Fashion for Fake News

These workshops inspired me to think about my idea in a completely new way, and challenged me to think outside of the box as Karl had prompted me to do. When I came home from the workshopping class I sat down and immediately drew out this entire journey map for how my project could use this idea of screen printing to impact my target audience in an experiential way. I think that the 'fun' aspect of the project is less of a forced, intentional part here, but the whole idea about using unusual prints as a way to combat fake news has a humourous appeal to it.

Here it is in it's entirety – things feed off each other to make an immersive campaign with multiple touchpoints. For week 6 perhaps I could mock this up and present it on a large poster so that people can see what's happening?

It works like this:

1. Three designs are made, based on three different topics that are being swayed by fake news at the moment. Topics must be current, because this is part of the 'cool' factor, being in the know. I want the topics to be relevant to kiwis, but also abroad, as with a social media campaign (later down the journey map) the reach is global. Bold patterns are a good idea because they are a current fashion trend, and can convey a lot of meaning without completely spelling the issue out, whereas text is blatant (and less interesting, people are less likely to ask you what your shirt is about if they can read it for themselves). I could also make the designs (or any text if it is necessary) have a newspapery feeling/typeface/style to them, to continue the idea of the news and journalism media.

Producing the shirts in an eco-conscious way is important to this topic, because not only does it align with current marketing and consumer macrotrends, but some of the issues that these shirts will discuss is around climate change and environmental awareness/lack thereof. Places that do this brand transparency well are Wellmade Clothes and Trade Aid. To be hypocritical with the shirts would be another element of fake news, so may be effective if noticed, but it wouldn't go down very well with my target audience (see article here about Beyonce's 'This Is What A Feminist Looks Like' t-shirts, made with slave labour and therefore causing public uproar). Screen-printing might not be the only way to produce these designs, but it's the easiest kind of printing that I can produce on a small scale for starters, and was the one suggested to me in the brainstorming workshop, so I'm going with it for now.

The first challenging sticking-point of this project is making prints that are cool and desirable enough for people to want to buy them and get on board with it, while still having them be enough about the issue they talk about that people will learn something from them.

2. Display and get the word out about these new, hip t-shirts. Another prompt from my brainstorming session was broadsides (large posters, but smaller than a billboard).

The second difficult sticking point of this project is how to market the shirts in a (hopefully interactive, experiential way) that my audience will get on board with. These broadsides could be cool – I imagine them being plain white with simple, coloured text in a modernist style (text treated similarly to this MoMA poster).

The posters would have a QR code in the corner, and when people scan it with their phones, the white background of the poster comes to life, showing video of both sides of the fake news argument and creating an impactful and informative backdrop for these shirts. Although QR codes aren't being used very often at the moment, the newest iPhone update will include a built-in QR code reader into the camera, so the application of these codes is expected to skyrocket as this newly accessible way of viewing them takes place.

The posters would also carry a physical shirt that people could tear down and have for free (underneath would be a photograph of that shirt so the posters will still work) to create hype and buzz.

3. The shirts would be displayed on a website that tells people about the issues that they are buying into. It might have a newspaper feel to it, and you'd be able to learn facts and be educated about the issue as well as buy the shirts. It would also link to the social media channels and support that aspect of the campaign.

4. The shirts themselves would be in three styles that suit my target audience, because they fit with current fashion trends of the time. They are gender neutral so that both women and men can wear them. The will be a t-shirt with a logo and text on the front and a big print on the back, a tunic/long t-shirt with a pattern all over it, and a long-sleeved t-shirt with a pattern down the sleeves and a small front logo.

The clothing tags that come on the clothing when you buy them would also be a design touchpoint, informing the buyer about what the topic/issue of the pattern was that they were buying, so that the wearers of the shirts are clued up about the issues that they represent.

The idea is that people would buy and wear the shirts and be knowledgeable about the topics on them, and their friends and colleagues (people close to them who speak to them comfortably) would ask about the unusual designs on their shirts, thereby being informed by their peers about the issues, which makes them much more likely to take on board the information than if it came from a stranger or an advertising campaign. This means that over time, groups of like-minded, world news interested young people will begin to be clued up by their peers about fake news and how to be wary of it.

Buying the clothing returns money to the screen-printers and t-shirt makers, allowing the process to be sustainable.

5. A social media campaign driven through Instagram from the official Newsbusters Instagram page would post regularly about current events, debunking media myths and doing shirt giveaways and promotion, as well as reposting Instagram posts from the general public of Fake News t-shirt wearers.  Using a social media aspect to the campaign means that it can be accessed and broadcast widely, increasing chance of exposure for potential customers and viewers. 

There would be a hashtag component to it was well, something like '#fakedit' that would help to spread the word about the shirts, promote conversation, and could also be used by people to call out articles of news that they had discovered were fake. That way, anyone reading through the article's comment section may find the hashtag and be more wary, fact checking it themselves.

Both the hashtag and the social media channels would link back to the website, where people can find out more information about each of the issues and buy shirts for themselves.

6. People are impacted by the campaign through the various channels and touchpoints, becoming more aware of fake news in their surroundings, being more skeptical of what they do hear or read, and more capable of researching articles to determine whether or not they are fake news, and call them out.

These people become wiser decision-makers, and, in the long run, cause the consumption of fake news to decline as it gets shut down and exposed faster, and less people believe it's myths. This would lead to more public peace and media transparency, ideally creating a more peaceful planet.