A number of authors have considered the value placed on creative craftsmen and women in a world which we have been bought up to believe that the best form of utilising creative practice would be to apply their skills to methods of advertising. Ken Garland (1964), Kalman (1998)and Adbusters (2000) have all commented on the fact that creative talents have always been undermined by corporate committees, as 'creative people are now working for the bottom line'. For instance the Adbusters in their 'First things first 2000 manifesto' describe how 'there are pursuits more worthy of our problem-solving skills, unprecedented environmental, social and cultural crises demand our attention.
These statements are all completely valid, as we as creatives do not want to fall subject to the brainwashed, small minded culture that is consumerism. It's about time that more value was placed on creative practice and visual communicators so that we can use our skills to create more sustainable forms of communication for more worthwhile purposes.
Analysis
'Barcode trees' by Jane Hazlewood accurately illustrates todays global commercial culture. The roots of the tree formed by a barcode suggest that we place more value in reaping consumerism more than we do than the things that are more important, such as personality, talent, the environment and many other factors. The colour scheme portrays the very 'black and white' outlook on consumer culture and the mindless desire for more and more until one eventually wastes away, never satisfied.
Evaluation
Garland's manifesto (1964) laid out the initial foundations as to where creative practice should and shouldn't exist, and how creatives should not be exploited by advertising corporations. He sternly states that 'we do not advocate the abolition of high pressure consumer advertising: it is not feasible'. Then goes on to plead 'we hope that our society will tire of gimmick merchants, status salesmen and hidden persuaders, and that the prior call on our skills will be for worthwhile purposes', which assists in outlining and emphasising the importance of our rights as creatives, and identifying areas of potential exploitation that could undermine the industry.
His use of language could be seen as more of a 'soft' approach to the matter in comparison with the Adbusters (1998)who comment on the consequences of devoting efforts to advertising on a wider perspective. They comment on the fact that those individuals are 'supporting and implicitly endorsing a mental environment so saturated with commercial messages that it is changing the very way citizen-consumers speak, think,feel,respond and interact', which outlines the severity of how the mind-numbing culture is undermining the creative industry, and how in a way that they are contradicting themselves by subjecting to this.
Paraphrase
Writing to highlight the negative implications of corporate power in 'Fuck Committees', Kalman (1998) claims that 'virtually all creative industries have been freed from ideas, individual passion, and have been relegated to a role of corporate servitude, and that creative people are now working for the bottom line'. Kalman also aims to demonstrate how important it is to 'find creative lunatics, treat them well and use their money to change the world', and he does this by bringing the fact that in our society 'creative people have their work reduced to content or intellectual property' to the readers attention.
Bibliography
Adbusters,2000)First things first 2000, Eye magazine, no.3, vol.8
Garland,K(1998)First things first manifesto, 13 Oakley Square, London
Hazelwood,J(2015) Barcode Trees [ONLINE]. Available at: https://society6.com/product/barcode-trees-illustration_framed-print#12=52&13=54 [Accessed 20 December 2015].
Kalman,T.(1998)Fuck Committees [online]. Available from:http://www.manifestoproject.it/fuck-committees/[Accessed 20 December 2015]
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