Visual Analysis Smoking

Smoking has been a great health concern over the past years, especially regarding the destructive effects of second-hand smoking. The society that we live in often glamorizes smoking most notably in the media and as a result, it has influenced many individuals to take part in this life taking habit. The visual argument I chose addresses the concern of smoking in the presence of young children in an effective and engaging way.

The core argument that this visual is exemplifying is the controversial issue that smoking cigarettes does not only cause destruction to your body, it as well causes harm to the innocent children that are in the presence of the smoke. The image conveys a story of a young girl with a smoke halo suggesting that death awaits her due to the second hand smoke from her parents. The graphic also includes a small text reading, “Children of parents who smoke, get to heaven earlier.” This simple yet short message evokes a strong emotion of sadness and worry into the audience as smoking is such a great concern due to the

increasing popularity and the devastating effects it has on the user and the bystanders- especially in young children. This argument presented by the Child Health Foundation, primarily challenges smokers to discontinue their usage of cigarettes in order to preserve the health of the new generation.
This visual argument is effective in persuading the audience by both appealing to their emotions and the profuse usage of design elements such as type, space, color, and graphics. In the first place, this visual uses type as a connection to the young girl as it uses a small sans serif font. The usage of the sans serif font leaves off the impression of child-like innocence as the edges of the font are softly curved in contrast from the sharp edges of serif fonts. For this reason, this design element functions as a great tool to leave an emotional impression on the audience. Moreover, the small text size also communicates the concept of a young child because it is so petite and fragile looking.
The next element, space and layout, is also used efficiently. The visual contains mostly empty space in the middle, which draws attention to the small text and the graphic of the young girl, hence making the audience notice the important details of the argument. The bare space also gives out an empty, melancholic feel to it serving as an important tone to this serious issue. Not to mention, the layout of the visual focuses in on the main subjects by avoiding unnecessary clutter and the way the text is positioned, right in the center, emphasizes the textual impact.
The usage of color also plays an important role in the effectiveness of the visual argument.

One significant detail is that the majority of the picture consist of the color black which is strongly associated with death and as a result it moves the readers quite passionately. Color is an important element that appeals to the audience’s emotions and the pronounced usage of the color black sets out a very solemn tone, in which vastly contrasts the rest of the image from the soft colors of pink and light blue. The colors of pink and blue represent the young girl vivacious with life, whereas the black signifies the demise that awaits her due to her parents smoke. Another key point is that the color grows from a dark gradient at the base of the picture, to a lighter tint at the top. To clarify this idea, the aspect of heaven is often symbolized as a gentle ray of light and as a result, the colors emphasize the association with

death.
Lastly, the element of images and graphics also leave an impact on the audience. The main image in the visual argument is a small female child with the smoke halo which the audience can greatly sympathize for. In our society we really care for the youth of America and picturing them getting harmed in any way truly concerns people. The use of the cute girl greatly improves the emotional impact and it is attention grabbing. The image condenses the argument into a powerful visual, which really adds depth and sentiment to the visual. Furthermore, the usage of only one image makes the message powerful as there isn’t much clutter to look at.
As can be seen, these types of design elements combined leave a very thought provoking image to look at that appeals to the audience’s emotions and moves them to think about the consequences of smoking. Because this argument appeals to our values and emotions, this piece can be effective in many different forms of publication, such as flyers or perhaps on a bulletin board. The more publicity this issue has, the more lives can be saved.