OUGD505 Design Practice Studio Brief 01 Product Range and Distribution Study Task 3 Disobedient Objects Original Exhibition

Because I didn't get a chance to attend the actual exhibition I thought it worth while to look into the visuals and promotions for inspiration and comparison reasons and basically to understand what it is my designs will be promoting.

I found the summary of the exhibition and what struck me both from the image above and the summary was the sense of a miss mash, of the scruffy and the 'made in haste' centre of the whole exhibition.

'From Suffragette teapots to protest robots, this exhibition was the first to examine the powerful role of objects in movements for social change. It demonstrated how political activism drives a wealth of design ingenuity and collective creativity that defy standard definitions of art and design'

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The supporting material still for sale also provides an inside into the slap dash aesthetic of the exhibition.

This poster is somewhat different to the messy passionate aesthetic of the exhibition pieces. However there is a definite college ish feel to the overlaid text and visuals even if they are very considered and neat. The font is an interesting decision because of the contrast in shape of one letter to the next. The most noticeable letters are h and e this is because the E is so rounded and soft (almost like a Euro sign) and the H is so sharp and angular. These combine to create something quite strange and almost russian in block text as in this poster. Instantly it manages to have connotations of politics and unrest. This small typographic hint at political unrest is so clever and is something I play on in my own designs.

First printed in 2009 in response to the economic crisis and the impact on the creative community and their businesses. A copy of the original print is in the V&A collection and was included in the 2014 display  'A World to Win. Posters of Protest and Revolution.'

This flyer for the exhibition and the difference in production methods is distinct but not without reason. The single colour design on coloured stock is much cheaper in production and something much more within reach for protestors and those involved in the disobedience. 

I also thought it worth looking at how the V&A logo was applied in this and other situations. It seems where key colours cannot be pulled out of the design question, the logo is obstructed in some angular way that integrates it into the design as can be seen in the design above.