AND FROM INDIVIDUAL COLLECTIONS (and CLOSET DRESSER DRAWERS)
Examples of t-shirts and badges from the book Graphic Agitation/2.
Most of the historical examples have been relevant to their time and the issues that were going on. Making political/social comments on current affairs regarding the LGBT population. This is something I would like to aim to do within my collateral.
I also researched contemporary examples; noticing t-shirts and badges are still a relevant and popular choice in activism merchandise. Current/relevant issues that can be discussed include...
- Legalising being gay in Russia & other unaccepting countries.
- Keeping gay marriage legal.
- Keeping LGBT protection rights.
- Donald Trumps election - Mike Pence & homophobia.
- Media representation.
Design experiments
My first concept was regarding current affairs regarding gay rights and gay marriage in the USA. Since Trumps election there has been talk and concerns that gay marriage may be made illegal again. I wanted to create a design that expressed a 'punk' style finger up attitude to the people trying to take away this right; literally. My concept was to produce a design of someone swearing with a wedding ring on; the wedding ring possibly in the iconic rainbow colours.
I produced a design that was simple and stamp like in form, informed by the chunky design styles used by punk activists and LGBT activists historically.
This is the final design with the rainbow wedding ring. This design would be appropriate for web/print promotional materials & badges. But would only be able to be printed using digital fabric printing if it was to be put on a t-shirt. This could be costly and not well informed by the context of the design.
With the slogan and inclusion of 'support gay marriage' the design is bold enough to portray the message without colour. I feel this design would be easy to screen print onto t-shirts and make into badges and creates a bold social commentary on current LGBT affairs.
My second idea was to create something using Mike Pence. Creating a play on words as he is known for dodgy dealings with tobacco companies and for hating gay people; 'Mike Pence, for tobacco against fags.'. This idea could of been good if executed well but I felt it might be too complicated and obscure to get a strong enough message across.
I wanted my designs to be simple, bold and effective like the ones produced by ACTUP, as I believe their success lies in their simplicity. I created these 3 designs using basic typography manipulation; considering the aesthetic used within the rest of the campaign. Type manipulation, outlined type, justified type. The designs are simple and the message cannot at all be confused. They are targeting issues and aiming towards a world-wide audience.
These are mock-ups I produced of the designs on t-shirts. The t-shirts would be screen printed, meaning the iconic IK blue could be achieved; the hand made punk aesthetic informed by the research would also go well with the physical manifesto. The collateral creates solidarity, pride and promotion for the campaign.
And the same with the badges. The badges would be cheap to produce either lazer printed (would have to be black though) or riso-printed like the manifesto. These could even be sent out with copies of the printed manifesto so pledgers could wear it with pride and help further the cause.
This prototype shows how the merchandise store will look on the website, using the same wireframe as the navigation page, for clarity and simplicity.
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