Alex Rikys

A Guide to Finding Yourself Beyond the Herd

My project explored how communication design could be used to address herd mentality on social media and support the development of individual identities among adolescent girls.

Herd Mentality is a psychological phenomenon where people conform to the beliefs of those around them to fit in. Whilst this is not necessarily destructive, it can be damaging to 12-18 year olds who don’t have the life experience or critical thinking toolset to question the beliefs of others. This could lead to blind conformity in both opinion and behaviour.

The visual metaphor of sheep is used to represent how herd-like behaviour among young girls can negatively impact their formation of online identities. Using a multimodal activation model, my project is presented as a design publication, motion graphic and poster series.

Blending metaphor and visual communication, my project is designed to educate and guide Rangatahi to acknowledge the importance of individuality online and the benefit of taking time to reconnect with reality offline.