THE UNCERTAIN REVOLUTION AGAINST OBESITY
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Editorial illustrations for the report The uncertain revolution against obesity (La incierta revolución contra la obesidad) by Pablo Linde for El País Semanal, regarding Ozempic, fatphobia and social implications of the new use of these drugs. Final project (thesis) for LABASAD's MA Editorial and Publicity Illustration.
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After dissecting the article itself and doing my own research on the topic my thesis was based on the premise that we can't lead a healthy life if we don't even have time to take a walk: taking medication and becoming thinner doesn't mean we're healthier or happier.
​I created a series of visual metaphors that depict uncomfortable and/or contradictory realities, with themes revolving around both physical and mental health, social inequality, and weight-loss drugs. ​​​
Is the pressure we put on measurements and weight proportional?
Do we, as a society, understand that health goes beyond the physical?
Is it worth forcing changes in your body if, in the process, it destroys your mental health?
As revolutionary and relatively positive as the introduction of drugs to combat obesity is, it's a band-aid on a deeper wound. Obesity is multifactorial; it doesn't depend solely on the individual's will, and health is not reducible to weight alone.
Social and political change is the way forward: we must find ways for everyone to have access to a sustainable and healthy lifestyle, a lifestyle that goes beyond weight and focuses on access to resources, support, and healthy environments to ensure that individuals are physically and mentally healthy.
I initially decided to paint all the illustrations in shades of green, alluding to the color of the t-shirts and banners citizen uprisings in defense of quality public healthcare in Spain use. However, later, during the development of the project, I decided to change this to shades of blue, alluding to the Ozempic brand, so that the "shadow" of this drug would always be present in the series of illustrations, even in those where it doesn't specifically appear.
I also considered the possibility of doing the entire report without using a human figure. I thought it would be interesting to present an article that focuses so much on people's bodies, completely illustrated without them.
​Finally, I settled on 50% objects and 50% human figures. Although the previous idea would have been fine as an experiment, I also wanted to express stories that were better told with the help of human bodies.
One of the initial sketches was this one. But I was looking for a more exaggerated metaphor for this same message: since illustration gives us that freedom, we must take advantage of it.
Mixing this initial story with the visual metaphor created just with objects I finally reached the desired result.
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