biography

Hi there, I am Kaleesha Messent and I will soon graduate with a Bachelor of Design majoring in Media Design. My passion for film and design sparked when I took media studies at high school. I have enjoyed the last three years of studying, working alongside my classmates and seeing all the amazing work they produce.

Expressing my creativity is something that I have always done, in previous years it was with music. I never knew what I wanted to do after high school, however I was always certain that my career would have something to do with my more creative side. Music has been a huge part of my life especially when growing up. I was always fascinated by music videos and dreamed that some day I’d be making my own. The University of Waikato design degree has helped me to discover both my strengths and weaknesses when it comes to different areas of design and has helped me find my passion for filmmaking.

project description

For the capstone project two other classmates and I formed a group to design and produce a campaign which advocates against fast fashion. Fast fashion is the term used to describe clothes which are produced and distributed at high speeds and in large volumes, resulting in cheap and affordable items. The ideal ‘cheapness’ of fast fashion comes with a high price, with fast fashion being one of the leading contributors to pollution of the planet. The fast turnover of fashion trends means more clothes are produced and distributed and then wasted when trends change again. As a group we decided this is a problem we would like to tackle. We decided to design a campaign which not only informs people of the negative impacts fast fashion has on the environment and workers, but also educates them about ways in which they can conform to sustainable fashion.

Monique, one of our graphic designers, was tasked with creating a 3-part poster series, as well as teaming up with Rayven to create a fashion magazine. The poster series demonstrates the dark and dreadful reality of fast fashion that not many of us are aware of. The visuals of each poster is meant to make the viewer uncomfortable and be hit by the realisation that fast fashion is having such a damaging effect on our society. Each poster is meant to serve its purpose to encourage viewers to start living more sustainably, to make smarter choices and to support our ‘Clothes it Down’ campaign.

Rayven, our other graphic designer, was tasked with creating scalable graphics suitable to fit billboards. She also worked alongside Monique in creating our campaign’s magazine. The billboards emphasise the illustrations taken from the poster series. Due to the environment billboards are often placed in, these graphics are made to be readable within a short period of time. Creating content that is big and bold, capturing viewers attention at a first glance. As for the magazine this print deliverable specifically brings together all campaign content into one. With this we aim to inform readers on the intensive research we have carried out throughout the project.

As the Media Designer, I was tasked with creating the documentary for our campaign. The documentary includes Taniesha Parker, Zara Gilbert & Luca García Ferrari talking about their knowledge of fast fashion and their beliefs when it comes to avoiding the industry. Along with the informative interviews, they talk about ways in which they know people can avoid the fast fashion industry, including op shopping, making and/or revamping old clothing. The purpose of the documentary is to support the rest of our campaign and provide further understanding of the fast fashion industry.

Clothes it Down