Dissident design: resistance through form

Abstract

As intangible as the concepts of beauty, fashion, and brand image are, they are commonly employed as powerful enticements to buy. Consequently, from a market perspective, design is frequently viewed simply as a sales tool. It is precisely the importance of something as seemingly benign as a product's aesthetic image that is explored in this MOP. Using design as the means of inquiry and discussion, the project looks into aspects of design and consumption that have broader implications than aesthetic choice and brand image. Design is a communicative art and designed artefacts reflect the nature of the culture in which they are conceived. These artefacts carry with them meanings related to social values, cultural priorities, and societal understandings. These values today are inextricably linked with the ubiquitous images of our consumer marketing industry. The effect of advertising has contributed to consumerism becoming an increasingly dominant source of social meaning. Objects today are valued less for what they do for us and more for what they say about us. What we are really consuming is image. The study has three key components: Cultural Exploration - Consisting of three independent essays, all related to consumption, each written from a different perspective: Individual, Socio-economic, and Professional. Design Investigation - Graphic explorations question contemporary consumerism, branding and product identity and highlight its environmental and social repercussions. Design Subversion - Product designs aimed at subverting notions of facade and desire as a means to challenge the way we view consumer objects in contemporary consumer society. Keywords: image, identity, consumption, voyeur, exhibitionist, media, meaning, communication, subversion, connection.