Social Issues in Advertising Design [Designed Dissertation]

Social Issues in Advertising Design: A Hypothetical Guideline for Modern Brands is the dissertation I submitted for my bachelor’s degree in Visual Communications: Graphic Design. It begins by exploring the impact social design has had on different movements (from protest signs to logo design) and goes forth to document the way that advertisers have tried to replicate this type of design to benefit non-ethical brands. By analysing a series of recent case studies, the dissertation recommends how social issues could be used in advertising design without compromising the efforts of activists or the humanity of marginalised communities. The design of this dissertation was based largely around the historical context of social design. Though read as a book, it folds out to become an A0 protest poster which calls out advertisers for the lack of empathy in their work. The typography and composition is inspired by the original ‘I Am A Man’ protest signs that were first used by black men rallying for their rights as workers in the 1960’s. These signs have been adapted to fit multiple movements over time, and it made sense for this broad discussion to be represented by something iconic, yet versatile. The typography from the posters creeps into the pages of the book, creating interesting shapes on each page, while the grey (alongside the large page numbers) acts as functional graphics that allow the reader to fold and unfold the poster with more ease.