design final shrimpsona
intent blurb:
Repetition as a concept is incredibly ingrained within culture. It has become synonymous with hustle, schedule, and routine in the salaryman’s 9 to 5 work week and thus, homogenization and dehumanization, often for propaganda. When I think about repetition in association with the culture I have been introduced to, I think about consumerism and capitalism. Capitalism is often justified as a catalyst and push for innovation, but evidently, it has decimated the careers of thousands of people and caused critical damage to the environment through the progressive usage and development of AI technology. This trend alone has resulted in a cynicism towards art and a shift towards design, where the chasm between these respective fields has only become deeper and wider. Meaningless creation that favors mainstream taste dissolves the distinct development people have in discovering their own style and leans towards corporate aesthetics. Yet, when we fall for these greater schemes by capitalist entities we lose passion and skill, and become replaced by the very machines and computers that we fear taking over our jobs. While parental obligations and expectations, visa priorities for design, or an innate fear of being unemployed for the rest of your life are reasonable causes for pursuing corporate design jobs, they are incredibly depressing. Despite the gravity of this situation, I decided to use a childish and thus, approachable method of tackling this issue through blind boxes that RISD’s student population is familiar with. Blind boxes and shrimp are tied to mass consumerism and they both demonstrate a sense of homogeneity, except these blind boxes reveal a slight sense of individuality and character.