FUTURE THINKING REPORT
SIMPLICITY & MINIMALISM
ABBIE NICHOLSON N0581024 fig.1
I confirm that this work has gained ethical approval and that I have faithfully observed the terms of the approval in the conduct of this project. Signed (student) ............................................................................
word count: 2820
TABLE OF CONTENTS
04 Introduction 05 Methodology 06 Introduction to Simplicity and Minimalism 08 Why Are We Spending More? 09 Too Much Choice? 10 Dating Industry 12 Volutary Simplicty 14 Simple Fashion Brands 16 Experience Economy 17 Travel Industry 19 Conclusion 20 Bibliography 22 References 23 Illustrations
INTRODUCTION This report discusses the macro trend simplicity and minimalism, which has been identified to be influencing society and selected industries such as dating, fashion and travel. It critically looks at how the abundance of choice we now have has manufactured this trend alongside other societal factors and reviews how this is changing consumer behaviour and
how it is affecting our quality of life both positively and negatively. The report will start by defining what the trend is and the key drivers behind it. Throughout the report, it will also identify new innovations that this trend has influenced and gaps in the market that have been created through the evolution of the simplicity and minimalism trend.
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METHODOLOGY
To underpin the secondary research within this report a range of academic sources were assessed from journal articles to texts to websites and online data. Books such as ‘The Paradox of Choice’ were used to gain research around one of the main themes in the report of ‘too much choice’. This author of this book Barry Schwartz is known for his in-depth research into this issue with a TED talk to support this, however, an implication of using his work is that it could be seen as slightly out-dated, with the book being published 13 years ago a lot will of changed within that period of time in society, yet the main argument can still be applied to consumer culture today.
Journal articles were also accessed via both the Universities library and Google scholar, this gave a background on key issues such as consumer culture and the minimalist movement. They were selected because of the in-depth research they have undergone within the journals but journals can be biased with the writers being very opinionative about the subject being discussed. Online sources including the guardian are easily accessible and allow a researcher to quickly collect opinions and ideas to influence their own thinking, implications of using these are that the articles can sometimes be biased so this must be considered.
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INTRODUCTION TO SIMPLICITY AND MINIMALISM Times of uncertainty create the most significant cultural disruptions. The collective anxiety the world is feeling at this very moment has been shaped by surprising factors such as Brexit and Donald Trump. Shocking people across the globe, the unpredictability of these historic events has created the craving for security, safety and closeness. Alongside this, economic apprehension has changed people’s vision of life; consumers are being overwhelmed by information, work and choice resulting in the desire for simplicity and minimalism in all aspects of their lives. The idea of simplicity originates from the Buddhist history and culture with one of the teachings within Buddhism saying, “wanting deprives us of contentment and happiness” (Buddhanet.net, n.d.). Their philosophy of life takes a very minimalist approach with practices such as Japanese Zen placing emphasis on an uncluttered mind, honest emotions and a healthy body and soul. On the
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other hand, we live in a ‘wanting world’ where people are constantly wanting more whether that is success, money or possessions, which for a Buddhist’s would be seen as greed. Greed is typically defined as attempting to possess more than one needs, which as a nation is something we are constantly undertaking creating the proliferation of consumption we see today. Today simplicity and minimalism refers to the want to be more with less. Consumers want simplicity in the products they buy, the brands they love and the services they use. By ridding themselves from lives excess and focusing more on what’s important in their lives, they want to find freedom, happiness and stability in order to have a better quality of life, a life in which they have more time and less stress. However, it can be hard for some to achieve this state of mind, living in a consumer culture where we have an abundance of choice is resulting us to spend more and for some it is hard to escape this.
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WHY ARE WE SPENDING MORE? There are several reasons why we are spending more, we live in a world where spending never stops and our desire to spend is manipulated. Advertising has had an immense impact on how we consume, with the rapid development of technology it has changed the way people advertise, it has perfected consumerism and constantly makes us hungry for more. “Advertising has infiltrated and polluted our culture. It’s in our movies, our TV shows, our books, the doctor’s office and even at our bars sitting next to us” (Minimalism: a Documentary About the Important Things, 2016). Advertising is everywhere, encouraging us to spend more by making us want what’s new; it does this by targeting our insecurities and pulling emotional responses out of us. With shoppable ads infiltrating our feeds on places such as Instagram and Pinterest, it is now easier than ever for brands to advertise to us and for us to get the instant gratification we crave.
Regardless of income, the majority of us participate in some form of consumption everyday whether that is buying the pair of shoes you have wanted for ages or simply purchasing a sandwich at lunch. What we consume portrays an image of our self to others and can help us put across an identity that we wish to show. The reasons behind our consumer decision vary; however, even those who claim not to be influenced by advertisements, trends and society are still influenced by consumer culture. Dunn (2018, p.7) says, “the origins of the idea of a consumer culture can be traced to the tradition of critique prefigured in Marx’s early comments on commodity fetishment”. Marx’s view was that culture was a system of power and domination and this can be applied to consumer culture, it has the power to influence people into consuming and subconsciously dominates consumer’s decisions. The trend simplicity and minimalism has stemmed from a reflective consumer culture where consumers want to deliberately avoid this consumerism and to take back control over their lives.
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The choice we now have gives us more options to spend our money on, there is no denying that choice has improved the quality of our lives, however, the abundance of choice is now becoming to have a having a negative effect as well. Freedom is an essential human desire and allows us to be our true selves, but is the increased choice of goods and services contributing to the kind of freedom we actually want, or is it just overwhelming us by taking away our time and energy that we could give elsewhere. Schwartz (2005) argues that all the choice we now have “produces paralysis, rather than liberation”, with so many options to choose from it is hard to choose at all. For example, Schwartz had a friend who worked at an accounting firm that offered 156 different retirement plans, the copious amount of choice left people feeling incompetent to choose between such a large set of plans so they didn’t choose at all. Records from Vanguard, who are an America investment company, show “that for every 10 mutual funds the employer offered, the rate of participation went down 2%” (Jeffries, 2015) which demonstrates that the more a consumer is offered, the less they are likely to choose at all. Even then if a consumer does decide to make a choice, they are then left considering whether we made the right one or not. With this said, increased choice can make us unhappy leading to us to regret decisions we have made.
IS THERE TOO MUCH CHOICE? 9
now being simplified to a simple swiping motion. But this resulted in the opposite, dating became even more complicated. Too much choice is creating a persistent ‘what if’ feeling in online daters where they are constantly wondering if there is someone else better out there for them. This is creating a dating culture that has taught us to treat others as disposable commodities which quite often leads to empty and meaningless interactions. Instead, it has become an addiction for people, when people get a match on these applications it gives them a boost of dopamine, which in turn gives users the want to continue playing because for a lot of people it has turned into a game.
DATING INDUSTRY
In the 10 years since Schwartz wrote his book ‘the paradox of choice,’ the ideology of choice has expanded into unexpected areas such as sex, which has radically changed the dating industry. We are spoilt for choice in all aspects of our lives and now relationships are now being treated like any other product. The wanting for simplicity in all aspects of our lives was applied to dating and since then there has been an influx of applications such as Tinder which let people browse and compare prospective partners in the same way they would if they were looking for a new sofa. In the past online dating meant answering many questions in order to build a detailed profile, however, that took time. People wanted dating to be simpler and they got that with online dating
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“ON AVERAGE EACH OF US POSSESS 10,000 ITEMS”.
(Less is more: how to be happy with nothing, 2014)
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VOLUNTARY SIMPLICITY “On average each of us possess 10,000 items� (Less is more: how to be happy with nothing, 2014) but there is a new wave of people who are deciding to live with a lot less. Voluntary simplicity, or simple living as it is sometimes referred to, is the way of life that rejects the materialistic lifestyles of high-consumption and affirms to what is known as down-shifting. The ideology of clutter-free living has spurred on the new social movement where voluntary simplifiers perceive different environmental and/or social threats present in the consumer-driven society. Some of the threats that come with this consumer-driven society include pollution, an increase of waste, lack of freedom and stress. Contemporary minimalists tend to narrate their lives around avoiding these factors in order to create a more meaningful existence.
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This minimalistic lifestyle is not a new concept, however, in recent years it has become highly commercialised with authors such as Marie Kondo who capitalised off her book ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up’, and bloggers and journalists all putting their opinion into the open on how to live the perfect simple life. Everyone has a different point of view on how to approach this trend, but one thing they do have in common is what the lifestyle can do for you. The Minimalists (2016) who are the original pioneers is mainstreaming the trend say that the lifestyle “is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favour of focusing on what’s important—so you can find happiness, fulfilment, and freedom”. People are in agreement that what you gain from this lifestyle overshadows the loss of materialistic items that do not result in a better quality of life. The trend is constantly increasing in popularity, as more people want to reach a state of self-fulfilment. In relation to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, they want to reach the top of the pyramid reaching the point of self-actualization. Voluntary simplicity can help people reach this point in their lives as for many people, physical, mental and emotional peak performance is a fundamental part of self-actualization and this lifestyle can assist in improving these factors.
An aspect of minimalism that never seems to be addressed is the discussion of who can practice the lifestyle, guidelines for this lifestyle are normally written in a tone of voice that lets the reader think that anyone can do it, however, it could be argued the opposite. It is a trend that’s exclusive for those who are able to financially afford to own a large amount of possessions. Fagan (2017) agrees, “you cannot choose to declutter if you are already living in a sparse home you cannot afford to furnish”. With households all over the world struggling financially, they are already living a forced minimalistic lifestyle but not in the glamorous way that is displayed to us on social media. ‘Forced minimalism’ is the norm for a lot of households and families, so for others who are selective with their consumption because it is a current trend in society, could be seen as another way for a show of one’s privilege.
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SIMPLE FASHION BRANDS
With people consciously consuming less material goods, this has had an extensive effect on the fashion industry which has built its success on its fast fashion model with brands wanting “you to feel out of trend after one week, so the following week you’ll go out and buy more” (Minimalism: a Documentary About the Important Things, 2016). With the fashion industry being one of the most wasteful industries, people who seek simple living see the mass-consumption of clothing as unnecessary. This means for the fashion industry it is time to change, no longer can brands serve customers with an immense amount of choice like they currently do, they must seek to prioritise quality over quantity. Turned off by the model of massconsumption, fashion brands are becoming to understand the importance of removing excessive choice from the buying process in favour of a more singular experience. Simplifying the customer experience and cutting through the clutter makes it easier the consumers to get what they want and according to a study by Siegel and Gale (2015) “63% of consumers are willing to pay more for simpler experiences” so it is also a great way for brands
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to drive performance and increase profit. Being conscious of your consumption is a prevailing thought for some and for the Kaur twins who are the founders of London based brand PER/se they have used this desire to create a new business model that challenges the overconsumption customers are being overwhelmed by. Customers are now increasingly favouring singular experiences and would rather invest in quality pieces that will last a lifetime, from this PER/se have created a brand that uses a 2-month product cycle. This allows them to spend 2-months focusing solely on creating one item that is of high quality and innovative. The first item they launched with was ‘the nebula coat’ (which can be seen in fig.6) and was designed to complete any look by carrying all the items necessary for urban life. Another way for them to decrease their own consumption is that they do not put a coat into production until one has been ordered. PER/ se’s innovative new business model challenges those of other fashion brands who are still selling trendy, throwaway clothes, but also shows the change in what the customer wants. Fashion brands both luxury and high street need to change in order to satisfy these desires.
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EXPERIENCE ECONOMY We may be spending less on things and consuming less material items, but we are still spending. Simplicity and Minimalism has contributed to what is being called the ‘experience economy’ and “in 2016, the UK’s ‘experience economy’ rose by eight per cent” (Carat.com, 2017). This refers to us choosing to spend our money on experiences rather than material items, and we are doing this regardless of political uncertainty and recession. This is all about finding happiness and status through experience instead of through our possessions; we are turning to leisure activities and travel because as consumers we now desire unique experiences and entertainment wherever we are. Barclaycard released figures that show in “April there was a 20% increase in spending in pubs compared with the same month last year. Spending in restaurants went up 16%, while theatres and cinemas enjoyed a 13% rise. Meanwhile, department stores suffered a 1% drop” (Usborner, 2017), proving the shift in consumer behaviour. Like discussed earlier, the choice of items we now have leads people to regret their buying decisions, however, we are less likely to compare experiences than we are things. Another factor encouraging the rise of the experience economy is its potential as a status booster, instead of Instagramming a picture of our new watch or Snapchatting everyone our new handbag we are now showing off the places we are. Younger consumers, especially millennial’s are pushing this shift with social media helping them do so.
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as Airbnb are utilizing technological advances in order to change their travel journey to being an experience rather than a just a transaction. For example, Airbnb have recently launched their new ‘experiences’ that will enable guests to book local authentic experiences, this will help travellers break out of the tourist box that other travel companies put them in. This innovation fulfils the travellers desire to become a temporary local and with “Airbnb expecting millennial’s to be 75% of travellers by 2020”, (Finningley, 2017) this means other travel companies must seek to target this generation with social media and authenticity and connect with their desires. However, with Airbnb already being a pioneer within the experience economy, will other companies be able to compete?
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TRAVEL INDUSTRY
With “more than three in four people preferring to spend on an experience or event rather than a desired item” (Carat.com, 2017) the travel industry has favoured greatly. With people’s attitudes changing, consumers are increasingly opting to indulge themselves in experiences in favour of purchasing items, and with brands such as Airbnb making this easy for consumers to achieve the travel industry has flourished. Airbnb allows customers to experience a multitude of locations at the click of an app; with previous customer reviews travellers can find a trusting host that will help them experience a city from the perspective of the locals. This authentic experience and memories that are gained from these trips surpasses the feeling you get when purchasing a material item. To satisfy this change in consumer behaviour, new emerging brands as well as established existing brands such
CONCLUSION
Simplicity and “Minimalism is a tool that can assist you in finding freedom.� (The Minimalists, 2016) However, as the report has shown it can be hard for consumers to find this form of freedom within the society we live in now. The macro trend simplicity and minimalism has been driven by multiple factors such political, economical and societal disruption. The current consumer culture that is filled with over-consumption has changed the consumer’s needs, with consumers being overwhelmed by the huge amount of choice we now have they have the desire for simple things and simpler experiences. Throughout the report its can be seen how the abundance of choice is influencing change, but with choice having both a positive and negative effect on the way we live our lives, which is it doing more and do we need all this choice?
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Books & Journals Dunn, R. (2008). Identifying Consumption. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Rodriguez, J. (2017). The US Minimalist Movement: Radical Political Practice?. Review of Radical Political Economics. [online] Available at: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0486613416665832 [Accessed 30 Oct. 2017]. Schwartz, B. (2004). The Paradox of Choice. New York: HarperCollins. Trentmann, F. (2016). Empire of Things. London: Allen Lane. Murphy, W. (2016). Consumer Culture and Society. London: Sage Publications. Wallman, J. (2014). Stuffocation: Living more with less. London: Penguin. Online Sources Bosma, E. (n.d.). Trend: Super simplicity | Extend Limits. [online] Extend Limits. Available at: http://www. extendlimits.nl/en/trends/industrie/trend-super-simplicity [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017]. Buchanan, V. (2016). Preview: Anti-choice Architecture. [online] LS:N Global. Available at: https://www.lsnglobal.com/news/article/20165/preview-anti-choice-architecture [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017]. Buddhanet.net. (n.d.). A Basic Buddhism Guide: 5 Minute Introduction. [online] Available at: http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/5minbud.htm [Accessed 26 Oct. 2017]. Carat.com. (2017). Navigating the Experience Economy: Travel Trends. [online] Available at: https://www. carat.com/manchester/en/news-views/navigating-the-experience-economy-travel-trends/ [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017].
Cherrier, H. and Murray, J. (2017). Drifting Away From Excessive Consumption: a New Social Movement Based on Identity Construction. [online] Acrwebsite.org. Available at: http://acrwebsite.org/volumes/8635/ volumes/v29/NA-29 [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017]. Fagan, C. (2017). Minimalism: another boring product wealthy people can buy. The Guardian. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/mar/04/minimalism-conspicuous-consumption-class [Accessed 25 Oct. 2017]. Finningley, J. (2017). BMi: Airbnb + The Experience Economy. [online] Lumosbusiness.com. Available at: http://lumosbusiness.com/2017/01/20/bmi-airbnb-the-experience-economy/ [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]. Herr, J. (2015). The Future of Advertising: Everything, Everywhere, All the Time. [online] The Fiscal Times. Available at: http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/06/07/Future-Advertising-Everything-Everywhere-All-Time [Accessed 31 Oct. 2017]. Issa, C. (2016). Per/Se: just one coat, refined to perfection. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: http://www. telegraph.co.uk/luxury/womens-style/perse-just-one-coat-refined-to-perfection/ [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017]. Jeffries, S. (2015). Why too much choice is stressing us out. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www. theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/oct/21/choice-stressing-us-out-dating-partners-monopolies [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017]. 20
Maxwell, D. (2016). PER/se: Nebula Coat. [online] PER/se: Nebula Coat | LS:N Global. Available at: https:// www.lsnglobal.com/opinion/article/20026/per-se-nebula-coat [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017]. McGivney, F. (2017). Domestic Tourism, UK October 2017. [online] Mintel. Available at: http://academic.mintel.com/homepages/sector_overview/15/ [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017]. Molloy, M. (2015). Why Simple Brands Win. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr. org/2015/11/why-simple-brands-win [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017]. Oxfordbibliographies.com. (2015). Consumer Culture - Sociology - Oxford Bibliographies - obo. [online] Available at: http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199756384/obo9780199756384-0135.xml [Accessed 31 Oct. 2017]. Perry, M. (2017). Why the Cozy Danish Concept of Hygge Is So Popular Right Now. [online] 1stdibs. Available at: https://www.1stdibs.com/blogs/the-study/hygge/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017]. Poole, S. (2015). Stuffocation: Living More With Less by James Wallman review – the power of experiences. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/07/stuffocation-living-morewith-less-james-wallman-review [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017]. Sehl, K. (2017). Popularity of Experience Economy Pushes the Travel Industry to Rethink Business Models. [online] APEX | Airline Passenger Experience. Available at: https://apex.aero/2017/04/03/popularity-experience-economy-travel-rethink-business [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]. The Minimalists. (2016). What Is Minimalism? | The Minimalists. [online] Available at: https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/ [Accessed 25 Oct. 2017]. Topics. (2017). RIP romance: How the curse of choice has ruined online dating. [online] Available at: http:// www.sbs.com.au/topics/life/relationships/article/2017/02/13/rip-romance-how-curse-choice-has-ruined-online-dating [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017]. Usborne, S. (2017). Just do it: the experience economy and how we turned our backs on ‘stuff’. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/13/just-do-it-the-experience-economy-and-how-we-turned-our-backs-on-stuff [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017]. Video & Film Barry Schwartz on the Paradox of Choice. (2005). [video] TEDGlobal. Less is More: How to be Happy with Nothing. (2014). [film] Indigenius. Minimalism: a Documentary About the Important Things. (2016). [film] USA: The Minimalists. Podcasts Radio 4 (2016). Thinking Allowed. [podcast] Consumerism, work-life balance. Available at: http://www.bbc. co.uk/programmes/b06z2v5l [Accessed 25 Oct. 2017].
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REFERENCES Buddhanet.net. (n.d.). A Basic Buddhism Guide: 5 Minute Introduction. [online] Available at: http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/5minbud.htm [Accessed 26 Oct. 2017]. Carat.com. (2017). Navigating the Experience Economy: Travel Trends. [online] Available at: https://www. carat.com/manchester/en/news-views/navigating-the-experience-economy-travel-trends/ [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]. Dunn, R. (2008). Identifying Consumption. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Fagan, C. (2017). Minimalism: another boring product wealthy people can buy. The Guardian. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/mar/04/minimalism-conspicuous-consumption-class [Accessed 25 Oct. 2017]. Finningley, J. (2017). BMi: Airbnb + The Experience Economy. [online] Lumosbusiness.com. Available at: http://lumosbusiness.com/2017/01/20/bmi-airbnb-the-experience-economy/ [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]. Jeffries, S. (2015). Why too much choice is stressing us out. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www. theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/oct/21/choice-stressing-us-out-dating-partners-monopolies [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017]. Less is More: How to be Happy with Nothing. (2014). [film] Indigenius. Minimalism: a Documentary About the Important Things. (2016). [film] USA: The Minimalists. Schwartz, B. (2004). The Paradox of Choice. New York: HarperCollins. The Minimalists. (2016). What Is Minimalism? | The Minimalists. [online] Available at: https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/ [Accessed 25 Oct. 2017]. Usborne, S. (2017). Just do it: the experience economy and how we turned our backs on ‘stuff’. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/may/13/just-do-it-the-experience-economy-and-how-we-turned-our-backs-on-stuff [Accessed 3 Nov. 2017].
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ILLUSTRATIONS fig.1 Front Cover image: Minimal home. (2017). [image] Available at: https://hips.hearstapps.com/hbz.h-cdn.co/assets/15/17/hbz-pinterest-minimalist-15-stylizimo.jpg [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]. fig.2 Minimalistic Fashion. (2017). [image] Available at: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/f7/a8/86/f7a886b107b0aea690b72f87c0883bf1--winter-minimalist-fashion-minimalist-fashion-women-outfits.jpg [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]. fig.3 Minimal Living Room. (2013). [image] Available at: https://stylizimoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Living-room_stylizimo1.png [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]. fig.4 Minimal Line Sketch. (2016). [image] Available at: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4a/51/cd/4a51cdb35c4b218d5a7ff55c04037dbc.jpg [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]. fig.5 Simple Wardrobe. (2015). [image] Available at: https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7736/27033485322_ c92dbbb083_h.jpg [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]. fig.6 PER/se nebula coat. (2016). [image] Available at: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1366/3811/files/ PER_se_Nebula_Coat_Fashion_Outerwear_II_2048x2048.jpg?v=1474300902 [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017]. fig.7 NewYork Skyline Sketch. (2013). [image] Available at: http://chrisdent.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/new-york-skyline-personal-project-chris-dent.jpg [Accessed 7 Nov. 2017].
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