Hermas

Describe your idea and concept of your work in relation to the festival outlines:

The first thing that came into my mind when I think about debt is money, which I think that is what most people will think of as well. I wanted to do something that is related to me such as, problem or issues that are bordering me. I decided to do an issue that has been going on for decades in my home country, Malaysia which is about misappropriates tax revenue.

This issue has been going on for so long but not much people voiced it out, most people are too afraid to voice it out, even my self. However, I decided to do it because this problem needs to be stopped and maybe even solved. People in my country are paying taxes that increase annually. Nevertheless, we spend more and more on our living expenses and daily needs as well. Years by years my friends are getting lesser and I realized how many of my friend and their family has migrate to Australia and some other countries. Ten years before, getting into local universities is such a big deal. Today, everyone is going overseas for tertiary studies because the rank of local universities has significantly dropped and the government did not gives any attention to that but ignoring the problems. Police are being not trustworthy anymore. Housing and vehicles loans have increase but government is not giving any subsidy to people who are non-aboriginal but we are all paying the same amount of taxes. People in Malaysia these days hardly read the newspaper, because it is full of lies and political jokes. Politician are saying things that do not make sense and having luxury goods that cost more than what they could earn. Taxes we paid are not providing what the government promised.

What kind of communication approach do you use?

, I would like to raise awareness of the people in Malaysia that we not getting what we deserve from the government, we should demand for it. The relation of debt is that the government did not provide us the services they suppose to give yet they are still taxing us on our salary. In short is to question whether the government is paying the debt they owe to us. Hermes is an extremely famous brand for luxury goods politicians own in Malaysia. This is because one of the politicians wife actually has 11 different colour of Birkin bag by Hermes, photos of her using the bags are all over the internet and this has became one of the hot topic in Facebook as well. I have played around with the Hermes logo by changing the wording and adding in some illustration that reminds people Malaysia. A hibiscus is added in the logo because it’s the national flower of Malaysia and is very commonly seen in Malaysia. The name Hermes has changed to ‘Hermas’, which means Her Malaysia. People believe that one of the politician’s wife is actually controlling the entire country by controlling her husband. The tagline Paris has changed to ‘did you pay for this’. The tagline is to remind people that how their taxes has been used if they don’t voice out now, it might be worst in the future. The logo has applied into 3-communication medium. The first medium is a Poster. The poster is a timeline of how taxes has been used in 2011 and early 2012. I have picked 5 most discussed issues that happened in the country. A Facebook page link is added at the bottom to allow people to unite to voice out the problem. The second outcome is a double-sided price tag. The price tag size will be same as a regular price tag and will be put into luxury goods in luxury stores and departmental stores in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia without the people who worked in the store realized it. Thermography printing method will be used for the logo and the tagline on the price tag. Rough surface of Sugarcane papers will be used for printing and Soy ink will be used for the descriptions at the back. Soy based ink is generally slower to dry compare to the others, however when it’s printed on a rough surfaced paper it will helps on the speed of drying. Soy based ink is helpful for recycling because it’s easier to remove during the recycling process (de-inking process). The idea is to create a high-end brand’s price tag illusion, to let people know how exclusive and luxury are the products our taxes used on. The last outcome is stickers. Stickers are used to create awareness of the campaign. Sticker will be printed on transparent sticker paper. Brown coloured stickers will be stick visible places of the country, such as lampposts, bus stops, windows of shop lots, advertising boards, and etc. Next, the gold and silver stickers (round shaped) will be distribute to people at happening places, such as parties, clubs, events and etc. The gold and silver sticker will have gold and silver foil stamped at the outline to create a shinny effect, which will be more visible in crowned area. The idea is to allow people to stick on their clothing to create awareness. Facebook page link will be provided in the sticker allow people to find out more about the issue. Lamination will be used on the logo and the Facebook link to create a glossy effect. Vegetable-based inks will be used to print the stickers.

What are in your opinion concrete benefits to the society because of your communication?

By creating this campaign I believe the society will be more aware of what is happening in the country and they will also realize that is nothing wrong on demanding what they deserved because everyone is doing that. This campaign will unite all the citizen of Malaysia that want a change, that believe that if this kind of of culture goes on, we will not benefits anything but lost. The audience will start to think about the future, what will happen if this goes on. I believe this campaign will awaken all the voices that has been quiet all these while to demand what everyone deserve and stop the unfairness of aboriginal and non aboriginal because we are all paying the same amount of taxes. I strongly believe that we will only get the benefits and services we deserved if only we demand for it.

What did you personally learn from creating your submitted work?

I personally learned from creating this outcome is how to create something by modifying the original context. For example the logo I modified. It took me a lot of efforts to modify the logo because I need to find a way for people to recognize the logo of Hermes yet adding others meaning in to it. Besides, I used the techniques that are mentioned in the reading Bubble, Lines and Strings on creating the timeline. I learned how to use the appropriate way to present a timeline.

Why is your work, GOOD communication WORK?

I believed that my work is a good communication work because I have used the most appropriate way of communicating the problems to the audience. I did not force the people to agree with me but only people who agree with me will print out the poster the paste it in their commercial space to help us to create awareness. The stickers and price tag are sneaky messages that would increase the curiosity of people to visit our Facebook page and to understand the issue more.

Where and how do you intent do implement your work?

Poster will be placed on small restaurants, cafes and it will be available to download on the Facebook page allowing people who support the idea to download it and print it out to placed it in their commercial space. The reason of not printing extras for distributing to people is because people might not be interested and the posters will be another piece of garbage, which will create environmental issues.

The Sticker will be put into luxury goods in luxury stores and departmental stores in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia without the people who worked in the store realized it.

Stickers will be stick at visible places of the country. Next, the gold and silver stickers (round shaped) will be distribute to people at happening places.

Did your intervention had an effect on other Media. If yes, describe the effect? (Has other media reported on it- how? Were you able to change other media with your work- how?)

Media in Malaysia is being controlled by the government. Most media in Malaysia wouldn't dare to report anything about this issue.