Visuals
Project Statement
For this collaborative project, my partner and I chose to make a comment on the beauty standards enforced in the online realm. During the pandemic, the social media presence of almost everyone dramatically increased even more somehow than pre-pandemic. Both masks are identically constructed of paper mâché and painted with acrylic paint in a way that mocks a full face of makeup. We wanted to make the two masks exactly alike, because it is meant to show how people will manipulate themselves to look a certain desired way. When everyone on social media participates in this assimilation, the unique aspects of ourselves begin to dissipate. To present our concept, we created a fake Instagram account and took several photos of ourselves wearing the masks. To further enhance the inauthenticity of people altering their appearance, we photoshopped fake backgrounds onto the photos and wrote captions that convey that the owner of this account lives an amazing and care-free lifestyle with no flaws.
Process
View detailed project process at Mask Up: Process
Reflection
Overall, I was happy with the way this project turned out. At first glance, I think the concept might be a bit ambiguous which is why it is imperative that our masks are paired with our Instagram page for the commentary to become clear and compelling. At first, we were concerned about the texture the paper mâché created on the skin, but after reevaluating, we used it to the advantage of our concept. The unrealistic texture emphasizes the fakeness of people metaphorically putting on a mask- whether that’s makeup, plastic surgery, or even using digital filters- and hiding their originality. My partner and I worked really well together and had a lot of fun creating this impactful narrative and diving into how design can convey deeper meaning as well as inspire conversation.