COMMUNAL COLA
Brand Criticism & Culture
This expansive body of work serves as a cultural commentary on the Western globalization tactics of Coca-Cola and its effects on Ugandan culture. These interventions were birthed in Kampala, Uganda during field research and iteratively evolved in Los Angeles, California as an investigation around the cultural definitions of the West’s desire for individualism and the East’s desire for collectivism.
Areas of Focus
Ethnography, Cultural Studies, Brand, Globalism, Cultural Hegemony, Cross-cultural Research, Human Centered Design, Social Impact
Methods
Field Studies
Contextual Inquiry
1:1 Interviews
Focus Groups
Quantitive Research
Qualitative Research
Rapid Prototyping
Participatory Action Research
Year
2016
Exhibitions
2017 West Coast Biennial
2016 March Studio
GLOBAL
RESEARCH
CONTEXT
Ethnography meets Design through observations and explorations in the impacts of globalization on local tradition and cultural heritage. Using co-design and participatory research to engage community members and retain resiliency in the midst of brand’s homogenizing their ways of life. High-level themes explored in the low-fidelity to low-fidelity propositions as applied in Eastern and Western contexts.
Brands as modern day colonizer of culture
Satire as a means of commentary of globalism
Repositioning brand’s intent of use via community culture
Agency back in the hands of community and consumers
KAMAPLA, UGANDA
Through design and ethnographic research, I discovered that many local aspects of Ugandan culture had been affected by the influx of globalization through American brands and culture.
What were once two native, commonly accessible beverages had nearly become extinct due the influx of globalization of Coca-Cola. I specifically looked at two regionally specific facets of Ugandan beverage culture:
Amuwala – local brew or beer
Omubisi – fermented banana juice
Calling on locally sourced juice and ways of consumption, Communal Coke Vessel serves as a rebuttal to Coca-Cola, an imported American brand. It is a satirical stab at the brand’s ethics and globalization tactics and their effects on local culture and traditions.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Exploring themes of individualism and collectivism through several rounds of material explorations. I interrogated Coca-Cola's bottle design of intended individualism through hacked collectivism by morphing and manipulating existing Coke bottles and the inherit functions of drinking from the bottles. I pushed what this type of collectivism and communality would look like by hacking the American, globalized brand Coca-Cola.
EXHIBITIONS
Diving deeper into the closeness of proximity and the intimacy that it evokes, I explored how manipulating the literal glass of the Coke bottles could create a heightened intimate experience.
The glass pieces were co-created with Ed Gibson of Ci Hot Glass Los Angeles. A piece of the Cola Intimacy series was exhibited in the West Coast Biennial Exhibition at Turtle Bay Museum.
Cola Intimacy
West Coast Biennial, 2017
Communal Cola
March Studio, 2016