Graffiti Sucks Like Deep Throat

Barcelona is such a creative city; many of the streets are adorned with graffiti, as are many streets across the globe. What struck me about Barcelona is the way in which graffiti is slowly moving towards being an accepted art form in society. Many stores have picked up on this and are using graffiti to advertise their brand. Whilst there were some horrendous pieces, the majority of the street art in Barcelona is well or interestingly executed. Some of the pieces below aren't the best but I live for that contrast of modern graffiti against the traditional, detailed elements of a building.

Drowning in commercialism

I recently returned from a trip to Barcelona with my family and I gathered so much inspiration for my uni work, it really motivated me for my, fast-approaching, second year at Nottingham Trent University. Walking through the beautiful streets of Barcelona made me feel so sad; I constantly look for interesting and beautiful visuals and it reminded how tasteless advertising is in the UK. How much more beautiful would the world be if it weren’t plastered with tacky advertising campaigns and plastic KFC. In cities like Barcelona you really notice things like fast food restaurants; with their plastic signs detracting from the beauty of Barcelona’s incredible architecture. 

International, commercial companies are slowly diminishing diversity among the world’s capital cities, if not entire countries. I’m finding it difficult to articulate but I feel like every country is unique and full of history and plastering these incredible places with modern, commercialism is almost disrespectful. As a promotion student, I appreciate brands have to constantly reach out to consumers, but there are more aesthetically pleasing and considerate ways to do this. For example, using unique stone signs on the sides of historical buildings instead of slapping on a standard logo in primary colours. These tasteless advertising methods reek of desperation (a nice Clueless quote for you right there); the companies don’t care that their signs are ugly because at least someone is looking at them. By designing retail spaces with a country’s history and values in mind, the in-store experience will be improved for the consumer and will be beneficial in regards to tourism.