OUGD505 / Studio Brief 01 / Disobedient Objects @ V&A

Disobedient Objects @ The V&A

‘From a Suffragette tea service to protest robots, this exhibition was the first to examine the powerful role of objects in movements for social change. It demonstrated how political activism drives a wealth of design ingenuity and collective creativity that defy standard definitions of art and design. Disobedient Objects focussed on the period from the late 1970s to now, a time that has brought new technologies and political challenges. On display were arts of rebellion from around the world that illuminate the role of making in grassroots movements for social change: finely woven banners; defaced currency; changing designs for barricades and blockades; political video games; an inflatable general assembly to facilitate consensus decision-making; experimental activist-bicycles; and textiles bearing witness to political murders’

The Disobedient Objects exhibition was a curation of objects that have been used promote a political, ethical and/or social cause. The scale of the objects in the exhibit ranged from a pick up truck to badges smaller than a penny.

Promotional material 1: Exhibition catalogue . Silhouettes sit behind instructions of how to make that object into a tool for protest; a water bottle is made into a gas mask.  

All materials are constructed with 3 colours.

This format is repeated for other objects while used as promotional material.

Doctrine by Jonathon Barnbrook / Virus fonts is used for the branding.

'A contemporary sans-serif typeface with an agreeable character, Doctrine Sans is the moderate comrade of the display typeface Doctrine Stencil. From the obscure starting point of the North Korean national airline livery, Doctrine has grown to encompass a series of more mature typographic influences. By blending elements of twentieth-century neo-grotesque, humanist and geometric styles, Doctrine is at once universal and idiosyncratic. Doctrine is informed mid-twentieth-century modernism, yet is more human and less clinical than many modernist faces.'

Doctrine re appropriates type from the North Korean airline, AIR KORYO.
A satirical concept that is quoted below: 

'A contemporary sans-serif typeface with an agreeable character, Doctrine Sans is the moderate comrade of the display typeface Doctrine Stencil. From the obscure starting point of the North Korean national airline livery, Doctrine has grown to encompass a series of more mature typographic influences. By blending elements of twentieth-century neo-grotesque, humanist and geometric styles, Doctrine is at once universal and idiosyncratic. Doctrine is informed mid-twentieth-century modernism, yet is more human and less clinical than many modernist faces.'

Alternates and Ligatures create are more visually appealing; creating a theatrical sense.

Alternates and Ligatures portray the idea of internationality, relating to the intentional content of the exhibition.

The conceptually political approach of the font relates to the Exhibition.

The branding and integrity of Disobedient Objects is enhanced by its considered set of aesthetics that are all relatable by concept.

The typography of entrance sign was created using zip ties on a barrier, usually seen in protest and oppressive manners. Zip ties are relatively cheap; this use of material relates to that which may been seen used by protesters.