Poster Bus Stop + Rationale

My poster takes a stance against superstores, in particular fashion superstores such as Just Jeans and Jay Jays. I’ve used vector graphics and text to create the message that cheap fashion from superstores has hidden problems that are sometimes deadly for those producing our clothes. The substitution of fabric for bones has been used to provoke the audience in to thinking about who made their clothes and under what conditions. I have also used a dark background and off white for the bones to create a gloomy, deathly feel. This is again reinforced by making the word ‘DYING’ red. The pun “dying for new clothes?” highlights the contrast between consumers perception of clothes as simply an object and urges them to consider the detrimental and literally deadly impact that fast, cheap fashion has in communities producing these objects. The intended response is for the viewer to first see the t-shirt made from bones at a literal level (Ihi) and then read the text and understand the harmfulness of bad working conditions, making the viewer reconsider buying cheap clothes from superstores (Wehi).

Final Poster

My final poster, having made adjustments from critique in class.

Final Class

Today in class I put my poster on the wall for critique and people suggested some minor changes such as bumping down the type and adjusting the spacing. Also to add a cutout in the skull where the nose would be. Overall though it was a positive response.

Further Refinement

I have been refining my poster more, focusing on the layout of type. I have narrowed down to four options which I am deciding between.

I have also been trying to finalise my sub line. I originally wanted to have a statistic, however I haven't been able to find one. People in class felt that with my current text I didn't need the second line and that it was stronger just being "Garment factories shouldn't be death traps".

Refining

I have been refining my bones t-shirt concept and trying different type layouts and have decided for now to colour the text DYING in red in order to add more emphasis. I am also trying to decide what to put as my subtext as I was unable to find any statistics about garment factory worker deaths. The only recent stastitic is from the Rana Plaza disaster, however I would prefer to use a statistic that represents the broader industry, not just one accident. I want the background to be dark, and am deciding between dark grey and a dark blue, leaning towards the blue at the moment.

Today's class

Today in class I showed my latest idea and had a positive response. People understood the message and thought the words "dying for new clothes?" was clever. Patricia said that now I need to add a line with a fact to add credibility to the argument.

New Idea

I have a new concept which I feel is stronger than my earlier ones. I am going to make an image of a t shirt made of bones, to represent the deaths of garment workers. I think this would be more striking and represents the serious cost of fast fashion, that people do in fact die while making clothes for megastores. I have found an artist model Francois Robert who used real human bones and arranged them into artworks 

More Research

I have been doing some more research in to the fashion industry as a lot of the information I had found previously was about international clothing chains. I watched a 3rd Degree investigation in to fast fashion in New Zealand which revealed that the Just Group (Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Dotti etc.) is yet to sign a legally binding agreement to improve working conditions in Bangladesh. This confirms that disasters like the Rana Plaza are very relevant to New Zealand consumers.

Interim

Today we had interim, I showed three ideas and got mixed feedback. At first people in my group liked the fashion crime poster, but it was pointed out that there was no connection to child labour, which is obviously crucial. I only made it yesterday and at the time it seemed to make sense but hearing feedback it's good to realise that it isn't really working. People also felt that the sequin face wasn't clear enough. The one I had least refined was the zip but everyone felt it was the clearest message, so I will try and continue with that.

Exploring other ideas

Today in class we tried to refine our ideas and to continue exploring possibilities. Ive been thumbnailing more ideas but still want to try continue with my sequin face and refine it more. Also the zip idea seems simple and clear, but also needs refining.

Superstore Focus

I have decided to focus on fashion superstores, and taking a negative stance against their exploitation of workers throughout their supply chain, paying people extremely low wages, and making them work in dangerous conditions in order to make a profit while maintaining low prices.

Topic & Initial Research

I have chosen the superstores as the social issue I am going to focus on. I watched an undercover BBC investigation in to the working conditions in Amazon's warehouses which showed how exploitative the company is, putting stress on their workers by literally making them run against the clock for every item they have to pick off the shelf. I was frustrated with the power that superstores like amazon have, as they can get away with so much, so obviously I am going to take a stance against superstores.

I also found an inforgraphic detailing the aggressive tactics Amazon uses:

Initial Concepts

I've been working on some concepts, a lot of them to do with child labour and just generally who is making your clothes and the conditions under which they are made. I've been playing with using objects of garment making, e.g. needles, thread, zips and trying to arrange them in ways that show them in an oppressing way.
One of the things I was drawn to was using sequins after seeing the BBC panorama expose showing people sewing sequins for tiny wages in back streets. I feel that sequins are a juxtaposition to this, being a symbol of tacky glamour and fast fashion, when behind the scenes is an exploited work force.

Garment Industry research

I have been researching stories about the fashion industry and the exploitative practices they use to produce their clothes and found a lot of information that it is hard to know where to start. One of the most stocking things, was a BBC panorama investigation in to Primark, which found children adding finishings such as sequins to garments in back streets and homes for tiny wages. And even worse was that they were told that people in refugee camps were also being exploited as they had no other way to earn money.

Debate

In class today, we split in to three groups, social media, voting and superstores. We had to argue for or against, and then each side had a debate.

I was in the against superstores group, which happens to be the topic I am doing so it was useful as I got points that were relevant to what I am working on.

Our points of argument were:

Superstores have inferior quality, are not made to last which creates waste, and is therefore bad for the environment.

The shopping experience in a superstore is worse than an independent store. 

Worse service, chain stores are all the same, online superstores - don't know what you are buying

Bad for the community. Superstores hurt small businesses and their employees, shops go out of business and streets become empty and lifeless.

Factory workers working in dangerous conditions for poverty wages.