Adbusters

Adbusters is a not-for-profit-media-foundation, concerning itself with physical and cultural environments by commercial forces. Magazines show documentation and discusses issues of economy and culture. The magazines AD- BUST as they are anti-advertising, blaming advertising for playing a central role in maintaining consumer culture, associating desire and identity with commodities and aims to provoke anti-consumerist feelings.

From the graphics and imagery within the magazines there is a consistent forcefulness about the way the messages are being displayed. As I flick through the magazine I like the texture of the recycled matt paper as opposed to glossy, as its roughness not only accentuates organic nature and sincerity, but it also connotes how Adbusters do not want to focus on the cosmetic appeal of consumerism and false advertisement. We should value the core meat of the magazine, the luxurious update of the issues that are occurring in the world that make us feel refreshed and intellectually advanced. Heavier paper feels more fibrous and forces us to absorb the texture within our fingertips for a longer period of time, which means more time engaging with the activity on the pages.

Page after page reminds me of a scrapbook that contains bundles of annotated photography, scratchy scribbled lines, arrows, vandalised political figures, super surreal collage and textured materials. Despite this, the commotion is balanced and supported by the large mass of white negative space, complimenting orientation of the graphics and imagery. The magazine is an external configuration of ones conscience or inner thoughts that is vomited on several pages, which makes the magazine more colloquial as it is comparable to a journal and a diary that enables the reader to engage into something that seems quite personal.

I like the 'Psycho' page as just by looking at the photographic manipulation the viewer will acknowledge the message and meaning of the article without actually reading it! What dominates the page is a finger, it is so perfectly shaped and has an even flesh-tone that it almost looks prosthetic. What's more is that the nail has been replaced by the casing of an Apple product, all situated in a clinical white backdrop. From my instinct, the designer substituted the fingernail with the carapace-like casing  of the apple product due to its likeness in textural properties. Also we associate Apple with an abundance of the technological devices it designs and we associate a fingernail with growth, protection and strength. Then when a reader connects both of the imagery together they can imply that there is an issue and a concern that as a society we are becoming fixated and dependant anything technological and digital. As generations progress technology will develop and will furthermore become engrained within society, the addiction of technology will grow so much that one will not be able to detach themselves from it in a way that it essentially becomes an appendage on their body. Technology aims to exceed perfection in the virtual worlds within the screen, encouraging users to delve into social media, which inhibits real people from interacting in a real world.