A Workshop by Umut Südüak and Sinan Niyazioglu

As graphic designers, we are living and designing in a global world, where fiction is embedded with reality; real things are valued through fictionary. The power of the brand’s slogans are effective as the manifestations of the great thinkers, artists, philosophers or inventors, who had great impacts on the improvements in humanity. Most of the global brands’ slogans are worldwidely anonymous in many cultures as the local proverbs that has reached to commonly use in hundreds of years.

In our fast daily life, information is transferred from technological equipments, and valued in the hyrarchy of popular culture. We receive many slogans or daily news presented as information from media. We beleive or value them in our minds whether in concious or unconcious ways. What we have heard or seen in one day totaly shapes the image of daily reality.

The idea of personal sight or the idea, imposed to persons and make them beleive as their personal sight is the most complicated culturel issue and the victory of the media in cultural industry.

This workshop aims to discuss and design works from personal views.

Here are some conceps and themes. Each student will choose one among these and design a work, reflecting his/her personal view. It can be a poster design, t-shirt design, a book design, an installation work, a costume design or a performence work.

CONCEPTS
Democracy, Distrust, Entertainment, Fear, Freedom, Hope, Loneliness, Love, Peace, Religion, Sex, Sexappeality, Spirtuality, Trust, Tolerance.

THEMES
Abortion, Brand Addiction, Drug Addiction, Islam in EU, Germany’s Future, Global Warming, Human Cloning, Hunger, Lesbian / Gay Marriage, Mono-Culture, Turkey’s Integration to EU, Violence at Home, War in Iraq.


KEY NOTES FOR CONCEPTS

Democracy
“Democracy is capitalism. It serves many alternatives.” (Ronald Reagen)

Distrust
In one of the Harvard University’s survey, it was found that the American people trust on brands more than local law system, policemen, doctors and even more their neighbours.
Wally Olins, a remarkeble theorician and a CEO of many global brands, has declared that global humanity is lonely and distrusted.

Entertainment
Even museums, known as the temples of high culture and sophisticated knowledge, accept the impact of entainment on learning. Today people want to learn things with simple, reductioned methods and in entertaining ways. If entertainment has flourished from popular culture in our modern world, is it the universally dominant success of popular culture?

Fear
“Man always fear inside but always seaches fear outside.” (Sigmund Feud)
“The nations that are fearfull have the loneliest individuals.” (Albert Einstein)

Hope
“If I had’nt have the hope of peace how could i survive?”
(Mahatma Gandhi, when he was leaving his jail.)
“Hope? What Hope? Hope is only in fairy tales.” (Andy Warhol)

Loneliness
“I am rich, i am famous, i am sexy, i am powerfull but i am goddamnly lonely” (Madonna, from her albume the Confession.)

Love
“My heart became the mirror of your existence and burnt with the extacy of your love
( An unknown Roman soldier who carved this sentence on the marble walls of Delphion Temple, known as the Temple of Prophecy and Love.)

Peace
“It is so funny that the meaning of Jerusalem is always in peace, where is always on war.” (Woody Allen)

Religion
“Art is my religion” (Pablo Picasso)
“ I became the President of United States of America in the name of God and for the mission of infinite Justice.” (George W. Bush)

Sex
“Sex sells.” (Andy Warhol)
“Our success was simple. We advertised cigarettes in a sexy way.”
(Leo Burnett, the founder of the Marlboro Man.)
“The thirst of sex is evilish.” ( A Medieval Proverb)
“Sex is freedom.” ( Yoko Ono)

Sexappeality
“ In UK, every 6 women out of 10 has an outstanding depression, causing from the personal belief of having non sexappealed physical appearence.”
(Anitta Roddick, the founder of the Body Shop.)

Spirtuality
“ Our war is spirtual. İdentity construction is self distruction.”
(From a dialogue of the film, The Fight Club. )

Tolerance
“ We show too much tolerance to Palestinians. Why do the rest of the world insist on not seing this? ” ( Ehud Olmert, the Vice President of Israel and the Architect of the idea, the 8 meter walled Concentration Camps in West Bank Zone.)

Trust
“ I only trust Hello Kitty. ( A Princess from the Royal Dynasty of Japan)


KEY NOTES FOR THEMES

Abortion
“ Abortion is murder.” (Pope The Benedictus)

Brand Addiction
“ We should convince our global consumers in the idea that wearing a pair of Nike shoes is reaching to Godlines.” ( Nancy Shultz, the former CEO of the brand, Nike.)

Drug Addiction
“In Afganistan every 5 children (between 7-11 years old) out of 20 is drug addicted.”
(UNICEF Report)
“We can not treat the people who are drug addicted; we can only control the amount of their consuming needs.” (A former Minister of Health of Switzerland)

Islam in EU
“ Let muslims leave Europe and return to their far away lands. I am fed up with them. I can not see the males’ face because of their long beard. The women are the worst.
They are like horror film characters with black costumes.” (Brigitte Bardot)

Germany’s Future
We have a bright future.” (Angele Merkel)

Global Warming
“ The planet Earth has 72 years left.” (Greenpeace Report)

Human Clonning
“ I clone and create new species in the service of Humanity.”
(From the film, Dr. Mauroe and his Island)

Hunger
In each day 25.000 people die from hunger. Children constitute %75 of this sum. (UNICEF Report)

Lesbian or Gay Marriage
“Homosexual Marriage is profane.”
(Arnold Schwazenneger)

Mono-Culture
In every second, 8000 bottles of Coca-Cola and 4400 cups of Nescafe is being consumed worldwidely.

Turkey’s Integration to EU
“Turkey is a muslim and Asian Country and is away from European Values.” (Nichola Sarkozy)
“ The continent Europe has been established with the values of Christianity and Judaism.”
(Angele Merkel)

Violence at Home
“In UK, in each month, every 4 women out of 20 is sent to hospital with serious injuries causing from their husbands’ attacks. I unfortunately beleive that the real picture is more dramatic than the one is seen. Most of the house women regret going to the police or hospital as they beleive that keeping the experience of violence in secret, may recover the bad relations.” (Anitta Roddick, the founder of The Body Shop)

2. Day Workshop Photos

1. Day Workshop Photos