thesis
Completed at Savannah College of Art and Design in fulfillment of the requirements for receiving a Master of Fine Arts in Advertising, 2022.
For my MFA thesis, I spent 6 months studying internet sex work and how advertising and branding can help financially empower performers online.
My solution imagines a subscription-only porn site designed around what sex workers need to thrive today.
The issues on the table.
There are 3 key categories of importance for understanding sex work online and how it operates socially, financially, and politically.
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Online is indisputably the safest place for sex workers to make money. But laws such as FOSTA (Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act) use the terms “prostitution” and “trafficking” interchangeably, fundamentally misunderstanding each issue as the same, when it is crucial to treat them as separate with different needs. This law, along with its sister act SESTA, complicates what is technically legal to host online.
To remedy this, Quasi puts performer verification as the top priority. Unlike other sites that host adult videos, such as OnlyFans, Quasi identifies as a porn site, giving them the ability to prioritize the needs of creators and adjust with changing laws and regulations.
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Following a New York Times exposé on the rampant problem of child sex abuse imagery on PornHub, banks and credit card companies added restrictions on where patrons could spend their money. Sites hosting explicit content now have to go through more verification for performers. In concept, this is a great development, but in reality these new rules are complicated, muddled, and difficult to navigate.
Beyond the commitment to creator verification described in the previous section, Quasi performers have the option to accept payment in the form of cryptocurrency.
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Cultural discourse has put sex workers at a disadvantage since the beginning. Some of the negative perceptions of sex work comes from the way it is popularly shown. In American media, we see sex workers shown as women dressed scantily on a street corner, or tragic victims of a broken system. But in reality, many people who earn money through sex work are students trying to pay tuition, teachers who do not make a living wage, mothers who need to support a family, and the list goes on and on.
While there are many avenues we need to take to alleviate judgment, one tangible way is to repackage what porn looks like. By doing this, the perceived value of the work and the content go up. Often, very little effort goes in to the branding of explicit content, leading to the content to that can appear low-budget and unverified.
In 2020, over 300 performers earned over $1,000,000 on OnlyFans. This industry is profitable. The people creating the content deserve a more secure, approachable space for them and consumers to feel safe & valued.
meet quasi
meet quasi
I produced this promotional video for cross-platform marketing that describes the importance of the project and how Quasi works.
brand identity
Logo is based on the letter Q and embraces sensual curves.
Logo & color palette inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe’s flowers.
Creative Director: Madeline Bragg
Photographer: Patrick Cox (BFA Photography, SCAD 2022)
Models: Brianna Roberts, Ray Lin, Chloe Hill, & Quentin Murrell
the team
Sex-positive icons Jemima Kirke & Zoë Kravitz as brand representatives.
photographs from Rolling Stone Magazine & Ryan James Caruthers
Using Goop’s already established sexual wellness mission to create exposure for Quasi.
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