The Contemporary Design Practice And Theories Of Consumerism And / Or Sustainability

Advertising remains within a perpetual state of change but the 1960s saw a significant change in the approach advertisers took to target consumers. Automation allowed for mass production of goods which meant that advertisers had to convince a consumer that a mass-produced item could be made personal and contribute to their individuality. Consumers were trying to be seen as individuals, this caused demassification as consumers began to be grouped into more and more refined categories. Advertising became less about what the product did and more about how the product contributed to individuality and advertisers used the counterculture and anti-consumerism as a way to target consumers. “The message in the new ads was quite simply, ‘buy this good to escape consumerism.’” (Reading, 7). This may be considered deceptive towards consumers as the advertising takes advantage of insecurities and consumers desperate want for social acceptance and individuality. There were multiple shifts in advertising formats the product-information format, product-image format, personalised format and the lifestyle format each targeting consumers in a different way, the final shifts were more effective in targeting those with an anti- ad mind-set

The Conquest of Cool examines the common perception of the Sixties counterculture. It questions the idea that the revolution and rebellion of the subculture of the 1960s in America against the consumer driven culture of the 1950s were actually a consumer driven rebellion in and of itself. The book 's primary message is to describe how Advertisers and other big business in corporate America such as soda pop bottlers and clothing companies welcomed the counterculture and perhaps were responsible for creating it. Consumer driven industry realized that instant gratification would make this new generation better consumers than their frugal post world war 2 parents. The book hints that the art and creative self-expression of the counterculture in 1960s America was reflected in, and driven by the advertising of the time, suggesting that life imitates art or that advertising imitates the culture. However, the author also suggests that advertisers anticipated the revolution and in part precipitated the counterculture, creating the culture that it marketed freedom to. We see that the 1950s advertising was characterized by an entity known as, "Organization Man.” A fabricated mold that would fit easily in the capitalist machine. During the 1950s ad agencies and advertising companies marketed a lifestyle to fit this most common mold. They tailor-made advertisements to the desires of the subculture as well as corporations. Corporations wanted a safe scientific advertising, yet the

“It is only when we start to look at [advertisements] carefully that we begin to see how strange and weird they actually are and begin the process of thinking independently, for ourselves, about what the culture holds up as normal.”

In our current society, the influence of capitalism and advertising constantly sways our decisions in one manner or another. As such, it can be hard to differentiate between our own actual feelings and the feelings others have created through the promotion of products. Both Hari Kunzru, author of the story “Raj, Bohemian”, and Andrea Chang, author of the LA Times article “Teen ‘haulers’ become a fashion force”, reinforce the idea that consumer society has little care for individuals and their overall well being. Both authors attest to how inescapable the influence of marketing is, how producers exploit the current youth in order to further appeal to them and expand their potential market, and how consumerism leads to a lack of free will and lack of identity. With all of these factors, it is evident that consumer society corrupts our own individual identities, often while we are exploited by the same industries we support.

The title of Michael McDonough’s talk is Cradle to Cradle Design. Mr. McDonough is an architect and his talk focuses on the problem of how our Earth and our people are being hurt because the products we are designing are not safe or healthy. He starts by the talk referencing Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring” which brings up the possibility that we might kill all of the birds. He then talks about what he thinks is the fundamental issue, which is that design is a sign of human intentions. He thinks that we need to evaluate our designs given that we are the dominant species on the Earth and that we are the stewards of the Earth – in other words, we should be taking care of the Earth. He thinks that designers should be asking how can we create world peace and save the environment when we build things. Instead of starting with this question, designers of today don’t seem to have a plan. And the result of having no plan is tragedy, like global warming and mercury poisoning of children from coal plants.

Advertisements in today’s society are nearly ubiquitous, appearing on screens, buildings, radio, clothing, newspapers, magazines, buses, mail, and almost every type of modern media. It is a cultural marker that sheds light into the worlds in which its companies and their target audiences reside. Naomi Klein analyzes the 1980s shift from a product economy to a brand economy in which brand is glorified and used to sell the projected vision of the company and advertisement is the main method by which brand is marketed. Thomas Frank discusses in depth how brands are sold through depictions of fantasy

I began my research for the thesis under the notion that the desire to attain ‘special’ exists in the field of design. Over the past few decades, within various contexts ranging from fashion design to product design and graphic design, the term ‘special’ is used as a catch-all phrase which seem to have become omnipresent. Creating ‘special’ things is what everyone-designers and users-assume design is all about. However, in fact, ‘special’ is playing out a fantasy far removed from daily life and interrupting potentially harmonious atmosphere with its awkward presence (Frukasawa N. & Morrison J., 2012). Design, which is supposed to make life easier and smoother, be responsible for the man-made environment we inhabit, now seems to pollute them by creating ‘beautiful trashes’ (Berman D. B. 2009). Encouraged by glossy lifestyle magazines and marketing departments, design becomes a competition to produce things as noticeable as possible to generate media coverage by superficial means of color, shape, material, decoration and surprise at an increasing update rate. Its realistic and idealistic goals to serve everyday needs and make the world a better have been side-tracked. The virus ‘special’

Ranging from abstract ideas to futurist ideas, different features of the postmodern world are reflected in today’s print advertising. The major aim of print advertising is to create an impact over the audience. The ad must be striking enough to attract audience and then allow them to discover their own interpretation of the advert or the product. “Postmodernism refuses to privilege any one perspective, and recognises only difference, never inequality, only fragments, never conflict” (Wilson, 1989, p.209). Advertising in a postmodern culture is perplexed by the fragmentation of communication, however this is where the appeal to the consumers lies. Barthes wrote that “the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the author” (1967). The idea of postmodernism in advertising is to empower the consumer, allowing them to determine the adverts meaning, the advertisements shown above embody this view of postmodernism. XX believes that when the power contain in communicative interaction is harnessed directly to capital via postmodern marketing, it can lead to success for a

The ‘Dove Evolution’ advertisement is a perfect example of postmodernism advertising and complements the above discussion of hyper reality. The advertisement presents the full process in creating a billboard worthy advertisement. Firstly, the segment provides a behind-the-scenes look at how the model is, essentially ‘created’, and shows the audience how the ‘original’ image becomes the final product, unlike modernist advertisements which just presents an already final and ‘beautiful’ product. Emphasis on the use of photo-shop illustrates how technology has become a tool in modern day advertising and highlights Baudrillard’s (1994) view that the people of today live in an ‘unreal’ and fake world. Filming and disseminating this process “allows us to live without the illusions that modernity dangled before us” (Hart pg 9) The background classical music that has been slightly distorted illustrates Hart’s (2004) belief that “Postmodernism takes what it likes from high culture (classical music) and puts it to work in popular culture (advertising)” (Pg 8, Hart, 2004), further illustrating the idea that postmodernism involves removing “things out of their contexts, fragmenting them…and, well, playing with them” (pg 8, Hart, 2004). The final cut shows the billboard up, without showing the process of how that image came to be, reiterating Mills (1956) argument that the public would be unable to tell that it is a hyper-real image. This advertisement exemplifies Harvey’s (1990)

In this summative essay I would like to explore and analyse the influence that Graphic design has had on popular culture and consumerism. Graphic design can be defined as “the art and practice of planning and projecting ideas and experiences with visual and textual content. The form of the communication can be physical or virtual, and may include images, words, or graphic forms.” (aiga.org) Designers are problem solvers and it is their job to come up with a suitable solution to a problem. They have to find the best suitable means to communicate a particular message. Graphic Designers are at the forefront of advertising and the battle of selling giving the designer even greater responsibility, because of this graphic designers play a big role in consumerism. Consumerism, “as a social and economic order and ideology encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-greater amounts.” (wikipedia.org) Society have been gradually made to believe that they can increase their happiness through buying and spending. Consumerism is an international problem, but has existed for many years, people purchasing goods that exceeded those of their basic needs dates way back to the first civilisations, in the eras of ancient Egypt and Rome. A turn in consumerism arrived just before the industrial revolution, people worked long hours and earned low wages, so they didn 't have the time or the disposable income for excess spending. The industrial revolution welcomed the use of assembly

In the 21st century, it has become apparent that the most important thing to people is consumerism. In the world, I live in today, people have made it seem like if someone does not have the top name brand things or the newest and latest things, then the person is an outcast. It is consumerism that runs most of our lives without us even realizing it because we feel that if we do not have certain things, we will be looked down upon and we become unhappy with ourselves. Advertisers create “a worldview that is based upon cynicism, dissatisfaction and craving” (Kilbourne 168). Most people in this century are more concerned with fitting into society’s “ideal human” and materialism, making that their ultimate concern. The ultimate concern that I have is much different from the “ideal human” due to the values that I have been taught; as well as being able to acknowledge that the things I have or do not have, do not define the person that I am and that products cannot make me accept myself, I must do that on my own.

Meredith Davis’s book “Graphic Design Theory” was published in September 2012 by Thames & Hudson. This book blends a study of historical thinking of design with contemporary / modern approach to it. It also suggests students to critically analyse their work and asks them to adopt the design theories to embellish their practical design work as it will help them construct better work. This book also helps in understanding the consumers and the history of Graphic Design and also talks about a range of theories and introduces a collection of concepts and sources for future use and reference. In this book, Meredith Davis talks about the relationship of visual representation to the contexts of design. It talks about focusing on the broad and long term aftereffects of design and not to design only for the moment and responding to prompt needs.

Sustainability, today’s buzz word that has gained popularity as more people have become aware of its importance, can be seen in the designed sites that function in harmony with the landscape and natural systems. The rise of sustainable design can be contributed to the advocacy of environmentalism through organizations and increase of designers with environmental philosophies. Michael Manfredi and Marion Weiss are examples of such designers, bringing sustainable design to the public realm. Influenced by their social and cultural experiences, Weiss and Manfredi bring together the architectural and the natural. One of their best examples of this is Brooklyn’s Botanical Garden Visitor Center, which serves as “an interface between

The pop movement established itself during the rapid multinational corporate American expansion of the late 1950’s to mid-1960’s (Mamiya 1992, 14). Recognised for their study of subjects of popular culture and incorporation of “commercial techniques.” (Burton 2007, 113), Pop artists embraced “the culture of the masses” (Wilson 2011, 3). Although the Pop artists remained critically aware of the shortcomings within consumer culture their entanglement with the mentality and techniques of the culture “…surely rendered any potential for critique futile and invalid." (Mamiya 1992, 158). This essay will explore the interplay between critique and celebration of consumer culture within Pop Art and possible reasons for the diversity in reaction. This will be achieved through the study of the influence of consumer culture on the Pop artists, the artists’ response to this emerging culture, as well as the positive and critical representations of consumer culture within their work. The complex and contradictory relationship between consumer culture and pop artists will be explored through Richard Hamilton’s Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing? (1956), Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans (1962) and Tom Wesselmann’s Great American Nude #54 (1964).

The purpose of this analytical research portfolio is to discuss and examine about contemporary print advertising, in terms of its theoretical approaches such as textual structures, branding, reliance on celebrity endorsements and the pleasures that it offers to consumers (refer to Slide 3). In this essay however, I will elaborate specifically on a particular print advertisement from the company ‘Sisley’, which is commonly advertised in women’s fashion magazines and on how Semiotics and Signs is prevalent with regards to its advertising (Samuel Shane 2017).