Grafiska designers roll i överkonsumtion – En fallstudie på hur Adbusters försöker att minska överkonsumtionen genom reklam, och hur grafiska designers kan ta lärdom av deras kritik

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study is to examine how areas such as advertising, graphic design and overconsumption are related to each other. The advertising we see today mostly expresses and glamorizes a lifestyle based on over-consuming. Consumption critical advertising about the consequences of this lifestyle is not really exposed in today's media. The consumption critical magazine Adbusters was chosen for that reason. The method used is semiotic photo analysis of two consumption critical ads from Adbusters. This method was chosen to bring insight to how Adbusters communicates and what the meaning is behind their messages.The critique that Adbusters expresses is analyzed and discussed so that other graphic designers can learn from that to make more responsible choices when designing ads.No concrete suggestion on how graphic designers can take more responsibility was concluded through this study. However, different ideas are suggested for further research.The study resulted in that the graphic designer has an important role in the process of growing the country’s economy when marketing products. By doing that, the standard of living is increased for example. Though, the line between increasing living standards, and the exaggeration of the over-consuming lifestyle in advertising, is quite thin and should be carefully taken in to consideration when working with and designing ads.