OUGD401 | BODY OF WORK | FINAL PIECES

My first piece is a n image and type poster. I wanted to use a provocative image of a high fashion model, baring her breasts. This image would typically be used for selling products such as clothing or perfume, or could reinforce the male gaze theory as I have elaborated on in my essay, being solely for viewing pleasure. I scribbled out the model's eyes in order to convey the way women can be dehumanized in the advertising world;  in other words, their bodies being the main focus. Scribbles and hand rendered elements also match my style of working.

I found the tagline "can you believe there are legal nipples and there are illegal nipples" on pinterest and found it very powerful as it confirms that female nudity is only accepted when it is in a sexual nature. You cannot walk down the street topless as a male can, yet anyone can walk into a store and buy a Nuts magazine without a thought. 

As I am fairly liberal on female nudity and enjoying the female form, I feel that in some cases it can benefit women, not all cases. I did not want to discredit the line of work that some women choose, but encourage the idea that breasts should be viewed and appreciated for their maternal purpose also. I chose the phrase "#notjustforsale" to convey that nudity for pleasure is not the sole purpose of breasts.

 For this poster I kept it strictly type, I wanted all the focus to be on the impactful quote I found by Violet Rose. The quote supports a lot of what I included in my article, being that women's breasts are there for the enjoyment of males, for example as John Berger's concept of the Gaze theory. The notion that the female breast is for babies is not what they are predominantly viewed as in our society today, because of the sexualisation of the female body. I worked with Helvetica as I spoke about the methods of advertising American Apparel use to sell their clothing in my essay, and felt it was relevant and appropriate for my posters. It is also very legible and neat.

Finally this is my poster depicting a woman breastfeeding, which as I spoke about previously is literally the purpose of having breasts. I wanted to use an image of a woman in a very maternal pose to promote the idea of breasts being non-sexual objects too. "That's their purpose" seemed the only suitable tagline for this poster, simple, powerful and to the point.

OUGD401 | BODY OF WORK | DEVELOPMENT

These are the first rough designs I came up with for my body of work. I chose to obstruct their eyes in order to reflect the dehumanization directed at females in our society. I added a pink tone as that is the colour that has been shoved onto us from assigned gender stereotypes.

I also tried these designs in black and white as the pink colour could be seen as too much on the eye and these are more neutral. I also wanted to start experimenting with text. Helvetica seemed to be the most appropriate choice for this work as I have discussed American Apparel and their advertising strategies in my essay. American Apparel use this typeface for all of their branding.

The quote "you can sell breasts but not wear breasts" is taken from a powerful statement by Violet Rose. This quote sums up what I was attempting to explain in my essay and I feel it concisely articulates the exact message I want to communicate.

I then tried the same message with a different image which I felt added more of a context - that breasts seem to be acceptable only when they are a sexual object. Breastfeeding in public from what I have gathered is quite unacceptable and is not encouraged, rather, women sometimes have to resort to a toilet or private area to perform a natural act, and I felt as though I wanted to create a campaign that challenges these norms.

This poster features the whole quote from Violet Rose. I wanted to include it all as I feel it is an excellent statement, and previously I have shortened it in my other designs. Since this has no imagery, the audience is able to connect with what the message is communicating without any distractions. The plain white/black backgrounds represent some form of 'silence' as it is such a powerful quote, and give a lot of negative space.

These images then pair the whole quote with the imagery I have used previously. I chose to use the quote to obstruct the breasts but allow the audience to see that she is topless. I felt this went well with my message of concealing women however doing this also conflicts with my ideology as I am trying to say that women should not have to hide their bodies. 

These last three designs also link back to the advertisement for American Apparel - "Made in Bangladesh" as I have put text over the breasts in the same fashion. However I did not want to create the same semantics, yet just use the technique to communicate my own message.

I now have a solid development for my body of work and plan to create 3 posters each conveying this same message, that will work as a campaign. I aim to have these posters work as a set or even individually. 

OUGD401 | RESEARCH

 

This image caused a lot of controversy when it was released by American Apparel. This woman is called Maks, a former muslim model. As traditional muslims may find the content of this advertisement as it links this topless model to a location which Islam is a dominant religion and frowns upon nudity. On the other hand some women may find this image over sexualised, and some may find it liberating. Either way, I will be taking some inspiration from it for my own design work.

These images really do correspond with the themes I was discussing in my essay. The women are shunned away in a toilet cubical to feed their children because of the way breastfeeding in public is viewed. They are effective because of the way they create the dismal tone, almost dirty - not somewhere where you would want to be feeding your baby. The taglines "bon appitite", "table for two" and "private dining" relate to eating and are associated with clean, quality restaurants which is not the case here. Overall they are very effective and get the message across clearly.

This piece of work is not an advertisement however I found it on pinterest when searching on the Feminist tag and found it very interesting. This quote basically sums up my essay. There are in fact legal and illegal nipples! You can walk into any store and purchase a pornographic magazine, yet you cannot walk down the street topless. Of course this is all to do with years of hypersexualisation and viewing breasts as a sexual organ when that simply isn't their original purpose. I will easily be able to include something similar to this in my body of work as I feel it is extremely relevant and concise.

OUGD401 | BODY OF WORK | SKETCHES

These are some really rough sketches that I began to do to get a basic feel of what I wanted to create once I started designing. 

The main message I was trying to communicate was the fact that female nudity is consumed and sold, yet you cannot just walk down the street without a top on as a male could.

I think these ideas could be better developed when I start designing, as it is hard to draw the exact way you want something to look when it is finished.