New Website

Recently in class I have been working on creating a new website. As of yesterday it is now finished and sort of live. I have created two small flash galleries of examples of my work although I plan on doing some more. It is very simple, only one homepage - No frills! I used my existing brand logo I already had and tweaked the colours slightly to go with my blog. Have a look at it here.

Broadband for all, a good idea?

The government are pushing for every home in the country to have broadband by 2012. Over the last decade the internet has become an enormously important part of our day to day lives. For young people and families computers are seen as lifelines for social, fun and work and for most of us the internet is taken for granted. But there are still huge parts of the country for economical and geographical reasons that can’t access the internet.

Recently I saw on the children’s news programme, Newsround a group of children being interviewed who had who had recently had internet installed. They were asking them what they mostly used the internet for and how it had changed their lives, and what do you think they said?

YouTube, MSN, and listening to music. Surprise surprise.

I understand to young people online activities such as talking to your friends and watching videos of laughing babies are important for keeping up with the rest of your peers, but I also believe these things are superficial. They are not making us happier or smarter.

Fifty years ago we had hardly any technology, certainly none that kids could access 24/7 and according to the Global Happiness Index we were twice as “happy” then as we are now.

Computers are not making us happy.

I am not saying get rid of computers, I for one would be lost without my laptop, but we do need to think hard about the consequences of plonking a computer with internet in front of a child.

There are no real emotions online, no personal relationships or quality time spent with friends or family. These fundamental emotions and skills are potentially being lost. And the government wants to continue and promote this? Like everything in life there needs to be a balance, as a society we need to rebuild communities, not just online ones, real ones, we need to reinstate family values before they’re lost completely.

Maybe the government should think about ploughing some of the money into youth programmes, sport centres, community centres and after school clubs where youths could access the internet in a controlled social environment. I can’t help feeling there are so many bigger problems in this country and on a global scale, that their priorities are completely messed up?

I feel by the government branding broadband as a right it is adding to our consumerist and “me me me” view of society. Not to mention that the target of 2012 seems very unrealistic. Everyone wants fast broadband but only because we’ve been sold the idea. I can’t help but feeling that it’s just going to be another let down, Wouldn't cutting homelessness by 50% or increasing our financial aid to other countries be a target a little more worthwhile?

Clients from Hell

When I read through this it makes me happy knowing I'm safely tucked away in the security of education away from the crazy world of dealing with clients. Clients from Hell is "A collection of anonymously contributed client horror stories from designers."

The stories range from the ridiculous:

"Client about his brochure cover: The background is dusk, right? Can you change it to dawn? Dusk is like.. the time demons come out or something…"

To the really ridiculous:

"Could we try a darker black?

It makes for quite hilarious reading, I'm sure professional graphic designers everywhere can relate, but for now thankfully it's one thing I don't need to worry about.

Some good Websites

Here are some websites I find useful for keeping informed about the graphic design industry:

Design Week

Logo Design Love

Lovely Package

YCN Online

Printmag

Here are some other websites which are good for keeping up to date with going-ons out with the graphic design industry:

Aiga

Art Israel

Artistri

BCC iPlayer

Daze Digital

Assignment Three

In assignment three we were asked to think about the subjects that came to light in assignment two and choose one or two to investigate further.

Following on from looking at The Law of the Few from The Tipping Point where I was thinking about how design can help tip social behaviour, movement or trends I have decided to look at where people obtain information from and how opinions are formed and shaped by the people we know. Who are society’s main influences and how do people access information in the 21st century, looking at the internet and social networking in particular.

I looked at Journals and websites using the university library's Cross-Search programme to find articles connect with my area of research.

I have put together a Harvard style bibliography to show my findings:

Andersen R, Heath A. (2003). Social Identities and Political Cleavages: The Role of Political Context. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. 166 (3), 301-327.

This paper investigates the influences of social groups and networks on attitudes and on voting. It finds a number of national and regional diversities and divisions, for example, social class and race has a widely different effect across the societies, but within societies their effects on attitudes and on voting were very similar. It highlights the importance of analysing the region rather than country, as within a country there can be many regional differences.

Chan, JKC. (2005). Lifestyles, reliance on traditional news media and online news adoption. New Media & Society. 7 (3), 357-382.

This paper studies different categories of people’s social lives and looks at how they use online news services differently. People who enjoy new things are more likely to read international news where as the demographic that live narrow focused lives, seldom do. It looks at offering a personalized edition of online news to the individual.

Ikeda K, Richey S. (2005). Japanese Network Capital: The Impact of Social Networks on Japanese Political Participation. Political Behavior. 27 (3), 239-260.

This paper looks at how social capital has a large influence on political behaviour. It tests the effects of the involvement of different environments and network structures to see different impacts on political participation in Japan.

Passy F, Giugni M. (2001). Social Networks and Individual Perceptions: Explaining Differential Participation in Social Movements. Sociological Forum. 16 (1), 123-153.

This paper explains how people participate and contribute to social movements. It is based on observations and experiences tested on social networks and within a large organisation.

It looks at factors such as the intensity of involvement and individual perceptions of different social movements and the basic functions of networks, which are, giving people opportunities to connect with others, freedom of speech and protest and giving them an chance to become involved. Being strongly involved in a social network significantly affects the individual’s involvement and feeling of contribution.

Press Trust of India. (2009). Majority of Indians use Twitter for news. Available: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Majority-of-Indians-use-Twitter-for-news/articleshow/5202132.cms. Last accessed 15 Nov 2009.

This article looks at how Indian Twitter users are using Twitter for News updates. It highlights some of the major topics it’s covered which include the US elections, swine flu updates and the first time the site was used in space. During the Mumbai attacks Twitter was used an estimated 80 tweets every five seconds.

Swaine J, Irvine C . (2009). Swine flu: Twitter used to spread news around world. Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/swine-flu/5236447/Swine-flu-Twitter-used-to-spread-news-around-world.html. Last accessed 15 Nov 2009.

In this article talks about the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention using Twitter to get the latest official advice regarding Swine Flu to the public. It raises the point that Twitter could also be used to spread false information on the subject and could just spread fear among users.

Tewksbury, D. (2003). What do Americans really want to know? Tracking the behavior of news readers on the Internet. Journal of Communication. 53 (4), 694-710.

Widespread use of the internet for news reading has changed the way we process information, the internet gives the user a vast and varied amount of information which enables the reader to take control and read only their own interests, they are less likely to follow the cues of the news editors and producers. This study shows an assessment of how we understand news audiences. In general, online news audiences choose to read public affairs news less frequently than survey research suggests. This result has implications for the long-term health of democratic nations.

Light pollution

I remember reading an article in National Geographic a few months ago about light pollution, and was shocked to realise how damaging the light we’re pumping into our environment is to our ecosystem and atmosphere. When I go to the countryside I am always amazed at how many stars I can see, recently while in Pitlochry for the weekend I stood and stared up at the depth and the beauty of the sky and the infinite number of stars shining out of the darkness.

Being a city girl I am quick to forget how vast our sky is when it’s not obscured with artificial light.

Above are two pictures taken from Earth, they should look the same however the one at the top is from an urban area and the other is from a rural area, they show just how damaging light can be to our skies.

So what is light pollution? It’s the wasted light from artificial light sources like street lights, sport stadiums and shops and offices that leaks upwards and obscures the night sky. Light pollution, like other types of pollution is having a huge impact on our natural environment, and as our urban areas continue to develop and grow so does the problem of light pollution. It is causing great problems for both humans and animals, including anxiety, rise of blood pressure, headaches, fatigue, stress and even (according to Wikipedia) loss of sexual function! It’s a danger for sailors as the glare from coastlines can limit the visibility of navigation lights indicating rocks and deep water channels. For animals such as migratory bird’s problems such as flying off course or crashing into buildings, for sea turtles laying their eggs in areas which put them at risk of predators as well as misleading hatchlings into danger. Increased lighting also makes animals an easier target for predators.

Not to mention all that wasted energy. It is reported that two power stations worth of energy are being thrown into the sky every year in the UK alone, light pollution is a huge threat to sustainability yet I doubt many people realize it yet.

Dark is seen as bad, typically symbolizing evil, crime, mystery and depression. Light is seen as good, symbolizing everything that is well and right. People are afraid of darkness, the common perception is that you’re safer in the light, reducing lighting would increase crime?

However, in residential areas not having all night street lighting would surely deter youths from hanging around in the streets after dark which could lead to less graffiti. Perhaps neighbours would be more likely to see and report a suspicious light in a building to the police than if the street was always lit. Are security lights really protecting us from the risk of crime or just luring us into a false sense of security from advertisers and companies scaremongering us?

I wouldn’t like to walk alone along a dark street as I would feel vulnerable or drive along an unlit road as I would feel unsafe. I am not proposing we get rid of street lights; however research shows that in some situations street lighting can cause dangerous and hazardous driving conditions. Especially to the elderly as the glare from the light produces loss of contrast which obscures night vision.

Things are already being done to tackle the problem; the above photo shows the M5 motorway’s lighting being upgraded. You can clearly see the difference from the old lights as the glow is clearly seen on the clouds above compared to the right lane where the new lights have already been installed. The new lights are effective because they only direct light at the ground apposed to the old ones which let light escape sideways and upwards. By taking such a simple step in redesigning the shape of the “head” of the light dramatic results can be achieved. Other things such as fitting timers on lights and making sure large organisations understand the consequences of leaving lighting on unnecessarily and buildings like sport stadiums are only lit when in use.

In this garage sales increased by 40% when the old lights which gave off a glare were replaced with more efficient ones, the new ones are not only better to the environment but customers and sales too. Proving companies can benefit financially from upgrading their lighting.

The night sky is far too important to have it obscured by light; we need it as much as we need the sea and the earth. We have inherited its beauty since time began, but what will we leave for the generations to come? Will future urban dwellers be denied the stars; could we forget about them together? This is a problem that I believe can be easily rectified, as a world we are struggling to find solutions to problems such as depleting energy sources, light pollution is a situation that has many solutions already, we just need to act.

Photo credit: www.darkskies4ni.co.uk

The Tipping Point

These are the outcomes from our seminar group’s brainstorming session on “The Tipping Point”

I then had to go on to reflect on what had been discussed during our group's discussions and think about issues more in-depth. I chose to look at how design can use the chapter "The Law of the Few" to help tip a product/ social trend/ social behavior.

I looked at social networking and how online networks are used by organizations to build trust and raise awareness of products and movements, how and where advertising is used to bring about change and what additional impact would advertising have made when it wasn't used but could have been.

My thoughts turned to how social networking can be used to push forward an agenda, in the recent case of Twitter being used to debate and defend the NHS from US Republicans branding it as "evil" and "Orwellian".

This led me on to thinking about the Iran Twitter revolution. In June this year when there was opposition protests in Iran the world was kept up to date in real time from a small group of Iranian bloggers and hackers who posted updates minute-by-minute. As the Iranian authorities shut down telephone networks and stopped foreign news channels reporting from Tehran they were slow to realize students were using Twitter and YouTube to reach a worldwide audience with the latest news. By portraying the turmoil in Tehran this way it sparked a solidarity movement, which spread across the web.

How could graphic design use advertising and social networking to help tip the Iran twitter movement so it was recognized not only online but in the general public. One of the most successful twitter reporters, TehranBureau, who was seen by the Iranian authorities as a major threat, and who had his website shut down only had 20, 934 followers on Twitter which isn't very many on a global scale. With Iran arresting foreign reporters and limiting news getting out, Twitter was a vital part of keeping contact with the rest of the world.

But it could of been bigger.

I have created a mind map/ poster to collect and organize my thoughts.