Paul Pagel

A look back at my 2012 bachelor’s thesis: one newspaper, two contrasting visual styles, and a question about how media attract our attention to violence.

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Ungleich: Violence and Media (2012)

Red cover of Ungleich with a white geometric symbol and the German question “Werden wir, was wir sehen?”

Bachelor’s thesis · B.A. Design (Communication Design) · Hochschule Niederrhein · 2012 · Thesis grade: 1.0

For my bachelor’s thesis, I explored how media select and present violence, and how editorial design could help readers question what they see. Developed as a student concept for a special supplement to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Ungleich translated a written research thesis into a newspaper and an accompanying video.

I wanted to use the tabloid press’s own methods to question how it attracts attention. Cynicism and irony were central to the idea: draw readers in, then give them a reason to examine the presentation itself.

One newspaper, two visual styles

The newspaper was the main output. I chose the format for the space it offered to combine visual explanations with a detailed account of the research. Within a single publication, I brought together two contrasting visual styles. The first section took its cues from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, using a restrained layout to present research on violence and media.

The second section used BILD-inspired typography and visual emphasis to present scientific content. That contradiction was deliberate. I wanted the tabloid presentation to draw readers in, then make them question how it directed their attention and shaped their expectations.

Open newspaper spread titled “Ungleich”, introducing society, violence and media.
A restrained spread combines research text with a structured newspaper layout.
Black newspaper page with the German headline “Gewalt & Aggression diversifizieren sich aus bio-psycho-sozialen Mechanismen”.
Large condensed type, strong contrast and red underlining give this research statement a tabloid visual language.

What the research led me to

The written thesis examined how media select and present violence, how audiences respond to it, and how scientific findings enter public debate. I drew on studies of aggression,1 media effects2 and how audiences interpret violent content,3 alongside research into BILD’s editorial practices.4 Three conclusions shaped the project.

Media can warn about violence while using it to attract attention. In the thesis, I argued that some media outlets warn audiences about the dangers of violent content while also using its fascination to attract attention. This tension became a starting point for the newspaper’s critical use of tabloid presentation.

Research and public debate follow different rules. Scientific findings depend on definitions, methods and context. News coverage can leave out those limits and conditions, turning a complex finding into a simple explanation or a striking claim.5 The challenge was to make research accessible while retaining the distinctions that give it meaning.

Design can help research reach a wider audience. I concluded that communication designers could work with researchers to explain their findings beyond specialist publications, without losing important context. That became the purpose of the newspaper.

Designing for a closer look

For me, the design question was how to catch someone’s attention and then give them a reason to look more closely. The newspaper offered room for detailed explanations; the video was intended to bring people towards them. Editorial design became part of how I explored that question.

The video

Alongside the newspaper, I made the German-language video Werden wir was wir lesen und sehen?—“Do we become what we read and see?” In the written thesis, I described it as an attention-grabbing entry point on a dedicated website, intended to reach people beyond the newspaper and direct them towards the research.

Werden wir was wir lesen und sehen? — original project video (German).

Watch the original project video on YouTube (German).

More from the publication

Select an image to enlarge it.

Red cover of Ungleich with a white geometric symbol and the German question “Werden wir, was wir sehen?”
The cover asks: “Do we become what we see?”
Partially turned newspaper page showing the column layout and translucent reverse-side typography.
A partially turned page reveals the newspaper’s columns and typography showing through the paper.
Newspaper spread about Bild, with the historical statistic “109 von 344” set in large type.
The BILD spread examines editorial practices through a historical German Press Council statistic. These figures belong to the original project’s research context.
A hand turns a page of the newspaper, revealing black, white and red typography.
Turning a page reveals bold black, white and red typography and the newspaper’s physical format.
Red newspaper page with the German statement “Je länger ein Autor tot ist, desto höher ist die Chance, dass Gewalt als Kunst interpretiert wird.”
A statement from the original project: “The longer an author has been dead, the greater the chance that violence will be interpreted as art.”
Close-up of a black newspaper page with white German typography discussing Bild.
A close-up of the BILD critique, set in white type on black with red underlining.
Angled close-up of red German typography with black underlines on a newspaper page.
Red type and heavy black underlines emphasise a statement about explaining media effects.
Red newspaper page with a large German statement about discussions of violence in media.
A red page contrasts the sensational treatment of media violence with a factual discussion of youth violence and media effects.

Thesis examiners: Prof. Nora Gummert Hauser (first examiner) and Reinhold Scheer (second examiner).

This article describes the project and its research context at the time of the thesis.

References

  1. Wahl, Klaus (2009). Aggression und Gewalt: Ein biologischer, psychologischer und sozialwissenschaftlicher Überblick. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag. Publisher’s page (DOI) ↩︎
  2. Kunczik, Michael, and Astrid Zipfel (2006). Gewalt und Medien: Ein Studienhandbuch. 5th, fully revised edition. Böhlau. ↩︎
  3. Meister, Dorothee M., Uwe Sander, Klaus Peter Treumann, Eckhard Burkatzki, Jörg Hagedorn, Mareike Strotmann, and Claudia Wegener (2008). Mediale Gewalt: Ihre Rezeption, Wahrnehmung und Bewertung durch Jugendliche. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. Publisher’s page (DOI) ↩︎
  4. Arlt, Hans-Jürgen, and Wolfgang Storz (2011). Drucksache “Bild”: Eine Marke und ihre Mägde. Die “Bild”-Darstellung der Griechenland- und Eurokrise 2010. OBS-Arbeitsheft 67. Otto Brenner Stiftung. Read the study (PDF) ↩︎
  5. Brosius, Hans-Bernd, and Katja Schwer (2008). Die Forschung über Mediengewalt: Deutungshoheit von Kommunikationswissenschaft, Medienpsychologie oder Medienpädagogik? Nomos. ISBN 978-3-8329-3371-5. Publisher’s page ↩︎
Paul

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