Themes reflection – better lives

Now that I have begun my work in response to better lives it has reignited my passion for creating a better and brighter future for all, I guess that is why it is called better lives. I think that this project has been important for me to reflect on my own values when I shop, and I can now recognise why I buy certain products that suit my needs. However, it is not always been at the forefront of my mind when I have been looking for some sort of product or garment to purchase, how this experience would be for someone who is not like me. Someone who is has different mobility issues than me, someone who is a different gender to me, someone who can afford more or less than me. This has been really an important reflective project; it’s helped to open my eyes and recognise how life would be different for myself if I weren’t me. These lectures have also made me wonder how products could be better suited to me, to someone of my body type, my aesthetic, and my budget. How can the industry become more inclusive? I think that these lectures will give me more perspective in my future work as an illustrator. I have always found it important to represent different people in my work, but in the future, how could I improve that? How can I make my work become more inclusive to different people, how can I continue to create work that is respectful of other culture? Whilst this project has taught me a few new things, I do think that it has helped to just move forward with my critical thinking and simply improve on my already acquired social knowledge. I know that it’s my responsibility as a white person to allow a platform for other races to speak up, however how can I use my privilege to help give different people platforms and how I can be respectful whilst doing this. It is important that with my privilege I am not talking over the voices of minorities that I claim to give a platform to. I find that a lot of people in my position with use their so-called ‘acceptance’ to gain personal momentum rather than uplifting the voice that is less heard. Specifically I want to use this new knowledge within my better lives group work, this is a perfect opportunity to practice listening to other people from different minority groups to create a well-rounded and influential product that is accessible to different people not just people like myself or one single individual.