Animated Shorts Help Voters Understand The 2016 Election; Otis College Of Art And Design Partners With SeePolitical To Inform The Electorate
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) February 03, 2016 -- Otis College of Art and Design students partnered with voter education platform SeePolitical to empower voters by providing key ballot and process information via fun, animated videos. The nonpartisan digital shorts are produced in collaboration with Otis Digital Media students and the Los Angeles-based creative agency Imaginary Forces.
The project began in a Liberal Arts and Sciences capstone course taught by faculty David Bremer. Students were asked to tackle a significant topic within the humanities using research, communication skills, and professional development.
Bremer, who has a rich background in social justice and higher education, shared how this unfolds in the classroom, “As Otis students bring their considerable information design skills to bear on teaching the electoral process, they both re-learn and promote the underpinnings of social responsibility and civil society… topics of considerable and timely national significance.”
SeePolitical is a nonprofit organization seeking to help voters quickly and easily understand complex ballot issues. Founder Nate Kaplan realized there was a need for more voter-friendly explanations of ballot issues when even the legislators he worked for did not understand what they were being asked to vote on. Kaplan created SeePolitical as a solution to educate the electorate.
"I was fascinated to witness each students' transformation from the beginning of the semester to the end. Otis students are incredibly talented and engaged,” said Kaplan, Founder and Executive Director of SeePolitical. “They have a keen instinct knowing what works in media, so much so that they were able to make a very difficult political process easy to understand."
With the first round of Primaries and Caucuses starting on February 1, the video “How We Choose Our President: Primaries and Caucuses (Part 1)” has already been released and featured on several media outlets. The next video, ‘What is the Electoral College?’ will follow shortly, along with Spanish versions of each.
SeePolitical also plans to release a comic book, drafted by Otis students, explaining how Primary Elections, Caucuses, and the Electoral College function, which will be downloadable from the SeePolitical website.
In 2014, Otis students worked with SeePolitical to create videos for four of the six November ballot initiatives (1, 45, 46, and 47) in California, and Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin honored their hard work in improving democracy by awarding them a commendation.
ABOUT OTIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
Established in 1918, Otis College of Art and Design is a national leader in art and design education. The College mission is to prepare diverse students of art and design to enrich our world through their creativity, skill, and vision. Alumni and faculty are Fulbright, MacArthur, and Guggenheim grant recipients, Oscar awardees, legendary costume designers, leaders of contemporary art movements, and design stars at Apple, Abercrombie & Fitch, Adobe, Pixar, DreamWorks, Mattel, Nike, and Disney.
Otis enrolls approximately 1,100 full-time students, and offers Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Architecture/Landscape/Interiors, Digital Media (Game and Entertainment Design, Animation, and Motion Design), Fashion Design, Communication Arts (Graphic Design, Illustration, and Advertising Design), Fine Arts (Painting, Photography, and Sculpture/New Genres), Product Design, and Toy Design. Otis also awards the Master of Fine Arts degree in Fine Arts, Graphic Design, Public Practice, and Writing.
The five-acre main campus is located on L.A.’s Westside near the beach and LAX; the Graduate Studios are in nearby Culver City, and in the 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica.
2,700 adults and children participate in Continuing Education art and design classes and workshops.
John Axtell, Otis College of Art and Design, http://www.otis.edu, +1 (310) 665-6857, [email protected]
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