project brief:
formulate a project as the basis for your "child culture design" master's thesis
introduction
The project is about the impact of unrealistic beauty ideals promoted by advertising on teenagers’ sense of identity and self-esteem. The argument for my master thesis is that advertising needs to evolve, not only on a moral level but to be in harmony with its time and the new wave of conscious consumers that have arisen. It needs to adapt to a new generation that cares more than ever about making positive changes in the world. To support this idea, I worked with high school students and held workshops centered around culture jamming, the act of “hacking” mainstream media to twist its message. Being able to fix ads they found problematic gave them agency and a chance to take control over the type of media they would like to see in the world.
In parallel, I created an awareness campaign, using Barbie dolls to point out the absurdity of our current advertising system, which I then put up in the streets of Gothenburg on a weekly basis. I also posted the campaign on an Instagram account called “gen.erate__”, where I used each poster to talk about a specific harmful advertising trope, in the form of one-minute-long videos. The idea for the account was to be an online space dedicated to co-design and lifting the voices of the young. To achieve this, I divided and posted the workshop results, using them as preludes and inspiration for my creations. I also invited others to take part in the project, linking a toolbox to the account, offering culture jamming as a tool for empowerment, a way for teenagers to take culture back into their own hands and have a say in “the adult world”, which too often dismisses them.
Instagram account
each topic raised on the account started with a post highlighting the results of the co-design sessions I had with teens and showing their thoughts on the matter, through their culture jamming of problematic ads.
online campaign
each co-design post was followed by my ironic interpretation of the topic, followed by two-minute videos of me talking more seriously and in detail about why the topic is a problem in the advertising industry. the videos can be found in each campaign post on the Instagram account (link in the introduction above).
campaign posters
i also created engaging materialization and printed the campaign posters to post around Gothenburg, in an effort to bring more attention to the project and the Instagram account.
conclusion
the project was both fun and important to me, and the interactions I got to share with teenagers felt really meaningful. if I managed to positively impact the lives of even a few of them, then I consider the project a success.