The idea of this project was to take about the word “feminism” from the media, myself and others I had given research papers too felt had misshapen from it’s original meaning. Feminism is the seeking of equal rights for women to the same level as men, not as the media often represents it, the hating and removing of men from society.

The work created here is deliberately subtle in it’s dealing with a difficult and often confusing subject. It is intended to allow young people (16-24 year olds) to slowly become more comfortable with the subject and be more willing to openly discuss it. The campaign would run in a similar way to and advertising campaign, with posters etc handed out. In addition to these, various products relating to the statistics sewn into the items would be available in places such as Urban Outfitters.

The key element here is that each pattern relates to a specific statistic and is in fact at it’s core, data representation, but in a much more friendly and approachable way.

Design in the twenty-first century, an era where we are past the modernist principles of structure, past the rebellion of fighting against these principles and now entirely free to do whatever we want, so long as someone is willing to fund it of course, puts the designer in an ever more confusing position. The designer is expected to be both a creative talent and a restrained character, free to create unimaginable and boundary pushing work, whilst being restrained by ideals of budget and function.

Some, many in fact, would argue that it’s impossible for a designer to fulfill their creative potential when placed in these metaphorical box. Perhaps they are right, but in all honesty, it depends on how you define creative potential. It is very creative to presume that jumping off a ladder with a tin of open paint may produce a mark so beautiful in it’s abstract nature that the entire commissioned project could be based around it, however this would never be considered as part of a designers billable hours, mainly because it’s daft, but also because it would quite probably lead to the injury of the designer in question. It is unprofitable and in my eyes, not creative potential, but simply irrational behaviour justifying itself as “creative”.

What then does a design for a product, a poster, a advertising campaign, truly need to do? In essence, shock and awe. Good design within todays expectations and market place needs two important factors to be truly successful. The first is “shock”, in other words the design has to attract instant attention, for whatever reason, by being particularly beautiful, or daring, or minimal. A wow factor is what is needed. The second and even more important necessity is “awe” either through use, or extended exposure to the design. An appreciation of how smooth and perfected the design is, how well balanced, functional and in most cases, enjoyable to use the creation is.

This of course, all sounds a bit absurd, long winded and impractical to use in day to day creation of work. So I will outline my case with the design hero of the hour, Apple. Apple’s products tick both of these boxes as well as any current consumer electronics product can. Shock, apple’s designs always attempt to surprise and amaze their consumers, wether it be by perfectly sleek lines, lack of buttons or overly engineered packaging. Awe, every product created by apple also has long staying power, impressing the user by the layout of buttons, the ease of use and solidity of the product. Follow these two principles and I’m sure they will bring you much success.

I realised just how much of a British thing tea and the way we treat tea is, when I spent the last year living in America. I realise that some of you, poor misguided fools that you are, bless you, believe that America has tea. America, in no way, shape or form has tea. The hot water with floating leaves in a bag that you serve is a travesty of naivety and tastes more foul than I could ever have imagined the sweet nectar that is tea to have tasted. I went to great lengths to find real, good, heart warming tea, the good stuff in short and eventually realised my only option was specially imported loose tea, mixed to my specific blend ideas. This of course, is a huge amount of hassle for an englishman who just wants a good cup of tea!

Tea, as my now extremely informed and quite wonderful long term (and sadly at the moment, long distance) misses once remarked, is like a loving hug in a mug. It raises the spirits more than coffee ever could and wraps itself around the heart as if it was the amber of life itself. And as I close this post, mug in hand I hope that you all find the joy of tea, it has become a small obsession of mine, I feel I become more and more of a traditional English gent by the day, something that perhaps is actually a positive thing.

Go! Drink Tea! And be merry!