This visual essay was created through a process of a few drawings, starting with abstract representations of racial discrimination and finally moving to an abstract drawing, trying to express the idealogies we need to move towards. Starting with the shape of a face and filling it in with no specific gender or race, trying to present the message that we are all the same and are all equal.  Although realistically most people will not understand it right away because of the abstract interpretation I took, after some context and thought it could become clear. 

I decided to do an abstract drawing instead of  memes or cartoons, because I thought that was more pleasing and interesting, but unfortunately is hard to understand and will be seen less because of the increasing popularity of memes. I wanted to stray away from a digital platform because it felt more authentic to do a hand drawing. 

I picked this topic with the intention of learning more about this information for myself, since I had never truly seen or understood racism, it was never a prevalent topic in my life. Coming to college and learning from experiences and stories that others told me, it opened my eyes. I have never had an experience in which I have been discriminated against based on my race. One of the audiences I chose for my visual project was people who, like me, had never had these experiences because they should care just as much as people who have had these experiences. Of course, first they need to be educated and confronted and that is why I want them to see my work, and be able to explore this topic further. Some people are not fully aware of ways that others are being discriminated against as they have never seen it themselves. Not unlike me, they may have grown up in communities where there were very few minorities. It is their job to educate themselves, but unfortunately not all do.

After creating my art piece I recognized how this could be seen from other points of view and how so many more people, than just my desired audience, can connect and relate to this art piece. I used pathos in this piece to cater to the emotional side of people and be able to push people to continue thinking about these topics from a sympathetic perspective. 

Working on a visual essay vs a traditional essay was an easier and more gratifying experience. Taking time to plan out my visual piece and practicing different variations of ideas on paper was extremely helpful in connecting my ideas, and actually executing it on paper.  

Writing a traditional essay is personally a tiring and tedious process that I am never fully able to accomplish to my liking. Getting my full thought process and final idea into words is one of the most challenging tasks and being able to express myself through a piece of art is much more natural and cohesive. 

This could also be extremely helpful to the reader/viewer, because some may have issues just focusing and understanding words,  but incorporating a visual element allows people to connect further with the thoughts you’re trying to display. It’s often easier to fully grasp an idea when having a visual piece to help. Personally I have always been an artistic and visual learner and learning how to write cohesive essays has always been an excruciating process. Being able to focus on just a visual component really helped me to express and grow on my ideas. It helped me to reflect more on the topic and to further understand what I had already been researching. I think this assignment was a successful way in pushing people past their comfort zone or helping people expand on their ideas in a creative and thoughtful way.