PORNO STORE delves into the cyber-reality of sex work in times of Covid-19, SESTA, and FOSTA while opening healthy discussions on how to protect those who bravely sell the most consumed product of modern society: sex.
Project Interactive Virtual Experience concept and development — Role Creative Director, UX Copywriter — Date 2020
In 2020, my focus shifted to online platforms safeguarding sex workers' autonomy amid the OnlyFans frenzy.
Uncovering a Baylor study revealing a 17% reduction in female homicides linked to Craigslist's erotic services’ pages, I discovered it was outlawed by SESTA and FOSTA in 2018, pushing workers from behind the screens back to the streets.
With four sex workers from Amsterdam, a kink-informed therapist, and an incredible team, we created PORNO STORE.
Its mission: shed light on the vital role platforms like Craigslist played in securing the safety of sex workers globally.
We achieved this through a 360° campaign composed of a virtual interactive experience, a zine, an interactive t-shirt, and an event at Elandsgracht which featured a panel discussion addressing the closure of Amsterdam’s iconic Red Light District and the relocation of its workers to an unsafe erotic centre on the outskirts of town.
While creating a safe environment for both the user and the performer, the Interactive Virtual Experience creates an opportunity for the public to interact playfully and anonymously with one of the biggest taboos society has ever faced, in our opinion: the acknowledgment of our sense of desire.
Using the World Wide Web as a platform for this interaction to take place, we also create awareness of the fact that many sex workers nowadays don’t have tools for client screening, independent booking, and overall autonomy in every decision that it’s needed on this kind of labor — thanks to policies like FOSTA-SESTA, which were created to stop sex trafficking while putting sex workers in imminent danger.
At the same time, we celebrate platforms like OnlyFans and Ulala, which allow SWs to own their labor and make every decision related to it: from pricing to how they portray themselves and to how far they are willing to go with it.
CREATIVE CONCEPT, UX COPYWRITER: FABRIZZIA DE TONI PRODUCER: GEORGE ANCOCK WEB DESIGNER: JACK ROLAND WEB DEVELOPER: SIEMEN GIJBELS SOUND DESIGN: WAVE STUDIOS POST-PRODUCTION: PANTERA PROD. PERFORMER: DIORA | MUA: SAMUEL DOES
Interactive t-shirt (Handprinted in Amsterdam)
Handprinted zine with collections of essays
Digital artwork by Sondi