OUGD505 - Design Practice 2 [SB2] - Design Choices

With my designs for this project, I have made sure that every design choice has a clear reason behind it. I have tried to merge the boldness and direct approach that action groups usually take and simple, effective design to highlight the character that culture imprints into the areas it touches. My intentions behind this are to take a different stance on the fight against gentrification, and instead of fighting gentrification directly, I intend to educate and showcase the culture and character that is developed through close-knit communities that are being torn apart.

For example, the Westway23 logo that I developed:

I tried to create a logo that could be easily recreated at any time using DIY tools (such as for picket signs etc.) and an iconic logo that would be recognised on first sight. The icon is meant to represent the tower blocks that are stereotypically related to impoverished areas, and to transform it into a symbol of strength. A tower block represents foundation, stability and community, three things Westway23 agreed are parts of their core values.

The thinking behind my publication was to showcase the best anti-gentrification protest pieces as works of art, instead of seeing them as violent responses to gentrification itself. With this approach, this would shed a new light on the community and hopefully achieve a positive outcome. I feel like I have done this, but it was difficult to find any pieces of work due to councils quickly removing any works of an anti-agenda. The legality of creating my own work however, is questionable. 

I also created a series of stencils to be used for picket signs and protesting banners to be used by the group, that are easily read and directly address whoever they are put forward to. I tried to maintain the same conceptual thinking throughout my project keeping my collateral simple but effective, and trying to remove the corporate stigma to minimalist design by incorporating spray painting was a good idea to do that. 

I had a similar idea for my tube posters, in which I would directly address whoever was reading it and challenge their perception. From personal experiences, adverts that are able to relate to you on a personal level are the most effective so I tried to emulate this with my advert. In order to abolish the corporate element to the poster, I created a stencil with the typeface and spray painted it onto a wall (A layer of cling film was added to make sure no laws were broken). I think this was really effective because it related to the campaign itself, and synthesised the advertising material with the actual protesting.