Thailand International CDAC journal

Country(ies) of choice -
Did your issue directly relate to your first country of choice?

My did somewhat relate to my first countries of choice, I had my mind set on doing a country in southern Asia. My issue related because the majority of the southern countries in Asia have no universal health care system. I had two countries in mind when starting the international campaign, Thailand or India. During one of our class group discussions someone mentioned that may take their campaign to India, so that help persuade me to take mine to Thailand. It worked out on my behalf, after doing research I found that Thailand had a bunch of specialist hospitals but very few normal clinics and those they did have were very un-accessible to the general Thai people.

Cultural Issues -
Did your project easily translate culturally to its new target audience?

Yes I think it translated decently well, I did have to change a few words but overall I feel my message was transfered to Thai well.

What new issues came up when attempting to bring attention to your subject matter in this new cultural setting?

One issues with my campaign in Thailand was that about a century ago traditional medicine was outlawed, so I was a little unsure how the Thai people would feel about my campaign.

Research Issues -

What stumbling blocks did you encounter in trying to find information on the subject matter in this new cultural/country setting?

The most major stumbling block I encountered is the whole translation issue. I found it difficult to translate what I was trying to say, and I ended up have to translate the text back and forth to get it as close as I could. Another thing is in Thailand they read right to left so I then had to break down each word so that I could break apart the sentence properly. One other issue was finding up to date statistics, that statistics I did find were from 1999 which may possibly be okay. I just worry because today with the world moving so fast and technology 10 years can be a dramatic change.

What media and methods did you use to try and obtain information?

A big help when looking for inspiration or just information was looking at different types of Thai art and designs. Looking at their art really gave an idea of what the people of the were about and what their style was. I also looked at Thai sculptures, most of them being of Buddha which helped me out because most people think of Buddha as being a jolly fat man and that you rub his belly. In Thailand Buddha was not that popular image at all, he was a thin normal looking man.

Final Resolution -
How did your project change from where you first started with the domestic application of the Creative Strategy?

What changed in terms of subject matter?

My subject changed slightly, my first campaign dealt with younger college students not having health insurance and the impact it can have on them. My international campaign stayed with the theme of public health in a sense, except when it moved to Thailand it changed into use the available traditional medicine to get help because hospitals are not that easily accessible.

What were some changes in terms of visual material?

I went with a more artistic approach with the international campaign, I looked at Thai art and tried to mimic it in my designs.

What other changes did you have to make?

The way I present I message, my first campaign I used scare tactics to carry message across. For the international I went with more of an understanding way to show the benefits of traditional medicine and how they are close by.

Did you attempt to translate any text into the local vernacular? 

Yes I did, I translated  into Thai.

Summary & Conclusion -

I learned a lot from this experience, things do just translate over to another culture like you would think. There are many obstacles you need to consider when designing, the size of the document, how the text read, colors, you have design the whole composition carefully. It does change your view of how the world communicates, there are so many things that need to consider if you want to design and communicate effectively. Overall it was  valuable experience that I learned from. It will not just help me with design for something international but it will also help with design domestically.