Category: capstone2020

 
I’m a member of what I like to describe as the ‘missing generation’—born in the year 1997, too young to relish in the golden age of the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls, yet old enough to still quote Vines even after its closure. Some say that I belong amongst the Millennial population, while others will argue that I’m a part of Generation Z, but this strange intersection or limbo is what makes my understanding of both communities so unique. I’ve lived through flip-phones, multiple recessions, saw the rise of Tik Tok, and am currently spending my 20’s in a global pandemic. The digital age is volatile in nature, but it is an outlet for members of this evolving community to express their ideas, moments of clarity, or in this case, obscurity.
‘Cough Syrup’ is a collaborative digital archive presented in the form of an easily digested zine. ‘Cough Syrup’ like its name suggests, soothes and alleviates—it does not heal, nor is it a solution to the ongoing pandemic—rather it serves as a method of coping and documents a time period in which members of the Millennial and GenZ communities feel tremendous amounts of discomfort. In light of the multiple nation-wide quarantines, members of these various communities have begun journey’s of of self discovery, whether that’s picking up a book or magazine and reading it, cooking new recipes, or creating art, there is no “one-way” or “right-way” to quarantine.
The goal of this digital publication is to be humorous, philosophical, and profound, utilizing first-person interviews, current events, and pop culture as a method of chronicling this particular moment in history. Within ‘Cough Syrup’, the reader will find a plethora of relevant content from trending tik tok hashtags, the rise of Zoom, and data visualizations through screenshots and photographs. It attempts to deepen how 21st century communities react to concepts of productivity, health and wellness, and the stark differences or similarities of our daily lifestyles through the lens of the ‘missing generation’.

 
This project documents the relationship between consumers and their journey to purchase counterfeit goods. Counterfeit products have lost their sanctioned authenticity which makes a counterfeit worth less in the marketplace than an authentic product, and counterfeits continue to lose value as they lose more of the quality characteristics of authentic products. I illustrated some of these distinctions for counterfeit luxury products. Observing and documenting economic and social models of the counterfeit market and related business case studies, I built a website that is a visually lively and informational platform on which users can learn by participating in an interactive case study experience. The project is intended to be used in a business course by faculty who wish to explain the counterfeit market’s experience for consumers and its impact on the global economy.
Historical and cultural roots have influenced the creation of the counterfeit market that has in turn shaped the global economy. It has become a global, nearly trillion-dollar market. Based on the scholarship of Jie Chen and Pur Purwanto, as well as comparisons between intellectual property rights policies in place for international brands, this project elaborates on luxury brands’ positions in the counterfeit market and showcases the thought process behind a consumer’s decision to purchase a counterfeit good.
The project is in the form of a website that is an online business case. Navigation is based on narrative and thought-provoking questions for the user. In a section about the design of counterfeit leather goods, side-by-side images train the user’s ability to recognize and distinguish the differences between counterfeit and authentic luxury leather goods. Users are shown how to identify distinct features such as link spacing, leather quality, designs, and trims to determine the authenticity of leather products. Another section on the distribution network informs users about e-commerce platforms’ distribution cycle for counterfeit products. The market-specific strategies of retail and wholesale vendors are relevant to the prosperous selling of luxury leather counterfeits. A sequence of charts, graphs, and displays are used to visually demonstrate relationships between consumers and distribution. The online case teaches users about the counterfeit market, and also offers a prompted comment page for users to reflect and express their perspective on the market and their experience with it.