DAVID SARGENT
Respect Every Body Negative body image is a widespread social issue in Australia and around the world, particularly affecting adolescents who judge themselves against thin or muscular ideals perpetuated by visual communicators. To date, education and awareness programs have been the main weapon in combatting this issue, however the visual nature of these programs is often not considered. Questions remain on the best visual approach to use, as the current trend of using photographic representations of ‘diverse’ and ‘healthy’ adolescents is in danger of only replacing one ideal with another. My research aims to explore methods in which designers can address this issue using hand generated lettering to disrupt the status quo and promote the idea of difference and imperfection of form being acceptable, even desirable. These three images are a reimagining of the ‘Respect Every Body’ slogan used by the Australian Government in a recent campaign promoting body image diversity to high school students. They experiment with repetition of manual processes to encourage imprecise results. With all of the methods involved, initial marks are made carefully and deliberately while the final marks, affected by physical and mental fatigue, tend to be less precise and even rushed. Perfectly drawn
circles develop into wonky ovals, evenly applied paint sprays sit next to patchy and runny blobs while vigilantly drawn letterforms devolve into similar but unusually proportioned varieties. My aim has been to produce images that are visually engaging but highlighting that a person has dedicated an amount of care and time in the creation of the work. The processes used also ensures that each character is uniquely different, comfortable with it’s own shape and perfect in its own imperfection.