book 6 – project design

1Book 6, I t Must Expand Project – Pro ject Design Research & Development

Book

Pro ject Design Research & Development

06

It MUST Expand project

2 Book 6, I t Must Expand Project – Pro ject Design Research & Development

Introduction:

This book documents a l l the pract ica l

des ign research, the f i rst sect ion wi l l be

pract ica l des ign research. The second

sect ion wi l l be d isplay ing a l l the normal

des ign as i t were.

About:

We are a g lobal network of ar t is ts,

act iv ists, wr i ters, pranksters, students,

educators and entrepreneurs who want

to advance the new socia l act iv ist

movement of the informat ion age.

Our a im is to topple ex ist ing power

structures and forge a major sh i f t in the

way we wi l l l i ve in the 21st century.

Adbusters Magazine:

Based in Vancouver, Br i t ish Columbia,

Canada, Adbusters is a not- for-prof i t ,

reader-supported, 120,000-ci rcu lat ion

magazine concerned about the

eros ion of our phys ica l and cul tura l

env i ronments by commercia l forces.

Our work has been embraced by

organizat ions l ike Fr iends of the Earth

and Greenpeace, has been featured in

hundreds of a l ternat ive and mainstream

newspapers, magazines, and te lev is ion

and radio shows around the wor ld.

Adbusters offers inc is ive phi losophica l

ar t ic les as wel l as act iv ist commentary

f rom around the wor ld address ing

issues ranging f rom genet ica l ly modi f ied

foods to media concentrat ion. In

addi t ion, our annual socia l market ing

campaigns l ike Buy Noth ing Day and

Dig i ta l Detox Week have made us an

important act iv ist network ing group.

Ul t imate ly, though, Adbusters is an

ecologica l magazine, dedicated to

examin ing the re lat ionship between

human beings and the i r phys ica l and

menta l env i ronment. We want a wor ld

in which the economy and ecology

resonate in balance. We try to coax

people f rom spectator to part ic ipant

in th is quest. We want fo lks to get

mad about corporate d is informat ion,

in just ices in the g lobal economy, and

any industry that pol lutes our phys ica l

or menta l commons.

Culturejammer’s Headquarters:

Ad

bu

ste

rs

02


This s i te was designed to help you

turn the drab number cruncher you’re

star ing at r ight now into the most

versat i le act iv ist tool ever reckoned

with. From cyberpet i t ions to Cr i t ica l

Mass t ips, f rom exposing corporate

propaganda, to downshi f t ing your

l i festy le and t reading l ight ly on the

p lanet, we hope th is s i te wi l l inspi re you

to move – upon your return to the rea l

wor ld – f rom spectator to part ic ipant.

Campaigns – Buy Nothing Day:

Buy Noth ing Day (BND) is an

internat ional day of protest against

consumer ism observed by socia l

act iv ists. Typica l ly ce lebrated the

Fr iday af ter Amer ican Thanksgiv ing in

North Amer ica and the fo l lowing day

internat ional ly, in 2011 the dates are

November 25 and 26 respect ive ly. I t

was founded in Vancouver by art ist Ted

Dave and subsequent ly promoted by

Adbusters magazine, based in Canada.

The f i rst Buy Noth ing Day was

organized in Mexico in September 1992

“as a day for society to examine the

issue of over-consumpt ion.” In 1997, i t

was moved to the Fr iday af ter Amer ican

Thanksgiv ing, a lso cal led “Black

Fr iday”, which is one of the ten busiest

shopping days in the Uni ted States.

Outs ide North Amer ica and Israe l , Buy

Noth ing Day is the fo l lowing Saturday.

Adbusters was denied advert is ing t ime

by a lmost a l l major te lev is ion networks

except for CNN, which was the only

one to a i r the i r ads. Soon, campaigns

started appear ing in the Uni ted States,

the Uni ted Kingdom, Israe l , Austr ia,

Germany, New Zealand, Japan, the

Nether lands, France, and Norway.

Part ic ipat ion now inc ludes more than 65

nat ions.

Buy Noth ing Day has recent ly been

modi f ied by Adbusters and renamed

Occupy Xmas. Buy Noth ing Day

was f i rst jo ined with Adbuster ’s Buy

Noth ing Chr istmas campaign. Short ly

there af ter, Lauren Bercovi tch, the

product ion manager at Adbusters Media

Foundat ion publ ic ly embraced the

pr inc ip les of Occupy Chr istmas te l l ing

The Fulcrum.

03


Buy noth ing day is a bold campaign,

i t can seen f rom the lack of news

coverage, that i t ’s not popular wi th

the major i ty of people. Yet there’s st i l l

a lot of support as i t ’s spread to an

incredib le 65 nat ions.

A s imple campaign that seems to

be a b i t h i t and miss. The design of

these adverts portray buying as a sub

standard act iv i ty, to t ry and get people

to look down on i t as unheal thy.

04


Blackspot:

Blackspot is an aff ront to the

consciousness of hyper capi ta l ism and

prof i t dominated boardroom pol ic ies.

Blackspot is about more than market ing

a brand or deconstruct ing the meaning

of cool – i t ’s about changing the way

the wor ld does business. Blackspot is

an open-source brand, which means

that i t can be used by anyone for any

purpose at no cost.

Blackspot shoes are made with hemp,

recycled t i res, vegan leather and

produced in fa i r- t rade factor ies. We

a lso se l l on ly to independent reta i lers

wor ldwide in order to cycle money back

into local economies.

Our hope is that people wi th s imi lar

phi losophies wi l l be inspi red by our

exper iment in grassroots capi ta l ism

and start the i r own business ventures,

spreading indie cul ture and prov id ing

ever more a l ternat ives to buying f rom

megacorporat ions.

05


The blackspot campaign a ims to

offer an a l ternat ive to consumer ism,

i t a ims to g ive people an opt ion of a

product that doesn’t harm anyth ing.

The campaign a lso a ims to offer an

a l ternat ive brand. Try ing to counter the

spread of logos and brands. However I

fee l i t ’s counter intu i t ive to t ry and solve

a problem with the same but d i fferent

k ind of or ig in. I t makes more sense to

me that i f there is a f lawed system i t ’s

the system that needs to change not

the product.

Digital Detox Week:

What is i t about our technology that is

so addict ive? As much as we hate to

admit i t , we are hooked on the d ig i ta l

wor ld. Whether i t is text ing, gaming,

downloading or emai l ing, so much of

our t ime is spent in the v i r tua l rea lm.

Lucki ly, the off button is easy to f ind.

Take a week to cut back on dig i ta l

st imulat ion as much as you can. The

goal is not to dwel l on the p i t fa l ls of

our e lectronic dev ices but to ref lect on

ourselves. And who knows, i f the magic

begins to creep back into your l i fe , the

d ig i ta l detox may never end.

3 Ways to k ick of your d ig i ta l detox

week:

1. Take a Zen Moment:

Tomorrow morning, t ry a l i t t le se l f

d isc ip l ine before you switch on your

computer. For 60 seconds, look at the

ref lect ion of yoursel f in the dark, empty

screen. Meditate on your re lat ionship

wi th th is box. What is i t rea l ly a l l about?

2. Slow Down:

Share th is 60 second animat ion about

our hect ic pace of l i fe wi th your f r iends.

Then chat wi th them about the i r d ig i ta l

l ives and how to move in d i fferent, more

meaningfu l ways.

3. Reconnect wi th Real i ty :

Ta lk one or more of your f r iends into

going for a walk or a h ike or a camping

t r ip wi th you dur ing Dig i ta l Detox Week.

06


This campaign s imi lar to Buy Noth ing

Day encourages people to cut down on

consumpt ion. Though th is consumpt ion

is a personal one, about invest ing too

much of our t ime into d ig i ta l th ings.

The screen shot above is of a short

an imat ion d isplay ing the hect ic l i fe of

an indiv idual and the lack of rea l rest

and interact ion he gets in a day.

This is a s imple campaign and

wel l worth doing, i t isn’t a massive

campaign that wi l l spread v i ra l ly but

a very commendable one that would

encourage people to cut back on the i r

dependance of d ig i ta l th ings.

Kick It Over:

Adbusters inv i tes economics students

around the wor ld – especia l ly PhD

students – to jo in the f ight to revamp

Econ 101 curr icu lums and chal lenge

the endemic myopia of the i r tenured

neoclass ica l profs. Read some of the

introductory art ic les, check out the

latest d ispatches on our b log, then

download the Kick i t Over Mani festo

(and other posters) and keep pinning

them up in the corr idors of your

department. Get a smal l group together

and start jamming! Put your univers i ty

at the forefront of the monumenta l mind

shi f t now underway in the “sc ience” of

economics.

On k ick i tover.org – pr imar i ly a b log –

there are numerous art ic les, v ideos and

resources, speci f ica l ly for economics

students. This is d i fferent k ind of

campaign, a speci f ic one.

07


I wasn’t aware of th is campaign unt i l I

speci f ica l ly researched a l l of Adbusters

campaigns. Kal le Lasn ment ioned when

ta lk ing about the ‘ log ic f reakiness’ of

western cul ture, which he sa id was

based on neo-class ica l theor ies.

This is an impress ive campaign there

is a lot of resources avai lable, and

the b log is fu l l of ar t ic les. I f th is takes

off among economics students, i t

could have a ser ious affect on some

inst i tut ions i f lecturers and professors

get on board. This campaign is

encouraging the search for a new

al ternat ive, looking to economists to

suggest some di fferent ways for a

society to funct ion.

08


Occupy Wall Street:

Occupy Wal l Street is a protest that

began on September 17, 2011 in

Zuccott i Park, located in New York

Ci ty’s Wal l Street f inancia l d ist r ict . The

protest was in i t iated by the Canadian

act iv ist group Adbusters and has led

to Occupy protests and movements

around the wor ld. The main issues are

socia l and economic inequal i ty, greed,

corrupt ion and the undue inf luence

of corporat ions on government—

part icu lar ly f rom the f inancia l serv ices

sector. The OWS s logan, We are the

99%, addresses the growing income

inequal i ty and weal th d ist r ibut ion in

the U.S. between the weal th iest 1%

and the rest of the populat ion. To

achieve the i r goals protesters act on

consensus-based decis ion made in

genera l assembl ies to effect d i rect

act ion instead of pet i t ion ing author i t ies

for redress.

The whole movement started with a

b log post (ht tp://www.adbusters.org/

blogs/adbusters-blog/occupywal lst reet .

html ) f rom Adbusters on the 13th of

Ju ly 2011.

“A wor ldwide shi f t in revolut ionary

tact ics is underway r ight now that

bodes wel l for the future. The spi r i t of

th is f resh tact ic, a fus ion of Tahr i r wi th

the acampadas of Spain, is captured in

th is quote:

“The ant ig lobal izat ion movement was

the f i rst step on the road. Back then

our model was to at tack the system l ike

a pack of wolves. There was an a lpha

male, a wol f who led the pack, and

those who fo l lowed behind. Now the

model has evolved. Today we are one

big swarm of people.”

— Raimundo V ie jo, Pompeu Fabra

Univers i ty, Barcelona, Spain

. . .This could be the beginning of a

whole new socia l dynamic in Amer ica,

a step beyond the Tea Party movement,

where, instead of being caught he lp less

by the current power structure, we

the people start gett ing what we want

whether i t be the d ismant l ing of ha l f

the 1,000 mi l i tary bases Amer ica has

around the wor ld to the re instatement

of the Glass-Steagal l Act or a three

str ikes and you’re out law for corporate

cr iminals. Beginning f rom one s imple

demand – a pres ident ia l commiss ion to

separate money f rom pol i t ics – we start

sett ing the agenda for a new Amer ica.

Post a comment and help each other

zero in on what our one demand wi l l be.

And then let ’s screw up our courage,

09


pack our tents and head to Wal l Street

wi th a vengeance September 17.”

There was a lot of media coverage, the

movement effect ive ly occupied the news

for weeks.


The Occupy movement was a huge

success spreading internat ional ly

and the or ig ina l camp in New York

last ing for months. The actual tangib le

effects have yet to be seen, there are

some ment ions in pol i t ica l speeches

recognis ing the movement. Largely i t

seems to have been dismissed and in

the lat ter stages i t was rea l ly the pol ice

that were in the news, because of harsh

tact ics used by them in d ismant l ing the

encampments.

Nevertheless the movement shows that

people care, and masses of people

are wi l l ing to do something about i t .

I t showed that society cares and are

wi l l ing to do something.

The movement isn’t over there are st i l l

camps in many c i t ies, and there could

wel l st i l l be fur ther developments.


Spoof Adverts:

Adbusters have a col lect ion of spoof

adverts on the i r websi te, f rom one

t ime pro jects, or part of the b igger

campaigns and created for an art ic le.

Here are some that I p icked out.

Adbusters take a very provocat ive

approach, as can be seen in three of

the images here. These images don’t

just a im to shock as with some char i ty

campaigns.

These images a l l a im to show the

contrast between the r ich and poor,

to show the gap and l ink between the

poverty of one and the excess of the

other.


Summary:– Adbusters have some

excellent campaigns, Buy

Nothing Day is steadily

increasing a following and

growing internationally.

– Occupy Wall Street is one of

the biggest movements of this

century rivall ing the make

poverty history marches.

– Adbusters do excellent

work, showing what a

privilege it was that I

interviewed it ’s co-founder

Kalle Lasn.

http://www.adbusters.org/

http://en.wik ipedia.org/wik i /Occupy_Wal l_

Street#Funding

http://www.guardian.co.uk/wor ld/gal lery/2012/

may/01/occupy-may-day-protests#/?picture=389

554297&index=15


About:

Provokateur is an eth ica l

communicat ions agency that bel ieves

creat iv i ty and design can be powerfu l

cata lysts for change.

The Agency:

With over ten years exper ience

Provokateur has a unique reputat ion

for creat ing effect ive, inspi r ing work

for organisat ions across the eth ica l

spectrum.

Provokateur’s been doing i ts th ing s ince

2002. I ts founder, Joshua Blackburn,

cut h is campaign teeth at the Labour’s

Party’s Genera l E lect ion ‘war room’ in

1997, where he worked for the party’s

pol l ing and strategy advisor, Phi l ip

Gould. The exper ience taught h im the

power of communicat ions to effect

pol i t ica l and socia l change.

The lessons he learnt were the

genesis of Provokateur, an eth ica l

communicat ions agency that uses

i ts creat iv i ty and ins ight to help

organisat ion make the wor ld a better

p lace. We’re smal l but ambit ious, good

at l is ten ing but ready to chal lenge.

Belief:

Bel ie f l ies at the heart of Provokateur’s

work. I t ’s what gets us out of bed

and keeps our penci l sharp. I t ’s our

mani festo, ambit ion and ethos; the

standard by which we judge our work

and our reason for doing i t .

The Team:

Provokateur is a ta lented team of

passionate people: st rategists,

des igners, developers, copywr i ters,

account managers, i l lustrators and

more. They’re ambidextrous, pol i te and

above average height. Most important ly,

Pro

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they know thei r beans.

Provokateur have a page of the i r s i te

ca l led Provokat ions (provocat ions) ,

there are four sect ions; mischief L ibrary

Heroes Art ic les.

Heroes:

Provokateur’s business is to create

communicat ions that inspi re, chal lenge

and provoke. These are the th ings that

inspi re us.

“F i rst they ignore you. Then they laugh

at you. Then you win.

– Mahatma Ghandi

“ I f everyone demanded peace instead of

another te lev is ion set , then there’d be

peace”

– John Lennon

“Al l men dream: but not equal ly. Those

who dream by n ight in the dusty

recesses of the i r minds wake in the

day to f ind that i t was vani ty: but the

dreamers of the day are dangerous

men, for they may act the i r dream with

open eyes, to make i t possib le”

– T.E. Lawrence

“ In our age there is no such th ing as

‘keeping out of pol i t ics’ . A l l issues are

pol i t ica l issues, and pol i t ics i tse l f is a

mass of l ies, evas ions, fo l ly, hatred and

schizophrenia”

– George Orwel l

“When ev i l men plot , good men must

p lan. When ev i l men burn and bomb,

good men must bui ld and bind. When

ev i l men shout ugly words of hatred,

good men must commit themselves to

the g lor ies of love.”

– Mart in Luther King, Jr

These are inspi r ing quotes, Provokateur

are c lear ly wel l read and ground

themselves in pol i t ics and phi losophy.

Taking inspi rat ion f rom s igni f icant

h istor ic f igures.

Library:

The Provokateur l ibrary is a col lect ion

of pdf ’s avai lab le to download, f rom

‘The Pale Blue Dot’ by Car l Sagan, to

‘An Ideal For Which I Am Prepared To

Die’ by Nelson Mandela, to ‘A Nice Cup

Of Tea’ by George Orwel l .

Showing how important theory and

phi losophy is to them, and the i r

pract ice.


Mischief:

“Mischief makes good” is Provokateur’s

unoff ic ia l motto. From royal wedding

condoms to unoff ic ia l Harry Potter

merchandise, Provokateur has an eye

for entrepreneur ia l naught iness.

Party Polit ical Mischief:

A few years back, the Conservat ive

Party launched an ins id ious poster

campaign around the ins inuat ing l ine,

“Are you th ink ing what we’re th ink ing?”

I t was a campaign as nasty as i t was

baff l ing. I t was a lso r ipe for some

mischievous subvers ion. Provokateur

grasped the nett le and produced

i t ’s own ser ies of campaign posters,

fo l lowing the concept and design of the

or ig ina l .

I rea l ly l ike th is campaign, as the poster

campaign i t ’s parodying is the one a

d iscussed as part of Report 1. Which

I argued was petty and arrogant. So

natura l ly i t ’s encouraging to see others

agree, as wel l as f inding i t amusing.

Smoking Pack Stickers:

Cigarette warn ing labels are famously

unsuccessfu l . Smokers are a l l too

aware of the medical r isks but prefer to

pract ice the art of denia l . Provokateur

conceived an a l ternat ive range of

warn ing labels that were a l together

cheekier and more surpr is ing. Produced

as a range of st ickers, concerned

f r iends could ‘pack- jack’ an undefended

carton of Mar lboro L ights and g ive the

determined smoker a more thought

provoking message.

Provokateur take a humorous approach

in most of the i r des ign, the websi te

is fun to nav igate, just to enjoy the

user inter face. They a lso use th is

sense of humour in the design of

the i r campaigns. Humour can make a

connect ion with people, as Alex Baker

sa id in h is response to the quest ion,

What do you f ind is the most effect ive

way to engage you on a topic you’re

less fami l iar wi th?

“Make i t funny. Try to look for what

would make you laugh or th ink i t ’s cool”

Maybe th is is the approach to take,

but i t does seem to me that i t may not

be taken as ser ious ly. As th is wouldn’t

deter me f rom smoking (not that I rea l ly

have an urge to) the one on the r ight

possib ly because i t makes a joke about

hav ing lungs. Which is more f r ightening

than funny. The other one is just

amusing i t reminds me of wheezy one

of the toys in Toy Story 2 that is le f t on


the shel f because h is squeaker broke.

Then I forget was the point was meant

to be.

Articles:

Provokateur has been a publ ished

contr ibutor on eth ica l and char i ty

communicat ions in The Guardian, New

Statesman, 3rd Sector and Char i ty

T imes.

The sect ion is br i l l iant , they have ten

art ic les:

Stamp of Author i ty :

Char i t ies are busy branding, but the

resul ts aren’t a lways pretty. Here’s

some pract ica l adv ice to do the job

r ight .

Brand Heal th Warning:

A v intage art ic le on the importance

of branding for char i t ies and how an

organisat ion’s passion wi l l he lp i t stand

out.

War Sel ls :

In the f i rst Gul f War, se l l ing the war was

as important as f ight ing i t . But how do

you market mass destruct ion?

Dangerous L ia isons:

Explor ing branding in the heart of

government – is i t money wel l spent

or a point less adventure in logo

crunching?

Char i ty Chic:

Char i ty is th is season’s hot new look.

But is the meet ing of compassion and

fashion a good f i t?

The Conscience Industry:

Compassion is no longer a pr ivate affa i r

but a publ ic d isplay. But beware the

i l lus ion of car ing…

Green Days:

As the threat of c l imate change bears

down upon us, some argue the green

movement is los ing i ts way.

The Art of Protest :

A short p iece wr i t ten for the NOISE Art

of Protest newspaper about design as

an agent of change.

The Key to Appiness:

Apps are at the f ront ier of new

technology but are char i t ies doing what

they can to rea l ise the i r potent ia l?

Design Can Save The Wor ld:

Design can do more than se l l sof t

dr inks and sneakers, i t can be a

powerfu l cata lyst for change.

These art ic les are fantast ic, part icu lar ly

the last one ‘Design Can Save the

Wor ld’ in which Joshua Blackburn

expla ins that design can be a ser ious

cata lyst for change and is inherent ly

pol i t ica l ,

“The not ion of design hav ing a socia l

ro le to p lay is far f rom new – and


hardly a concei t . Art ists and designers

have long served as messengers,

miss ionar ies, revolut ionar ies, agi tators,

and propagandists. Centur ies before

the holy Brand Guidel ines, v isual

communicat ion was being sharpened as

a tool of re l ig ion, war and pol i t ics.”

Another very helpfu l ar t ic le is ‘The

Art of Protest ’ by Joshua Blackburn,

where he expla ins how protest can

be orchestrated and fue l led by good

design,

“For us, the art of protest is one of

the most exci t ing f ront iers of graphic

design. This is where art and design

can change the wor ld. This is the

passionate bel ie f that dr ives our work,

and when we see i t in the work of

others i t ’s a source of inspi rat ion.”

Provokateur’s v iewpoint is a very

inspi r ing one, they c lear ly understand

the impact and inf luence of design, and

act ive ly seek to ut i l ise that .

Enterprises:

Provokateur doesn’t just create for i ts

c l ients, i t has a reputat ion for producing

ground breaking, sparky ventures of i ts

own.

Tap:

The bott led water industry is qui te an

inexpl icable, even r id icu lous th ing.

Water comes out of our taps for f ree

but we spend a smal l for tune buying

branded, v i tamin enr iched, imported

water. The t ruth is i t ’s not water

we’re buying but brands. Provokateur

recognised th is fact and decided

that i f we were ever to get people

dr ink ing tap water, i t needed a face

l i f t . Conceived, designed and managed

by Provokateur, Tap was an integrated

campaign and eth ica l enterpr ise that

shows what Provokateur does best.

Other people agreed and as wel l as the

acres of press coverage i t a lso won

Best Integrated Campaign at the Green

Awards.

This campaigns are se l f d i rected ones

the f i rst advocat ing the use of water

bott les, and encouraging people to buy

bott led water less.


Acme:

Acme Cl imate Act ion was a t rue labour

of love, a l l wr i t ten, designed, produced

and conceived by Provokateur. . The

ambit ion was bold: produce a book on

c l imate change unl ike anyth ing before.

Where others to ld people what to do,

Acme would g ive them the tools to do

i t . Where others made envi ronmenta l ism

dul l , Acme in jected a cheeky spark le

to keep people engaged. The book,

publ ished by Harper Col l ins, was a

toolk i t of st ickers, posters, postcards,

DIY th ingummies, let ters and more.

As each page was torn out and used,

readers would effect ive ly ‘destroy’ the i r

book, unt i l a l l they had was a f ront and

back cover (which could then be made

into a p icture f rame). Accompanying the

book was a campaign websi te which

was a f ina l is t at the Green Awards.

Summary:– Provokateur also do

bril l iant work, compared to

Adbusters they are a smaller

organisation, and take a much

more l ight hearted approach.

– Provokateur are growing

and expanding as can be seen

on their site having projects

pending and new areas to

develop.

http://provokateur.com/


No Tankers Oil Posters

One of the f i rst i tems researched was

a v ideo made by a company cal led

Reth ink. The v ideo is of a group

putt ing up posters on a wal l above an

assortment of other posters a l ready

there. The posters they put up are of

a p la in b lack image of an o i l tanker

pr inted on A2, the tanker is pr inted with

water soluble ink, so when i t ra ined

the ink ran down and ru ined a l l the

posters below reveal ing text behind

the tanker say ing, “Oi l sp i l ls affect

everyone, take act ion at notankers.ca”.

This is instant ly engaging, i t engages

any person walk ing past phys ica l ly and

leaves an impress ion. In contrast to th is

the d ig i ta l p lat form is so instant, un less

i t is saved somewhere, i t is consumed

and gone.

First as Tragedy, Then as Farce

This is a wonderfu l v ideo, created by

RSA animate, which are a l l br i l l iant ly

i l lustrated. This is a c l ip f rom a ta lk by

renowned phi losopher Slavoj Z izek,

the v ideo is about some possib le

impl icat ions of char i table g iv ing, and

capi ta l ism in genera l . I ’ve watched th is

many t imes and st i l l get new points out

of i t . He makes a compel l ing argument.Ind

ivid

ua

l P

roje

ct/

Ima

ge

s


Help Japan Poster

This a poster designed by Signalnoise

– a design agency founded by James

White, based in Nova Scot ia, Canada.

Signalnoise designed the poster

in response to the earthquake and

tsunami that h i t Japan in March 2011.

The poster could be bought f rom the

Signalnoise web s i te for $29.99, a l l the

prof i ts were donated to the Canadian

Red Cross a long a choice of other

char i t ies – the poster was successfu l in

ra is ing over $15,000.

The design is aesthet ica l ly beaut i fu l ,

a remarkably e legant design, that

captures the horr ib le destruct ion of

something pr ist ine, and inev i tably

f ragi le. I t ’s a tastefu l poster, ref lect ing

something t ragic wi th notable d igni ty

– ref lect ing the Japanese people very

wel l . The success of th is campaign

cannot be denied, i t ra ised over

$15,000, for re l ie f effor ts in Japan, a

wonderfu l , beaut i fu l th ing.

But in th is very interest ing art ic le by

Fast Company Design they quest ion the

mot ives behind buying th is poster.

“ I was very tempted to jo in by

purchasing one for mysel f . But when I

stopped and thought about that knee-

jerk desi re for a second, the fee l ing

wasn’t good.”

At f i rst i t seems the only response

should be to buy i t instant ly and g ive

money to help the re l ie f work, and you

get an e legant poster in the process.

But why are you gett ing a poster? Why

are we more inc l ined to g ive i f we get

something out of i t? Does that make the

process of buy ing th is poster a se l f ish

one, because shouldn’t we just g ive

for the sake of g iv ing? Are the g ivers

restr ict ing themselves to only g iv ing

whatever percentage of the poster pr ice

goes to char i ty, instead of g iv ing much

more by g iv ing stra ight to the char i ty?

As the author says.

“Let’s say I d id buy one of these

posters: what on earth am I supposed

to do with i t? Hang i t in my l iv ing room

l ike some over ly aesthet ic ized/sani t ized

symbol of a b l indly horr i f ic natura l

d isaster that I had no di rect exper ience

of? Or, worse, as some s ick, bragging

monument to my own wi l l ingness to

“help”? To be honest, the only sane

th ing to do with a poster l ike th is might

be to just burn the th ing as soon as i t

arr ives in the mai l . ”

This depends on Sina lnoise’s mot ives,

i f he considered a l l of the art ic le’s

author and my prev ious quest ions,

then h is mot ives may be quest ionable.


I f he d idn’t and h is response was just

a knee- jerk react ion, of ‘ I must do

something now!’ , and inst inct ive ly turns

to h is ta lents and resources. Then i t ’s

a d i fferent story as he’s doing what he

can, but i f the lat ter is t rue, shouldn’t

he st i l l ponder upon h is idea and a l l of

i t ’s impl icat ions before pr int ing?

On the other hand, we can’t ignore

the remarkable amount of money one

man ra ised. How many other people

around the wor ld have achieved such

a successfu l rat io as h is? Even i f some

of the process may be quest ionable,

do the means just i fy the end? That’s a

b ig quest ion to answer. How far and to

what point to we take our pr inc ip les?

Obama ‘08

The Obama campaign has become an

icon and a new bench mark in design

and campaigns, far surpassing any 21st

century western pol i t ica l campaigns.

The design was very effect ive in sett ing

h im apart not just f rom McCain but f rom

any pres ident ia l campaign. I t needed

to be something utter ly d i fferent and

momentous, as that ’s what Obama

becoming Pres ident was. The campaign

needed to stand out because Obama

stood out.

I t was communicat ing something new

and f resh, something that hadn’t been

done before. The remarkable th ing

about th is is that had to appeal to

everyone, as Obama was se l l ing h imsel f

as a very d i fferent new product to the

Amer ican 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, i t

represented the O of Obama, i t was the

0 of the ‘08 campaign, most important ly

i t was an organic shape. A hol ist ic

shape, ref lect ing the earth, depict ing

a hor izon with in i t , symbol is ing hope

and new beginnings, wi th growth in the

foreground ref lect ing gra in growing.

The font ‘Gotham – Tobias Frere-

Jones’, was designed for the brand,

i t conveyed conf idence, secur i ty and

profess ional ism.

In the book ‘Designing Obama’ Scott

Thomas introduces the journey by

quot ing an unnamed designer.

“Wel l , I guess, I ’m lazy. I just make sure

a l l my c l ients are smart people wi th

unique messages and good products.

The rest is easy.”

His basic point is that i f you have a

good product i t ’s easy to se l l . Thomas

concludes h is int roduct ion, by say ing

that designing for Obama was easy

because Obama was a good product, a

new refreshing hopefu l compassionate

product.

“Obama didn’t need to be sold as

something he wasn’t , nor made

palatable by a f lurry of spin and craf ty

market ing. His l i fe story, as recounted

in h is two memoirs, embodied the

Amer ican dream”


The brand didn’t have to be fabr icated

or dressed up, because the product

was good enough.

Ramadan Festival

A campaign that started in Hol land and

has s ince spread to the UK, Norway,

Switzer land and Belg ium. The campaign

is ca l led ‘Ramadan Fest iva l ’ , i t was

started by Dutch c i t izens who decided

to act upon the d iv ide in the i r cu l ture,

af ter the v io lent murder by an Is lamic

extremist of a Dutch f i lm di rector Theo

Van Gogh. The campaign a imed to

reconci le those communit ies involved.

The movement has set up var ious

events and campaigns on an annual

bas is that happen over the Is lamic

annual fest iva l of Ramadan. These are

designed to encourage people to accept

d ivers i ty as a good and benef ic ia l th ing.

Some of the in i t iat ives that are in p lace

are the ‘Ramadan Caravan’, which is a

tour bus that t rave ls round the country

dur ing the fest iva l . Prov id ing mass

meals on peoples streets, they a lso

inc lude interact ive th ings l ike v ideos

and quizzes, as wel l as musica l and

v isual ar t is ts that wi l l per form and run

interact ive sess ions.

They are t ry ing to do something new,

I t ’s a beaut i fu l th ing something that

should spread. The design of the poster

is very s imple bold graphics, i t doesn’t

mince i t ’s words. I t conveys a message

of s impl ic i ty and uni ty which ref lects

the fest iva l complete ly. There are no

fa lse pretences, assumpt ions and

suggest ions. I t is st ra ight forward v isual

communicat ion, not depict ing a certa in

colour of sk in or ethnic i ty, as Sarah

Nardi the author of the same Adbusters

art ic le ear l ier c i ted, states.

“The design used to advert ise the

fest iva ls features no celebr i t ies and no

product – i t ’s just a universa l symbol

tweaked s l ight ly so as to be more

t ru ly universa l . I t is s imple, honest and

powerfu l . ”

The Sarah Nardi cont inues.

“ I t ’s what design that hopes to inspi re a

change in our th ink ing should be.”

iPhone Advert

The next advert is one for the iPhone 4,

i t ’s basic se l l ing point is ,

“ I f you don’t have an iPhone, you don’t

have the App store – so you don’t have

the wor ld’s largest se lect ion of App’s. . .

Yup, i f you don’t have an iPhone, wel l . . .

you don’t have an iPhone.”

The arrogance of th is is overwhelming,

despi te a wel l produced advert as

one would only expect f rom Apple,

th is communicates very c lear ly. I t

unashamedly states that they’re the

best around, and have a monopoly on


a l l the best technology and software

avai lable. Granted th is is a surpr is ingly

honest advert , they don’t h ide or

fabr icate what they’re say ing. They

s imply announce that i f you don’t

have an iPhone your unworthy and

detestable, someone might be ent i re ly

open and honest about being pre judice

and offens ive towards someone – that

doesn’t excuse them causing offense.

This may seem l ike harmless fun about

the i r products super ior i ty, but not when

people in th i rd wor ld cul tures buy the

latest phone instead of food, because

in the i r cu l ture they’re not seen as good

enough i f they don’t have that phone.

Dove ‘Real Beauty’ Campaign

The Dove Real Beauty Campaign

launched in 2004, th is is a campaign

tak ing act ion to “help f ree ourselves

and the next generat ion f rom beauty

stereotypes.” The campaign is

constant ly in the process of producing

te lev is ion adverts, v ideos, poster

campaigns and many more resources

on the i r web s i te. A l l focused at

chal lenging the stereotypica l v iew of

women, and a iming to te l l women that

‘Every women is beaut i fu l ’ .

Th is has a l l been carr ied by the Dove

brand, a s imple sty le has been carr ied

into th is campaign. This campaign has

made a rea l impact on our society,

even surpassing the hopes of i ts

founders. I t ’s reached a lot of people

and increased Dove’s sa les as Dr

Susan Orbach (Co-Founder for The

Campaign for Real Beauty) and Kat ie

Adams (Senior Brand Manager for Dove)

expla in.

“Dove had such a huge take up in

sa les”

“The dove se l f -esteem fund has touched

3.5 mi l l ion young women global ly and

by 2010 we wi l l have reached 5 mi l l ion

young women.”

Again we can’t deny the campaign’s

success, i t ’s c lear ly reached and

affected a lot of young women, ra is ing

the i r se l f esteem as Kat ie Adams states.

“We had let ters upon let ters f rom

people say ing “thank you for embracing

the larger breasted women””

Dove have taken a b ig step further

than other companies and campaigns

as Dr Orbach says, ‘We hoped th is

would change everyone e lse’s ad’s’ . I t ’s

success was undeniable. But i f i t was

a campaign say ing ‘Every Women is

Beaut i fu l ’ , why is i t on ly ‘young women’

that are targeted? Are mature women

not beaut i fu l too? Do they not need

thei r se l f -esteem ra ised?

Another interest ing point is one that

‘Adbusters’ make in th is art ic le wr i t ten

by Sarah Nardi .

“But the intent ion – to somehow bolster

women’s se l f -esteem whi le se l l ing them

f i rming lot ion – is the problem. This is

advert is ing in the guise of act iv ism. Cue


the cynica l laugh.”

This seems to be a huge contradict ion.

The fo l lowing image (15,16,17,18,19)

are screen shots f rom the very same

web s i te as the campaign. One for

f i rmer sk in, for ‘summer g low’ ( tanned)

sk in, for more colour fu l ha i r, for fu l ler

ha i r and one for s i lky, sh iny hai r. Why

are Dove se l l ing products that are

essent ia l ly about ‘ improv ing’ a women’s

appearance? These products aren’t

mere ly about heal thy sk in and hai r,

these a l l promote the idea of the ‘ ideal

women’ e.g. that women should have

tanned sk in, and th is product wi l l make

your sk in more tanned. As Sarah Nardi

states ‘This is advert is ing in the guise

of act iv ism’ – Is th is eth ica l? To appear

to be eth ica l in order to gain as Dr

Orbach says, ‘a huge take up in sa les’ .

I f that is t rue that is the very def in i t ion

of uneth ica l . I t should a lso be added

that not one Dove product carr ies the

Fai r t rade Mark.


Design & Democracy Exhibit ion

This year I v is i ted the Design &

Democracy exhib i t ion at the Scott ish

par l iament in Edinburgh with univers i ty.

‘Discover how a new generat ion of

designers th ink design can make a

d i fference to the way we l ive. Dur ing

the Year of Creat ive Scot land 2012,

th is exhib i t ion wi l l explore how design

can inspi re posi t ive change in areas

such as heal th, wel l -being, society and

susta inabi l i ty. ’

I was encouraged by the amount

of other graduates that were doing

pro jects about eth ica l issues. I ’ l l post

the speci f ic one’s that int r igued me.

Reducing Child Malnutrit ion in

Uganda

The f i rst pro ject that caught my eye

was th is one by Barbara Beek f rom

Duncan of Jordanstone Col lege of Art

in Dundee. I t ’s a pro ject wi th the a im of

ra is ing awareness of the importance of

good nutr i t ion to parents in Uganda.

Barbara Beek did th is by creat ing a

ser ies of in fographics, and th is abacus

t ree so parents can keep track of the i r

ch i ld’s GDA.

I respect th is pro ject has i t seems

honest, i t rea l ly seems to care i t ’s not

just for the sake of doing something

good because we should. And is

searching for a s imple, honest, eas i ly

implemented a id.

Expense Free Charity!

Emma R. La l ly is a graphic designer

f rom Edinburgh Col lege of Art the

statement for the pro ject is as fo l lows,

“Al though char i ty is an incredib le th ing,

of ten i t carr ies a st igma, wi th t roops

of vo lunteers approaching you on

the h igh street , making you fee l gui l ty

for buy ing your lunch. I wanted to t ry

and make g iv ing to char i ty fee l fun

and a lmost cost less. There is £65

mi l l ion worth of pennies lost in the UK,

and th is campaign asks you to f ind and

donate them.”

Emma R. La l ly so lut ion isn’t a solut ion

for poverty, and i t doesn’t c la im to be,

i t ’s a solut ion to the gui l t we fee l about

poverty. . . gu i l t isn’t the problem, gui l t

is a symptom of the problem of poverty.

Countr ies are caught in poverty t raps,

i t ’s the system that needs to change to

solve poverty, not being more carefu l

not to loose our pennies.

St i l l I shouldn’t be too quick to d ismiss


the whole pro ject , she is th ink ing of

a d i fferent way to engage society in

g iv ing, and a new way to communicate

to people which is commendable.

A Photography Project

Sarah Amy F ish lock is a photographer

f rom The Glasgow School of Art ,

“This pro ject documents the l ives of

three I raqis who were employed by the

Br i t ish forces in I raq. Local ly engaged

I raqi staff - interpreters, dr ivers, and

other admin ist rat ive staff - are v iewed

as ‘col laborators’ by the fundamenta l is t

mi l i t ia who have obta ined a pol i t ica l

and psychologica l hold over the

d isor ientated I raqi populat ion. I

worked c losely wi th three successfu l

appl icants and the i r fami l ies to produce

a photographic portra i t of the i r l ives in

Glasgow.”

This is just wonderfu l , the photos

br i l l iant ly convey a sombre rea l i ty of

the subjects s i tuat ion, and effect ive ly

ra is ing awareness about the issue.

Another Photography Project

James Edwin Bettney is another

photographer f rom The Glasgow School

of Art ,

“ In Nepalese and many other cul tures

around the wor ld, a widow is looked

upon with great animosi ty. I t is

bel ieved that the act ions in the i r

prev ious l i fe contr ibute to the death of

the i r husband. They have therefore been

ostrac ised for generat ions, los ing the i r

status in both the home and society.”

This is qui te s imi lar to the last pro ject

but just as powerfu l i f not more so,

again these women’s l ives have been

br i l l iant ly captured and communicated

through these photos.


Can Design Save The World?

Provokateur has an Art ic le page I ’m

quot ing f rom “Design can change the

wor ld”.

“Schools of des ign t ra in students

to handle the i r tools l ike jobbing

carpenters and off they go, eager logo

monkeys hungry for business. This is

the rea l i ty of v isual communicat ion, or

the rea l i ty we’ve come to accept. There

might be a government awareness

campaign or a pro bono char i ty job, but

our rea l business is se l l ing.

. . . Instead of imagin ing pol i t ics and

eth ics have no place in design, we must

rea l ise they’ve a lways been there, we

just forgot about i t . Design can save the

wor ld – i f we want i t to.”

Banksy on advertising

I ’m surpr ised i t ’s taken me th is long to

feature Banksy (exclus ive ly ) , th is post

is actual ly on the Signalnoise b log, a

wonderfu l quote f rom Banksy,

“Asking permiss ion is l ike ask ing to

keep a rock someone just threw at your

head.”

I complete ly agree that adverts assaul t

us everyday, and that we have the r ight

to react to i t . But the major i ty don’t

we’ve become so numb to adverts that

they’re just expected.

Imagine for a minute going about

your normal day, but wi thout anyone

shout ing at you, te l l ing you what to

do.. . Noth ing te l l ing you, you need to

go and see th is or buy th is, that you

need Y or would be happier wi th X.

Imagine being f ree f rom cont inuous

instruct ion. . .

Kony 2012

At the beginning of March th is year, a

th i r ty minute v ideo was re leased by a

char i ty ca l led Inv is ib le Chi ldren, who


work in centra l Afr ica where the LRA

occupy. The LRA (Lord’s Resistance

Army) k idnap chi ldren and force them

to murder, torture and rape as part of

the LRA. The leader of the LRA is a man

named Joseph Kony, Inv is ib le Chi ldren

made the v ideo with the intent ion of

making Joseph Kony famous. In four

weeks s ince being uploaded to Youtube

i t has amassed a whopping 86.1 mi l l ion

v iews, and 27.7 mi l l ion on v imeo.

I t was remarkable how fast i t spread,

i t took over socia l media websi tes and

the news for a week. But four weeks

on there’s not even a ment ion of the

campaign ro l l ing around the back

pages of the news or socia l media.

The benef i ts of the d ig i ta l media are

that the market is much bigger due to

socia l media s i tes, you can reach such

a large market. The downsides are that

i t ’s harder to make i t last , a memorable

v ideo can’t be pr inted out and stuck

beside your desk.

The Kony 2012 Action Kit

I bought a Kony 2012 Act ion Ki t , and i t

arr ived last week. Unfortunate ly not as

pr ist ine as the photo on the websi te,

mine was rather more d ishevel led (as

wel l as i t ’s arr iva l be ing ta inted with

an £11 customs charge.. . ) . As ide f rom

th is you do get your money’s worth

receiv ing, 1 T-Shir t , 1 act ion k i t book,

10 posters, 3 bracelets, 10 st ickers and

1 badge.

In terms of the design of the pack, i t ’s

fa i r ly bas ic I ’m assuming to keep costs

down for the purchaser, though th is

comes at the expense of receiv ing a

wel l presented pack. The merchandise

is wel l made, wi th a custom made

T-Shir t , and good qual i ty pr int ing.

Overa l l i t is wel l made and designed for

purpose, as the purpose of the pack is

to prov ide resources not to impress as

whoever has purchased the pack would

a l ready be a fo l lower.

For the design of the pack for th is

pro ject I wi l l need to ser ious ly impress

on f i rst s ight , as I wouldn’t be

preaching to the choir, my pack wi l l

need to be much more succinct and

easy to access and understand.

Kony Reaction

There are two responses to the Kony

campaign that have rea l ly saddened me.

The f i rst which I th ink was a major

contr ibut ing factor to i t ’s success

was the popular i ty of i t . That today

i t ’s cool to care, an example is the

‘make poverty h istory’ campaign a few

years ago, when every second person

you passed was wear ing a ‘make

poverty h istory’ wr ist band. This type

of response is character ised by huge

immediate publ ic response, which very


quick ly fades and a matter of weeks

pass and i t ’s near forgotten about.

The second, is l inked in that i t became

popular to be a scept ic. I th ink the

mind set that was occurr ing was “ I ’ l l

look down on th is f rom my moral ly

super ior stance by d ismiss ing the

campaign as moral ly corrupt” . Because

i f you go against the gra in and say that

something that ’s genera l ly understood

to be good is bad, then you must be

rea l ly good because you’re able to

cr i t ic ise a good th ing.

I just hope that my own project isn’t

seen as the second response, but an

honest cr i t ique of graphic design today.

38 Degrees – NHS campaign

I passed a car that had th is poster

in the back window, i t p leased me to

see people part ic ipat ing in a socia l ly

conscious campaign. The campaign

is run by 38 Degrees in response to

a proposed bi l l to reform the NHS by

further pr ivat isat ion.

I ’ve been t ry ing to analyse campaigns

to see why they would be successfu l ,

I th ink the reason why th is campaign

is ga in ing momentum is a s imple one.

That there are so many people that wi l l

be inf luenced by th is b i l l , according to

a recent art ic le by the BBC the NHS

employs 1.7 mi l l ion people ( the 5th

largest employer in the wor ld) . Maybe

people need to have a vested interest

on a topic f i rst before they’ l l act . . .

Poetry Vandalism

Want a def in i t ion for beauty, how about

an art ist vandal is ing advert is ing with

poetry? Wel l that ’s what Scott ish art ist

Robert Montgomery has been doing, he

descr ibes the publ ic react ion,

“People respond to i t rea l ly wel l . Lots

of people pass by. Ordinary people just

rea l ly l ike to see b i l lboards covered up

with poetry. They f ind i t rea l ly ref reshing

I th ink. So, we’ve never rea l ly got into

any t rouble. We get anyth ing f rom

smi les to hugs. I ’ve been hugged in


the street severa l t imes [Laughs] . I t ’s

rea l ly n ice. I meet a huge cross sect ion

of people. I t ’s n ice to se l l my work in

gal ler ies, obviously, i t ’s n ice to be at

the Venice Biennale, but th is way my

work reaches ordinary people which

is a more fundamenta l th ing to me.

Normal people in the street are much

more inte l l igent than society g ives

them credi t for – and they are not at a l l

conceptual ar t-phobic.”

This is so encouraging, not only that

yet another person is engaging with

chal lenging society, but that society

is responding, and very warmly – the

publ ic don’t l ike advert is ing.

Summary:–There are a lot of

conclusions to take from all

of this, it has helped to clarify

some issues on methods and

practices.

– Things to take forward are

that there is a lot of support

and awareness, projects can

work.

http://www.youtube.com/

watch?gl=US&feature=player_

embedded&v=t iYaz6xg4mM

http://www.youtube.com/user/theRSAorg#p/u/2/

hpAMbpQ8J7g

http://v i .sual ize.us/v iew/60c7a8600b9bd42

1b82f5d558cc2f6a4/

http://www.fastcodesign.com/from-the-

edi tor-30092010

Scott Thomas, (2010) Designing Obama: a

chronic le of ar t &

design f rom the 2008 pres ident ia l campaign: Post

Press.

http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/77/a_

designer_moment.html

http:// ramadanfest iva l .n l /

ht tp://www.ramadanfest iva l .org/


watch?v=onLYKU-CNhM

http://www.dove.co.uk/cfrb/the-real-beauty-

debate/v ideos.html?v#v=http://dovel i feray-

uat.s3.amazonaws.com/US_en/en_gb-staging/

global/v ideo/tv-spots/1_success_of_

campaign_576x324.f lv


watch?v=iYhCn0j f46U

http://www.scott ish.par l iament.uk/

v is i tandlearn/44316.aspx

http://www.designer-dai ly.com/design-wont-save-

the-wor ld-918

http://provokateur.com/provokat ions/art ic les/

http://b log.s ignalnoise.com/2012/03/01/banksy-

on-advert is ing/

http://www.kony2012.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

http:// inv is ib lechi ldrenstore.myshopi fy.com/

products/kony-k i t

ht tp://b log.38degrees.org.uk/2012/03/09/nhs-

campaign-update/

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta inment/

art/ features/the-art ist-vandal is ing-advert is ing-

with-poetry-6353303.html?fb_act ion_

ids=10150694136893608&fb_act ion_types=news.

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book 6 – project design

Documents

prof i t

cr i t ica

i festy

downshi f t ing

addi t ion

i r phys ica

br i t ish columbia

s i te wi