Title

Ellie Westerheide: 1918 & 2020 Pandemic Poster

Authors

Ellie Westerheide, University of DaytonFollow

Files

Description

• 19 inches high, 20 inches wide
• Mixed-media digital collage

Publication Date

10-13-2020

Keywords

poster, collage, art, graphic design, pandemic, influenza, coronavirus

Disciplines

Art and Design | Graphic Design

Comments

For my project, I wanted to convey the message involving the symptoms of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and also the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Both of the viruses have similar symptoms; the main one I wanted to focus on was shortness of breath. The viruses cause a fever, cough, body aches, and nausea. My idea was to incorporate the line charts of the two viruses into mountains to show how the viruses took so many people's lives during the two separate times. After much research and inspiration, I decided to incorporate the main points of my project to be mountains; one being the 1918 influenza virus and one being the 2020 coronavirus.

To better get the point across to show how the symptoms affected people’s lives, I included a collage of photos representing what the times were like from the medical standpoint. I included bolded texts from articles hinting at what the symptoms were like.

To finish off my project, I made sure to incorporate myself sitting at the top of the COVID-19 mountain wearing my mask to show how I am looking back at the people from 1918, experiencing a very similar pandemic. I wanted these people to show a more calming effect of them standing or sitting on the mountains peacefully taking in all of the craziness coming from the pandemics.

Recommended Citation

Westerheide, Ellie, "Ellie Westerheide: 1918 & 2020 Pandemic Poster" (2020). COVID-19 Graphic Design: Posters. 14.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stu_vad_covidcollage/14