Practical work, feedback and adjustments

The Body Shop

This brand was targeted for the practical as they promote being as ethical and anti-cruelty as possible, but last year in a scandal that came out, it became known they were in fact bought by L'oreal who still animal test. This made remaking their latest campaign interesting to work with, using the composition and design style, and twisting their words in aid of promoting anti animal testing in Peta's dramatic fashion.

Three variations- some with more focus on the blood red bath which imitates the blood of the animals dying due to the animal testing from buying bath products from Body Shop. The use of red in the bath, the lipstick, and on the campaign title are striking and alarming, and are intended to shock and make the consumer question why the bath is blood red. This will prompt them to read the text which I wanted to keep short as possible but give explanation, as it is quite shocking Body Shop haven't adressed the controversy due to their intended brand image to become the most ethical brand 'ever'. Throughout these ads synonyms for 'torture' were used to keep the language varied but as impactful as possible.

In feedback gathered, the first two images were favoured as the red looks more dramatic and bloodlike. A critique was that they understood how I intended to design these to mimic the originals, however for maximum shock include the brand name within to ensure full impact.

The colour red used in design to alert danger, will instantly attract the consumer along with the blood looking out of place of the beauty ad context of the designs. Using the gradient illumination such as in the advert in red looks like it would fit in place of a hair product ad, with the model lost in the moment like one of the herbal essences models, but with the twist of blood in the product and on her hands. The tag used continually is a brash wake up call to the beauty buyers and sits with the theme consistently. Typefaces as similar as possible along with twists on language used in the adverts are used for maximum familiarity and contrast.

The change to red was favoured and makes the ad more eye catching as it doesn't look as gorey as it could have done, but the message itself and dramatic title of 'agony' will stand out due to its shocking language amongst every day ads which was the aim. Also, another comment was that with the face being towards the camera it makes the message more direct to the consumer and harder to avoid. Will include the brand name of Loreal with in the text.

Previous backgrounds in which emulating the pink didn't work with the red consistency needed for shock, and white made them look too different to the original advert- less lustrous feeling, as one of my distribution ideas is to place these in fashion magazines against animal testing, therefore they need to have a style fitting for the rest of the pages.

Keeping the images upclose for emphasis on the bloody lips, and actually using a red mac lipstick to truly emulate a typical MAC lipstick advert in this ad keeps the vain ignorance of animal testing well. This is done as a pastiche showcasing the blood lost to make that line of lipsticks in aim of alerting the consumer visually rather than just with words, in aid of them directing their money to a brand not using animal testing and to do their research on which they can look to PETA for.

Comments on these were that the contrast of the visual style of the MAC ad and pose, along with the blood and change of the MAC title suit its purpose. The first in which she is looking is more sinister and there is more of an emotional connection which deepens the message. The font was said to look too clumped to be read with ease so if possible to substitute for a clearer script font, this would benefit the speediness of the message.

Photoshoot plan for practical work and anti-animal testing company

Have had trouble with models cancelling on me so as a back up I have chosen these licence free stock images for worst case scenario of not being able to do my own photoshoot, as using photos of real people is needed for the shock high impact of my concept most appropriate to support my shock advertising essay. The essence of my concept is that in the modern day, shocking advertising has to be slipped in to advertising for vanity or else the advertising is shunned due to negative nature. Such as the Corsodyl advert- you see a pretty woman getting ready for a night out, then the shock of seeing such a person with a front tooth missing: it shocks the watcher in to questioning the blood when they are brushing, that they need to buy Corsodyl.

Corsodyls advertising technique is perfect for my aim of the practical, luring the consumer in by their own vanity by looking like their usual favourite beauty brand but tarnishing their existing associations of feeling beautiful using loreal, mac and body shop by showcasing the result of their choices of buying from them, that they have blood on their hands. Scenes like these are mostly showed in horror films which consumers flock to see for the shock, but I want to showcase a real life horror story by buying blindly.


Lush

This brand are constantly promoting their anti-animal testing values, and are very blatant about it. I have seen so many of their totebags against animal testing in day to day which is a clever simple statement. Their campaign performance however was not so simple- showing the pain and suffering of animal testing using a human prompted many shocked discussions and was an extreme but desperate call to the consumer to recognize the reality of their choices and to simply do their research and buy from Lush and elsewhere, eradicating animal testing. They even go as far to award those who work fighting animal testing. Lush are a very admirable brand in my opinion with nothing to hide- speaking to Lush employees I know, they are very much representations of the brand. I found out about the Body Shop being bought out with proceeds going to animal testing from one of their employees, which really did surprise me due to the brands image. Perhaps assigning my shoot towards Lush's brand can be part of their few but shocking campaigns and open the eyes of customers who buy from Body Shop for similar products too.


PETA

The most high profile, international, most experienced in shocking bloody visuals in their campaigning in advert styles in which I aim to create. PeTA are known for their use of high profile celebrities for higher impact of different target audiences, and gory imagery used to shock those seeing the adverts in to showcasing their anger and the brutal truth of animal testing so that audiences look in to and think twice about buying from certain brands. The difference with mine being, mine are for specific brands. This is extreme to target brands specifically but in the long history of shocking publicity stunts and high profile shock campaigning by PeTA, this may be the ideal name to assign my images to as it echoes how PeTA have worked to raise awareness on animal testing, now from a slightly different angle. When editing I will use the latest brand logos to keep in tap with the latest look of the brands advertising and to keep in place with it's current visual stratedgies and connotations with public.

Dissertation proposal brainstorms

Picked the two questions i was most interested in and began to brainstorm.



Question 5 gave the most interesting options for me personally

It feels to me that the post-punk ideas and aesthetics that have influenced you are hard to pin down – or at least more so than straight-up punk, for instance. Can you tell me a little more about what you feel post-punk means to you, and how it shaped your output?The whole notion of post-punk has probably been our most important inspiration, throughout the years. As we already mentioned in previous interviews – it is through all the various post-punk subcultures in which we were involved (as kids growing up in the 80s) that we became interested in graphic design in the first place. Psychobilly, two-tone ska, new wave, mod, oi, industrial noise, garage rock, skate punk, US hardcore – it was subcultures like these that made us aware of this whole graphic sphere of band logos, record sleeves, fanzines, mini comics, mail art, mix tapes, T-shirt prints, buttons, badges, patches, etc. In a lot of our work, we are still referring to exactly this graphic sphere. 

http://www.itsnicethat.com/features/experimental-jetset-interview-280616
Music/pop culture identity 

Practical idea development

very rough mock up of a loreal version if associated with PETA

Loreal- blood dripping through hair representing their hair dye that is tested on animals still

Mac- bloody lips, representing the bloodshed of animal testing

The body shop- bloody bath- company come across as very ethical but were bought out by Loreal, meaning their products are actually contributing to animal testing still. The bath represents a body wash or bath gel typically sold, and the amount of pain the money goes toward.

I aim to create visual language with a dark and sinister pastiche aimed towards a thoughtless coinsumer, giving them a wake up call by shock advertising, but letting it be an opportunity for them to switch certain buying decisions and have more awareness on where their money goes and see how it is masked by luxury/self pampering with these particular brands.

Alternatively, I considered illustrations or spraypaint protest style, but for this to support my essays point, using a model has the highest visual shock impact as it needs to be real as it can.

Adbusters Research Spoof ads

The way in which Adbusters design work supports my essay is in it's use of the same advertising layout and approach as the brands but featuring harsh truths. In essence of how the essay concluded- in western society currently consumers avoid guilt inflicting visual imagery and indulge on improving their image, cuisine, a new car, an attractive model etc. When drawn to the familiar, having a shocking twist is the perfect trap and type of anti-advert shock advertising appropriate for the current market.
Creating this kind of advertising for a similar more underground left wing organisation would support the approach of shock advertising.

How one of my practical proposal subjects has gone viral

One of my ideas was to create a campaign of awareness of legal highs-although now made illegal, in my hometown of Manchester the synthetic drug Spice has devastated lives notoriously of the homeless in the city centre, which has now become a national epidemic which I have started to witness in Leeds over the last week of members of public literally stood with heads in walls like a 'zombie'- although this is the Daily Mail which is very unreliable, this article is true and I have seen firsthand and spoke to a homeless man a year or so ago explaining its more addictive than when he was on heroin and its so accessible. This has been very coincidental as I decided not to work on it as there were already awareness of legal high advertisments and they were banned anyway, but the issue is still ongoing if not more crucially than ever when this is happening in popular high streets.

This makes me aware that currently, there is a need for spice awareness, however, those already addicted need more support than a campaign and I feel there is now enough information and public awareness not to try the drug but I feel my awareness of issues like this is relevant maybe even if before this it was just in certain areas and others weren't aware.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4302806/Spice-synthetic-drug-turns-users-living-dead.html

Politics lecture