Sex Sells: Senior Exhibition Project
Brand Identity, Editorial Design, Exhibition Design
Driven by my passion for women's issues, my senior thesis project explores a subject I find both personally and culturally relevant. Titled Sex Sells, my thesis examines how hyper-sexualization in advertisements negatively affects young men and women, delving into the psychological and societal consequences of objectifying women, such as mental health issues, interpersonal problems, and the normalization of rape culture. At its core, this project asks: What happens when advertisements teach us to view women as products?
My exhibition is a response to that question. It takes the form of a satirical magazine that uses the same techniques as the hyper-sexualized ads it critiques. Using seductive visuals – nude female forms, exaggerated poses, suggestive wording – the magazine grabs the reader's attention just like these ads do. But as readers flip through, they’re confronted with fake advertisements that push the absurdity further: selling things like health insurance or mobile services with overt sexual innuendo. By adopting the visual language of objectification and exaggerating it, the magazine reveals just how deeply embedded – and ridiculous – these tropes have become. The reader is drawn in by the familiar, only to be met with discomfort.
The magazine is displayed on a rack in the center of a staged reading room, complete with seating, a rug, a small table, and soft lighting. It’s styled like a place you might sit down and browse a magazine in real life. The setting is important as it’s meant to mimic how people tend to consume magazines. Encouraging visitors to slow down, flip through the magazine in comfort, and experience the work as they would a real consumer product. The comfortable setting contrasts with the provocative content, prompting readers to reflect on something that usually feels routine.
Design has the power to normalize or disrupt. With this project, I wanted to show how design can be used not just to reflect culture, but to interrogate it. Sex Sells uses humor, discomfort, and irony to pull the viewer out of passive consumption and into active awareness. Because when we start to notice what we’ve been taught to ignore, that’s when we can begin to change it.
