Product, Range and Distribution: Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Nineteen Eighty-Four was a novel written by George Orwell based on an imaginary undesirable community where the government surveillance is omnipresent! This novel is relevant to the campaign I am wanting to create against government surviellance. One part of the novel is based on a fictional character called Big Brother. He is claimed to be the leader of Oceania, a totalitarian state wherein the ruling Party wields total power "for its own sake" over the inhabitants.

In the society that Orwell describes, every citizen is under constant surveillance by the authorities, mainly by telescreens. The people are constantly reminded of this by the phrase "Big Brother is watching you", the maxim ubiquitous on display. The term "Big Brother" has entered the lexicon as a synonym for abuse of government power, particularly in respect to civil liberties, often specifically related to mass surveillance.

I will read the book to get a better understanding of the society created, but in the mean time I will watch the film.

A range of different 1984 covers seem to have a few mutual characteristics. The colour used is either a strong red or yellow. The red represents danger and implicitly suggests that the story line is somewhat horrific. The sketchy illustrations focusing on a eye gazing into the distance implies that they are looking over something, not just at you but at everyone. 

The yellow is bright and attention seeking. Interestingly the plain 1984 yellow cover is a very similar style to the graphics for Utopia. Utopia is a box set and part of the story line follows a group of people who are under surveillance. The story line fits in with 1984 and the design link in interesting.