Adbusters

Over the past weeks, I have mentioned the Adbusters Media Foundation on more than one occasion. With the research I have conducted on subversive design methods I feel collating my research on them is needed so I can include them in my presentation.

At the moment I have divided subversion into 3 categories. 2 of them are relevant to the design field so I want to cover these in my presentation on the subject. Subversion can be looked at with regards to it's 'narrow' definition. This definition is the one I collected from Merriam Webster (n.d.). stating that a subversive would be someone working within government completing subversive acts in order to overthrow. I think someone working within a business to take it down could also come under this category.

The 2 types I am interested in are as follows. Subversion through message is the second and this is relevant to Adbusters in this case. The messages they use within their work subversive towards governments and corporations that they disagree with. In Krauss' (2017) 'the inherently subversive power of design' he discusses how using pastiche and satire is a form of subversion. This brings me onto the third form of subversion; subversion of practice. Using subversive methods within your practice to make work. These are the methods that Adbusters use to create work. This form of subversion is also relevant to the practitioners I have been researching.

I have selected some of their works to look at so I can include some in my presentation as examples.

Joe Chemo. Adbusters. (n.d.).

Note. From Adbusters (n.d.).

This Joe Chemo who was created as a satirical response to the Joe Camel cigarette campaigns. They are attempting to show how 'cool' Joe Camels excessive smoking has resulted in cancer.

'Feed Me'. Adbusters. (n.d.).

Note. From Adbusters (n.d.).

'Feed Me', I believe, is commenting on the eating habits of models in the fashion industry. The industry has come under fire on multiple occasions, I believe, in the past as it believed that many of these models are encouraged to starve themselves in order to achieve the desired body shape for the campaigns.

'the product is you...' Adbusters. (n.d.).

Note. From Adbusters (n.d.).

'The product is you...' is referencing a video game series. It has come to our knowledge in recent years that our data is valuable to companies so businesses such as Facebook have been accused of selling this data. Therefore we are the product in this case.

REALITY for men. Adbusters. (n.d.).

Note. From Adbusters (n.d.).

I believe this image is commenting on the unrealistic male figures shown in fashion ads. I have noticed, from research conducted for other projects, that there is an increase in this representation of men and it is becoming a problem in the same way this representation of women has been for decades.

Normally I would argue that using and manipulating someone else's work to create your own would be an uncreative way of designing. However, Adbusters' clever selection of images and choice of caption in order to speak their message would be a difficult practice. I struggled with this when creating my collages. I am aware that I limited my resources for that task, whereas Adbusters have a multitude of images at there disposal, but the struggle I felt was more in the ideas rather than the creation. With this in mind, you could argue that a level of creativity is needed for the production of these images and creativity would only develop more if you continued to work in this way.

I think this is something I could discuss with regards to answering my question.

Bibliography.

Adbusters. (n.d.). Spoof Ads. Adbusters. https://www.adbusters.org/spoof-ads

Krauss, N. (2017, April 17). The Inherently Subversive Power of Design. Noteh Krauss. https://medium.com/@Noteh/the-inherently-subversive-power-of-design-82736d65949d

Merriam Webster. (n.d.) Subversion. In Merriam-Webster.com Retrieved December 29, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/subversion