Students
As a compassionate designer, you can make a real difference for millions of animals, and we invite you to participate in this important design competition with a conscience.
Design a creative, compelling poster or animation that delivers the compassionate message that the wearing of fur is cruel and unnecessary. We want the modern world to celebrate all animals and not victimize them by killing them to wear their skins - and we want you to help us make that happen.
Your work will be evaluated by design and marketing experts, and potentially used in national and international campaigns to end the cruel fur trade. There are cash prizes and all winners and commended students will receive certificates for their portfolios. Winning work will be promoted on a range of national and international sites, in exhibitions and online galleries.
The Competition Brief
For the 2010 competition we would like you to focus your work on the use of rabbits in the fur trade:
Each and every year tens of millions of rabbits are raised in cramped conditions and then brutally killed so their fur can be used to trim coats, jackets, boots, scarves and gloves. Their fur is also used to produce toys, stuffed animals, ornaments, trinkets, pet toys, blankets and other fashion and household textiles.
- Rabbit fur is cheaper to produce than many other animal furs
- It can take 30-40 rabbits to make just one fur coat
- Rabbits raised for their fur are killed at several months old, when they have developed a thicker skin and coat
- The rabbits are kept in small, barren wire cages - their lives are bleak, cramped and short
- Confined in these tiny cages, they spend their entire lives standing on thin wire which can cause pain, injury and suffering
- Rabbits are naturally very clean animals and being surrounded by their own waste can be cause health problems
- Severely restricted in small cages, the rabbits are unable to act out their most basic instinctive behaviour, such as digging or running or jumping
- Slaughter methods include neck-breaking, throat slitting or smashing the rabbit's skull. They are then strung up and have their heads cut off and fur removed
There is a common misconception that rabbit fur is a 'by-product' of the meat industry. It is not, the same ethical and moral considerations that surround other types of animal fur also apply to rabbit fur.
For the 2010 competition your work should convey the message that fur, and specifically the raising and killing of rabbits for their fur, is cruel and unnecessary.
You must only use imagery that you have created yourself, we cannot accept the use of images from third parties, including images purchased from photo agencies.
The Goal
Make fur unfashionable. Convince consumers that killing animals for their fur is a fashion faux pas.
Target Audience
Image conscious women aged 18-30 who have a relatively high disposable income which they like to spend on clothes and accessories--often shopping at high-end fashion stores, department stores and designer shops. They are sociable and ambitious and take pride in looking good. They are fashion conscious, they read glossy magazines and fashion websites and they always strive to stay in touch with the latest trends.
Many consumers naively believe that all the fur sold in shops is fake.
Some consumers don't even know they're buying real fur as it's now sheared and dyed and sometimes woven or knitted to look like material and is promoted as a fabric rather than the skins and fur of animals.
Some consumers simply do not care about the suffering of animals in the production of a fur garment or trim. They're just interested in what the fashion industry tells them is "fashionable".
Facts About Fur
- Factory farmed fur is cruelty on a mass scale for a frivolous product.
- Around the world, more than one fur-bearing animal dies every second.
- Over 75 million factory farmed animals including raccoon dog, fox, mink, fitch and chinchilla die every year for their fur, merely to satisfy the whims of fashion.
- Fur factories subject animals to a life time of suffering and death. Animals spend their entire lives in small, filthy cages, madly pacing back and forth out of stress and boredom. Cannibalism is often the grim reality of this psychological distress.
- There is no humane slaughter legislation to protect these animals. They are killed by cruel methods that preserve the pelt, such as gassing, neck breaking, clubbing and anal electrocution.
- The trapping of millions of wild animal around the world entails immense suffering and death. They are caught in the wild with snares, leg hold and conibear traps and endure excruciating pain. Death can take days. In a desperate attempt to escape, many try to chew their limbs off. When the trapper returns, the animal will be shot or clubbed to death if they are still alive. Others die of infection or become prey to other animals. Snares, leghold and conibear traps are indiscriminate and often non-target animals are caught and deemed as "trash", even though they may be members of endangered species.
- Fur is not a by-product of the meat industry (as with leather) -- it is factory farmed and/or trapped purely for fashion. Often a large number of animals (e.g. 60 - 80 mink) are killed to make one garment.
- Fur trim is not the 'leftovers' from making full length fur coats: more animals are killed to make fur trim than for full-length fur coats. This is because there is a larger market for fur collars than fur coats.
- China's fur farms now produce 80% of the world's fur pelts. As there are no animal welfare laws in China, foreign and national investigators have documented unimaginable acts of cruelty to animals.
- Furthermore, contrary to the deceitful claims of the fur industry, fur is not an eco-friendly or a "green" product. The fur industry relies on the heavy use of toxic caustic acids to treat pelts which would otherwise rot as fur garments and the concentrated agricultural waste from fur factories can damage the environment.
Number of animals used in one fur coat
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Puma 6-8
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Foal 6-8
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Seal 6-10
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Lynx 8-12
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Badger 10-12
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Otter 10-16
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Fox 10-20
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Ocelot 12-18
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Dog 15-20
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Bobcat 16-22
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Domestic cat 20-30
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Coypu (Nutria) 26-34
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Raccoon 30-40
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Mink 30-70
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Rabbit 30-40
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Polecat 45-55
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Marten 50-60
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Sable 60-70
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Skunk 60-70
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Chinchilla 30-200
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Squirrel 200-400
Source: Rauchwarenhandbuch, Germany see: http://www.worldanimal.net/fur-stats.html
For more information about the fur trade:
Facts and figures about the fur trade: http://infurmation.com/facts.php
For consumer information: http://infurmation.com/consumer.php
For information about fur bearing animals: http://infurmation.com/animals.php
2010 sponsors
Previous Competitions
Design Against Fur 2003
Design Against Fur 2004
Design Against Fur 2005
Design Against Fur 2006
Design Against Fur 2007
Design Against Fur 2008 Design Against Fur 2009
