More impacting idea..

I was just thinking that my ideas aren't really aggressive enough - my original plan was to do something with aversive stimulation or really vehement threats but my images don't really do that. They're a little passive.

Maybe I could do something really offensive involving perhaps an Australian cow -- Aussie meat is a major export -- so I could have an image of like a cow sitting in a paddock with bites being taken out of it by the "trading partner" cartoons or something. This would probably look better as a photograph manipulation (more confronting) but that's not the style I've been investigating and it would clash with my other image designs. I could do it in the cartoon vein; just maybe make all the cartoons a little more realistic?

The image of a cow being eaten alive could have so many connotations so I'd have to have strong "negative effects of global trade" link in the image too -- which might be in text treatment or in the use of some "import/export" stuff or money connections.

In any event I think I need to make the images more brutal. Like maybe the puppet image could have Australia as a dead puppet -- murdered by the future collapse of the global market..

But that whole vein's a bit out there and I'm not sure people will really "buy it" because they don't like to believe that sort of thing is possible.

Concepts

(To be further updated)

(ADD NEWSPAPER COMICS COLLECTION)

I want to incorporate a sort of "newspaper political comic" style to my "nation" characters - which I've more or less decided to use for all my concepts. As I'm making a political/economic statement, and the "opinion" cartoons from newspapers are heavily associated with political satire, I think this provides a stronger link between my visual style and the theme/message. I have several ideas on different scenes/different "comics";

The main idea I've been working on to kick start my concept creation is the "puppeteering" image (which I don't feel needs any further connection to the theme, I'm just using the visual as a "power/control" representation) as seen below.



This first image is a preliminary sketch I made of the "puppet" idea -- this is not an example of composition really; just the straight content and a vague idea at layout. This sketch brought me to realise a few things -- the expressions of the top characters would need to be very important -- I'm thinking aloof/ignoring "Australia" or whatever. I also think there definitely needs to be a stronger connection with trade and the image needs to be more powerful.



In the above sketch I was testing out some "angular" character eyes and styles, trying to go for a cartoon that was sort of "hard" and mean; and also testing what the "OWNED BY" "MADE IN CHINA" idea could possibly look like.



Testing style of characters (China above and U.S.A. below)







This sketch (above, very poor photo my apologies) was designed to give me more of an idea of expression of what the above countries could be feeling; from the initial sketch I'm not sure it has very much impact at all, which would mean I need stronger instant imagery but also something a little more tangible between the characters..

THE CHARACTERS: At the moment I have a number of options in how to personify each nation.
I could use iconic characters/images from each country (such as animals or historical figures); I could use political leaders (which would fit more along the lines of the political cartoons theme); I could use anthropomorphism with the flags of the countries; or I could do generic characters with "traditional" or "iconic" outfits from each country.

As the idea evolves..

At the moment, my primary visual idea is to use cartoon personifications of India, Japan, China and The United States weilding power/dominance over Australia because of trade/economies (but not really being too bothered about us).


So far to represent each country I have come up with:

India: Currently I've got a Hindu Goddess (Kali) and I'm fairly sure I don't want to use this image, as whilst it looks good and is very recognizable as being "Indian", it's too religious when I'm trying to make a political, economic statement -- not to mention the Goddess represents death and destruction and I feel this could make my message misinterpreted. Whatever figure I eventually choose needs to have a face and I want to use the Indian flag colours (Orange, White and Green) with the character in some way.

Japan: Samurai warrior with Japanese Flag influence.

China: Red "Chinese" dragon with yellow stars on it somewhere.

United States of America: Uncle Sam -- but I'm not sure about this either as it's a symbol for the military rather than a distinct cultural/symbolic representation of the nation.

(((Maybe I could simply do each country represented as a single hand? E.G. have bits of the flag or cultural bracelets/rings with iconography etc.. making each hand recognizable)))

Australia: Kangaroo/The shape of the country/Green & Gold etc.



IDEAS FROM THIS:

• The 4 countries as puppeteers of the "Australia" character; who is dangling helplessly beneath them looking deminished/forgotten. The trading partners would be completely ignoring the puppet below and talking to each other instead.
• The 4 countries dragging Australia along behind them; as above but without the puppets.
• The 4 countries (possibly heads of state?) sitting around in luxury (think big armchairs, smoking jackets and glasses of expensive liqueur -- although this sounds a little too "James Bond villain") being waited on by Australia, who is shelving up trade items like coal instead of drinks, but still generally being ignored by the big states. Maybe in the background there's a "resources bag" that has a "wont last forever/running out.." sort of hint to it.
• For a pamphlet: featuring Australia as the geographic shape, accompanied by the caricatures of Japan, India, China and the US on each seperate panel with the words (e.g. only) "Ordered By: USA" "Sold To/Shipped In: India" "Bought In: Japan" "Made In: China".. the last panel could be just the country by itself, or with a kangaroo or whatever character I use to represent Australia in the poster/card/etc. standing next to the country, pulling out empty pockets and the words say "Owned By?"

Most of my other compositional ideas revolve around the four trading partners; Australia ignored/ powerless and some sort of tag line that asks a direct question/makes a cold threatening statement/induces reflection.

On my idea evolution...

As I investigate different visual languages, experiment with styles and generate the aforementioned ideas for representing my issue, I've found that the message and the central idea itself has started to alter. My design concept/statement states that my theme is: Australia relies too heavily on global trading & this is going to cause problems in the long term.

At the moment, the majority of my image ideas have been more orientated towards representing the idea that in the big picture, Australia is controlled by/depends on our trading partners but they don't need us to anywhere near the same extent. This is definitely a viable economic argument which I can push as propaganda in images, but it isn't what I said I was aiming for.

I do feel fairly strongly about the image ideas I've come up with so far, so I don't want to do a back flip and change them too drastically just so I can strictly stick to the "Global Trade: Doomed" message --- but perhaps I can work on ways of incorporating trade and a need for long term solutions to a sustainable economy into my ideas.