Tackling issues through design

Smoking

The way in which cigarettes have been marketed previously has often been that of a taboo, with a large outcry being upon why something so harmful may be so easily sold and publicly marketed. Of course the selling of tobacco is not now as publically demonstrated as it may have been deemed previously, but the fact is that a harmful product is on sale and no legal action has been taken is somewhat a reflection on the society in which we live.

The somber reality is that tax upon cigarettes gathers far too much revenue, and thus the government ignores the underlying issues of this deadly habit.  Although laws and restrictions have been formally made surrounding the way in which tobacco is sold, restricting its advertisement, its just a fact that as long as its sold, users will carry on satisfying their habit. Thus I believe the way in which to tackle this issue is to develop something in which will deter a younger audience away from such an harmful device.

When researching upon this topic I found an highly interesting article from that of the visual design company 'TAXI', surrounding a solution in which they find fitting.

After surveying a group of 1,000 smokers to find out which colors they found  most visually offensive, PANTONE 448C—also known as “opaque couché”—was deemed to be the least attractive of all. This greenish brown color was associated with words like “death”, “dirty” and “tar”—however, they suggest it's  repulsiveness makes it useful in the fight against smoking.

After wide debate within parliament it has been expressed that the above packaging must be applied to all cigarette packings with the alterations only being for the brand's name. 

The Irish Republic passed a similar law earlier this month and Australia has had plain packaging since 2012. Health campaigners said they were "delighted" with the move thus demonstrating how impact design can be. Within my future design career I would definitely like to be involved within a similar design, using psychology behind graphics to suppourt my directed outcome.