BUY MORE
CONTENTS Abstract
1
Analysis of condition
3-5
3-5
Why is this problem important?
Precedents review
6-12
Andy Warhol & Pop Art
6-8
Barbara Kruger
9-12
Secondary research
13-14
Design actions
15-28
Poster: “Consumerism is an addiction”
15-16
Tags: “The true price”
17-22
Postcards: “Greetings from Qatar”
23-26
What’s next?
27
Implications & effects
29-30
Bibliography
31
ABSTRACT
Consumerism is a social and economic behavior that promotes the purchase of goods and services in ever-greater amounts. Conspicuous consumption has taken over society where people are buy things they don’t need to classify themselves to a certain status. This topic is particular relevant in Qatar, which is a highly consuming society, motivated by the in numerous mega malls around the country, holding all kinds of shops and brands, from luxurious and exclusive, to accessible and cheap. The aim of my project is to change the face of consumerism and the value of material goods. Through the series of artifacts I created I created a visual representation of our psychological relationship with consumerism. I hope to reveal an aspect many try to deny: Our addiction to BUY MORE.
BUY MORE 1
BUY MORE 2
ANALYSIS OF CONDITION
Consumerism is a fast growing habit and addiction in most parts of the world. Consumerist culture isn’t just about buying things you want, It’s about convincing you that you need things and encouraging you to spend more money sometimes even when you can’t afford it. Qatar is a fast growing country and in the last years the country has built numerous huge malls which have attracted people to shop more for things they don’t need just to pass their time, losing control over their shopping and forgetting about what their needs really are.
Why is this problem important?
Consumerism is all around us and in some ways it affects every single individual in any country of any part of the world. Either you are the buyer, the consumer, the manufacturer or the selling company. Consumerism is relevant to me as both consumer and as graphic designer. I buy, consume and use goods of any kind, sometimes with no regard or care and sometimes I am really conscious about the decisions I make in a shopping mall. As a graphic
BUY MORE 3
designer, this topic is extremely relevant to me as I currently study in a field that often has to do with branding and advertising, fundamental elements to consumerism. Consumerism is one of the strongest forces affecting our lives in the modern world. My project is most relevant to society in Qatar. Because of the numerous malls around the country combined with the fact that Qatar is such a rich country, the community in Qatar is motivated to be highly consumerist and the shopaholic habits are ruining all values of us humans. We are getting more attached to materialistic goods than values such as family, friends and social relations. Being so obsessed about buying more we forget about the important things we actually need. The term consumerism refers to anything connected to the idea of reaching to buy more in order to be happier, better and more successful people. Some people may believe that consumerism meets all their desires in life. But for an increasing number of people it does not. It creates impossible aspirations making us believe that shopping will make us happy. If the idea of consumerism is to continually create new needs in people and make them
BUY MORE 4
consume more, this will result in a never ending chase to the next “need”. My initial idea was to observe consumerism from an outsider point of view. My project aimed to be a “shaming” tool to make the community in Qatar understand how big the issue is. By “shaming” my audience I wanted to create a sense of self awareness where people can identify themselves and their addiction to shopping, helping them to understand how far consumerism has gone in this country.
BUY MORE 5
PRECEDENT REVIEW
Andy Warhol
One of my precedents was Andy Warhol work and part of Pop Art. Andy Warhol was an American Pop artist best known for his prints and paintings of consumer goods, celebrities, and photographed disasters. Andy Warhol used a machine called silkscreen and mass produced his art that way he would print the same picture in different colors over and over again and after a while, people would be tired of seeing the same image over and over again. As consumerism is over producing items, that was his whole idea; he wanted to just print the same picture over and over again. Pop artists seemingly embraced the post-WWII manufacturing and media boom. Some critics have cited the Pop art choice of imagery as an “enthusiastic endorsement of the capitalist market and the goods it circulated�
BUY MORE 6
“Green Coca-Cola Bottles” by Andy Warhol, 1962
BUY MORE 7
“Brillo Boxes” by Andy Warhol, 1964
BUY MORE 8
Barbara Kruger
Another precedent was Barbara Kruger work “I shop therefore I am”. Barbra Kruger’s photograph gives representation to consumption in terms of the literal meaning of the word. By displaying the words, “I Shop Therefore I Am,” Kruger is making a reference to material consumption challenging the audience’s perception. The statement she created fit the idea of material consumption. The artwork was ironically printed onto thousands of shopping bags, t-shirts and other products of consumption.
BUY MORE 9
“I Shop Therefore I Am” by Barbara Kruger, 1987
BUY MORE 10
“I Shop Therefore I Am” printed on a shopping bag
BUY MORE 11
“I Shop Therefore I Am” printed on a t-shirt
BUY MORE 12
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things
The main source I analyzed while making my project was: Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things directed by Matt D’ Avella. This documentary examines many faces of minimalism by showcasing the lives of minimalists, from families, entrepreneurs, architects, artists, journalists, scientists, and even a former Wall Street broker, all of whom decided to leave all the necessary goods behind and live a meaningful life with less. The main point of the documentary that helped me with the development of my project is change from a overstressed and caught-up in excessive consumerism kind of lifestyle to a simple and happier life.
BUY MORE 13
Frame from “Minimalism”
BUY MORE 14
DESIGN ACTIONS
Poster: Consumerism is an Addiction
My first project, the poster, seeks to make people relate to the issue. “It was cheap”, “So trendy”, “New model”. These are all excuses people make to buy more goods and everyone can relate to these phrases, however no one actually realizes they are only excuses: we don’t need what we buy. This poster reflects the idea of showing an outside point of view of the issue. Using these phrases instead of the item purchased, it takes away the importance of the item and places the focus on the excuses. Most of the time someone buys something, it’s barely because one’s needs it but more because of the addiction to shopping.
BUY MORE 15
BUY MORE 16
Tags: The true price
The next step was the icon system for which I created a series of tags. To create these tags I kept the same idea of the poster but developed it more in depth to emphasize and reinforce the meaning. Each tag was a different excuse, again taking the place of the item’s name. It doesn’t matter what the item is, the importance, as well as in shopping, is the excuse we create behind the purchase of it. For the project I created more excuses and changed the context of them, placing them on real material goods of different kinds. The way these quotes take the place of the real name changes the worth of these items, tagging them only as an excuse. As well as the name, I also changed the price into the true price of consumerism which is not a number anymore. “I’m an addict”, “I’ve been addicted for 8 years“ “It’s an addiction“, these are the true prices of all these excuses.
BUY MORE 17
BUY MORE 18
BUY MORE 19
BUY MORE 20
BUY MORE 21
BUY MORE 22
Postcards: Greetings from Qatar
The final project was the postcards. Postcards are usually sent to friends and family to show and represent the place where you are. My postcards are a sarcastic and exaggerated way to show the issue of consumerism in Qatar, portraying this country as a place where you can only shop, as the “Consumerist country”. The use of the postcards as my format has a powerful impact, adding meaning to the message itself. Consumerism is a topic that people are aware of but I think that most buyers don’t realize how their choices affects the society. The project aims to create a bigger picture and as a visualization of the problem from an outside point of view leaving the audience with questions to reflect on: “Is this what Qatar turned into?”, “Am I addicted to shopping?”, “Is there nothing else to do other than shopping?”
BUY MORE 23
BUY MORE 24
BUY MORE 25
BUY MORE 26
What’s next?
I see my project expanding into a campaign. In the process of this project I realized that changing someone’s mind or creating a impact in people’s habits is an Utopian goal. However, I also noticed that campaigns could have an effect in people’s behaviors towards this issue. Now a days campaign are very popular and because they are always bombarded at the public they tend to be spoken of, or at least remembered and thought upon. I believe creating a campaign that motivates people to buy less, maybe in exchange of a recompense can be successful in a society like the one in Qatar.
BUY MORE 27
IMPLICATIONS & EFFECTS
While creating my project I held back many ideas I had in mind in fear of offending my audience. My project is a tool that aims at shaming people for their actions with a very direct message. Especially for my last project, the postcards, I was very aware of the implications it may have caused. I understand Qatar has much more to offer than just shopping and obviously my project was pushing the topic to an extreme, however I felt that keeping this shaming intention for higher purposes or projects on a larger scale could cause hate and offence, especially because I am a foreigner. The topic of my project is a very delicate concept. Consumerism is a behavior that many environmentalists and activists have been trying to stop for many years with scares results. I don’t believe my project could have the impact I hope for, however I think that my designs impacted my audience it in their way of thinking and being self aware. My project did not change any behaviors but raised the issue in a country that neglects there is even an issue and probably don’t even know about. Whoever looks at my project can’t ignore it as they relate to it, look at about the topic under a different light and become self aware of their addiction.
BUY MORE 29
GLOSSARY Social status:
The relative respect, competence, and deference accorded to people, groups, and organizations in a society.
Silkscreen:
A stencil process in which coloring matter is forced onto the material to be printed through the meshes of a silk or organdy screen so prepared as to have previous printing areas and impervious non printing areas.
Capitalist market:
An economic system based on ownership of the factors of production. Some key features of capitalism are competition between companies and owners, private ownership and motivation to generate a profit.
Environmentalists:
One concerned about environmental quality especially with respect to the control of pollution.
BUY MORE 31
BIBLIOGRAPHY Andy Warhol, “Green Coca-Cola Bottles”, 1962 Andy Warhol, “Brillo Boxes”, 1964 Barbara Kruger, “I Shop Therefore I Am”, 1987 Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things Directed by Matt D’ Avella
BUY MORE 32