YEAR:
2025
CLIENT:
Personal
SERVICES:
Social Advocacy Design
EXPERIENCE:
Visual Storyteller & Designer // Production Designer // Brand Strategist
The Biased Supermarket: Visualising the Subtle Oppression In Everyday Life
background.
“Why are they not angry about this?” I have asked this question a few times to myself. In conversations, I am often perplexed by the lack of reaction towards systemic oppression. The subtly biased narrative in the media has swept into our everyday life and desensitised us subconsciously until we have become used to it, as if everything is normal and acceptable.
For the exhibition, I had taken an unconventional approach to package this project as a supermarket building, a satirical metaphorical lens through which we are often sold narratives that have been packaged for us in equally digestible and approachable yet distorted ways. The upside-down supermarket was filled with shredded newspaper, representing a constant noise in the media discourse that needs to be uncovered to expose the hidden bias, inviting an interaction between the audience and the project piece. There were three mini zines hidden beneath, each designed as a parody of food products. In recognition of this experimental approach and critical exploration design, the project was awarded the Vaughan Oliver Award 2025 for Experimentation.
core problem.
While bias in media and politics is often discussed abstractly, it remains difficult for many to recognize its everyday forms. I identified three interlinked challenges that guided the project:
Invisible Normalization
Euphemisms, clichés, and rhetorical tricks in headlines or speeches often slip under the radar, reinforcing harmful hierarchies while appearing “neutral.”Lack of Media Literacy Tools
Many people consume biased language daily but lack accessible, engaging frameworks to unpack how it works.Emotional Distance
Discussions of systemic bias are often framed as too academic, detached, or intimidating, making it difficult to connect emotionally and personally.
my process.
I began by researching how everyday packaging, advertising, and food labelling simplify complex realities into consumable messages. This became a metaphorical lens for how media packages truth in equally digestible but distorted ways.
I then translated each category of bias into a food-based editorial object:
Zine 1: Eggscape Accountability
Using egg imagery to critique euphemism and passive framing in political speech.Zine 2: Minced Humanity
Styled as a pack of minced meat, addressing classist and dehumanising language.Zine 3: Baked Guilt
Presented as bread packaging, unpacking how gendered clichés and “it’s just a joke” rhetoric dismiss lived experiences.
To heighten tactility and interactivity, I used shredded newspapers inside the box, symbolising the constant noise of media discourse. The physical act of digging through this filler to retrieve the books mimics uncovering hidden bias beneath the noise.
Engagement with the project piece is the key tool for this project. Other than encouraging visitors to an act of digging through the packaging, I also presented the zine content in a familiar and satirical format to lower the barrier of the heavy topic, allowing audiences to reflect without feeling lectured. The satirical humour was not intended to soften the critique, but instead to make it more palatable for those who might otherwise avoid the conversation.
key actions.
→ Supermarket-Style Packaging
Created a satirical outer box styled like a grocery product, flipping the comforting visual language of consumerism into a critique of bias-as-commodity.
→ Three Zines as Food Parodies
Each book mirrored a food product design (egg carton, minced meat tray, bread bag), embedding editorial critique within an instantly familiar format.
→ Shredded Newspaper Fill
Introduced as both a metaphor (media saturation and noise) and a physical barrier, prompting active engagement to uncover content.
→ Material Experimentation
Used low-cost yet tactile materials to heighten sensory experience and emphasise disposability versus permanence.
→ Satirical Copywriting & Visual Tone
Adopted the voice of supermarket advertising, playful, punchy, persuasive; while twisting it toward critical reflection on systemic oppression.
outcomes.
It is easy to sit in comfort and ignorance and go on with our everyday lives. Challenging norms and biased narratives push us towards discomfort, but it also expose us to the system that has been controlled by the media and people in power. Some user testing states the project as captivating and also a slap to their face as they realise they has been normalising some oppression unintentionally.
Playful but Provocative Engagement
The supermarket metaphor disarmed audiences by drawing them into a familiar visual world, then unsettled them with unexpected depth and critique.Tactile Media Literacy Tool
By turning the discovery process into a physical act, the project transformed abstract media theory into an accessible, participatory experience.Distinct Identity per Zine, Cohesive System Overall
Each zine stood on its own while contributing to the overarching supermarket brand. Together, they formed a critical “product line” on how language manipulates meaning.
