Secret Realities
The Masks We Wear
Project Title - Thesis Project for BTEC (HND) QualificationProject
The Masks We Wear
Project Title - Thesis Project for BTEC (HND) QualificationProject
Type - Conceptual Exploration/Awareness Campaign
Project Timeline - Less than 3 months / Dec 2009
Requirements - Research, Conceptualization, Implemenation
Tools - Mixed Media, Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe Illustrator CS3
Project Timeline - Less than 3 months / Dec 2009
Requirements - Research, Conceptualization, Implemenation
Tools - Mixed Media, Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe Illustrator CS3
For a region that prides itself on its diversity and as nation world renowned for its hospitality, Sri Lanka seems to find it hard to deal with changing perspectives and popular culture within its own people. Our culture has a certain mindset or a cookie-cutter mould that has worked fine for many generations and many ignorant people (unfortunately, the majority) they believe it is their duty to make sure no one strays on that path using the excuse that it is a required sacrifice to preserve ones culture and honor traditions. This militant view has forced many individuals who are seeking to form their own opinion on equality, individuality, sexuality, civil liberties and lifestyle to be subject to insult, ridicule, stigmatizing and in most cases complete alienation from the ones they love and need.
While some may be brave to forge their own lives, many are not. Most of them either choose to live a defeated life living by the rules and regulations set to them in constant regret, sometimes even leading to depression and suicide. Some even try to don a mask from which they could in secret indulge in what they really wanted; a path that is far from the protective watch of the ones that care for them that leads to a dark and often dangerous place, one that is usually hard to come out of as it leads to abuse and addiction; therefore destroying an entire generation!
This project tries to inform a society that doesn’t know what really goes on behind these masks, the secret realities that these people live in and hopefully provide their voices a platform to be heard, understood and gradually if not immediately accepted for themselves, so that they may be the a culture that doesn’t loose its future generations to a spectre of practices defunct and of no value.
While some may be brave to forge their own lives, many are not. Most of them either choose to live a defeated life living by the rules and regulations set to them in constant regret, sometimes even leading to depression and suicide. Some even try to don a mask from which they could in secret indulge in what they really wanted; a path that is far from the protective watch of the ones that care for them that leads to a dark and often dangerous place, one that is usually hard to come out of as it leads to abuse and addiction; therefore destroying an entire generation!
This project tries to inform a society that doesn’t know what really goes on behind these masks, the secret realities that these people live in and hopefully provide their voices a platform to be heard, understood and gradually if not immediately accepted for themselves, so that they may be the a culture that doesn’t loose its future generations to a spectre of practices defunct and of no value.
Of all the projects I’ve ever worked on I would believe this is my current-best on many counts, especially on being the most relavant! This project tries to address what I think is a much overlooked issue in our region and culture that if it is not dealt with would have dire consequences that may result in the slow but steady disintegration of our society itself.
This project was of personal value too beacuse I have known what it is to live under a mask when I was coming to terms with my sexuality and my beliefs. But luckily, I had many friends who supported me even though my family took some time to be fully accepting of my lifestyle and choices. I also have many friends who are still afraid to let themselves be known for who they really are or what their aspirations or beliefs for their own lives should be; some even afraid to talk about being plagued by addiction or abuse.
This project was of personal value too beacuse I have known what it is to live under a mask when I was coming to terms with my sexuality and my beliefs. But luckily, I had many friends who supported me even though my family took some time to be fully accepting of my lifestyle and choices. I also have many friends who are still afraid to let themselves be known for who they really are or what their aspirations or beliefs for their own lives should be; some even afraid to talk about being plagued by addiction or abuse.
Concept
The problem here is that these secret realities are destroying people from the inside and even if the people around them notice the tell tale signs they are more focussed on making them acceptable to the general society rather than being concerned about the well being of the ones they love. So who better should I focus this to than the neucleus of society - the family. So I defined my target audience to be typical a Sri Lankan family that is within the middle income bracket, living in urban or sub-urban areas with more than one child who are in their teens.
The solution required was by no means simple; it was a mission to change peoples mindsets to be more tolerant of different lifestyles and more accepting of the individuals who go against the norms dictated by traditions that are behind the times, all the while informing them of the horrors of living this deadly secret. A seemingly difficult task with a target audience that is of a rigid conservative mindset, but achievable if carefully constructed.
When trying to talk about these secrets I felt a glimpse was all that was required, and as they say a picture is worth a thousand words, I looked at exemplifying these secret realities by many methods, but none felt as prudent as the use of masks.
Masks hold a special place in our society, worldwide they have always been associated with glamorous concealment, a perfection the world sees while in reality it is usually hides the truth, but in the case of the current subject, the masks are captors of innocent and beguiled lives from which the masks themselves are made of; something fragile and battered, craving to be lifted from them so that they may live free and true to themselves without fear.
I then found myself asking what kind of a mask does drug addiction or promiscuity wear? what kind of would homosexuality and abuse hide under, or depression? or the weight of duty... the tangents were too many to address, so I seeked to address their root causes; sexuality, abuse, addiction and individuality, and so I set out to exemplify them by masks each made up of characteristic materials and mannerisms unique to their names.
The solution was simple therein - the masks needed to be taken down, but to do so there needed to be so a sense of understanding and acceptance, something that came only from education and dialog, something that needed to be freely found.
The solution to the problem identified was something more than an awareness campaign, it was an emergence of a movement to reconcile an entire generation with its roots, to preserve a culture and a nation and to make families separated by tradition and norms be united by love and understanding.
The problem here is that these secret realities are destroying people from the inside and even if the people around them notice the tell tale signs they are more focussed on making them acceptable to the general society rather than being concerned about the well being of the ones they love. So who better should I focus this to than the neucleus of society - the family. So I defined my target audience to be typical a Sri Lankan family that is within the middle income bracket, living in urban or sub-urban areas with more than one child who are in their teens.
The solution required was by no means simple; it was a mission to change peoples mindsets to be more tolerant of different lifestyles and more accepting of the individuals who go against the norms dictated by traditions that are behind the times, all the while informing them of the horrors of living this deadly secret. A seemingly difficult task with a target audience that is of a rigid conservative mindset, but achievable if carefully constructed.
When trying to talk about these secrets I felt a glimpse was all that was required, and as they say a picture is worth a thousand words, I looked at exemplifying these secret realities by many methods, but none felt as prudent as the use of masks.
Masks hold a special place in our society, worldwide they have always been associated with glamorous concealment, a perfection the world sees while in reality it is usually hides the truth, but in the case of the current subject, the masks are captors of innocent and beguiled lives from which the masks themselves are made of; something fragile and battered, craving to be lifted from them so that they may live free and true to themselves without fear.
I then found myself asking what kind of a mask does drug addiction or promiscuity wear? what kind of would homosexuality and abuse hide under, or depression? or the weight of duty... the tangents were too many to address, so I seeked to address their root causes; sexuality, abuse, addiction and individuality, and so I set out to exemplify them by masks each made up of characteristic materials and mannerisms unique to their names.
The solution was simple therein - the masks needed to be taken down, but to do so there needed to be so a sense of understanding and acceptance, something that came only from education and dialog, something that needed to be freely found.
The solution to the problem identified was something more than an awareness campaign, it was an emergence of a movement to reconcile an entire generation with its roots, to preserve a culture and a nation and to make families separated by tradition and norms be united by love and understanding.
The Masks + Posters
The four posters created are all individually dealing with a unique mask that is being donned while also informing the viewer with what the mask is metaphorically made of. You would also notice that the masks created and the masks used in the posters are quite different from each other and it is not merely because they were digitally manipulated to ‘look good’, I in a way wanted to exemplify how the masks looked when they were freshly wrought, and how overtime they mutated into something sinister and deadly, to further exemplify the effects of the mask.
The four posters created are all individually dealing with a unique mask that is being donned while also informing the viewer with what the mask is metaphorically made of. You would also notice that the masks created and the masks used in the posters are quite different from each other and it is not merely because they were digitally manipulated to ‘look good’, I in a way wanted to exemplify how the masks looked when they were freshly wrought, and how overtime they mutated into something sinister and deadly, to further exemplify the effects of the mask.
The posters also possess a grungy/seedy feel through its selected backdrop to the masks, the typeface, the type placement and even the sparse decorative elements to communicate the dark and sinister mood of the topic; all leading to focus on the outlined mask that is placed in the center.
The Copywriting
The posters all work together as a series to outline the solution in the four step process that leads to acceptance; education which leads to understanding and dialog that therein leads to acceptance,or atleast tolerance. Each of the poetic compositions written are to further add to the masks effect and also to communicate its origin and resulting reality - the ‘cause and effect’ so to speak.
The Copywriting
The posters all work together as a series to outline the solution in the four step process that leads to acceptance; education which leads to understanding and dialog that therein leads to acceptance,or atleast tolerance. Each of the poetic compositions written are to further add to the masks effect and also to communicate its origin and resulting reality - the ‘cause and effect’ so to speak.
The posters also all end with ‘freely found’ to further outline that if education, understanding, dialog and acceptance is freely found, the masks would no longer exist, besides denoting the fictional organization I created by the same name that offers those very things for free...
