The Theory Into Practice part of COP2 has been great, difficult and pushed me to produce a really solid outcome. Throughout the essay I learnt a huge amount about identity theory and realised that I could implement this into something interesting both visually and conceptually.
Following the completion of my essay, I felt that I had strong enough material and words to go ahead and create something intrinsically linked the essay. From the outset of the essay - even before it - the whole idea of brands using identity theory to target consumers' inner desires was always going to result in some form of dystopian outcome. I really think I achieved this with Get Inside Their Minds.
The publication brings together three main concepts, the first being the language used for the quotations throughout. Mixing Marx, who focused on the commodity - in this case the piece of clothing - with more contemporary identity theorists could leave the piece feeling unbalanced by history but I believe the curation of the quotes throughout is successful in creating a nice mix. One page refers to fashion as a 'performance' whilst another states how fashion reflects our values.
The second concept is the use of Infinitium, a contemporary take on blackletter typography. I wanted the aesthetic of the whole piece to reflect political and propaganda posters from the early 1900's. Through looking back at examples from this time I discovered the political influence of Fraktur and Volkism in Nazi Germany - it symbolised the rural parts of Germany and was used to gain votes from this audience in elections. From this, the use of Infinitium in my publication can be taken in two ways; a reference to the ageing ideas put forward in the quotations - most of which I somewhat discredited in the essay - or simply a sharpened, more legible and clean cut take on the political poster. This 'choice' runs through the whole piece, which gives little away to the reader and allows one to come up with their own conclusions.
Finally is the use of clothing as imagery. With this I took the traditional look book idea and turned it around, using the fabric as abstract backgrounds on which to hold the quotations. I used a scanner instead of a camera in order to create a sense of claustrophobia and suffocation within the imagery, adding to the overall sense of unease throughout the publication.
Overall, I'm really pleased with the outcome of Theory Into Practice. I've produced something with contextual backbone and undoubtedly an interesting, innovative aesthetic. Coming out of the essay process I overthought a practical response before turning back on myself and realising the potential of the quotations that i'd already collected. I felt the most important thing that needed to be done with these was a re-contextualisation and thus came the idea of putting the quotations into a large scale publication. I believe the practical project ties in really smoothly with the essay and successfully continues of a feeling and concept. The essay was critical of the morals of brands taking identity theory and reappropriating as branding/ identity, the practical piece parodies this with the overly dramatic title and references to political propaganda.
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