COMPARE TO...

Compare to… addresses issues of visual brand conformity and its exploitation and perpetuation of packaging design as a powerful visual signifier in popular culture. Partially inspired by Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup cans, Brillo boxes and Coca Cola paintings, these images present the viewer with generic, store-brand or off-brand products that visually play off the packaging design of major, well-established brands. As Warhol sought to show the cultural significance (fame) of long-established brands, Compare to… seeks to take the idea a step further with lesser brands riding the visual coat-tails of the major ones.

The repetitious imprinting of particular colors, shapes and packaging designs helps to establish certain visuals as signifiers for a product, or, more importantly, a brand. The visual cues that indicate Windex, for instance, have become the visual cues that indicate all glass cleaners. The combination of a lack of major brand presence and the commercial aesthetic of the presentation challenges the viewer to be more aware of their own reading of these types of signifiers.