quarta-feira, 1 de julho de 2009

Retooling identity production in the 21st century


Despite design agencies' claim to be visual experts on identity and representational questions, contemporary realities such as cultural diversity and hybrid identities in multicultural social contexts seem to be neglected issues within the profession of identity construction and the production of representation (visual identity design, corporate design and branding).
Even though the overtly expressed search for orientation and identity by individuals, organisations and entire communities cannot be overlooked, designers and identity strategists hardly engage with the unanswered questions sheltered in contemporary hybrid society and markets. Most identity construction and visual identity production remain based on modernistic Eurocentric or neo-liberal Anglo-American methods of identity and representation although social realities have changed over time.Since the Internet started to be a vital part of consumer daily life we have experienced a worldwide hegemony of branding strategies in professional communication. This superimposed identity plays an enormous role in contemporary society mostly in the form of 'consumable identities' such as product brands, brands of services, political bodies and places, etc.Due to the vast expansion of (online) media possibilities, the production of visual identities to express, manifest and seal artificial identity constructs has increased over the past twenty five years. These constructs have become a new occidentally rooted Esperanto of global culture since they are a cross-cultural, cross-economic, cross-political, cross-religious and cross-geographical phenomenon.

Nenhum comentário: