RESEARCH | FMP

Overconsumption

The mechanism of overconsumption always interested me during my studies. As this Final Major Project is mainly self-directed, I decided to develop something around the topic of Consumerism.

I started doing some research on how I wanted to tell a story about consumerism. There are many pieces of advertisement and campaigns which aim is to raise awareness on a determined topic.

I then asked myself some questions. How am I going to raise awareness and about what? 

We are always bombarded by the media, however, what we hear and read is not always what is happening behind big corporations and brands. Making some more research online, at the library at uni and visiting some exhibitions, made me come up with the idea of revealing or at least raising awareness about what is hidden behind big clothing companies. I visited Oxford Street in London to have a general look at some shops such as H&M, Topman/Topshop, Nike and Primark. 

Thanks to a workshop/meeting with the graphic designer Johnathan Barnbrook which took place a few months ago at uni, I discovered Adbusters. Adbusters is a company based in Canada famous for its magazine. They do really interesting pieces of graphic design and campaigns against consumption, media and today's society. 

Adbusters logo and campaign against fast food chains. Author's own.

Series of campaigns from Adbusters against brands such as Nike, McDonalds and Pepsi. Auther's own.

Then I researched some other artists such as Barbara Kruger and Banksy. As well as Adbusters, they both do some really strong work about the relation between society and corporations. Barbara Kruger works with photography and typography and what I really liked about her work is the perfect blend of these two disciplines. She uses black and white photos then accentuated by red and white text and frames. In my opinion, her work is really strong and powerful and shows a good ability to produce images using photos and graphic design.

Barbara Kruger. Author's own.

On the other hand, the graffiti/street art artist Banksy really caught my eye because his work is extremely strong and tend to always have a negative side to me. Here are some examples of his work.

Banksy. Author's own.

After researching artists and studios, I started asking myself what pieces I was going to produce. How was I going to raise awareness on unethical work, child exploitation and other non-human conditions behind some big clothing brands? I thought about when I was walking on Oxford St and wanted to know what people know and think about unethical work and its subsidisation. 

Interviewing people while they are shopping and asking their opinion was my intention. A record of the interviews would make a nice video for my campaign and actually show people's knowledge and opinions.

I will make further research into other campaigns and find other several ways to resolve the project.