Name: Antonette Nolan
Culture Jammer Ad title: Olay Irony
Medium: Photoshop
Date: Friday, April 24th 2015
Technical
Within Olay Irony I used a few new tools and technical steps that I had not previously had much experience with. All of them were used to edit layers’ coloring in different ways. I used several warming photo filters to make the model’s skin darker (she was originally European), and played with the color curves for the same reason. In addition, I created a flat brown layer above the model’s image and used the “multiply” option to create a smooth, dark finish. Finally, I experimented with opacity changes on nearly all layers.
Idea or Concept
When first presented with the opportunity to create a satirical ad, I thought it was almost too good to be true! I have always had an interest in criticizing unethical organizations (for many years I actually wanted to be a libertarian political cartoonist), so this project provided the perfect chance to experiment. I chose to target Olay’s skin-whitening creams because of the company’s ironic slogan, “Love the skin you’re in”. The message sounds cute and caring, while the products themselves say the exact opposite. Thus, I replaced the word “love” with a more appropriate verb: “loath”. I did not find that this concept changed much as I worked on the piece. The irony stayed fresh, so I did not wonder from my original plans. This, obviously, lead me to title the piece Olay Irony. The floating feathers, sleek fonts and white background all give the “feel” of a real cosmetic advertisement.
Influences
No particular artist (that I can think of!) influenced my work in this project. I did, however, research Olay’s (and other prominent cosmetic producers’) advertisements before creating my own from scratch. I suppose their style influenced my own, and at least may have affected how I used the colors and space in Olay Irony.
Composition
I balanced the composition asymmetrically, with most of the “weight” in Olay Irony on the left side (the model). I intended most of the emphasis in the advertisement to be on the model’s bleached face, but also (secondarily) on the writing in the upper right-hand corner. I believe I succeeded in this for the most part, specifically through use of contrast and space (the model’s tanned skin is eye-grabbing because it contrasts with the white background, while the writing stands out because there are no feathers surrounding it). I wanted the viewer’s eyes to first focus on the model on the left, move up and right to the message, down to the image of the whitening products, and then again down to Olay’s logo and altered slogan. Each of the feathers is placed on a specific angle and made a certain size in order to push the viewer’s eye in a somewhat circular motion around the advertisement.
Motivation
I suppose my ideas for this piece all began with my interest in the fashion industry. I had been thinking about makeup a lot, since I would actually love to attend school for the subject. After researching several prominent cosmetic companies I was astonished to find that, despite many manufacturers claiming to have women’s interests at heart in their slogans, they also sell skin-whitening products to women in poorer countries (where darker skin is stigmatized—the darker the skin one has, the poorer it is assumed one is). I must confess I was a more than a little disgusted, and thus decided to base my culture jammer ad on the topic.
Critical Assessment
Personally, I found the altered slogan (“Loath (rather than love) the skin you’re in”) and the model’s perplexed face to be the most interesting and successful parts of the entire piece. I had to change her features a lot to give her a worried, unsatisfied look (which many women, I am sure, could identify with), while the word ‘loath’ fit so perfectly in ‘love’s place! If I had had additional time, I believe that I may have looked for a way to make the model’s skin darker in hue—the current darkness seems a little too ‘shadowy’.
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