Day 11 – was all about STI’s

In July 2009, the Health Protection Agency released figures on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the UK for 2008. They showed that 12% of the population is 16 to 24 years old, yet this age group accounts for more than half of all newly diagnosed STIs in the UK:

65% of chlamydia, 55% of genital warts, 47% of gonorrhoea, 44% of herpes, and 17% of syphilis infections diagnosed in GUM (genitourinary medicine) clinics last year.

If you have sex without a condom, the odds of catching an STI are quite high. You can’t tell by looking at someone whether they’ve got an STI. These infections don’t always have any symptoms, which means that you might not even know if you’ve caught something. You then run the risk of not getting treatment and of passing it on to others.

You only need to have unprotected sex once to get an STI or pass one on. So if you’ve only had sex once, you could still be infected. The more sexual partners you have, the more at risk you are. This is true whether you have more than one partner at the same time or at different times.

My brief to the 1st year group

Present a poster campaign to the target audience that will be on display in the toilets of pubs and clubs this Christmas, that focuses on one STI and warns of the dangers as well as giving advice on what to do if they’re concerned.

Day 2

On the morning of day two, I felt more nervous than on day one. I think this was due to setting my first quick fire brief for the third year group. A topical and relevant brief as October is breast cancer awareness month.

The brief
Design a breast cancer awareness, advertising campaign for Tenovus.
Tenovus is Wales’ leading cancer charity and has a distinguished history in the support and treatment of women and men affected by breast cancer. In fact, work carried out in the Tenovus Institute for Cancer Research lead to the development of Tamoxifen, the world’s most successful and widely used breast cancer drug.

Tenovus are now looking to the future, but can only continue to provide support to the thousands of people affected by breast cancer each year in Wales with support from the general public.

Their campaign had to high-light the issues faced from the perspective of the patient or family member. The campaign could be hard hitting or positive in its tone of voice. However, it had a few mandatory inclusions: a strapline, call to action and contact info as well as the Tenovus logo.

As the session is only 2 hours, what they produce are unfinished, scamped up ideas. It’s a quick fire session that forces them to think on their feet, which will enable them to quickly visualise their thinking.

First brief written

Ahead of schedule, I’ve written my first brief for the third year students at Swansea Met. It’s a topical and nationally relevant health promotion campaign, for a leading Welsh cancer charity. 2 hours of quick fire thinking to come up with ideas on how to deliver the message should get their brains fired up.