be groups that did not have either adaptation and how would this effect interactions with those who did? What if both adaptations existed in the same society, creating a sort of duel race interplay?

Other considerations include the cultural implications of these adaptations. A follow up “Natural Born Smoker” video considers how children in such a society would be raised, learning in school how to hold a cigarette and best inhale smoke. Perhaps in such a society, children would learn how to hold guns in kindergarten and shoot in second grade? How would guns change or adapt along with the people who use them?

Finally, in relation to my individual project goals, I need to consider whether a visualization of these potential adaptations would be effective in bringing attention to the possible consequences of an increasingly gun-centric society.

The goal of my individual exploration is to challenge the public’s ideas and perceptions surrounding guns. Gun violence, while disturbing, is something that has become quite normalized in our society. We are saddened to hear about an accidental shooting where a child was killed, but not surprised. 

In the 1990s, anti-smoking campaigns were successful in catalyzing social and cultural change. The behavior and perception surrounding smoking, which was just as, if not more, normalized as guns are today, changed dramatically in a short amount of time. This public health campaign was successful in causing the public to consider smoking in a new way. What began as a series of images showing the harmful health effects of smoking led to laws regarding smoking in public places. 

My goal is to use the methods involved in the anti-smoking campaigns to create a similar public health campaign around guns and gun safety. How would the world look if everyone had a gun? If no one had a gun? How will a child who has been shot look in 10 years? How would future Americans look if we became better physically adapted to use a gun? To avoid gunshots? How can statistics be emphasized in surprising or exaggerated ways to spark debate, questions, discussion?

Through the creation of a public health campaign, I hope to challenge the existing thoughts and perceptions surrounding guns and gun safety and begin to understand whether such a strategy can lead to cultural and behavioral change.