Consumerism and Design
Consumerism impacts us every minute of every day. We are targeted through manipulative advertising, using psychological tricks to manipulate us into thinking tht we need certain products to make us happy. The majority of us think that buying new clothes and goods will make us happy, but in reality it doesn’t and our money should be spent on experiences. “Recent Research found that people who spent money on experiences rather than material items were happier and felt the money was better spent.” (Pozin, 2018). We all over consume and there are very few days that we do not buy something. Through looking into the history of consumerism, it is clear that it has been beneficial as well as having had a negative impact on the world. While it has broken down the traditional class divisions in the world, it has also made life worse for those from poorer countries. Land is used to grow crops for money and to ship overseas, instead it should be used for local food and farming. The land is worked so much until it can no longer grow crops and is useless to the companies. Consumerism also impacts the environment as the demand for goods increases and creates more harmful gases and emissions into the air. “Many of the world’s most threatened and endangered animals live in forests, and 1.6 billion people rely on benefits forests offer, including food, fresh water, clothing, traditional medicine and shelter.”(World Wildlife Fund, 2018)
The images I chose all show aspects of consumerism. From the false advertisement of Duracell batteries to the Andy Warhol Pop art looking like an advertisement for Campbell’s soup. They have all impacted us in one way or another through first impressions and thoughts.
Reference
Allwood, J., Cullen, J., Carruth, M., Cooper, D., McBrien, M., Milford, R., Moynihan, M. and Patel, A. (2012). Sustainable materials. Cambridge: UIT Cambridge, p.4.
Pozin, I. (2018). The Secret to Happiness? Spend Money on Experiences, Not Things. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ilyapozin/2016/03/03/the-secret-to-happiness-spend-money-on-experiences-not-things/#7ebd083e39a6 [Accessed 28 Nov. 2018].
Image Sites
https://www.widewalls.ch/consumerist-culture-art-10-artworks/