Stat List

1. Cost of living comparison of necessities— food, gas, rent etc.
2. Cost comparison of luxury goods.
3. Chart for labor info— minimum wage laws, number of workers etc
4. Salary comparison
5. Transportation price comparison— car prices, cost of owning
6. Economic comparison— GDP, unemployment rate, gap between rich and poor
7. Cost of living top 50 countries.

Obviously I need to develop a few more ideas, as I do more research into these and work on designing them they should reveal themselves.

type Selection

I slightly tweaked the type on this to taking into consideration intersecting shapes.


Let me know if these are acceptable "type specimen sheets"
Pill Gothic:


Johndvl:



Freeway:


Bell Gothic:




I found the Poladroid.....

1

Thesis

When compared to the local standards of living, the wage of a Chinese factory worker is adequate. But in our modern global market where high expectations of living dominate, it is considered a below-means wage.

Stats

Spent all day doing research, it's hard to find reliable info on labor/economy of China even over the interweb.
Here is some of what i have found/gathered so far:

Chinese production worker $.067/hr—2006
U.S. production worker $23.65/hr—2006
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics.....

In 2002 there were 109 million manufacturing workers in China and 15.5 million in the US.

Rural manufacturing plant worker earn $70/month ($75 before taxes) or around $837/yr
On a purchasing power parity basis that would be under $2/hr or $3,890/yr for a US worker

Urban manufacturing plant workers take home $112/month ($175 before tax) or $1,344/yr
U.S. parity is $522/month or $6,300/yr

Minimum wage in the Guangdong province $0.52
US $6.55

iPod 120 GB
US—$249.00
China—$321.15

13” Macbook
US— $999.00
China— $1,241.67

Ikea Malm Queen Bed frame
US—$199.00
China—$233.63

June 2008 Gasoline Prices
China—$2.60/Gallon
US—$4.00/Gallon
Source LA Times

Volvo S40 2.4i
US— $28,550
China— $45,000

Any advice/help on where to find some more info would be greatly appreciated.
Thesis statement coming soon.............

More Photos

China Prelim

I've been doing a lot of research but still cannot get a definitive idea about the point of the book.

I found this article about the changes in China which is really interesting and has lots of great information.

I also found this opening sequence from the documentary "Manufactured Landscapes". The size of this factory is really astonishing, I can't believe how big the building is.


Here are some of the photos I have been editing:







These are some of the Cultural Revolution period posters I bought.



I scanned in all of the currency i kept from the trip here are some images.