Visual Text Analysis - Jerome Heng

Image

A depiction of a dengue mosquito (identified by its distinctive white and black legs), with an inflamed abdomen containing several people, who are most likely victims of dengue. It can be seen that these people are screaming in pain. The mosquito is situated against a relatively dark and gloomy background.

Linguistic features

At the top of the poster, there are two lines of text, 'Stop dengue' and 'Act now'. These phrases indicate the urgency of the problem and the importance of immediate action. At the bottom of the poster, there are the phrases 'Do the 5-step mozzie wipeout' and 'our lives, our fight'. These also represent a call to action.

Textual features

Phrases in the poster use a bold text, with every letter in uppercase. This is meant to capture the attention of the viewer and to bring across a sense of urgency about the situation.

Typographical features 

At the bottom of the poster, there are 5 images showing ways that can be used to prevent the breeding of dengue mosquitoes. This is to give a brief overview of what one can do after being persuaded to take action by the poster. Beside the images, there is also the logo of the anti-mosquito movement, which is a dengue mosquito situated against some skin with a red bar crossing the image diagonally.

Layout

The enlarged abdomen of the mosquito with people trapped inside appears to be grotesque, and is able to attract attention from viewers. As people examine the poster in greater detail, they can observe that the people are actually screaming and are suffering in great pain. This emphasises the negative impact dengue can bring to one's family. Also, the five images depicting how to stop dengue at the bottom of the poster give a brief overview of how to prevent dengue, without using a lot of text to describe the methods in detail.

Color

The colour of the mosquito's abdomen is red. This signifies the blood that the mosquitoes suck from their victims. The faces of the victims who are trapped in the abdomen are also tinted red. This brings out the pain and suffering felt by the victims. The colour of the phrase 'stop dengue' is red, and the colour of the other phrase 'act now' is white. The colour of 'act now' helps to emphasise the call to action, and standout among the red and black of its surroundings.

Purpose: The purpose of this poster is to raise awareness about the effects of dengue on the public, and to convince them to take immediate action to combat the threat of dengue. 

Audience: The public of Singapore, as most members of the public are able to carry out the actions prescribed by the poster to combat dengue. This shows that the poster was targeted towards a general, public audience.

Context: There have been many recent cases of dengue in Singapore, and the number of cases are gradually increasing. This poster was released as part of a programme by the National Environment Agency to combat this rising trend of dengue.

Culture: The dengue mosquito is easily recognizable and a common threat in Singapore. However, some people are still hesitant to take action to combat dengue and the poster is required to persuade them to do so.