In order to start repsonding to my research and initial ideas I've experimented with a few of my favourite ideas by quickly visualising them in order to gauge what outcomes could be developed.
Invitation to fake news awards: (figure 1)
One of my very initial ideas was to create a official invitation for Trumps fake news awards, treating the results as an actual physical event in order to highlight the ridiculous nature of the awards which branded many reputable journalists and media networks as reporters of fake news. If this idea was to be further develop the presidential seal could be stamped or foiled onto the invitation to create a more official aesthetic. Furthermore an envelop with a wax seal could also be developed to further create importance to the fictions artefact. However upon reflection I feel this outcome has a very limited concept and fails to reflect the concept of fake news and post truth politics from what I've learnt throughout my research. This idea fit within my initial understanding of fake news which was largely centred around Trump, however since researching further into the topic the connection to Trump has become less relevant.
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Trusted figures presenting false statements: (figure 2)
Another idea I've experimented with is based on the question I've asked myself constantly throughout my research, what makes fake news believable and what makes post-truth politics so successful. The answer to both of these being that they appeal to peoples emotions and pre-conceptions about certain topics meaning that when an article is presented that fits within these parameters we are less likely to fact check as they aline with what we already believe. Therefore I've experimented with take false statements and treating them as though they belong to trusted and well-loved icons to see if they appear more believable, which they don't. Furthermore this creation of an oxymoron highlights the fictions nature of the statements highlighting the ridiculous notion that someone could believe in the statement.
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Redacted Document/ Can't Handle the Truth: (figure 3-5)
Another idea was to present fake news as redacted 'documents' based on the idea that the public can't handle the truth as they choose to believe what fits inline with their personal beliefs. However when developing this idea I discovered the top 10 stories (based on engagement) on the Guardians website, with the top story being 12 camels disqualified from Saudi beauty contest in 'Botox' row. This was particularly interesting to me as it demonstrates how outlandish headlines gain more engagement online, in a similar way to how post-truth politics appeals to people emotions gets more attention online. Furthermore fake news tends to gain more engagement online than real content. In order to test this idea visually I took the camel story and covered certain details in the style of a redacted document, leaving the odd and amusing aspects of the story visible. The use of the statement 'you can't handle the truth' adds context to the focus on post-truth politics as more and more people are treating facts as opinions choosing what they believe. The use of the camel story highlights the how ridiculous it is to pick and choose facts so we don't have to change are minds, whereas if we listened to the truth we would probably be alright in the same way you would be fine if you read the article about camel botox. Personally I think the concept behind this experiment is interesting however the visuals are not very strong, as its quite difficult to understand the concept based on one poster. Furthermore the harsh black blocks against the red typography create a clash making it slightly difficult to read. This lead to the use of blue to block out the information as it allowed the text to read moe easily, however this looks less official taking context away from the concept. The use of a light grey allows the experimentation to look more official whilst the text is easily visible, however I feel the format of a poster or series of posters lacks impact. If this idea was to be developed it could be presented in the form of a publication or file resembling government files/documents more accuratly.
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