It MUST Expand project Book
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P ro j e c t D e s i g n R e s e a rc h & D e v e l o p m e n t
Book 6, It Must Expand Project – Project Design Research & Development
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Adbusters 202
Introduction: This book documents all the practical design research, the first section will be practical design research. The second section will be displaying all the normal design as it were. About: We are a global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age. Our aim is to topple existing power structures and forge a major shift in the way we will live in the 21st century. Adbusters Magazine: Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Adbusters is a not-for-profit, reader-supported, 120,000-circulation magazine concer ned about the erosion of our physical and cultural environments by commercial forces. Our work has been embraced by organizations like Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, has been featured in
Book 6, It Must Expand Project – Project Design Research & Development
hundreds of alter native and mainstream newspapers, magazines, and television and radio shows around the world. Adbusters offers incisive philosophical articles as well as activist commentary from around the world addressing issues ranging from genetically modified foods to media concentration. In addition, our annual social marketing campaigns like Buy Nothing Day and Digital Detox Week have made us an important activist networking group. Ultimately, though, Adbusters is an ecological magazine, dedicated to examining the relationship between human beings and their physical and mental environment. We want a world in which the economy and ecology resonate in balance. We try to coax people from spectator to participant in this quest. We want folks to get mad about corporate disinformation, injustices in the global economy, and any industry that pollutes our physical or mental commons. Culturejammer’s Headquarters:
This site was designed to help you tur n the drab number cruncher you’re staring at right now into the most versatile activist tool ever reckoned with. From cyberpetitions to Critical Mass tips, from exposing corporate propaganda, to downshifting your lifestyle and treading lightly on the planet, we hope this site will inspire you to move – upon your retur n to the real world – from spectator to participant. Campaigns – Buy Nothing Day: Buy Nothing Day (BND) is an inter national day of protest against consumerism observed by social activists. Typically celebrated the Friday after American Thanksgiving in North America and the following day inter nationally, in 2011 the dates are November 25 and 26 respectively. It was founded in Vancouver by artist Ted Dave and subsequently promoted by Adbusters magazine, based in Canada. The first Buy Nothing Day was organized in Mexico in September 1992 “as a day for society to examine the issue of over-consumption.” In 1997, it
was moved to the Friday after American Thanksgiving, also called “Black Friday”, which is one of the ten busiest shopping days in the United States. Outside North America and Israel, Buy Nothing Day is the following Saturday. Adbusters was denied advertising time by almost all major television networks except for CNN, which was the only one to air their ads. Soon, campaigns started appearing in the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, the Netherlands, France, and Norway. Participation now includes more than 65 nations. Buy Nothing Day has recently been modified by Adbusters and renamed Occupy Xmas. Buy Nothing Day was first joined with Adbuster’s Buy Nothing Christmas campaign. Shortly there after, Lauren Bercovitch, the production manager at Adbusters Media Foundation publicly embraced the principles of Occupy Christmas telling The Fulcrum.
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Buy nothing day is a bold campaign, it can seen from the lack of news coverage, that it’s not popular with the majority of people. Yet there’s still a lot of support as it’s spread to an incredible 65 nations. A simple campaign that seems to be a bit hit and miss. The design of these adverts portray buying as a sub standard activity, to try and get people to look down on it as unhealthy.
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Book 6, It Must Expand Project – Project Design Research & Development
Blackspot: Blackspot is an affront to the consciousness of hyper capitalism and profit do minated boardroom policies. Blackspot is about more than marketing a brand or deconstructing the meaning of cool – it’s about changing the way the world does business. Blackspot is an open-source brand, which means that it can be used by anyone for any purpose at no cost. Blackspot shoes are made with hemp, recycled tires, vegan leather and produced in fair-trade factories. We also sell only to independent retailers worldwide in order to cycle money back into local economies. Our hope is that people with similar philosophies will be inspired by our experiment in grassroots capitalism and start their own business ventures, spreading indie culture and providing ever more alter natives to buying from megacorporations.
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Digital Detox Week:
2. Slow Down:
What is it about our technology that is so addictive? As much as we hate to admit it, we are hooked on the digital world. Whether it is texting, gaming, downloading or emailing, so much of our time is spent in the virtual realm.
Share this 60 second animation about our hectic pace of life with your friends. Then chat with them about their digital lives and how to move in different, more meaningful ways. 3. Reconnect with Reality:
Luckily, the off button is easy to find. Take a week to cut back on digital stimulation as much as you can. The goal is not to dwell on the pitfalls of our electronic devices but to reflect on ourselves. And who knows, if the magic begins to creep back into your life, the digital detox may never end. The blackspot campaign aims to offer an alter native to consumerism, it aims to give people an option of a product that doesn’t harm anything. The campaign also aims to offer an alter native brand. Trying to counter the spread of logos and brands. However I feel it’s cou nter intuitive to try and solve a problem with the same but different kind of origin. It makes more sense to me that if there is a flawed system it’s the system that needs to change not the product.
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3 Ways to kick of your digital detox week: 1. Take a Zen Moment: Tomorrow mor ning, try a little self discipline before you switch on your computer. For 60 seconds, look at the reflection of yourself in the dark, empty screen. Meditate on your relationship with this box. What is it really all about?
Book 6, It Must Expand Project – Project Design Research & Development
Talk one or more of your friends into going for a walk or a hike or a camping trip with you during Digital Detox Week.
Kick It Over:
This campaign similar to Buy Nothing Day encourages people to cut down on consumption. Though this consumption is a personal one, about investing too much of our time into digital things. The screen shot above is of a short animation displaying the hectic life of an individual and the lack of real rest and interaction he gets in a day. This is a simple campaign and well worth doing, it isn’t a massive campaign that will spread virally but a very commendable one that would encourage people to cut back on their dependance of digital things.
Adbusters invites economics students around the world – especially PhD students – to join the fight to revamp Econ 101 curriculums and challenge the endemic myopia of their tenured neoclassical profs. Read some of the introductory articles, check out the latest dispatches on our blog, then download the Kick it Over Manifesto (and other posters) and keep pinning them up in the corridors of your department. Get a small group together and start jamming! Put your university at the forefront of the monumental mind shift now underway in the “science” of economics. On kickitover.org – primarily a blog – there are numerous articles, videos and resources, specifically for economics students. This is different kind of campaign, a specific one.
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I wasn’t aware of this campaign until I specifically researched all of Adbusters campaigns. Kalle Lasn mentioned when talking about the ‘logic freakiness’ of wester n culture, which he said was based on neo-classical theories. This is an impressive campaign there is a lot of resources available, and the blog is full of articles. If this takes off among economics students, it could have a serious affect on some institutions if lecturers and professors get on board. This campaign is encouraging the search for a new alter native, looking to economists to suggest some different ways for a society to function.
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Book 6, It Must Expand Project – Project Design Research & Development
Occupy Wall Street:
achieve their goals protesters act on
“The antiglobalization movement was
consensus-based decision made in general assemblies to effect direct action instead of petitioning authorities for redress.
the first step on the road. Back then our model was to attack the system like a pack of wolves. There was an alpha male, a wolf who led the pack, and those who followed behind. Now the model has evolved. Today we are one big swarm of people.” — Raimundo V iejo, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain
The whole movement started with a blog post (http://www.adbusters.org/ blogs/adbusters-blog/occupywallstreet.
Occupy Wall Street is a protest that began on September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, located in New Yo rk City’s Wall Street financial district. The protest was initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters and has led to Occupy protests and movements around the world. The main issues are social and economic inequality, greed, corruption and the undue influence of corporations on gover nment— particularly from the financial services sector. The OWS slogan, We are the 99%, addresses the growing income inequalit y and wealth distribution in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population. To
“A worldwide shift in revolutionary tactics is underway right now that
...This could be the beginning of a whole new social dynamic in America, a step beyond the Tea Party movement, where, instead of being caught helpless by the current power structure, we the people start getting what we want whether it be the dismantling of half the 1,000 military bases America has around the world to the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act or a three strikes and you’re out law for corporate criminals. Beginning from one simple demand – a presidential commission to separate money from politics – we start setting the agenda for a new America.
bodes well for the future. The spirit of this fresh tactic, a fusion of Tahrir with the acampadas of Spain, is captured in this quote:
Post a comment and help each other zero in on what our one demand will be. And then let’s screw up our courage,
html) from Adbusters on the 13th of July 2011.
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pack our tents and head to Wall Street with a vengeance September 17.�
There was a lot of media coverage, the movement effectively occupied the news for weeks.
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Book 6, It Must Expand Project – Project Design Research & Development
The Occupy movement was a huge success spreading inter nationally and the original camp in New York lasting for months. The actual tangible effects have yet to be seen, there are some mentions in political speeches recognising the movement. Largely it seems to have been dismissed and in the latter stages it was really the police that were in the news, because of harsh tactics used by them in dismantling the encampments. Nevertheless the movement shows that people care, and masses of people are willing to do something about it. It showed that society cares and are willing to do something. The movement isn’t over there are still camps in many cities, and there could well still be further developments.
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Spoof Adverts: Adbusters have a collection of spoof adverts on their website, from one time projects, or part of the bigger campaigns and created for an article. Here are some that I picked out.
Adbusters take a very provocative approach, as can be seen in three of the images here. These images don’t just aim to shock as with some charity campaigns. These images all aim to show the contrast between the rich and poor, to show the gap and link between the poverty of one and the excess of the other.
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Book 6, It Must Expand Project – Project Design Research & Development
Summary: – A d b u s te r s h ave s o m e e x c e l l e n t c a m pa i g n s , B u y No th i n g D ay i s s te a d i l y i n c re a s i n g a fol l ow i n g a n d g row i n g i n te r n a t i o n a l l y. – O c c u py Wa l l S t re e t i s o n e o f th e b i g g e s t m ove m e n t s o f th i s c e n t u r y r iva l l i n g th e m a ke p ove r ty h i s to r y m a rch e s . – A d b u s te r s d o e x c e l l e n t wo rk , s h ow i n g w h a t a p r iv i l e g e i t wa s th a t I i n te r v i e we d i t ’s c o - fo u n d e r Kalle Lasn. http://www.adbusters.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_Wall_ Street#Funding http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2012/ may/01/occupy-may-day-protests#/?picture=389 554297&index=15
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Provokateur 14
About:
place. We’re small but ambitious, good at listening but ready to challenge.
Provokateur is an ethical communications agency that believes creativity and design can be powerful catalysts for change.
Belief:
The Agency: W ith over ten years experience Provokateur has a unique reputation for creating effective, inspiring work for organisations across the ethical spectrum. Provokateur’s been doing its thing since 2002. Its founder, Joshua Blackbur n, cut his campaign teeth at the Labour’s Party’s General Election ‘war room’ in 1997, where he worked for the party’s polling and strategy advisor, Philip Gould. The experience taught him the power of communications to effect political and social change. The lessons he lear nt were the genesis of Provokateur, an ethical communications agency that uses its creativity and insight to help organisation make the world a better
Book 6, It Must Expand Project – Project Design Research & Development
Belief lies at the heart of Provokateur’s work. It’s what gets us out of bed and keeps our pencil sharp. It’s our manifesto, ambition and ethos; the standard by which we judge our work and our reason for doing it. The Team: Provokateur is a talented team of passionate people: strategists, designers, developers, copywriters, account managers, illustrators and more. They’re ambidextrous, polite and above average height. Most importantly,
they kno w their beans.
Provokateur have a page of their site called Provokations (provocations), there are four sections; mischief Library Heroes Articles. Heroes: Provokateur’s business is to create communications that inspire, challenge and provoke. These are the things that inspire u s. “First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then you win. – Mahatma Ghandi
“If everyone demanded peace instead of
are clearly well read and ground
another television set, then there’d be peace” – John Lennon
themselves in politics and philosophy. Taking inspiration from significant historic figures.
“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible” – T.E. Lawrence
Library:
“In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics’. All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia” – George Orwell “When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men bur n and bomb , good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love.” – Martin Luther King, Jr
The Provokateur library is a collection of pdf ’s available to download, from ‘The Pale Blue Dot’ by Carl Sagan, to ‘An Ideal For Which I Am Prepared To Die’ by Nelson Mandela, to ‘A Nice Cup Of Tea’ by George Orwell. Showing how important theory and philosophy is to them, and their practice.
These are inspiring quotes, Provoka teur
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Mischief: “Mischief makes good” is Provokateur’s unofficial motto. From royal wedding condoms to unofficial Harry Potter merchandise, Provokateur has an eye for entrepreneurial naughtiness.
original. I really like this campaign, as the poster campaign it’s parodying is the one a discussed as part of Report 1. Which I argued was petty and arrogant. So naturally it’s encouraging to see others agree, as well as finding it amusing.
Party Political Mischief: Smoking Pack Stickers: A few years back, the Conservative Party launched an insidious poster campaign around the insinuating line, “Are you thinking what we’re thinking?” It was a campaign as nasty as it was baffling. It was also ripe for some mischievous subversion. Provokateur grasped the nettle and produced it’s own ser ies of campaign posters, following the concept and design of the
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Cigarette war ning labels are famously unsuccessful. Smokers are all too aware of the medical risks but prefer to
friends could ‘pack-jack’ an undefended carton of Marlboro Lights and give the determined smoker a more thought provoking message. Provokateur take a humorous approach in most of their design, the website is fun to navigate, just to enjoy the user interface. They also use this sense of humour in the design of their campaigns. Humour can make a connection with people, as Alex Baker said in his response to the question, What do you find is the most effective way to engage you on a topic you’re less familiar with? “Make it funny. Try to look for what would make you laugh or think it’s cool”
practice the art of denial. Provokateur
Maybe this is the approach to take, but it does seem to me that it may not be taken as seriously. As this wouldn’t deter me from smoking (not that I really have an urge to) the one on the right possibly because it makes a joke about
conceived an alter native range of war ning labels that were altogether cheekier and more surprising. Produced as a range of stickers, concer ned
having lungs. Which is more frightening than funny. The other one is just amusing it reminds me of wheezy one of the toys in Toy Story 2 that is left on
Book 6, It Must Expand Project – Project Design Research & Development
the shelf because his squeaker broke. Then I forget was the point was meant to be. Articles: Provokateur has been a published contributor on ethical and charity communications in The Guardian, New Statesman, 3rd Sector and Charity T imes. The section is brilliant, they have ten articles:
War Sells:
movement is losing its way.
In the first Gulf War, selling the war was as important as fighting it. But how do you market mass destruction?
The Art of Protest:
Dangerous Liaisons: Exploring branding in the heart of gover nment – is it money well spent or a pointless adventure in logo crunching?
A short piece written for the NOISE Art of Protest newspaper about design as an agent of change. The Key to Appiness: Apps are at the frontier of new technology but are charities doing what they can to realise their potential?
Charity Chic: Design Can Save The World:
Stamp of Authority: Charities are busy branding, but the results a ren’t always pretty. Here’s some practical advice to do the job right. Brand Health War ning: A vintage article on the importance of branding for charities and how an organisation’s passion will help it stand out.
Charity is this season’s hot new look. But is the meeting of compassion and fashion a good fit?
Design can do more than sell soft drinks and sneakers, it can be a powerful catalyst for change.
The Conscience Industry:
Green Days:
These articles are fantastic, particularly the last one ‘Design Can Save the World’ in which Joshua Blackbur n explains that design can be a serious catalyst for change and is inherently political,
As the threat of climate change bears down upon us, some argue the green
“The notion of design having a social role to play is far from new – and
Compassion is no longer a private affair but a public display. But beware the illusion of caring…
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hardly a conceit. Artists and designers
clients, it has a reputation for producing
have long s erved as messengers, missionaries, revolutionaries, agitators, and propagandists. Centuries before the holy Brand Guidelines, visual communication was being sharpened as a tool of religion, war and politics.”
ground breaking, sparky ventures of its own.
Another ver y helpful article is ‘The Art of Protest’ by Joshua Blackbur n, where he explains how protest can be orchestrated and fuelled by good design, “For us, the art of protest is one of the most exciting frontiers of graphic design. This is where art and design can change the world. This is the passionate belief that drives our work, and when we see it in the work of others it’s a source of inspiration.” Provokateur’s viewpoint is a very inspiring one, they clearly understand the impact and influence of design, and actively seek to utilise that. Enterprises:
Tap: The bottled water industry is quite an inexplicable, even ridiculous thing. Water comes out of our taps for free but we spend a small fortune buying branded, vitamin enriched, imported water. The truth is it’s not water we’re buying but brands. Provokateur recognised this fact and decided that if we were ever to get people drinking tap water, it needed a face lift. Conceived, designed and managed by Provokateur, Tap was an integrated campaign and ethical enterprise that shows what Provokateur does best. Other people agreed and as well as the acres of press coverage it also won Best Integrated Campaign at the Green Awards. This campaigns are self directed ones the first advocating the use of water bottles, and encouraging people to buy bottled water less.
Provokateur doesn’t just create for its
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Book 6, It Must Expand Project – Project Design Research & Development
Acme: Acme Climate Action was a true labour of love, all written, designed, produced and conceived by Provokateur.. The ambition was bold: produce a book on climate change unlike anything before. Where others told people what to do, Acme would give them the tools to do it. Where others made environmentalism dull, Acme injected a cheeky sparkle to keep people engaged. The book, published by Harper Collins, was a toolkit of stickers, posters, postcards, DIY thingummies, letters and more. As each page was tor n out and used, readers would effectively ‘destroy’ their book, until all they had was a front and back cover (which could then be made into a picture frame). Accompanying the book wa s a campaign website which was a finalist at the Green Awards.
Summary: – P rovoka te u r a l s o d o b r i l l i a n t wo rk , c o m pa re d to A d b u s te r s th e y a re a s m a l l e r o rg a n i s a t i o n , a n d ta ke a m u ch m o re l i g h t h e a r te d a p p roa ch . – P rovoka te u r a re g row i n g a n d e x pa n d i n g a s c a n b e s e e n o n th e i r s i te h av i n g p ro j e c t s p e n d i n g a n d n e w a re a s to d e ve l o p.
http://provokateur.com/
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Individual Project/ Images
No Tankers Oil Posters
One of the first items researched was a video made by a company called Rethink. The video is of a group putting up posters on a wall above an assortment of other posters already there. The posters they put up are of a plain black image of an oil tanker printed on A2, the tanker is printed with water soluble ink, so when it rained the ink ran down and ruined all the posters below revealing text behind the tanker saying, “Oil spills affect everyone, take action at notankers.ca”. This is instantly engaging, it engages any person walking past physically and leaves an impression. In contrast to this the digital platform is so instant, unless it is saved somewhere, it is consumed and gone.
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First as Tragedy, Then as Farce
This is a wonderful video, created by RSA animate, which are all brilliantly illustrated. This is a clip from a talk by renowned philosopher Slavoj Zizek, the video is about some possible implications of charitable giving, and capitalism in general. I’ve watched this many times and still get new points out of it. He makes a compelling argument.
Help Japan Poster
profits were donated to the Canadian
get an elegant poster in the process.
Red Cross along a choice of other charities – the poster was successful in raising over $15,000.
But why are you getting a poster? Why are we more inclined to give if we get something out of it? Does that make the process of buying this poster a selfish one, because shouldn’t we just give for the sake of giving? Are the givers restricting themselves to only giving whatever percentage of the poster price goes to charity, instead of giving much more by giving straight to the charity? As the author says.
The design is aesthetically beautiful, a remarkably elegant design, that captures the horrible destruction of something pristine, and inevitably fragile. It’s a tasteful poster, reflecting something tragic with notable dignity – reflecting the Japanese people very well. The success of this campaign cannot be denied, it raised over $15,000, for relief efforts in Japan, a wonderful, beautiful thing. But in this very interesting article by Fast Company Design they question the motives behind buying this poster.
This a poster designed by Signalnoise – a design agency founded by James White, based in Nova Scotia, Canada. Signalnoise designed the poster in response to the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011. The poster could be bought from the Signalnoise web site for $29.99, all the
“I was very tempted to join by purchasing one for myself. But when I stopped and thought about that kneejerk desire for a second, the feeling wasn’t good.” At first it seems the only response should be to buy it instantly and give money to help the relief work, and you
“Let’s say I did buy one of these posters: what on earth am I supposed to do with it? Hang it in my living room like some overly aestheticized/sanitized symbol of a blindly horrific natural disaster that I had no direct experience of? Or, worse, as some sick, bragging monument to my own willingness to “help”? To be honest, the only sane thing to do with a poster like this might be to just bur n the thing as soon as it arrives in the mail.” This depends on Sinalnoise’s motives, if he considered all of the article’s author and my previous questions, then his motives may be questionable.
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If he didn’t and his response was just
The Obama campaign has become an
and new beginnings, with growth in the
a knee-jerk reaction, of ‘I must do something now!’, and instinctively tur ns to his talents and resources. Then it’s a different story as he’s doing what he can, but if the latter is true, shouldn’t he still ponder upon his idea and all of it’s implications before printing?
icon and a new bench mark in design and campaigns, far surpassing any 21st century wester n political campaigns. The design was very effective in setting him apart not just from McCain but from any presidential campaign. It needed to be something utterly different and momentous, as that’s what Obama becoming President was. The campaign needed to stand out because Obama stood out.
foreground reflecting grain growing. The font ‘Gotham – Tobias FrereJones’, was designed for the brand, it conveyed confidence, security and professionalism.
On the other hand, we can’t ignore the remarkable amount of money one man raised. How many other people around the world have achieved such a successful ratio as his? Even if so me of the process may be questionable, do the means justify the end? That’s a big question to answer. How far and to what point to we take our principles? Obama ‘08
It was communicating something new and fresh, something that hadn’t been done before. The remarkable thing about this is that had to appeal to everyone, as Obama was selling himself as a very different new product to the American people. So what does the Obama campaign communicate? The ‘O’ symbol and font were key to the success of the brand. The O, had a few meanings, it represented the O of Obama, it was the 0 of the ‘08 campaign, most importantly it was an organic shape. A holistic shape, reflecting the earth, depicting a horizon within it, symbolising hope
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Book 6, It Must Expand Project – Project Design Research & Development
In the book ‘Designing Obama’ Scott Thomas introduces the jour ney by quoting an unnamed designer. “Well, I guess, I’m lazy. I just make sure all my clients are smart people with unique messages and good products. The rest is easy.” His basic point is that if you have a good product it’s easy to sell. Thomas concludes his introduction, by saying that designing for Obama was easy because Obama was a good product, a new refreshing hopeful compassionate product. “Obama didn’t need to be sold as something he wasn’t, nor made palatable by a flurry of spin and crafty marketing. His life story, as recounted in his two memoirs, embodied the American dream”
The brand didn’t have to be fabricated
tour bus that travels round the country
“It’s what design that hopes to inspire a
or dressed up, because the product was good enough.
during the festival. Providing mass meals on peoples streets, they also include interactive things like videos and quizzes, as well as musical and visual artists that will perform and run interactive sessions.
change in our thinking should be.”
Ramadan Festival
A campaign that started in Holland and has since spread to the UK, Norway, Switzerland and Belgium. The campaign is called ‘Ramadan Festival’, it was started by Dutch citizens who decided to act upon the divide in their cu lture, after the violent murder by an Islamic extremist of a Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh. The campaign aimed to reconcile those communities involved.
They are trying to do something new, It’s a beautiful thing something that should spread. The design of the poster is very simple bold graphics, it doesn’t mince it’s words. It conveys a message of simplicity and unity which reflects the festival completely. There are no false pretences, assumptions and suggestions. It is straight forward vi sual communication, not depicting a certain colour of skin or ethnicity, as Sarah Nardi the author of the same Adbusters article earlier cited, states.
The mov ement has set up various events a nd campaigns on an annual basis that happen over the Islamic annual festival of Ramadan. These are
“The design used to advertise the festivals features no celebrities and no product – it’s just a universal symbol tweaked slightly so as to be more
designed to encourage people to accept diversity as a good and beneficial thing. Some of the initiatives that are in place are the ‘Ramadan Caravan’, which is a
truly universal. It is simple, honest and powerful.” The Sarah Nardi continues.
iPhone Advert
The next advert is one for the iPhone 4, it’s basic selling point is, “If you don’t have an iPhone, you don’t have the App store – so you don’t have the world’s largest selection of App’s... Yup, if you don’t have an iPhone, well... you don’t have an iPhone.” The arrogance of this is overwhelming, despite a well produced advert as one would only expect from Apple, this communicates very clearly. It unashamedly states that they’re the best around, and have a monopoly on
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all the best technology and software
launched in 2004, this is a campaign
available. Granted this is a surprisingly honest advert, they don’t hide or fabricate what they’re saying. They simply announce that if you don’t have an iPhone your unworthy and detestable, someone might be entirely open and honest about being prejudice and offensive towards someone – that doesn’t excuse them causing offense. This may seem like harmless fun about their products superiority, but not when people in third world cultures buy the latest phone instead of food, because in their culture they’re not seen as good enough if they don’t have that phone.
taking action to “help free ourselves and the next generation from beauty stereotypes.” The campaign is constantly in the process of producing television adverts, videos, poster campaigns and many more resources on their web site. All focused at challenging the stereotypical view of women, and aiming to tell women that ‘Every women is beautiful’.
Dove ‘Real Beauty’ Campaign
This has all been carried by the Dove brand, a simple style has been carried into this campaign. This campaign has made a real impact on our society, even surpassing the hopes of its founders. It’s reached a lot of people and increased Dove’s sales as Dr Susan Orbach (Co-Founder for The Campaign for Real Beauty) and Katie Adams (Senior Brand Manager for Dove) explain. “Dove had such a huge take up in sales”
The Dove Real Beauty Campaign
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“The dove self-esteem fund has touched 3.5 million young women globally and by 2010 we will have reached 5 million
Book 6, It Must Expand Project – Project Design Research & Development
young women.” Again we can’t deny the campaign’s success, it’s clearly reached and affected a lot of young women, raising their self esteem as Katie Adams states. “We had letters upon letters from people saying “thank you for embracing the larger breasted women”” Dove have taken a big step further than other companies and campaigns as Dr Orbach says, ‘We hoped this would change everyone else’s ad’s’. It’s success was undeniable. But if it was a campaign saying ‘Every Women is Beautiful’, why is it only ‘young women’ that are targeted? Are mature women not beautiful too? Do they not need their self-esteem raised? Another interesting point is one that ‘Adbusters’ make in this article written by Sarah Nardi. “But the intention – to somehow bolster women’s self-esteem while selling them firming lotion – is the problem. This is advertising in the guise of activism. Cue
essentially about ‘improving’ a women’s appearance? These products aren’t merely about healthy skin and hair, these all promote the idea of the ‘ideal women’ e.g. that women should have tanned skin, and this product will make your skin more tanned. As Sarah Nardi states ‘This is advertising in the guise of activism’ – Is this ethical? To appear to be ethical in order to gain as Dr Orbach says, ‘a huge take up in sales’. If that is true that is the very definition of unethical. It should also be added that not one Dove product carries the Fairtrade Mark.
the cynical laugh.” This seems to be a huge contradiction. The following image (15,16,17,18,19) are screen shots from the very same web site as the campaign. One for firmer skin, for ‘summer glow’ (tanned) skin, for more colourful hair, for fuller hair and one for silky, shiny hair. Why are Dove selling products that are
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Design & Democracy Exhibition This year I visited the Design & Democracy exhibition at the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh with university. ‘Discover how a new generation of designers think design can make a difference to the way we live. During the Year of Creative Scotland 2012, this exhibition will explore how design can inspire positive change in areas such as health, well-being, society and sustainability.’ I was encouraged by the amount of other graduates that were doing projects about ethical issues. I’ll post the specific one’s that intrigued me. Reducing Child Malnutrition in Uganda
Barbara Beek did this by creating a series of infographics, and this abacus tree so parents can keep track of their child’s GDA. I respect this project has it seems honest, it really seems to care it’s not just for the sake of doing something good because we should. And is searching for a simple, honest, easily implemented aid. Expense Free Charity!
The first project that caught my eye was this one by Barbara Beek from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee. It’s a project with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of good nutrition to parents in Uganda.
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Emma R. Lally is a graphic designer from Edinburgh College of Art the statement for the project is as follows, “Although charity is an incredible thing, often it carries a stigma, with troops
Book 6, It Must Expand Project – Project Design Research & Development
of volunteers approaching you on the high street, making you feel guilty for buying your lunch. I wanted to try and make giving to charity feel fun and almost costless. There is £65 million worth of pennies lost in the UK, and this campaign asks you to find and donate them.” Emma R. Lally solution isn’t a solution for poverty, and it doesn’t claim to be, it’s a solution to the guilt we feel about poverty... guilt isn’t the problem, guilt is a symptom of the problem of poverty. Countries are caught in poverty traps, it’s the system that needs to change to solve poverty, not being more careful not to loose our pennies. Still I shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss
the whol e project, she is thinking of
and psychological hold over the
Another Photography Project
a different way to engage society in giving, and a new way to communicate to people which is commendable .
disorientated Iraqi population. I worked closely with three successful applicants and their families to produce a photographic portrait of their lives in Glasgow.”
James Edwin Bettney is another photographer from The Glasgow School of Art,
A Photography Project
This is just wonderful, the photos brilliantly convey a sombre reality of the subjects situation, and effectively raising awareness about the issue.
“In Nepalese and many other cultures around the world, a widow is looked upon with great animosity. It is believed that the actions in their previous life contribute to the death of their husband. They have therefore been ostracised for generations, losing their status in both the home and society.” This is quite similar to the last project but just as powerful if not more so, again these women’s lives have been brilliantly captured and communicated through these photos.
Sarah Amy Fishlock is a photographer from The Glasgow School of Art, “This project documents the lives of three Iraqis who were employed by the British forces in Iraq. Locally engaged Iraqi staff - interpreters, drivers, and other administrative staff - are viewed as ‘collaborators’ by the fundamentalist militia who have obtained a political
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Can Design Save The World?
Banksy on advertising
I completely agree that adverts assault us everyday, and that we have the right to react to it. But the majority don’t we’ve become so numb to adverts that they’re just expected. Imagine for a minute going about your normal day, but without anyone shouting at you, telling you what to do... Nothing telling you, you need to go and see this or buy this, that you need Y or would be happier with X. Imagine being free from continuous instruction...
Provokateur has an Article page I’m quoting from “Design can change the world”.
Kony 2012
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“Schools of design train students to handle their tools like jobbing carpenters and off they go, eager logo monkeys hungry for business. This i s the reality of visual communication, or the reality we’ve come to accept. There might be a gover nment awareness campaign or a pro bono charity job, but our real business is selling. ...Instead o f imagining politics and
I’m surprised it’s taken me this long to feature Banksy (exclusively), this post is actually on the Signalnoise blog, a wonderful quote from Banksy,
ethics have no place in design, we must realise they’ve always been there, we just forgot about it. Design can save the world – if we want it to.”
“Asking permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.”
Book 6, It Must Expand Project – Project Design Research & Development
At the beginning of March this year, a thirty minute video was released by a charity called Invisible Children, who
work in central Africa where the LRA
is well made, with a custom made
occupy. The LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) kidnap children and force them to murder, torture and rape as part of the LRA. The leader of the LRA is a man named Joseph Kony, Invisible Children made the video with the intention of making Joseph Kony famous. In four weeks since being uploaded to Youtube it has amassed a whopping 86.1 million views, and 27.7 million on vimeo.
T-Shirt, and good quality printing. Overall it is well made and designed for purpose, as the purpose of the pack is to provide resources not to impress as whoever has purchased the pack would already be a follower.
It was remarkable how fast it spread, it took over social media websites and the news for a week. But four weeks on there’s not even a mention of the campaign rolling around the back pages of the news or social media. The benefits of the digital media are that the market is much bigger due to social media sites, you can reach such a large market. The downsides are that it’s harder to make it last, a memorable video ca n’t be printed out and stuck beside your desk. The Kony 2012 Action Kit I bought a Kony 2012 Action Kit, and it arrived last week. Unfortunately not as
For the design of the pack for this project I will need to seriously impress on first sight, as I wouldn’t be preaching to the choir, my pack will need to be much more succinct and easy to access and understand. Kony Reaction pristine as the photo on the website, mine was rather more dishevelled (as well as it’s arrival being tainted with an £11 customs charge...). Aside from this you do get your money’s worth receiving, 1 T-Shirt, 1 action kit book, 10 posters, 3 bracelets, 10 stickers and 1 badge. In terms of the design of the pack, it’s fairly basic I’m assuming to keep costs down for the purchaser, though this comes at the expense of receiving a well presented pack. The merchandise
There are two responses to the Kony campaign that have really saddened me. The first which I think was a major contributing factor to it’s success was the popularity of it. That today it’s cool to care, an example is the ‘make poverty history’ campaign a few years ago, when every second person you passed was wearing a ‘make poverty history’ wrist band. This type of response is characterised by huge immediate public response, which very
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quickly fades and a matter of weeks
38 Degrees – NHS campaign
pass and it’s near forgotten about.
people need to have a vested interest on a topic first before they’ll act...
The second, is linked in that it became popular to be a sceptic. I think the mind set that was occurring was “I’ll look down on this from my morally superior stance by dismissing the campaign as morally corrupt”. Because if you go against the grain and say that something that’s generally understood to be good is bad, then you must be really good because you’re able to criticise a good thing. I just hope that my own project isn’t seen as the second response, but an honest critique of graphic design today.
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largest employer in the world). Maybe
Poetry Vandalism
I passed a car that had this poster in the back window, it pleased me to see people participating in a socially conscious campaign. The campaign is run by 38 Degrees in response to a proposed bill to reform the NHS by further privatisation.
Want a definition for beauty, how about an artist vandalising advertising with poetry? Well that’s what Scottish artist Robert Montgomery has been doing, he describes the public reaction,
I’ve been trying to analyse campaigns to see why they would be successful, I think the reason why this campaign is gaining momentum is a simple one.
“People respond to it really well. Lots of people pass by. Ordinary people just really like to see billboards covered up
That there are so many people that will be influenced by this bill, according to a recent article by the BBC the NHS employs 1.7 million people (the 5th
with poetry. They find it really refreshing I think. So, we’ve never really got into any trouble. We get anything from smiles to hugs. I’ve been hugged in
Book 6, It Must Expand Project – Project Design Research & Development
the street several times [Laughs]. It’s really nice. I meet a huge cross section of people. It’s nice to sell my work in galleries, obviously, it’s nice to b e at the Venice Biennale, but this way my work reaches ordinary people which is a more fundamental thing to me. Normal people in the street are much more intelligent than society gives them credit for – and they are not at all conceptual art-phobic.” This is so encouraging, not only that yet another person is engaging with challenging society, but that society is responding, and very warmly – the public don’t like advertising.
Summary: –There are a lot o f conclusions to take from a l l of this, it has helped to clar i f y some issues on methods a n d practic e s . – Things to take for ward a re that there is a lot of supp o r t and awareness, projects c a n wo rk .
h t t p : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? g l = U S & f e a t u re = p l a y e r _ e m b e d d e d & v = t i Ya z 6 x g 4 m M h t t p : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / u s e r / t h e R S A o r g # p / u/2/ hpAMbpQ8J7g http://vi.sualize.us/view/60c7a8600b9bd42 1b82f5d558cc2f6a4/ h t t p : / / w w w. f a s t c o d e s i g n . c o m / f ro m - t h e e d i t o r- 3 0 0 9 2 0 1 0 Scott Thomas, (2010) Designing Obama: a c h ro n i c l e o f a r t & d e s i g n f ro m t h e 2 0 0 8 p re s i d e n t i a l c a m p a i g n : Post P re s s .
http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/77/a_ designer_moment.html http://ramadanfestival.nl/ http://www.ramadanfestival.org/ http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=onLYKU-CNhM http://www.dove.co.uk/cfrb/the-real-beautydebate/videos.html?v#v=http://doveliferayuat.s3.amazonaws.com/US_en/en_gb-staging/ global/video/tv-spots/1_success_of_ campaign_576x324.flv http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/ visitandlear n/44316.aspx http://www.designer-daily.com/design-wont-savethe-world-918 http://provokateur.com/provokations/articles/ http://blog.signalnoise.com/2012/03/01/banksyon-advertising/ http://www.kony2012.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc http://invisiblechildrenstore.myshopify.com/ products/kony-kit http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/2012/03/09/nhscampaign-update/ http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/ art/features/the-artist-vandalising-advertisingwith-poetry-6353303.html?fb_action_ ids=10150694136893608&fb_action_types=news. reads&fb_source=other_multiline#access_token= AAADWQ6323IoBAAVVM86vckCjdjoo6Cljg3d86G Y48vWIKpJJWEVHLuZA9YwbUVmLYbOWDqzv8HP DQiTq3yvvW0P1bmnjApuebFDL2ZCwZDZD&expir es_in=6105
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