If you train your staff, there's a risk they'll leave; if you don't, there's a risk they'll stay.
...
Why... be connected? I've often talked about my love of trade shows and the value of business relationships, which are...
May is National Bike Month. Here are five bike-friendly products and apparel to purvey for the next two weeks....
The Great Gatsby finally opened over the weekend. Does the unbridled glamour of 1920s-inspired fashion translate to the promotional products...
A promotional products distributor recently wrote me and asked how to handle clients that have figured out the industry's pricing...
Entertainment and promotional marketing: A pairing that normally reminds us of being forced to eat Hulk-colored Taco Bell at gunpoint...
When we communicate with others—through a presentation, through graphics or through text in an article—the use of color can truly...
Getting out of the commodity game requires hard work, thoughtful work and requires learning new skills and work habits. You...
Or "Detective Fiction, Sales and the Art of Listening."...
Performance clothing has changed over the past 10 years: silkier, stretchier, more mesh, even less stinky in some cases. So...
Empowering is the act of giving away your power to those around you so you can elevate the group as...
Steven Covey reminds us that when setting goals ... "Start with the end in mind." That is to visualize the...
The Super Bowl has also become the Ad Bowl, where brands duke it out to see who has the funniest,...
It takes a single negative image to undo even the most successful campaigns in the eyes of your customers—and many...
There aren't many distributors who would describe themselves as manufacturers. But under CPSIA, the majority of promotional products distributors—at least...
What would happen if you woke up in the morning and your first thought was, "I am never going to...
It's hard to believe, but there are fewer than 100 days left to achieve 2011 goals! Are you on track...
A few weeks ago, I had dinner with Executive Apparel's president and its director of product development in Orlando, Florida....
|
A post on Reddit by user mod83 this morning introduced me to Michael Wolf, a German-born, Hong Kong-based photographer. After a career in photojournalism, Wolf made the switch to fine arts in 2003, producing many works depicting life in urban China.
In 2004, Wolf created an art installation in called "The Real Toy Story." For the project, Wolf took portrait and action shots of Chinese factory workers building children's toys, then sought out those same items in stores across California. Combining the bright plastic toys with the gray factory shots, Wolf hoped to highlight the disconnect between the products we buy and the culture that produces them.
What I found most interesting are all the chairs they use. When you go through the gallery, pay attention to what all the employees are sitting on during their portrait shots. The cobbled-together seats are apparently so common in China that Wolf's first art project, "Bastard Chairs," focused exclusive on them.
These photos are nearly 10 years old now, and a lot has happened in China, as well as in the U.S., that could impact the conditions you see in these photos. An increased focus on China as it becomes a more powerful world player, higher material costs that make mass production less profitable, and stronger regulations due to laws like CPSIA are all changing the picture of Chinese factory life. These factories don't look nearly as bad as some I've seen, and maybe life for these workers is even better now than it was in 2004, but according to one report on Mattel released last week, that isn't likely.
The factories depicted may not produce items relevant to our industry, but Chinese shops like this are making promotional products every day. It's not difficult to imagine the workers assembling tumblers or T-shirts instead of doll parts.
For more information, as well as the full "The Real Toy Story" gallery and other projects about life in China, visit photomichaelwolf.com.
 |
|
COMMENTS
Click here to leave a comment...