Essay 3

Reflective Practice

Over the past few months I have been investigating the quote by Stephen Heller ‘Although on the surface the nature of design may appear to be relatively inconsequential, it might well be said to play a formative role in the history of capitalism and, in turn, in the social expression of capitalist practices.’ from the book Consumerism as a Way of Life. I have produced a written analysis using triangulation and referencing as well as a visual analysis of images that I thought were relevant to the quote from the research I had found. I have then created an anti capitalist campaign of my own to contrast with the advertising campaigns I have looked at already and to fit with the protests into capitalism. 

My Rationale for this piece of work looks at capitalist practices and the controversy surrounding it, how can this be used in opposition of capitalism to create an advertising campaign raising awareness of capitalism and consumerism and hopefully make people think about these brands. My work needs to be a a bit controversial to have an effect on the viewer. The advert needs to highlight the main issues with capitalist practices and use design as the forefront of the campaign in order to contrast the design of the capitalist brands. 

My outcome reaches most of the intentions I stated in my rationale. I think the design successfully communicated the anti-capitalist message in a clear way that is easily read quickly. The piece highlights issues within capitalism that are believed to be problematic, such as; exploitation of workers, inequality, market instability, property and sustainability. Viewers would only spend a few seconds at most looking at the design so it has to be simple. I am not sure how controversial my design is, I think it is a little bit safe and if I had done more research and refined the idea further I think it could have come out better, I think it is a bit weak as it currently stands. If I was to have more time on this project I would like to explore using photography and play around with typography to create a more professional looking campaign. The designs simplicity works well on my mock ups for adverts on the London underground. The designs fit the specification to be easily read with simple information given. 

My anti-capitalist advertising campaign relates to my theme as it looks into the controversies of consumerism and capitalism. Although this completely contrasts the work I have looked into, such as advertising campaigns of capitalist companies. I think this is a good way for me to go as trying to recreate one of these designs would be very tricky to do as the companies pay big money for these designs and I don't think I could compete. In hindsight, I would like my designs to be slightly more tied in to the research I had done for my first essay and linked more to how design plays a role in capitalism, I think I have moved too far away from this idea.

Barbra Kruger’s ‘I shop therefore I am’, is closely linked to my image as it is almost mocking consumerism in a kind of protest. “I shop therefore I am” basically states that a person is defined not by what they think but what they own. The advertising campaign raises some of the issues that Kruger touches upon in her work. I have touched upon consumerism in my work and I have highlighted some of the companies worst for this like Cocoa Cola and Mcdonalds. 

In my earlier essays I looked at the book Design for Society, the quote “The modern consumers condition is characterised by dissatisfaction and a constant state of longing” (Nigel Whitely, 1993, Design for Society, London, Reaktion Books) This shows that consumers are constantly basing their needs on their desires and they are never happy and constantly wanting something better. This is a good cause for anti consumerism, and one point against the capitalist brands I have been looking into previously. 

The quote “Designers operate in a world where the creation of wealth is the prime motivation” (Stephen Miles, 1998, Consumerism as a way of life, London, Sage Publications) also shows the affect of capitalism, design has lost its morals and has become primarily about profits. Much like the work of modernists and Barbra Kruger it is necessary to raise awareness of this and bring design back to it’s to its traditional morals and not be based around capitalist practices. 

My Research has made me realise capitalism is no doubt controversial capitalism is set out to make a living for people as seen from the quote “Capitalism is founded in the noble effort of man to earn a living for himself and his family.” (Robert E. Freer Jr., 2010, Citadel Values II: Essays For Contemplation, USA, University Press Of America) But from this I have come to the conclusion that capitalism looks out for nothing but profits, so I do not agree with this quote as other morals should followed in order to do good to society. 

In conclusion, after my research and exploration my project has raised many interesting points surrounding design and capitalism, my advertising campaign brought up a strong protest in opposition of capitalist practices and this is something i would like to explore further into level 5 study.