Holly Hamilton Branded Space Design Is my practice political? As a designer this is a broad and therefore difficult question to answer. For me many subsections fall under the category of ‘my practice, including both individual practice and the work I undertaken within the industry. As individual designers and artists we choose what we want to create and how we want to present it, we get to make all the decisions surrounding this version of our practise, however when we work under the name of a brand other than our own, can we truly express our practice in the same way we would as individuals? In modern day design, many brands are working towards the ideology of presenting themselves as ‘politically correct’, however how far into their brand does this statement really go? In recent years there has been an uprising in artificial intelligence design/artwork, one example of this is Shudu, the first ai black supermodel created by Cameron James Wilson in 2017. There was a lot of controversy surrounding this design for a multitude of reasons. One being that the first ai black supermodel with over 215,000 followers on instagram was created by a white British person. The model Shudu was a product of individual practice by the designer Cameron James Wilson created with inspiration from real life supermodels Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell. The persona Shudu was then shared on social media never with the intention to gain the following that it did. People started believing that Shudu was a real person and brands started hiring her for campaigns. This is when controversy started. When a design that was made as a personal practice enters into the world of society, industry branding, and economic gain, the whole prospects of the reasoning behind the creation gets questioned. When first hearing about this story my initial response was that a white British person was making economic gain from a black ethnic Ai design with no ties to real life communities of the same ethnic backgrounds. However because it was never the designers intention to profit off of the design, they put the design to good use and work alongside POC communities who also gain from the design’s success. This is why Shudu brought so much controversy to light. The design was created during individual practice, however was brought into industry practice by society and then questioned by the same society. The design was included in branding for multiple companies, who chose to represent their image with this ai design. Brands started to use Shudu but why? Yes there was a new face to show diversity in their campaigns but did these brands even care where the image came from? No. These brands simply saw the surface and looked no further. Why use an ai model to represent the minority when there are thousands of real life people who could be representing their own culture in the same way. I think this is evidence of how brands aim to present themselves as ‘politically correct’ however they don't always follow through thoroughly or know the full story behind their production line. Cameron James Wilson created the design never with the intent for it to become as big as it did. However the design got represented by media and advertising, turning to controversy. Obviously there is still controversy around this concept as many people ask the question why not just use real life people for these campaigns? However does that come back to the designer or the brands? As an individual designer I think you should always try your best to be political in what you create, thinking about your processes, what you are aiming to represent and why. However when you enter this practice into the professional working industry, your expression can get lost and you start to become a small cog in the bigger machine. Every practice is political but in industry practise most of the time it is not always presented in the way you would intend it to be. IMAGE ONE : Cameron James Wilson & Shudu
IMAGE TWO : Shudu modeling for Fenty Beauty IMAGE THREE : Shudu Wears Hyundai Lifestyle Reference link; Ted Talk by Cameron James Wilson - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk_ZSxPH1Z4
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