biography

Hello! I am Rayven Lousi and I will soon graduate with a Bachelor of Design, Majoring in Communication Design. I have always been on the arts side of things and found this to be an area I was confident in. My journey within the creative community commenced during the last three years of high school, and I have since continued to walk along this path.

I never thought my artistic side would lead to me studying a three year bachelor of design. I was never overly enthusiastic in the design side of things and felt art was more of a hobby. However, comparing my creative studies to other more literate subjects I was currently taking, I came to understand where my passion lies. During my time at Waikato, I learned more than what I was expecting. From hands-on projects to digital graphics the knowledge gained helped me grow as a person and as a designer. As my degree comes to an end, I can say Waikato has greatly benefited me as a student and I will carry my learnings into the next chapter of my life.

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 me 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 overcome a sense of realisation of the damaging impacts that fast fashion has on our society. Each poster is meant to serve as a purpose to encourage viewers to start living more sustainably, to make smarter choices and to support our campaign ‘Clothes It Down’.

Kaleesha, our Media Designer, 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.

As for myself I was tasked with creating scalable graphics suitable to fit billboards. I also worked alongside Monique in creating our campaigns magazine. The billboards show our illustrations taken from the poster series. Due to the environment in which billboards are often placed, these graphics are made to be readable within a short period of time. 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.

Clothes it down