Evaluation for 'That's killer'

A lot of my research with my briefs blends into one, as it should as my design practice and statement encompasses everything I do, but in particular some of the research I did for 'My Idea of Fun' was extremely relative to this brief. I was stuck on a final major brief and began researching into criminal minds, it was Ed Gein in particular that sparked this brief. I was getting extremely aggravated by misinformed people on forums and blog posts inaccurately portraying how he actually was(as if i'd know) and so I wanted to do something about it. I read a lot into his life and upbringing, and was interested enough to try to find films on his life, one in particular really annoyed me, as the opening scene showed him about to rape a young girl and I switched it off within minutes.

I didn't think he could be classed as a serial killer, or a killer in general. What people most often forget is that we are all born with a brain, and sometimes chemicals within our brain, either present at birth or caused due to experience can alter our perception of morality. This brief was important to me as I wanted to get across the mental state of some of these people, because sometimes we can all too often get caught up with the atrocities of the crime rather than to sit down and research into them. The film aggravated me because I can categorically state that Ed Gein did not derive any sexual pleasure from anything he did. This brief was easy to expand, because I knew that people weren't ordinarily going to pick up magazines about serial killers, and the easiest output for my information would be television. I related the magazines to a series on 4OD which I came up with, which then allowed the viewers to order the magazines should they be further interested or simply want a piece of the program.

The unfortunate thing is that I didn't send the correct amount of pages to print and so two of them printed wrong, I'm going to rectify this so that I can take them to interviews in the future and be happy with them. 

updated brief

KILLERS

Concept

The pack that the magazine comes in has a form that can be filled in to receive a free gift for subcribing to That’s Killer magazine. Items include; a pack of cards and a rubix cube, communicating the idea of finding the killer as a game or a mystery to be solved; just as you would come to a conclusion after you have read the magazine. Other gifts include a clock; relating to time of death of the victims and finally a ‘Do not disturb’ door hanger; relative to the private nature of the killer, in particular Ed Gein who lived a very private and solitude life. 

This project is a series of four magazines accompanying a television program on channel 4. The aim of the series is to highlight the mental state of killers, rather than to glamourise the murders, and to also straighten out urban legends surrounding each case. It is important to view criminals as mentally unstable, as we are all born with a sense of morality - there needs to a realisation, those who are born with a chemical imbalance within their brain need to be treated. If those who commited horrific crimes thought for one moment that it was acceptable, then wouldn’t they be doing so in the public eye and not behind closed doors? ‘That’s Killer!’ is a light hearted and understanding take on the criminal mind - not accepting what has happened, simply providing a non biased view that is against the kind of berating ‘The Sun’ hands out. 

The way in which the viewer would learn of the exclusive pack including the magazine would be through the 4OD website. Once on the designated page for the program, the viewer could choose to fill in a form to receive a free promotional pack about it. The pack in it’s entirety would include; a magazine encased in an evidence envelope, a fact file inside of a documents enclosed grip seal bag, a poster and one of the novelty gift items on the aforementioned board. Each magazine will be accompanied by an Augmented Reality app that gives you more information on the people and places mentioned in each publication such as common misconceptions about the figure in question. For example the unrealistic movie portrayals of Ed Gein as a serial rapist when in actual fact he never once had sexual relations with any of his victims. 

The series is in four parts and studies the life of four main figures; Ed Gein, BTK Killer, Richard Chase and Andrei Chikatilo. These are the magazines that would be sent in the pack once ordered from the 4OD website.

Audience

4OD viewers

Deliverables

* A series of publications

* Accompanying posters

* Fact files

photoshopped elements

Killer 1

Killer 2

Killer 3

Killer 4