“Most of us will settle for fine.
Most of us will stream mp3s instead of asking a friend to play the guitar.
Most of us will run on a treadmill at the gym instead of going to the park.
Most of us will watch 10 second videos on a computer instead of going to a play.
Most of us will eat something we can throw in the microwave instead of learning to cook.
Most of us will aspire to being known, to being famous for just a little while.
Most of us will be willing to be embarrassed, to hurt ourselves, if it means being known.
Most of us will be more concerned with that, with being known, than being remembered by anyone special.
Most of us will decide that it’s too soon or too late in life to go after what we really want.
Most of us will never actually sit down and think about what we really want.
Most of us will spend more time reading status updates than we spend reading books.
Most of us will take more pictures of ourselves than actually looking at the world around us.
Most of us will take the one unique and precious life we’ve been given and spend it being, just ok.
Most of us will make do.
And you will meet most of us and when you do, remember this.
Be the few.
Be the few.”

Six years down the lane, I remember having an intense conversation about the role of government and their laid back bureaucracy; How I had the determination to see things in a positive direction, people wanting to learn, progress and I would chant “there is room for change; for the better of course!”

Am I an idealist?

No. Not after reading about the Fair Labor Association, Adbusters and us! Yes, you and me and the rest of the consumers who are experiencing shopping as a pure form of entertainment. I really wish I was on the other side of the scene; not advertising for brands who doesn’t give me transparency regarding their production line, raw materials, revenues and the list of priorities goes on because I tend to then contribute towards believing an information given to me. Its also a fact that whatever we are being told, isn’t always true!

At the head of the Fair Labor Association (FLA), Auret van Heerden takes a practical approach to workers’ rights, persuading corporations and NGOs to protect labor in global supply chains.

A must watch for,

Auret van Heerden

http://www.ted.com/talks/auret_van_heerden_making_global_labor_fair

Apple hasn’t only produced quality computers but turning its brand veteran into anti socialist ( well not to generalise) but living in UK now, I felt the urge for consumers to rush to the stores to get the latest iPhone 6 would comfort them to such an extent they would queue up for hours in front of the stores! Brand Culture shock! How have they got into their ADN? It is a concept of living altogether where you walk on the street, you drive, you cook, you work, you go out, the Apple brand is always on you! And the worst is they ask you to create an account with them where they can track you anytime! Aha! They control you!

Like many other brands, we are slowly getting into

These powerful logos of Mc Donald, BMW, Heineker and DHL, are so well composed as an impactful ad to wake us up. These are all Adbuster work who come up with interventions, pranks, culture jams to shake the consumer up.

The digital detox week challenges our over reliance on technology. Countries; Uk and Australia, are definitely game in for that. Spoof adverts poking fun at big brands like the ones above, and the most famous one is BUY NOTHING DAY.

I reckon the more we empower the brands, the less they will requestion their existence and contribution towards a better functioning of the society and not only creating the “envy” of possession more than what we really value worth investing!

Capitalism, mass production, material culture are according to me the key features that contributed a rise in mass consumption. This new wave of change in our habits happened in the 19th Century much after the shift from ‘Fordism’ to ‘Post Fordism”. Having the right to choose what you wanted, according to your taste, was what made the consumer culture more powerful.

“..more away from mass production and consumption to flexible manufacturing and diverse patterns of consumption.” (Lash & Lurry 2002:217-18)

Consumption has become a focus on our social and cultural values. ” Shopping is no longer dutiful, it is part of her or his personal style”( Gibney & Luscombe 22) Customers are seeking for new experiences and values from goods and services. For example American Express introduced a personalised travel trip planned according to your budget. They plan your journey and deliver a travel pack filled with goodies and tips for you to experience holidays in a new way. The minute you board the plane, that is when you discover you tailor made trip. There is clearly a shift of material culture to a more pleasurable consumer driven force. According to Nicholas Abercombie (1994:51), consumption is a vehicle of pleasure where they cater for more or less everything. We do not only buy things if it is missing in the house but we look to expand our shopping as a leisure.

Douglas and Isherwood aim to prove in their research that consumers make their own meaning out of objects because post fordism era gave more information about products. Affinities attached to objects in daily life, has a strong influential and cultural meaning. A house or a flat which has just been renovated or re allocated to someone else, will of course be reorganised in a more personalised manner.

Modern systems of production, publicity and communication, such as the media and advertising, may affect individuals’ participation in this process of making judgements and being judged.(1979:62)

Mc Cracken, who is also an anthropologist, suggests that meanings are transferred to a material according to beliefs, assumptions made. For example, Valentine’s day, who defined that red roses had to be a gesture of pure or passionate love? Christmas, birthdays, have all turned into a commercial value. “Goods act as sources of social identity and carry or communicate social meaning.”1979:16. The degree of relativeness with the Western societies, carrying objects as identities is a theory derived from Sahlins (1976) where consumer would associate their individualism to specific brands or objects.  If a consumer wears Louis Vuitton, he is set on a different bench mark of social class and  Paul Willlis’s bike analysis is far most the best example of totemism. The Harley Davidson bike is not only a means of transport but working class of masculinity. Goods are marketed through advertising, using an array of signs, triggering cultural associations, desires and with globalisation, international investment is a fundamental characteristics of change.

On the other hand, however, it is important not to jump to conclusions about the great innovations on consumer culture. Bauman and Paul Gilroy are two sociologists who focused on economic inequalities where the poor people are always marginalised. The inequality between the rich and the poor increases. ” This a consumer’s age, people don’t take what they are given, they want and ask for more.” The most affected ones are children. Children are the key to the family decision making as to where to eat, which car to buy and where to shop. Children are far more exposed to consumerism culture not only through advertisement on television but also changing lifestyles, parents take the children shopping with them. According to Schor: Children memorise 300- 400 brand names and 78% say they like shopping. Danger: The parent has got the money to give to his child to buy but has no control on what he is buying or even desires to buy. It definitely sets up a proportion of parents to fail and not meeting the aspirations of their children especially in poorer areas. The children from poor families are the ones who suffer from behaviour disorder. The status syndrome, vital status,inclusion are not good to mental health in a highly materialistic society.

You always feel like you haven’t read enough or want to understand more. I wrote this note from a lecture class I attended last week but i still feel its too vague. Why to read a book which was written in the 1980’s when you want to know what is happening now!! How to actually fit what we learn in our contemporary context. The wave of consumerism is clashing with our buying power and driving us down to bankruptcy or to families without any values left.

I found a very interesting video from a Young 7 Rubicam account manager who speaks about research done to monitor the phase of consumerism.

http://www.ted.com/talks/john_gerzema_the_post_crisis_consumer#t-617459

London! Ah how cold you can be!

How miserable you can make people look

behind the layers of make up and clothes?

London! How impatiently I waited to see,

I feel its not a place for me.

“The roads and people look so pretty”,

Maybe to you,but not to me.

London! Artist belong to the street,

And it’s the only thing that matters to me.

The space they share, they make you happy.

Sing with me, look at me,

even if you don’t give me a penny,

I will still perform.

Performance. Joy. Freedom. Value. Art

Performance; you turn my dull mornings into ” a melodie du bonheur”

Joy; the surprises whether it is an art movement, art movie being screened at different spaces! All invited for free.

Freedom; Sing where you want, dance like nobody is watching you

Value; the moments which takes you by surprise

Art. London you are the “passerelle” for imagination.

After 6 years of unleash exposure to advertising under various form of creativity, i have to admit,shame has won over me!!..I decided to live in my country as an independent creative soul  but i am afraid of fending for myself; well it’s just that there aren’t enough “INdependents around” to form a massive,cohesive society. Mauritius was once admired for its versatility in terms of talent,language,culture but i reckoned now ; what a pattern seeker community we are!!..

My long bus journey took me to places where advertising rhymed with outrageous sexist ads. It lured many attentions but what worries me most is that we are living in a island where children are being raped everyday,women who are being beaten to death,where killing of innocent soul is slowly turning into a mundane thing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that my methods of advertising are more valuable than anyone else’s but what i object is that alcoholism is the source of many problems in life. The depiction of a a bottle opener on the breasts of a woman did hurt me but most importantly why? Was it because i am a woman and i feel disgraced? Well no..It is merely the fact that i saw so many well executed ads in a more intelligent manner and i feel a little more research would have helped. Desperation must have been the brief  especially not respecting the code of ethics AAA: Article 21 reads: “Advertising must take in consideration the evolution of the respective roles of women and men in society . . . It must represent women as equally capable, responsible and independent in the conduct of their activities. In addition, neither the picture of a caricature denigrating the role of any person in a couple, nor the representation of an excessive dependence of the character with respect to the products promoted must be displayed. Advertising must respect the dignity of women and men.”

So are we really that ignorant to let people advertise what they like and the public not rebelling for their rights.So many questions which seem to beg for a profound answer!!..

The answer would be Break the patterns. It is the unfamiliar that makes communication more arresting, absorbing and useful. When we urge our target audience to think about the routine in a refreshing way is when i feel there is an exchange happening: where you get the interest of both parties at heart.It is not an easy task but we must persevere, otherwise WTF?..

Hence i shall end this essay by a quote i read in a book : “LOSE your Phobia and bring a little karma to your projects”

Creationzen is a webpage i had to create long back, and which happened today. Ya better late than never! Its just a way to browse on my works and to get to know me more and my friiends too have one.:)so you get to meet them too..and i would love to get opinions about the works and how to improve on them.

Click on the link and am hoping to get various ‘critiques’ from your ends.

Merci..

Saahas is a Bangalore based NGO which has been striving in recycling waste safely for 9 years now. They contribute in finding solutions to problems related to solid waste and have devised some awareness programmes as well.  Bangalore generates 3,000 tons of household & commercial waste everyday, wherein 70% of is organic and the other balance is accounted by inorganic and hazardous waste. These wastes that we generate everyday can be brought back into our environment and our lives.

Saahas has undertaken many projects and delivered great results. They are currently working on :

• Reduction in  use-and-throw products like plastic carry bags, paper cups and tissues
• Encouraging waste segregation at source and retrieval of recyclable material
• Encouraging  the composting of organic waste
• Introducing safe management of e-Waste in households, companies and school

My role as A designer:

A 9 months internship under Saahas has diversified my way of thinking and my skills. The need to break away from the confined walls of  classrooms and get on the  field was challenging. Everyday facing the client’s need and meeting up deadlines, working round the clock resulted in designing products which are currently being used. I did  a lot of research work for a long period of time before getting to the final product. I realized that what is more important is the concept behind the work, the process which I have been carrying over, back and forth with corrections and changes, shows that there was definitely a problem out there, and designers should get to know how to tackle them.
“Being part of the solution, meant creating them as well.”

We wanted to be globe trotters, we designed a website.

We initiated programmes in schools, we designed game activities.

We started “less plastic campaigns”, we designed cloth bags.

We wanted to use as much of the resources we had in hand to design a product – we designed bins.

It was very important to show the outcomes through my final year project and sustain our credibility vis–a-vis the public.

I have taken up the re-branding aspect of the company and slowly have merged in creating sources of awareness. It was more of a learning process on how to use eco-friendly, recyclable materials and being cost-effective in the designs I intake to carry forward.

Designing the products and delivering them as a real life projects was something I found challenging. This project has made me a versatile designer as I have been able to produce all these designs using waste as my resource and shaped my ideas around them into a product ready to use now.

Medias : Stationery designs, web design, poster, brochure, promotional design, Game design, Bin design, Bag design.

Every company has a corporate identity. It is important in the viewers’ mind to recollect information which has been summarized in just an icon or logo or a range of new product lines which appeal in accordance with the company’s slogan

This is where my role begins.

The brief from the client meant working towards a Re-branding strategy. Saahas had to change its identity into a range of new mature, elaborate services which are still in development. The need for a brand to have a functional and emotional facet was important so that the public could adopt a positive response to the service.

Hence it involved radical changes to the brand’s logo, image, marketing strategy and advertising themes. These changes were necessary for Saahas so as to make a distinction from other companies in the same field.

Saahas’s previous logo was in two parts: SA and ahas in hindi.

After several brainstorming sessions, Saahas portrayed what it meant: achievement, courage, endeavour. These terms were important to scribble ideas.

The logo must be clear, unique, legible, in plastic or fabric – it should be strong enough to stand alone, easy to reproduce on paper and easily placed in the corner of business cards.

Symbols associated with Saahas: Earth, recyclable waste, tools, nature, step, footprints.

Next step was to design poster

Posters created awareness on the different campaigns Saahas is working on. We all have to contribute towards a certain change in our life. Years pass by and things around us are  still not right.

Our Earth is seriously disturbed and we seem to be adjusting so well with all of these: cutting down of trees, horrible traffic jams, pollution, etc. “Our city seems to have won the 1ST PRIZE IN HEALTH NUISANCE”.

Who are we fooling here? We should stop expecting only the kabadiwallah to help. This is it!!

This is a call to you and me, to be part of the

change. Everyone is most welcomed.

These are the ad-campaigns I have worked on to deliver the importance of how our resources are being reused efficiently.

Here are some posters:

No matter what city you live in, Save – YES SAVE RESOURCES!! No!No! Do not turn a blind eye on this situation. Do not help the corrupted minds. Saahas is helping in waste management – locate the bins, segregate your wastes at home, office because waste is a Resource! Our solid waste, once recycled,  bins, books, paper and as many other products which have got such a story, different taste as well are reused. Throw the right things, the right way! Lets call it OFF and motivate ourselves!!

Well next step was to make people aware of what is Saahas working on and how to get a hand on their brochures!!

BEING WASTE SENSITIVE: I mostly wanted to create an awareness on what role Saahas plays in society! The brochure gives a resume and the hand illustration is how I felt about Saahas – various helping hands with different objectives to move ahead for a better tomorrow.

The next brochure is about “LESS PLASTIC FOR ME” which is an awareness programme on using less plastic and implementing cloth bags.

Get on the trend as well.

Since June 2002, Saahas has  been working on a campaign called Less Plastic for Me. The campaign is  focussed  on the need to cut consumption of disposable  plastic products.

Individuals are  encouraged to carry their own shopping bag and refuse use of plastic carry bags and cups. Supermarkets are also encouraged to reduce use of plastic covers. The campaign shows cloth bags, which are supplied to both large and small shops across Bangalore at a minimal cost.

Over the last three years, we have established a  network of volunteers comprising of students, housewives and other professionals who continue to work with various supermarkets and other outlets – Last year the campaign was supported by Wipro Cares during which time we worked in Koramgala together with Namdaris and Safal.

Currently the campaign is working together with various other initiatives  in the city to spread the message of  ‘Less Plastic for Me.’

Remember, this year its YOU who can reduce the usage of plastic bags!! Alone YOU can reduce 30,000 plastic bags. YOU want to BET??

Here are the designs for Less plastic bag covers:

Saahas voted for the hand designs and you can see it on the cloth bag! They are available at Saahas and some retail stores in Koromangla.

Have you seen and been using TETRA PAk Products??

Am sure you did and you must have discarded it. Just imagine the juice you were drinking, the taste remains and Saahas with the help of Daman Ganga have developed some great theories. Lets make paper out of it or better – lets protect ourselves and make sheets for roofing as well. Isn’t that brilliant?

Here are some designs made to create awareness about recycling tetrapak. We made books, pens, bin designs out of them.

and here is also a documentation on the process of recycling tetra pak and how we produce the materials.

tetrapak recycling.

These books and pens are available at Saahas. The promotional designs comprises of a calendar to remind us of our daily mottos towards helping Saahas at work.

Since  Saahas had to promote a little bit their versatility, we decided to use promotional designs to outsource a bit their “role” – TOUCHEE!

We have t-shirt designs here

Web templates were also developed. This was a very important process as Saahas has taken a leap ahead in making it easier to access sponsors, the public and more awareness!! So you can visit the website: www.saahas.org where Sujit, our web programmer has made it very user-friendly.

Here are glimpses of the webtemplates:

E-WASTE SENSITIVE

E-waste sensitive was a field I experimented mostly. I was briefed to firstly: we need an e-Waste bin. A new one!!! Then it just clicked in my mind, let me do it as a final project which will help for my college work. So the bin has to fit in CDs, COMPUTER PARTS, Dry cell batteries, floppies, mouse .. well why another bin if the actual one has the capacity for all these?? What about CFL’S?? They needed a 2-in-1 bin to keep the CFL’S safely. Worked around the design a little bit and here we go:

Oh! before i forget to mention..the new e-waste bin is designed with recycle paper which is used for the solid waste bin, the mix of poly and tetrapak sheet..so we included that on the top of the bin and a drawer was designed especially to keep the CFL’S safely . The drawer will be on top and down all the e-waste stuffs should go.

The e-waste bin is still under development with the help of Rammu..and yes I will upload some pictures!!

Still in the those lines of e-Waste awareness:

Our target audience is now children! Yes GAME!! Saahas and myself came up with a concept of lending the game concerning waste awareness to schools. I found it very interesting – the idea of making it life size and children can actually jump on it. The concept is very simple: You throw 2 dices and the one who gets the highest number on the dice starts tackling the questions. Unfortunately the lifesize game is yet to be printed but I am working on the design part. Here is a glimpse of the game:

I cannot call it as my final year project but rather a journey with Saahas.

Every time when the semester announces its ending and exams nearing, the weather, the mood and the scenery would be translated as a play and we are all performers. Isn’t it?? Just think about it..There are so many random things happening around us and still feel like am not doing anything.

A drastic decision had to be taken to unwind the past ..the same old play into something more serious..When you feel that next year you would not be in this same space, sharing the same plate of dosa with friends and even the random coffee talks,, self- realisation + sadness+ reality= happens!!

This time of the year, unwinding the past is nearly impossible for me  but rather am giving myself a second chance, a new start to interpret matters differently.

These works are recently executed based on those lines above…

Hmm ok am kind of bad at this but let me try:

Hi, I am Nooreen?? no,no ,,doesnt sound me at all…ok..lets try again then.well well : i woke up late, all spaced out and thought ok.. TOday  was just a perfect day to sit and say :” i can do this” and yeayyy,,here’s my blog guys:)..well dont expect some” cutting edge” far fetched designs..am yet to get my degree..hahaha what an escapist i am..!!

Advertising in Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath-Bangalore, has i would say moulded another facet of myself which i discovered was pretty boring but yet am enjoying my final year. I landed in Bangalore in 2005 bearing in mind that am going to  live up each day with the passion to do things i strongly believe in and even if that mean to stay poor and getting corned a lot of times, end number of times complaining to who ever (unlucky fellows i feel bad today when i think about it) would be on my way. I still go through that but its decreased..hahaha..anyway it took me a year to get acquainted with the place with the support of all my loved ones(parents, friends and friends of friends ) who made this academic year pass by with memories that i will carry all my life.

I started in my first year with drawing, illustrations and learning the history of art which  included to leave aside bits of english and grabbing kannada and tamil words here and there just to fit in the scenario. Next was sculpture and started printmaking which was a field i wanted to specialise in but then as usual asking for advice from parents who would always think about( will you get a job when you come down home?? well i hope you know you have to be with us!! ) So i become “fidele” to Applied arts which was anyway my first option and still getting the same response from my parents.

The flair for creativity slowly took off and i learnt a lot from various works i attempted. Learning , shaping something ” which does not exist” for very less( moulla matters in this field,work hard earn less)..always thinking in those lines. Graphic design is a very challenging field as its always testing your conscience globally by incorporating strong visual which you will recall easily. The most exciting part of it is that everyone is a consumer of what you design. Being a harmless form of art which throws a range of ideas whether you agree, you understand or feel outraged with the kind of message being delivered as long as you, as a target audience you get the point,its fine:)

My job profile : Observant and see to what extent i can learn in this field- ( which means no retirement for me). I would like to learn more about printing ( offset and digital) and typography, serigraphy, digital art too …my portfolio ranges from softwares like photoshop, illustrator and corel draw. Unfortunately Arena **** was not such a great investment and i know the basic of Flash and where to get the best Chaat and chai ( i believe on cunnigham road ) .ya getting back..hmmm and did a course on web designing just on the surface level.

So this Blog, is for all of you( family, friends, all the ex -principals of CKP , people on whom i vented out -random people,my french students, some lecturers hahaha, and of course- my future:  people who want to hire me ) and ” amis ” like me who worked late at nights, missed out on all the fun times with friends out during weekend trips, had end number of issues explaining why could not come for birthdays because of some works- worked, edited the work, not good work, worked on it again as you strongly believe that your idea is and has something that people will remember.

A la fin, when it was all done, the next day would be a better one with so much more enthusiasm to do what you love doing and still having the same audience who would like what you do and say “what’s next”.. N  i’d say I like…