Shoegaze is a subgenre of alternative rock that's known for its distorted guitar, heavy use of pedals, and dreamy vocals. The term “shoegaze” was actually a derogitory phrase used by labels because these bands would often focus on their pedals instead of the audience, hence the gazing at their shoes. One of the most popular bands to come out of the shoegaze scene in the early 90s was Slowdive. Although they were initially well-loved, they lost popularity a few years later for no specific reason. In fact, the Melody Maker publication once said, "I’d rather drown choking on a bath full of porridge than listen to [Slowdive] again." Slowdive ended up breaking up in the mid-90s but made a comeback in 2014, after gen-z brought shoegaze back, and now they’re more popular than ever.

As soon as I heard the quote “I’d rather drown choking on a bath full of porridge than listen to [Slowdive] again” I knew I wanted to design around that because it is such an absurd and hilarious take. I did extensive research about graphic design in the 90s and in the shoegze scene. I wanted to respond to the quote with biting sarcasm and dry humor, which reminded me of the misogynistic 1950’s advertisements. I took inspiration from all of these places and merged all the visual concepts.

As an informational deliverable I created a porridge box that tells you about the history of Slowdive and the shoegaze genre. It is a nod. to my dry humor, as if someone didn’t like Slowdive, I made a box of oats they can drown on, like the quote declared. The box has the potential to serve as a fully functioning product, as I also included ingredients and nutrition facts. My second deliverable was a t-shirt that also goes with the porridge theme. It displays a bowl of porridge and says “eat your porridge and listen to Slowdive” because if they were a Slowdive hater they would choke. I’d like to make clear everyone has their own music taste and that is okay, it is simply a response to the hateful quote. My final deliverable was a Slowdive poster. “Shoegazer” was often used as a derogatory term, so I wanted to design something cool that eliminates the stigma. I leaned into the “gaze” part of shoegaze and it included five pairs of eyes (to represent the five members of the band” with very expressive gazes. All three deliverables use the same elements and assets which were inspired by shoegaze album covers.