Starting point..

The article that put me onto my India/China/"The West" economic topic was "Last Days of the West" by Kishore Mahbubani -- scanned copy seen here.

This photograph was above the article:

The image of Indian people & ATMs, the globalized world; it's a striking image for an article about the diminishing "West". Most of the visual ideas running around in my mind have been more orientated to a symbolic or artistic way of representing the countries/economic powers etc. so looking at a simple photograph is a good way of broadening my perspective on what is available for me to work with/draw inspiration from/do myself.

Wheedling out my topic..

After looking broadly at a number of topics under each of the themes; particularly at tiered government and consumerism..

I'm now hooked on something completely different!

India, China and "The West" -- three global giants competing for power.

[ECONOMY] themed -- as India and China are fast becoming two of the most important players in the world's economy; some sort of exploration into what future effects or importance this will bear could be really interesting and really visual. The whole area is just so topical at the moment (India VS Australia in the cricket -- all the politics and dramas that went on; China with the Olympics and America's fluctuating economic status), if I did something that tied everything together and made a statement it could be very effective.

I need to get a specific "propaganda" direction/issue in this area, but VISUALLY I can already see this working really well. There's so many issues (and existing images) to explore; consumer-idealism from "The West" culture, changes in Asian culture/art/attitudes, shifting political power -- just to name a few. It could almost end up being a combination themed topic as "The State" and "Citizenship" might also come into the issue, with cultural/global identity (and cultural pollution?) and political head-butting also weighing in on the rising-Asian-economy situation.

Typography tests..

I attempted to connect to the arch network from home (Sydney Uni Village) through the FTP client but I'm not sure I got it working properly so I'm going to drop the "font" i made today in Friday afternoon.

Here's a preview of the letters I made, complete with an ugly background designed to show that I did in fact cut out the backgrounds. Except the bits in the rice!

I definitely think the "M" looks the best. I've still got a bunch of other photos to work with that I didn't use, and I could definitely photoshop up something interesting using shape and texture suggestions from the letters here.

Consumerism Posters

CONSUMERISM images.

Anti-consumerism poster (left) that uses little images combined to create words from a distance.

This is a very clever and confronting poster that gets across the message quickly but also makes the viewer want to look closer to understand completely. Draws you in.

Christmas themed, religious, anti-consumerism movie: What would Jesus buy?

Advertising a product: Also Christmas themed, like the above film poster. Although Coke is a drink and not a physical object or excess, this poster emphasizes a strong message of pro-consumerism. "Have a Coke" it's a statement not a suggestion. Everything is positive -- screaming come buy the product.

Exploring Topics

I've started my "propaganda" design project by exploring various social topics under the themes of "Citizenship", "The State", "Economy" and "Body". 

As I will be spending the whole semester working on this project it's important that I pick a topic that really suits me, which is why I'm exploring a range of topics and ideas at this stage. Whatever specific subject I eventually choose would ideally be in an area that I am very passionate about, or on an issue that is very current and fiery!

So far I've been skimming over headlines in the newspapers and on internet news sites for issues that relate to the four themes.

Topics that I'm considering so far include:

[Economy]

• Consumerism (Where is your money going? Do possessions make people happy? The RISE before the fall -- what happens when there is a recession? Consumer Confidence)
  
• Economy Uncertainty
  
• Average family/citizens -- paying off mortgages, fighting interest rates
  
• Farming -- the staple of civilization & foundation of economy -- government support in drought & hardship, globalisation pressures etc.
  

[Citizenship]

• Cultural identity
• Sense of belonging within a community
• SOCIETY - what is Australian Society? (In what direction is Australian culture and society heading?)
  

((I've more or less decided that this is the one theme I probably won't do))

[The State] 

• Structure of Government (Should we have two Tiers of Govt. instead of three?)
  

[Body]

• Natural VS Artificial (Is there an unofficial line that is crossed with body and health improvements?)
  
• Individual perspectives and taste (Different measures of pain // What is beautiful? What is fashionable? What is repulsive? What is sexy? What is individual?)

These are my initial topics/potential questions to follow up with research.

UPDATED: 12-3-08