UNIT 3 BRAINSTORMING
“GUIDED FREEWRITE” FOR IDEA-SHARPENING
• A “Guided Freewrite” is an activity that guides you through a series of prompts and
usually establishes a specific amount of time to spend on each question.
• The goal is to help you feel confident that you are building PSAs that have a clear
claim, call to action, and target audience. Until you know what those things are,
working with images alone might feel frustrating or unnecessarily time-consuming.
• Don’t skimp on time. Write for the full allotted time. If you feel stuck or that you’ve
run out of words, begin writing, “I’ve run out of things to say” until something else
useful comes to mind.
3 MINUTES
•What is the main argument/message/claim
you want to communicate in your Public
Service Advertisement posters, and why?
4 MINUTES
Who are your possible target audiences, and why? List as many
as you can, and err toward specific—the audience is *not*
“general public,” even if it is a “public” service advertisement.
Think about who most needs to hear your argument? That’s
probably a potential audience.
You might define the groups based on identity/demographic, such as
Hispanic women in the Treasure Valley ages 18-30 or college students
with credit card debt, or behavior, such as “parents who choose not to
vaccinate their children,” or “
5 MINUTES
• Read over your answers to the previous question.
• Work with one audience at a time.
• Match as many values to each audience as you can. This is only a sample list of values—
consider what motivates your audience, and that can lead to useful answers, too.
Authenticity
Achievement
Adventure
Authority
Autonomy
Balance
Beauty
Boldness
Compassion
Competition
Challenge
Citizenship
Community
Competency
Contribution
Creativity
Curiosity
Determination
Equality
Fairness
Faith
Fame
Freedom
Fun
Growth
Happiness
Honesty
Humor
Influence
Inner Harmony
Individualism
Independence
Justice
Kindness
Knowledge
Leadership
Leisure
Learning
Love
Loyalty
Meaningful Work
Materialism
Mobility
Openness
Optimism
Peace
Pleasure
Popularity
Privacy
Progress
Pragmatism
Recognition
Relationships
Religion
Reputation
Respect
Responsibility
Romance
Science
Security
Self-Respect
Service
Spirituality
Stability
Success
Status
Trustworthiness
Technology
Volunteerism
Wealth
Wisdom
Work
3 MINUTES
• Work with one audience and their values at a time
• List as many actions this audience could take that would shift their
thinking toward your argument.
Sample action verbs: Stop, Prevent, Buckle (as in a safety belt),
Explore, Create, Give, Try, Build, Teach, Grow, etc.
3 MINUTES
• Look at one audience/value/action match at a time.
• How/Why would that audience be moved to action by
appealing to that/those values?
• Example: Hispanic women of child-bearing age who learn
of a high infant mortality rate in their demographic would
be moved to action to seek prenatal care from doctors
they can trust (due to fears about immigration) because
they (like any parent) value life, family, community, health,
and safety.
3 MINUTES
• Choose one audience/values/action set to work with at a
time.
• List or sketch as many images, colors, and shapes that
come to mind; don’t overthink—just list anything, even if
it seems ridiculous
3 MINUTES
• On paper, make a quick, basic sketch of a PSA poster that
aligns with your favorite idea that arose from this activity.
• Try to include a rough image and some of the text you’d
include.
10 MINUTES: PREP YOUR ELI POST
Skim back over your responses, and decide which ideas are the most promising.
Articulate the following for at least one idea you feel pretty good about. The responses to
these questions will be what you post to Eli on Wednesday as your brainstorming.
1. What is your argument?
2. Who needs to hear your argument? (audiences)
3. What values does this audience hold?
4. What actions should this audience take based on those values?
5. Why would this audience be persuaded to think or behave differently based on this
appeal?
6. What images/shapes/colors come to mind when you think about communicating this
argument visually?

Unit 3 Brainstorming sp18

  • 1.
  • 2.
    “GUIDED FREEWRITE” FORIDEA-SHARPENING • A “Guided Freewrite” is an activity that guides you through a series of prompts and usually establishes a specific amount of time to spend on each question. • The goal is to help you feel confident that you are building PSAs that have a clear claim, call to action, and target audience. Until you know what those things are, working with images alone might feel frustrating or unnecessarily time-consuming. • Don’t skimp on time. Write for the full allotted time. If you feel stuck or that you’ve run out of words, begin writing, “I’ve run out of things to say” until something else useful comes to mind.
  • 3.
    3 MINUTES •What isthe main argument/message/claim you want to communicate in your Public Service Advertisement posters, and why?
  • 4.
    4 MINUTES Who areyour possible target audiences, and why? List as many as you can, and err toward specific—the audience is *not* “general public,” even if it is a “public” service advertisement. Think about who most needs to hear your argument? That’s probably a potential audience. You might define the groups based on identity/demographic, such as Hispanic women in the Treasure Valley ages 18-30 or college students with credit card debt, or behavior, such as “parents who choose not to vaccinate their children,” or “
  • 5.
    5 MINUTES • Readover your answers to the previous question. • Work with one audience at a time. • Match as many values to each audience as you can. This is only a sample list of values— consider what motivates your audience, and that can lead to useful answers, too. Authenticity Achievement Adventure Authority Autonomy Balance Beauty Boldness Compassion Competition Challenge Citizenship Community Competency Contribution Creativity Curiosity Determination Equality Fairness Faith Fame Freedom Fun Growth Happiness Honesty Humor Influence Inner Harmony Individualism Independence Justice Kindness Knowledge Leadership Leisure Learning Love Loyalty Meaningful Work Materialism Mobility Openness Optimism Peace Pleasure Popularity Privacy Progress Pragmatism Recognition Relationships Religion Reputation Respect Responsibility Romance Science Security Self-Respect Service Spirituality Stability Success Status Trustworthiness Technology Volunteerism Wealth Wisdom Work
  • 6.
    3 MINUTES • Workwith one audience and their values at a time • List as many actions this audience could take that would shift their thinking toward your argument. Sample action verbs: Stop, Prevent, Buckle (as in a safety belt), Explore, Create, Give, Try, Build, Teach, Grow, etc.
  • 7.
    3 MINUTES • Lookat one audience/value/action match at a time. • How/Why would that audience be moved to action by appealing to that/those values? • Example: Hispanic women of child-bearing age who learn of a high infant mortality rate in their demographic would be moved to action to seek prenatal care from doctors they can trust (due to fears about immigration) because they (like any parent) value life, family, community, health, and safety.
  • 8.
    3 MINUTES • Chooseone audience/values/action set to work with at a time. • List or sketch as many images, colors, and shapes that come to mind; don’t overthink—just list anything, even if it seems ridiculous
  • 9.
    3 MINUTES • Onpaper, make a quick, basic sketch of a PSA poster that aligns with your favorite idea that arose from this activity. • Try to include a rough image and some of the text you’d include.
  • 10.
    10 MINUTES: PREPYOUR ELI POST Skim back over your responses, and decide which ideas are the most promising. Articulate the following for at least one idea you feel pretty good about. The responses to these questions will be what you post to Eli on Wednesday as your brainstorming. 1. What is your argument? 2. Who needs to hear your argument? (audiences) 3. What values does this audience hold? 4. What actions should this audience take based on those values? 5. Why would this audience be persuaded to think or behave differently based on this appeal? 6. What images/shapes/colors come to mind when you think about communicating this argument visually?