Labor Unions

This project studies the importance of labor unions in the political landscape of the Silicon Valley I examined major technology companies and how unions for all sectors of their employment industry affects those who need it most; those that work in the service industry. Shuttle drivers, servers, cafeteria workers, and security guards alike all make very meager wages compared to the engineers and other pivotal roles within these large tech companies despite working for the same employer. Do those who need the wealthy and priveleged not need human rights too? A living wage? This project highlights the vast wage disparitiewithin the Silicon Valley and highlights the tangible benefits of a labor union, and targets those who work in tech (the high earning players) to pay attention and advocate for those who don’t.

Process

This project was very research intensive. Studying movements such as the United Farm Workers Union and Women’s Rights Unions I was inspired by the hand lettering and importance of typography in the aesthetics of resistence. I also referenced old Soviet Union posters to study the vernacular of political
propoganda for my project.

I explored a wide variation of type face choices and wanted to find a typeface that would have a lot of impact and also be legible when overlaid on top of one another. The relationship between the two typefaces I would use would tell a narrative resembling the economic and class tensions in the Silicon Valley. I ended up choosing Cooper black as it’s a classic and iconic face.

I researched influential female designers who were known for their design work through the use of text and referenced Corita Kent, and Barbera Krueger.