Subverting the shopping cart, this urban installation is a play on consumer culture and its cyclical nature. Of course, it is also a lot of fun to play with, too.

Set in a public plaza of Ponta Delgada, Açores, Portugal, the piece aims to subconsciously attract people to playfully interact in the unlikely desert of a cobblestone square, all around a lone lamppost no less. Modular and assembled on-site, the installation could conceivably be deployed just about anywhere.

“By counteracting the freedom of movement that normally characterizes these carts (ironically moving in circles) we are reminded that consumerism does not take us anywhere… or [at best back to our] starting point.” says Nuno Pimenta.

Whether or not the message is clear to the passerby, the function, at least, is self-explanatory. People readily realize they can push the carts, ride in them and go around in a circle just like a miniature park carousel or its classic carnival-ride equivalent.

Fashion and advertising are so closely linked that it almost seems we could not have one without the other. These shots from the inaugural issue of Virgine Magazine marry consumerism with haute couture in a fantastically stylish and playful manner. Caution: one of the images below contains partial nudity.

Styled by Hissa Igarashi and photographed by Ryan Yoon, the series is called All You Can Get. It dresses gorgeous models not in high-fashion dresses, but in products and objects. From Coke cans to M&Ms to iPads, the unconventional “outfits” seem to be inspiring conversation about the ways in which we interact with the things we buy.

These consumer products are not simply being consumed as they usually are. They are acting as a covering for the very bodies that desire them and use them. It raises the classic question: do we consume the things we buy, or do they consume us?

Of course, the simplest interpretation is that the artists behind the shoot were merely creating a fascinating image. They achieved this by replacing high fashion with the kind of common, everyday items we would probably never associate with beautiful models.

However you choose to interpret the photos, they are undoubtedly visually arresting. They seem to blend the two main techniques of advertising – product-showcasing images and pictures of beautiful people – but recast in the guise of fashion photography.

Barcodes may be a potent symbol of consumerism, but they aren’t just found on product packaging anymore. Whether imbued with meaning or merely appreciated for their visual impact, barcodes are turning up everywhere, from tattoos to graffiti to home décor. These 15 forms of barcode art take these ubiquitous black and white lines and make them fun, provocative and beautiful.

Product Barcodes Made Fun

(images via: Design Barcode)

The team at Design Barcode asked themselves, “Why has the barcode never changed?” That led to a flurry of amazingly creative ways to reinvent the ubiquitous set of black lines, helping companies add a little more personality to their valuable product real estate. They’ve created barcodes for major Japanese brands such as Suntory, Calbee, Wacoal and more.

Barcode Chandelier

(image via: SuperMobilet)

The transparent acrylic used as a base for this barcode chandelier light fixture from Super Mobilet makes it seem like it’s hovering overhead, like the specter of modern consumerism. The design was so popular, it sold out almost immediately.

Stop the Traffik – Barcode Billboard

(images via: Adland)

Another clever play on the barcode and all that it stands for is this billboard, designed by Leagas Delaney London for Stop the Traffik, a coalition working to stop human trafficking. It depicts silhouettes of human figures amid the bars, symbolizing the commoditization of human beings.

Art Lebedev Barcode Posters

(images via: Art Lebedev)

How many different ways can you portray a barcode using totally unrelated images? Russian design firm Art Lebedev creates posters that create their barcode logo using images like icicles, melons, columns on a building and even human eyelashes.

Barcode Portraits by Scott Blake

(images via: BarcodeArt.com)

Artist Scott Blake has truly turned the barcode into an art form, using it to create portraits of iconic pop culture figures like OJ Simpson, Charles Manson, Oprah and Jesus. He also creates barcode stencils that he calls ‘word paintings’, and barcode graffiti, like an image that simply says “Scott Blake was here.”

Of his barcode portraits, Blake says, “I started making art with barcodes right before Y2K, inspired by the year 2000 computer bug, and threatening digital apocalypse. Barcode Jesus was born in Photoshop, by creating mosaics with simple shapes. I first tried circles and then squares. The tile patterns morphed into a cluster of lines, and before I knew it, I was staring at a bunch of barcodes. I assigned the numbers to describe each pixel’s grayscale value and grid coordinate.”

Barcode Building in St. Petersburg, Russia

(images via: Best Top Design)

Russian architecture firm Vitruvius & Sons designed this bright red barcode building called Shtrikh Kod, which means ‘barcode’ in Russian. Located in a bleak, gray residential area on the banks of the Neva River, the ‘bars’ on the building are actually the shopping center’s windows.

Barcode Pedicure

(image via: Justin Shattuck)

With all of the barcode-related images and products out there, it’s not too surprising that someone thought to apply the design to a pedicure. It may not be high-concept, but it’s certainly creative.

Illuminated Barcode Sofa by Demuzz Designs

(image via: 2Modern)

Barcodes have even made their way into furniture design, with this sofa by Jason John Muscat of Demuzz Designs. Each individual bar is made from foam-covered plywood, fixed onto an acrylic platform with LED lights incorporated into the base.

Barcode Graffiti

(images via: Jan Timm, DevlBaby, a_kep)

Barcodes are a common theme in graffiti, but none are quite so well known and iconic as a Banksy design that depicts a leopard escaping a barcode cage. Barcodes are often used as jail bars in art, usually symbolizing slavery to consumer culture.

Barcode Tattoos

(images via: Jet City Orange)

The barcode is also an increasingly common motif in tattoos. Some have meaning and some don’t – well done barcode tattoos may actually scan, while others don’t have any inherent meaning other than the barcode itself. For those seeking something less permanent, barcode artist Scott Blake creates custom temporary tattoos using Code 128-style encryption.

From Barcodes to Abstract Art

(images via: Barcode Plantage)

Scan or key any barcode into the Barcode Plantage website, and you’ll not only get the details of the country of origin, manufacturer, product number and sum – you’ll also get an abstract work of art and a melody based on the bars. Barcode Plantage calls each design “a unique tree in the garden of globalization.”

The Barcode Plantage website explains, “Once a bar code is keyed or scanned in, the program sends a request to the database, which returns a master file data. This master file data is then analysed to define positions, curves and colours of Bezier curves of the tree structure. The number of these curves will vary correspondence to the number of figures in the code. Simultaneously, the user will hear a melody, which is based on the figures of the bar code.”

Photoshopped Barcode Art

(images via: FreakingNews)

Photoshop contest website FreakingNews.com challenged its artists to create barcode-based art to celebrate the 57th anniversary of the first barcode patent. Contest entrants incorporated barcodes into photos in various ways, from the strings of a harp to the stripes in the American flag.

Barcode Basketball Court

(images via: meophamman)

Playground, or prison yard? This London basketball court has had previous graffiti covered over by a giant barcode design on all of the walls, giving it a sense of incarceration.

Barcode Watch

(images via: TokyoFlash)

For those tired of having the time spelled out for them the traditional way, a barcode watch from TokyoFlash actually displays the time and date in barcode fashion with LED lights.

“The first two columns show hours; in column 1 each light equals 5 hours, in column 2 each light equals 1 hour. The second two columns show minutes; in column 3 each light equals 10 minutes, in column 4 each light equals 1 minute.”

Barcode Wall Sticker

(image via: Nest Living)

Fans of stark, high-contrast graphic design appreciate the barcode for its looks alone. This wall decal by Ferm Living might not have any deep meaning, but it looks pretty striking on a white surface.

Building a brand was Job One back in advertising’s golden age – legions of men in grey flannel suits built careers upon that very rule. In today’s world of information overload and soul-killing McJobs, however, brand saturation is turning marketing mantras on their heads. From debranding to unbranding to back-door product placements, it’s hard to know who’s selling what – which is the whole point.

No Quarter Pounder

(images via: Neil Duckett and InventorSpot)

McDonald’s is one of the world’s most recognized brands, yet this enviable position isn’t completely to the liking of the powers at McD Japan. How else to explain the opening of two Quarter Pounder stores in Tokyo? Decked out in upscale black & red decor and without a clown in sight, customers wondering what the “big secret” was were offered a mere two menu choices: a Quarter Pounder or a Double Quarter Pounder, both with cheese. Even the packaging is as generic as possible.

(image via: Core77)

So, just who’s fooling who here? Who smiles inwardly, McDonald’s execs or Quarter Pounder customers? It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters.

No Brand, No Problem

(image via: PopSop)

Is anti-branding subversive? Yes and yes – product pushers are, in effect, trying to put one over on consumers who, by buying no-brand items, think they’re doing their part in a wider campaign that embraces an anti-corporate methodology. Everybody’s happy and in the end, more product gets sold. Customers may even find themselves attracted to a product that instead of trying to lure them into buying, does just the opposite – like the prototype anti-brand cigarette boxes above, designed by Pentagram as a response to possible plain black-and-white cigarette packs that may soon me mandated by the federal government.

(images via: We Made This and Alistair Hall)

Pentagram’s designs add Goth appeal while (mainly) staying within the proposed guidelines. The set above distills the text and graphic ad copy down to a bare minimum yet even these packs will likely do little to dissuade smokers from lighting up.

P.B.R.: Busch League No Longer

(images via: Mastergrape and Adlicious)

Pabst Blue Ribbon… the King Of Beers, it ain’t. With sales down 90 percent since 1975 it was a dying breed – rumors began to spread that Pabst was about to kick the beer bucket. Brand image? It barely had one as marketing budgets were scraping the bottom of the barrel. In short, Pabst was a sitting duck for unorganized hipster hijackers who saw the brand’s negatives as positives. The underdog low-brow brew took on a new life as “P.B.R.” and sales rose faster than foam on draft poured into a dirty mug. Pabst, the subversive beer with no brand… which is ironic in a way, as Pabst no longer brews its own beer. It’s all sourced from Miller.

No Logo Too Low

(images via: TAGG.org and McSpotlight)

Naomi Klein‘s 2000 best-seller No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies was arguably the first stab at distilling the essence of anti-branding and its roots in modern corporate/consumer culture. With sections titled No Space, No Choice, No Jobs and finally No Logo, the book explores themes ranging from the birth of the anti-globalization movement to the phenomenon of McJobs. Klein’s exploration of consumerism’s soft underbelly has been trumpeted by some and trashed by others, the latter most memorably by Warren Ellis who, as Doktor Sleepless, stated “Even No Logo had a fucking logo on it”.

No Hijack Too High

(images via: LangLang, Kinokuniya and AUCTION/Korea)

Following up on No Logo several years later in 2005 was Brand Hijack: Marketing Without Marketing by Alex Wipperfürth. Brand Hijack cleaves more closely to the traditional business guru tome while proposing a most un-traditional strategy for marketers: “Let go of the fallacy that your brand belongs to you. It belongs to the market.” At the same time, Wipperfürth addresses control issues that give corporate execs and product planners night chills by reminding us all that, as he puts it, “consumers fine-tune products, not create them.”

The Bucks Stops Here

(images via: JoshC and BeerBeer)

Looking for a cuppa java but put off by those cookie cutter coffee kiosks foisting faux ambiance at a premium price? You betcha! Turning up your nose at yet another Starbucks, you decide to try the neighborly named 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea. Sorry, you’ve been fooled again. Meet the new haus, same as the old haus… with one noteworthy exception: 15th Avenue stores will sell beer and wine along with selected Starbucks coffees and teas.

“No Brand, Good Product”

(images via: Ecolect and 7inch)

McDonald’s and Starbucks have dallied with unbranding but everyone gets the joke – and many are not amused. Perhaps the purest way to go no logo is to start off that way, and let the products speak for themselves without crafting a brand image. It works; Muji has established itself as a good quality, great value retailer without the use of overt branding. If you’re wondering what “Muji” means, it’s short for Mujirushi Ryohin which translates to “no brand, good product.”

(image via: Useful and Agreeable)

True, Muji’s products share a certain basic, simplistic style that extends from the smallest kitchen utensils to actual houses and cars, but everything is subsumed in a common, form-follows-function design ethos. Muji has expanded from its Japanese base by opening stores in Europe and the USA, proving an appealing concept knows no boundaries.

Blackspot, The Anti-Brand Brand

(image via: The Discerning Brute)

The Classic Blackspot Sneaker and v2.0: The Unswoosher shoes make a statement with sole. Conceived by anti-branding bible Adbusters, Blackspot is a brand that seeks to beat corporate bully-boy Nike at their own game; by playing fair. No outsourcing, no sweatshop labor, no environmentally unfriendly manufacturing is what Blackspot preaches and practices.

(images via: Bizzia and CultCase)

Sez Adbusters, “the Blackspot, from it’s red toe-tip and hand-drawn anti-logo to its renegade billboards and TV ads, is designed to do only one thing: kick megacorporate ass. We’re going to cut into Nike’s market share, unswoosh that tired old swoosh and give birth to a new kind of cool in the sneaker industry.”

Unbranding For Dummies

(image via: Keri Smith)

Well, that’s a little harsh – how about Unbranding @ Home, though the “For Dummies” was in reference to anyone being able to unbrand on their own no matter how brand-washed they might be. Keri Smith is a champion of DIY unbranding and she takes the concept to where we live. Why be blasted by Kelloggs hype every morning when one of Smith’s home-made cereal box skins can educate, illuminate and uplift your life just as your day is beginning? Even a pack of gum can serve an alternate purpose… as a subway map.

The Unbranded Home

(images via: Trendhunter and Apartment Therapy)

Modern society offers few refuges from the constant drone of branded advertising – even our homes aren’t safe… or are they? One way to rid personal living space of brand clutter is to use generic home products displayed in plain containers with de-branded labels, and at least one company, DeBranded Home Labels, offers an easy way to do just that. Sure it’s a pain to transfer liquid soap and so on from branded to non-branded bottles; the solution is to buy bulk generics and fill up the smaller containers as needed. Bonus: DeBranded Home Labels don’t even have “Debranded Home Labels” logos on their stickers.

Though recession economics have forced many to cut back on big buck brands in favor of generic, unbranded alternatives, the power of The Brand was arguably into a slump of its own. Is society wising up to Madison Avenue manipulation or are we just making better individual lifestyle choices? You decide.

History is filled with artists who dared to try to make positive changes to their world, even when it was dangerous or unpopular to do so.  Today, the social and political landscape is unstable and many artists are taking a stand.  Chris Jordan is making his voice heard in a unique and wholly impressive way.

(Depicts one hundred million toothpicks, equal to the number of trees cut in the U.S. yearly to make the paper for junk mail in epic format.)

Five years ago, Chris Jordan – a lawyer who grew up with artist parents – made the decision to give up law practice and immerse himself in an artistic career.  He had always had an interest in photography, but life led him down another path until he realized that he just couldn’t continue practicing law.  This turned out to be a momentous decision for him and for every person that would eventually be touched by his art.

Chris Jordan’s unique style blends biting social commentary with subtlety and a genuine passion and caring for the human race.  Whether he is documenting the aftermath of a tragic storm or illustrating how out of control our consumer culture is, his photography has the power to make us stop and really consider what we, as a species, are doing to ourselves.

The complicated part of Chris’ work is that he, as an environmentalist and as someone who truly does care about our future, is actually profiting from the waste and excess that he is trying to fight.  He sees the irony in the situation, but hopes that by bringing the public’s attention to the extent of our greed and consumerism, he can effect at least a small change in the way we live. Click images to enlarge: