United colours of Benetton

United Colours of Benetton

Benetton uses shocking imagery throughout all his campaigns. This has been a method that remains constant in all his imagery.

 The company is known for sponsorship of a number of sports, and for the provocative and original "United Colors" publicity campaign. The latter originated when photographer Oliviero Toscani was given carte blanche by the Benetton management. Under Toscani's direction, ads were created that contained striking images unrelated to any actual products being sold by the company.

These graphic, billboard-sized ads included depictions of a variety of shocking subjects, one of which featured a deathbed scene of a man (AIDS activist David Kirby) dying from AIDS. Others included a bloodied, unwashed newborn baby with umbilical cord still attached, which was highly controversial. This 1991 advert prompted more than 800 complaints to the British Advertising Standards Authority during 1991 and was featured in the reference book Guinness World Records 2000 as 'Most Controversial Campaign'. Others included a black stallion covering a white mare, close-up pictures of tattoos reading "HIV Positive" on the bodies of men and women.

 a cemetery of many cross-like tombstones, a collage consisting of genitals of persons of various races, a priest and nun about to engage in a romantic kiss, pictures of inmates on death row, an electric chair, an advert showing a boy with hair shaped into the devil's horns, 

three different hearts with "black", "white" and "yellow" written onto them , and a picture of a bloodied t-shirt and pants riddled with bullet holes from a soldier killed in the Bosnian War . 

Most of the advertisements, although not all, had a plain white background, and in most the company's logo served as the only text accompanying the image.

2011 marketing campaign

UNHATE campaign featuring Chinese President Hu Jintao kissing US President Barack Obama.

In autumn 2011, Benetton launched its new worldwide communication campaign, an invitation to the leaders and citizens of the world to combat the "culture of hatred", and created the UNHATE Foundation.

 This campaign was created as the group’s corporate social responsibility strategy and not as a cosmetic exercise.

The Benetton Group “seeks to contribute to the creation of a new culture against hate”. Benetton’s research communication centre, Fabrica, partnered up with 72andSunny to create the UNHATE poster series.

According to Benetton “These are symbolic images of reconciliation—with a touch of ironic hope and constructive provocation—to stimulate reflection on how politics, faith and ideas, even when they are divergent and mutually opposed, must still lead to dialogue and mediation”. 

72andSunny adds “United Colors of Benetton returns to the cultural conversation with a simple and powerful message of tolerance: UNHATE. Hate and love are often in a delicate and unstable balance. This campaign promotes a shift in the balance”.

However, these posters of the lip-locking political and religious figures have sparked controversy. In addition, Benetton released an advertisement that displayed President Barack Obama of the United States and President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela kissing.

On November 17, 2011 The Vatican announced that it would take legal action against Benetton after the company used a photo purportedly showing Pope Benedict XVI kissing Ahmed Mohamed el Tayeb, the imam of the Al Azhar mosque in Egypt. Benetton responded: "We reiterate that the meaning of this campaign is exclusively to combat the culture of hatred in all its forms," said a Benetton Group spokesman. "We are therefore sorry that the use of the image of the Pope and the Imam has so offended the sentiments of the faithful. In corroboration of our intentions, we have decided, with immediate effect, to withdraw this image from every publication."

Konik, I. 2007

Thematising the ugly side of sublime.

In his Journal, Konik is refering to Sonzero’s movie; Pulse. A techno centricism of postmodernist that states that, we can no longer escape from the technology of our everyday lives. The world is in a state where it is becoming increasingly dependent on technology. 

Konik discusses this as a negative effect. We are becoming dehumanised, and our personal lives will be taken from us, as displayed in the movie Pulse.  As with nearly all issues, the development of technology is accepted by many while it is strongly opposed by others. In the movie we see how technology has consumed the people.

We are living in a world where technology is part of every aspect of our lives: leisure, education and social.  Some say the children of the 21st century are spending more time using technology then they are socialising with their friends. By doing this they are missing out on a vital life skill, socialising. Technology has impacted this generation like we have never seen before. 

In this new, digital age society, we are no longer willing to help one another. People do not make eye contact, youth are self-centred and anti-social. Cell phones and smart phones have dramatically changed the way people communicate on a personal level. For example, Families used to have dinner around the dinning table and discuss their day and experiences. Now everyone just has their noses stuck in their phones constantly. People in the same house, let alone the same room communicate via social media with each other. This is one of the things I am guilty of. I send my sister what's app messages asking for breakfast or even just a glass of water if I'm in my room and she is in the kitchen. 

so yes technology is taking over and one day we humans will become obsolete.

Kwaito: The Subculture

Kwaito 

Kwaito, a music genre born in the townships of Soweto, South Africa in the early 1990s, expresses the lifestyle of South Africa’s young black population.

There are various theories on the origin of the word, the most obvious being that it comes from the Afrikaans word kwaai which directly translates as ‘angry’, but is more colloquially used, including by non-Afrikaans-speaking South Africans, to mean ‘really cool’. For example, one might say: “Have you seen Thebe’s new wheels? Man, that car is kwaai!” or “Jislike, that party last night was kwaai! ”

An equally plausible theory is that, coming from a similar root via Afrikaans, it derives from the so-called Tsotsitaal word “amakwaitosi” which means ‘gangster’. Tsotsitaalis a sort of patois spoken in the townships around Johannesburg by, at least originally, the criminal underworld. To describe the musical style of Kwaito is not easy, regarding its variety of different influences. It is best described as local music with global influences. 

 Locally it is influenced by the sounds of: Marabi of the 20’s, Kwela of the 50’s, maskandi of the labourers and Kwaito of the 90’s, are each 20^th century musical phenomenon’s that profoundly influenced the engineering of the black experience. These sounds were instruments of dissent and reflection, artistic narratives which rhythmically told stories of life in the township. The ingenuity of ghettos around the world has always been their ability to create vehicles of protest through artistic inventions articulated distinctly by their choice of dance, fashion and music.

A most distinguishable subculture that encapsulated youth’s revolt in the townships was amapantsula. They first emerged in the 70’s as a dance form that rapidly evolved into protest which rejected and fought institutionalization. Amapantsula, nabo’Mshoza, their female counterparts, were a sub culture of social upheaval, a subtle political engagement which at its conception challenged hegemonic domination. Reclaiming spaces and translating identity

From the unique way that they spoke, moved danced and dressed they consciously pursued the transcendence of their immediate realities.

Largely drawing influence from biographical movies of the Italian mafia, a group which too was subjected to institutional alienation, amapantsula modeled their ambition to that of Sicilians. Welcome the South African Italian aka amaitaliana. And like the mafia, amapantsula found solace in the stitches of expensive clothing. These threads of opulence lent to the identities of township youth, distorted shades of power that were at once inconceivable. “You are what you wear mama”, amapantsula breathed life into the ostentatious colors they wore, boasting wealth and power, artificial creations which purposely refused structural confines of dispossession subscribed to them

Various kwaito musicians continue to keep this ethos alive, foot soldiers depicting in their music faces of the township, the sound of its youth, the foot work and color of the pantsula. Mdu and the now deceased Brown Dash, both reputable veterans of kwaito, articulate the township narrative most poignantly in the stories narrated in between the sounds of isichamto and Imibongo. Kwaito, coming from kwaai, directly translated meaning angry, an enraged outcry protesting negative connotations, of crime and ignorance, usually attached to the participants of the movement.

These men and women are the architects of the streets, side walk preachers and street corner hustlers. They built this city and run it. 

One of the ongoing controversies about Kwaito is the question of whether it has a political message. Emerging during a period of significant political change, Kwaito and its lyrics are often said to lack political meaning.  This accusation stems from the fact that Kwaito is dance music and many of its lyrics are simply about having fun. To coin it apolitical totally ignores some important facts though.

Many of the early Kwaito songs reflect decades of oppression and some even use old Anti-Apartheid chants in their lyrics. Additionally, it has to be remembered that the generation that drove Kwaito to success grew up in a country that was changing but still faced various problems. 

Digital Age

The Digital Age

The Digital Age also known as the Computer Age, Information Age, or New Media Age, is a period in human history characterized by the shift from traditional industry that the industrial revolution brought through industrialization, to an economy based on information computerization. The onset of the Digital Age is associated with the Digital Revolution, just as the Industrial Revolution marked the onset of the Industrial Age.

During the Digital age, the phenomenon is that the digital industry creates a knowledge-based society surrounded by a high-tech global economy that spans over its influence on how the manufacturing throughput and the service sector operate in an efficient and convenient way. In a commercialized society, the information industry is able to allow individuals to explore their personalized needs, therefore simplifying the procedure of making decisions for transactions and significantly lowering costs for both the producers and buyers. This is accepted overwhelmingly by participants throughout the entire economic activities for efficacy purposes, and new economic incentives would then be indigenously encouraged, such as the knowledge economy.

The Digital Age formed by capitalizing on the computer microminiaturization advances, with a transition spanning from the advent of the personal computer in the late 1970s, to the Internet's reaching a critical mass in the early 1990s, and the adoption of such technology by the public in the two decades after 1990. This evolution of technology in daily life, as well as of educational life style, the Information Age has allowed rapid global communications and networking to shape modern society.

The Internet was conceived as a fail-proof network that could connect computers together and be resistant to any single point of failure. It is said that the Internet cannot be totally destroyed in one event, and if large areas are disabled, the information is easily rerouted. It was created mainly by DARPA on work carried out by British scientists like Donald Davies; its initial software applications were e-mail and computer file transfer.

Though the Internet itself has existed since 1969, it was with the invention of the World Wide Web in 1989-1990 by British scientist Tim Berners-Lee and its introduction in 1991 that the Internet became an easily accessible network. Today the Internet is a global platform for accelerating the flow of information and is pushing many, if not most, older forms of media into obsolescence.

Information storage

The world's technological capacity to store information grew from 2.6 optimally compressed exabytes in 1986 to 15.8 in 1993, over 54.5 in 2000, and to 295 optimally compressed exabytes in 2007. This is the informational equivalent to less than one 730-MB CD-ROM per person in 1986 539 MB per person, roughly 4 CD-ROM per person of 1993, 12 CD-ROM per person in the year 2000, and almost 61 CD-ROM per person in 2007.

modernity vs post modernity

Modernism/Modernity	Postmodern/Postmodernity
Master Narratives and Metanarratives of history, culture and national identity; myths of cultural and ethnic orgin.	Suspicion and rejection of Master Narratives; local narratives, ironic deconstruction of master narratives: counter-myths of origin.
Faith in "Grand Theory" which is totalizing explantions in history, science and culture to represent all knowledge and explain everything.	Rejection of totalizing theories; pursuit of localizing and contingent theories.
Faith in, and myths of, social and cultural unity, hierarchies of social-class and ethnic/national values, seemingly clear bases for unity.	Social and cultural pluralism, disunity, unclear bases for social/national/ethnic unity.
Master narrative of progress through science and technology.	Skepticism of progress, anti-technology reactions, neo-Luddism; new age religions.
Sense of unified, centered self;   "individualism," unified identity.	Sense of fragmentation and decentered self;   multiple, conflicting identities.
Idea of "the family" as central unit of social order: model of the middle-class, nuclear family.	Alternative family units, alternatives to middle-class marriage model, multiple identities for couplings and childraising.
Hierarchy, order, centralized control.	Subverted order, loss of centralized control, fragmentation.
Faith and personal investment in big politics	Trust and investment in micropolitics, identity politics, local politics, institutional power struggles.
Root/Depth tropes.   Faith in "Depth" in meaning, value, content, the signified over the "Surface" appearances, the superficial, the signifier.	Attention to play of surfaces, images, signifiers without concern for "Depth".
Faith in the "real" beyond media and representations; authenticity of "originals"	Hyper-reality, image saturation, simulacra seem more powerful than the "real"; images and texts with no prior "original".   "As seen on TV" and "as seen on MTV" are more powerful than unmediated experience.
imposed consensus that high or official culture is normative and authoritative	Disruption of the dominance of high culture by popular culture;   mixing of popular and high cultures, new valuation of pop culture, hybrid cultural forms cancel "high"/"low" categories.
Mass culture, mass consumption, mass marketing.	Demassified culture; niche products and marketing, smaller group identities.
Art as unique object and finished work authenticated by artist and validated by agreed upon standards.	Art as process, performance, production, intertextuality.   Art as recycling of culture authenticated by audience and validated in subcultures sharing identity with the artist.
Knowledge mastery, attempts to embrace a totality.   The encyclopedia.	Navigation, information management, just-in-time knowledge.   The Web.
Broadcast media, centralized one-   to-many communications.	Interactive, client-server, distributed, many-   to-many media the internet
Centering/centeredness,   centralized knowledge.	Dispersal, dissemination,   networked, distributed knowledge
Determinancy	Indeterminancy, contingency.
Seriousness of intention and purpose, middle-class earnestness.	Play, irony, challenge to official seriousness, subversion of earnestness.
Sense of clear generic boundaries and wholeness of art, music, and literature.	Hybridity, promiscuous genres, recombinant culture, intertextuality, pastiche.
Design and architecture of New York and Boston.	Design and architecture of LA and Las Vegas
Clear dichotomy between organic and inorganic, human and machine	cyborgian mixing of organic and inorganic, human and machine and electronic
Phallic ordering of sexual difference, unified sexualities, exclusion/bracketing of pornography	androgyny, queer sexual identities, polymorphous sexuality, mass marketing of pornography
the book as sufficient bearer of the word;   the library as system for printed knowledge	hypermedia as transcendence of physical limits of print media;   the Web or Net as information system

The importance of a manifesto

The importance of manifesto

Let us begin by defining what a manifesto is: A manifesto is a published verbal declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus and/or promotes a new idea with prescriptive notions for carrying out changes the author believes should be made. It often is political or artistic in nature, but may present an individual's life stance.

We will be focusing mainly on the:"First Things First" manifesto as well as the "Incomplete Manifesto of Growth".

THE FOLLOWING HEADINGS ARE LINKED TO THEIR MANIFESTOS:

First Things First (2000)

The First Things First manifesto was written during the year 1964 by Graphic Designers declaring the importance and value of design arguing that it should not be overlooked. It suggests that designers are being exploited creatively to promote company products.

 This argument was revisited in the year 2000 by Graphic Designers of that year, who also believed in the views of the manifesto. They then rewrote it to accommodate what was considered contemporary at that time.

They as designers believed that their talents should be used for causes that matter, like designing and creating awareness for non profit organisations. We as a team agree with this argument, but then again we see design as we see Mathematics. The more one actually works on something the more experience and skill they will acquire. Although this manifesto argues facts by saying our worth as designers should not be used for what we do not believe in, I see it as a challenge to show the capability of a designer to do what is expected of him or her. Design is a career and as designers we should engage in as many project as possible.  We believe that we should not limit our creativity according to a certain theme or purpose, we should use every opportunity we come across to grow.

Incomplete Manifesto for Growth (Bruce Mau)

We see this manifesto as more of a desiderata ; things wanted or needed. It is composed of things we believe many designers would want to be. It is compiled of steps that reveal the secret of growing as a designer in the art world. 

No  matter where you are in life, or how high up the ladder you’ve climbed, there is always room for growth and improvement. As a Graphic Designer there are times where we feel frustrated about a project and not know what to do leaving us feeling particularly uninspired.  Laone spends time stressing and wondering when a piece of creativity will fall from  the sky because in the design world time is literally money. While I on the other hand end up submitting a below par design, just for the sake of handing in.

This manifesto is about showing designers that they do not have to go through that. All they have to do is simply enjoy what they do. They should take every project that comes along as a challenge and a platform to better themselves. One would decide to view this manifesto as something that is intended to build the perfect individual with the excuse of "no one is perfect" in mind. On the contrary, we believe that it was intended for growth instead.

De Stijl (1918)

The De Stijl group had a goal of an organic combination of architecture, sculpture and painting in a lucid, elemental, unsentimental construction. This group was interested in "pure reality", universal harmony, asymmetry, abstract reducing, geometry as well as vertical and horizontal lines. This pure reality which they mention means that their art was to be represented by the purest things as in primary colours(red, blue and yellow), and straight horizontal and vertical lines with  representations of only geometrical shapes. With this kind of art if there was no manifesto to explain its values people would have had overlooked it and saw it as something directed towards children and that right there is the importance of manifestos. De Stijl is truly art in its purest form with nothing abstract.

Without manifestos it would have been hard to understand the meaning and purpose of art. Unlike mathematics and science there is no one definition which describes it completely. Therefore manifestos have helped  in making the movement pioneers explain the vision and purpose of their art so that it would not be misinterpreted. 

My Thr33 Favourite 

Christian Louboutin

              

The appeal of this brand for me, is the fantasy world created around it. It almost states that, you can fulfil and live out your dream, simply by attaining this shoe.

Vision and Mission,

Christian Louboutin is a French footwear designer whose footwear has incorporated shiny, red-lacquered soles that have become his signature. Christian Louboutin’s trademark glossy red soles are an undisputed stamp of fashion excellence. Launched in 1991 with a mission statement “to make shoes that are like jewels”, the designer has delivered season after season of fantasy footwear, and his expansion into accessories has proved every bit as sensational. From razor-sharp stilettos to lace-up boots and studded sneakers, Christian Louboutin is every woman’s first port of call for outfit-transforming wardrobe updates.

 How would I improve them, I'm in love with the concepts and wouldn't change a thing. Except maybe make the Vission and M mission easily available to the public

Victoria’s Secret

         

Victoria’s Secret’s appeal to me is the femininity bind it. Yes your under garments are your secrect but they can also reveal how that secret makes you beautiful as well. It to me is about revealing the closeted freak in you, the woman in you. That despite what you could be wearing on the outside, inside you are woman!

Vision and Mission

"Limited Brands is committed to building a family of the world's best fashion brands offering captivating customer experiences that drive long-term loyalty and deliver sustained growth for our shareholders." 

i would make the campaigne more multi racial. it feels and looks so far as more of a caucasian line and it seems as though that is their target market, based on the models they use.

           

  Paco Rabanne                                                         

   

Paco Rabanne, smell like a rockstar! Though that isn’t theyre tag line, to me it is implied. Their graphics, colours and models, portray that rockstar image. In essence , if you smell like one you will look and feel like one.

Vision and Mission 

Paco Rabanne’s watch collection exudes the brand’s taste for dark colour, fine, pure, graphic art.For women, Paco Rabanne’s line brings in a unique mix of sporty yet feminine look. The common thread among most watches is a beautiful setting of Swarovski crystals.

I would for this brand make vision and mission easily available to the public.                                       

Cult of Celebrity

The cult of celebrity can simply be defined as  celebrity worship. why we are so obsessed with these people. to me as a South African, it seems more as an American ideal. yes we have celebrities here but i don't  believe we obsess over them as much as the western culture obsesses  over theirs. though i believe the idea of "celebrity" to still be influential all across the globe. i think we put them such high pedastils because we all desire fame an fortune, so by having anything associated to them, makes us feel that much closer to attaining our desires.

There’s something about the way celebrities make a product more appealing. They make you desire a product and want to own it. Celebrities and consumer brands are in the business of creating a need, known as celebrity endorsements. It’s a necessary and beneficial partnership for consumer brands.

Take this credit card for example. You may not even know the benefits of having this card, let alone the prerequisites to attain one, but just because Usher is on it. It appeals to his fans and those attracted to him, thus making them want one.  

Vitman water is an energy drink, in the form of flavoured water. There are a lot of of other products out there offering similar benefits. We woudnt even give them a second glance, but because rapper 50 Cent is endorsing the product. suddenly we want to drink this overpriced bottle or coloured low sugar water.

Brad Pitt, once voted the sexiest man alive, which i beg to differ on, but oh well, to each his own. Anyway here he is endorsing Tag Heuer time pieces. Time piece because when this expensive item lands on the wrist of a celebrity, it is no longer and over priced watch, but rather a very desirable object. This simple object gives the message that Normal people can also experience a bit of "celebrityhood" by wearing the same brand of watch that Brad Pitt wears.

Surely were are all familiar with Donald Trump, owner of the Trump Towers

Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, investor, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. All business men aspire to be as successful 

and wealthy as he is. how do you get closer to that? By eating what rich sucessful businessmen eat : Trump steaks.

Wanna be as Gorgeous as Julia Roberts, use the Mascara she uses.

Want hair like Jennifer Lopez? use L'Oreal, because you're worth it. 

Katy Perry eats them and she loves them. Share in her experience by buying and eating your own packet. Get em now!

Beyonce, she's beautiful, successful and dances, no moves like a dream. Wanna move like Beyonce? Well her secret is in her hair colour. Get it now by L'Oreal

The cult of celebrity knows no bounds. Our American celebrity supports foreign alcohol, you should too. It's sophisticated.

Connie Furgason, our South African Celebrity. I just threw her in there cause they"ve all been American thus far.

An international product, but how does she sell it so well?

The answer lies in her attributes. Her face is instantly recognisable since she was in a popular South African soapie, Generations, for over a decade. Brands maximise on this existing relationship or familiarity between the celebrity and the public and generally, the more familiar the face, the more profitable the deal is to both parties.

I personally am not a fan of or am inspired by any celebrity. They're just normal people who are either very talented, worked hard to get where they are or just got lucky.