Dissertation Proposal Part1

Student Name	Sophie D’Agostino
Course	Graphic Design
Supervisor name	Brigid Collins
Email address
Date	25.11.10

Working Title

What role does environmental typography and signage play in the way people interact and function with their every day surroundings?

Summary

I have always had an interest in the design that surrounds us every day that we rely on to function but is often over looked or ignored, a good example of such design is signage and typography. Signage is an integral part of our lives, it surrounds us but what impact does it have on the way we interact and function? Are signs a necessity? Or is the number of signs and abundance of lettering which bombards us overloading us with information, cluttering up our towns and cities and desensitising us to our environments?

There are many different types of signage, each have a specific job to perform, although the main function of a sign, whatever it’s message is to communicate effectively and clearly, different design process and techniques are required for designing different categories of signs, such as colour, composition, it’s environment and typography choice.

There are many technical aspects of sign design, however the tone of voice, or visual language is also an important aspect when trying to convey feelings or opinions though signage. Signs can indicate attitudes and changes within a society or reflect the ideologies of the organization or government, for example a sign, which greets a traveller at an airport, might say, “You can trust me” “I am modern” or “You will be robbed” all through it’s visual appearance, without stating those actual words.

The research I have carried out so far has raised some issues I would like to explore further, especially looking at the roles and responsibilities of the designer. Is it possible to create positive experiences and surrounds for the public while still making a valuable contribution to the environment?

Aims

I am interested in sign design as a subject as it is a tool of communication that is so often consciously unseen and not noticed yet unconsciously constantly communicating great quantities of information to us all the time.

I think this research will be primarily aimed at graphic designers as a better and more concise understanding of how our design decisions are impacting on the end user would be greatly valuable for creating more efficient and environmentally sound solutions.

Objectives

I wish to carry out research and analysis into my chosen subject, producing a well thought out and comprehensive study of what role signage and typography play in the way people interact and function in their surroundings.

I will do this by using relevant secondary recourses such as books, academic articles and web sources and by carrying out my own research such as questionnaires. Primarily looking at public reactions and attitudes to signage, including aspects of design and gathering opinions to the importance of signage in the environment.

Key Words

Environment, sign design, sign system, signage, user, lettering, communication, interaction, function, visual language, corporate identity, surroundings, typography, legibility, public, efficiency, message.

Bibliography

Baines, P, Dixon, C. Signs, Lettering in the Environment (2003) Laurence King Pulishers. ISBN: 1856693376

The main purpose of Baines and Dixon’s book is to discuss the function and execution of the signage we encounter in our environment every day. They look at examples of signage, both contemporary and historical and explain how these pieces of design work we take for granted help shape our lives.

Bartram, Alan (1975). Lettering in Architecture. Lund Humphrise Publishers Limited ISBN: 853313822

Shows how lettering has been used traditionally in architecture. Bartram explains the differences in letterforms and materials used, and looks at how type and buildings contribute to each other’s success. Bartram discusses the importance of the visual language of each period of architectural lettering, looking at how character, quality and flavor all add to the environment.

Bonnici, P. Visual Language, The Hidden Meaning of Communication (1999) Roto Vision SA. ISBN: 2880463882

The main purpose of Bonnici’s book is to provide an understanding of the Visual Language within communication, looking at how the appearance and feel of an item of design can communicate independently of the descriptive content of text and images. Bonnici addresses how elements of visual language, such as colour, type, shape, proportion, texture and imagery be used to create a powerful hidden medium of non verbal communication within an item of design to provide work that communicates more effectively

Editors Of Signs of the Times Magazine (1997). Sign Gallery. ST Publications. ISBN 0944094236

Looks at recent technical innovations and advances over the past few years and gives examples of how sign designers are taking advantage of the new technologies, in their designs.

Editors of Signs of the Times Magazine (1986) Sign Design, Contemporary Graphic Identity. ISBN: 0866360131

This book demonstrates the possibilities that can be achieved through sign design and highlights the quality and skill of an industry whose work often get ignored or overlooked. It looks at different categories of sign design, including, retail, professional services, corporate identification, real estate and experimental work.

Gibson, D. The Wayfinding Handbook, Information Design for Public Places (2009) Princeton Architectural Press. ISBN: 9781568987699

This book covers sign design and wayfinding as a whole, covering everything connected to the discipline. It includes a brief history on sign design and covers different aspects of typography including legibility, size, arrangement and line spacing.

Hunt, W, Laberccque, E, Rosentswieg, G (1994). Designing and Planning Environmental Graphics. Madison Square Press ISBN: 0942604350

This book provides practical information from environmental graphic designer’s, they give individual case studies and detailed annotation and documentation on real projects. This gives a good insight into the design process, including technical information and specific information.

Knapp, Stephen. Sign Design Gallery 2 (1995) Rockport Publishing. ISBN: 154961966

Explores the effect of ‘digital revolution’ on sign design, this book serves as a tribute to all designers who keep alive the craft of sign design. The fain focus of this book is on computer aided sign design. Covers, ground signs, projection signs, sing systems, wall mounted signs and specialty signs.

Schwartzman, A. Designage, The Art of Decretive Sign (1998). Chronical Books. ISBN:0811819620

This book provides an overview of a universal means of communication, through photography it captures and celebrates the artistry and imagination of sign design throughout the years.

Shmidt, K. Signs of the Times (1996) Graphis U.S. INC. ISBN: 1888000119

This book includes a large collection of photographs of environmental typography from the last fifty years showing an overview of the type of signage we over look and take for granted every day. The author also provides a short history and introduction which is insightful.

Trulove Grayson, J. This Way, Signage Design for Public Spaces (2000) Rockport Publishers. ISBN: 1564967522

Shows how new and traditional materials are being used together to create new vibrant signage designs. The book gives a behind the scenes look at real signage projects and explains the philosophy behind each.

Sims, M. Sign Design, Graphics, Materials, Techniques (1991) Thames and Hudson LTD. ISBN: 0500236186

This book highlights the value gained by designers who understand the importance of sign design; this book acts as guide, covering process, materials and techniques along with other important information for designers to take into consideration such as cultural and aesthetic factors.

Visual Language, The Hidden Medium of Communication by Peter Bonnici. A Summary.

Visual Language, The Hidden Medium of Communication by Peter Bonnici

The main purpose of Bonnici’s book is to provide an understanding of the Visual Language within communication, looking at how the appearance and feel of an item of design can communicate independently of the descriptive content of text and images. He states, ‘‘All communication takes place through language, however language does not necessarily have words… Body Language, sound and visual language all have the power to evoke an emotional response’’ Bonnici looks at how these elements should be used by the designer to fully communicate and represent their clients needs.

Bonnici addresses how elements of visual language, such as colour, type, shape, proportion, texture and imagery be used to create a powerful hidden medium of non verbal communication within an item of design to provide work that communicates more effectively.

Bonnici gives us in depth analyst of a unique method he uses for working with clients, which he has developed while working as a corporate brand specialist. The method is for identifying a client’s visual voice within their brand and is conducted with the client using scraps of visual imagery combined with 3-4 words which represent the company’s key qualities spread out on a large table, slowly the imagery that does not evoke the desired qualities is removed until they are left with only 15-20 images that represent what the company ‘feels’ like. Bonnici includes practical exercises and examples to help the reader further their understanding of the method. Bonnici cites “The Enquirey” process from “The Three Steps of Modern Calligraphy” by Gu Gan to back up these claims.

Throughout the book Bonnici gives visual and written examples of his theories, he provides the reader with exercises, and frequently questions their opinions. For example on p86 Bonnici wants the reader to understand how judgements are made based on simply reading the visual language of a logo, for this exercise he shows a number of University logos without their name and asks the reader to ‘‘imagine they are searching for a joint-venture academic partner for a piece of ground breaking research’’ based on their logo alone the reader has to shortlist three they’d feel most comfortable working with. There are no right and wrong answers, Bonnici encourages the reader to note their emotional effect. This technique ultimately lets the reader make informed decisions regarding how the principles of visual language works, allowing the reader to gain a better understanding of the principles.

There are key concepts we need to understand in Bonnici’s book, he states ‘‘ Visual Language speaks to­- and can be read by- the emotional message. Effective communication, therefore requires consistency between content and mood’’ and ‘‘Visual language is the look and feel of an item of design- created by such elements as colour, proportion, letterform, shape and texture… It communicates on a level independent of the descriptive elements- literal or symbolic- of the imagery. It conveys emotional messages to its audiences and they feel something about the client, service or product.’’ I feel these quotes sum up his main idea that design goes further than simply making something look nice, as a designer you should be asking yourself if your design is communicating the right things about the client.

Bonnici wants us to understand the true power of visual language in design. He wants us to understand that design has the power to evoke emotion, to disorientate, to stimulate and provoke or to depress and bore us. Bonnici states that, ‘No person on the planet is unaffected by it’, he stresses how important the power of design is over our emotions. However if the visual language of the design conflicts with the core values it strives to convey then the design will fail, both have to work together.

By understanding Bonnici’s theory we, as designers can create more effective design, have a better understanding of how to inform the viewer and create work which instantly represents and is coherent with our client’s visual voice and values. Visual language is an invisible tool which if we take seriously can have a huge impact on the quality of our work.

By ignoring Bonnici’s theory of the importance of visual language, a designer may subconsciously communicate a message opposite to what was intended or the message can become inconsistent. If this happens the design is less likely to connect with the targeted audience and therefore is unlikely to be successful in generating a response or action as a result.

Signs, lettering in the Environment by Phill Baines and Catherine Dixon. A Summary.

Signs, lettering in the Environment by Phill Baines and Catherine Dixon

The main purpose of Baines and Dixon’s book is to discuss the function and execution of the signage we encounter in our environment every day. They look at examples of signage, both contemporary and historical and explain how these pieces of design work we take for granted help shape our lives.

The authors have divided the subject of environmental type into two main categories, informatory, signs which give directions. And regulatory, signs which give instruction or warnings. They go on to address how different elements including, readability, scale, contrast, letterform and placement are considered throughout the design process to create successful signage that is easily understood, and helps “determine the visual texture of our public environment and gives us our sense of place.”

Baines and Dixon look at these fundamental elements in more depth throughout the book, including the important role of typography plays, this includes aspects such as the white space between letters, the clarity of numerals and choice of colour for optimum legibility from long distances, these elements all are strategically planed and well research.The authors use the “Anderson Report” to provide evidence and to back up their solutions and theories on designing for informatory signs. The Anderson report was the results of an advisory committee set up by the government in 1957 to look at how to design signage for motorways. The report concluded, among other things, that junctions were to be signed three times with map-type representations and information was to be legible from 600 feet, colours for background and text were also specified, all of which we still use today.

Throughout the book Baines and Dixon use hundreds of photographs to back up and expand on their theories, each set of pictures is accompanied with a descriptive summery.

The authors highlight that, “Designers need to be aware of the functional needs of signage as well as the possibilities it can have for reflecting the identity of their client.” This is a key concept that designers should be mindful of throughout the design process, thinking of both the end user (e.g. the public) and their clients needs. While road signs are designed to be neutral for maximum readability other transport networks, such as the train network, use signing as an extension of their identity. Baines and Dixon give an example of the first company to do this, which was The Underground Electric Railways of London in 1916, who commissioned their own typeface to be used consistently throughout their brand.

Baines and Dixon’s main objective in this book is to stress the importance of sign design and environmental type has in our environment, from road signs to inscriptions or names on public spaces, all the typographic material that surrounds us contributes not only to how our surroundings look but also how it works.

The Return of the Flash Mob

It's not often I watch TV just for the adverts, however on Friday at 10 on channel 4 the new T Mobile ad will be aired for the first time. Filmed at Heathrow T5, passengers were welcomed home by 500 actors disguised as taxi drivers, passengers and cabin crew who suddenly sprung into song and dance. This ad ties in with the other flash mob ads they've done in the past, all promoting the idea that 'Life's for Sharing'.

Typography and the City

I have been greatly enjoying our classes from Gary Gowans this semester, they are concentrating on typography, layout and grid structures. I have always loved typography, I love the power it provides to create endless styles, different tones of voice and creative expression just from your choice of font. It is an art form, but it is also extremely technical, there is a lot to learn about how to use typography to achieve the best results.

Although I learnt the basics back in College (I received the highest score in the year in the test!) it has been great to recap and refresh my memory. I have particularly enjoyed discovering the importance grids, they have always scared me a little and although I knew they were important I must admit I scarcely ever used them efficiently, if at all.

Our brief from Gary is to go out onto the streets and around town to take as many photos as we could of examples of environmental type, we are then to create a 5 page magazine spread, thinking about composition, white space, grids, choice of typography etc. The magazine is to be classy, think Baseline not a woman's weekly.

Here are a few examples of my photography, I concentrated on old and weather beaten shop fronts and examples of hand painted signage. I find this really interesting and quite beautiful especially as very few still exist. I wanted to keep all my photography black and white to keep with the old fashioned feel of the lettering.

Here is the first draft of my layout, I am aware things (like my widowed lines of text) still need to be tweaked. I chose two fonts from The League of Moveable Type , League Scrip #1 and Raleway, both are beautiful, thin and elegant. I picked League Scrip #1 as although it's a modern typeface, I feel it's vintage feel and handwritten elegance creates an interesting contrast between the thick and heavy style of the type in the photos. Raleway is much more legible for headings and subheadings yet still compliments the over all feel of the layout. The body copy is in Georgia.

Is the Most Successful Design Invisible?

When I'm asked by people, 'What do you do?' the question that normally follows, (combined with a slightly puzzled expression) is, 'Oh? And what does a graphic designer do?'. I then proceed by trying to explain the hugely diverse range of work graphic designers 'do'.

Inevitably I end up looking like a lunatic franticly pointing around whatever environment we're in, saying, “Look, this is graphic design! And this, and so is this!” until whoever I'm explaining it to begins to understands or at least pretends to, to get me to shut up, probably wishing they had kept their mouth, and just Googled it when they got home.

I was puzzled myself by the vast variety and different type of work being expected of me when I first started college two years ago: from corporate identity; digital and web design; typography; branding; publication layout; animation; ad campaigns; creative thinking; copy writing. The list goes on. I and found myself uttering, 'But this isn't what a graphic designer does?!' I very quickly learnt that there is much more to being a graphic designer than simply designing business cards and club night flyers. Ultimately a graphic designer's job is to use visual elements to help communicate information, whatever that may be.

There is a great poster I saw a while ago, which reads 'Good Typography is Invisible. Bad Typography is Everywhere.' (I believe it was done by NY agency,Words Are Pictures.) From the moment I saw it I identified with the statement. Now when explaining to someone what graphic design is I always conclude, 'Good design is invisible. Bad design is Everywhere.'

The two short sentences sum up exactly what I’m trying to explain when I go into overdrive pointing at every piece of design in my path. I want them to understand that we are surrounded by design - not only typography, or graphic design but design of all shapes and forms, from service design to product design - it is a discipline that encompasses our lives every single day. Even things like a bus timetable, the washing instructions of their clothes or the road signs they follow to work, they are all are designed yet they are all things we take for granted as just being there. The designer and their decisions simply fade into the background.

The difference between Transport (top) and Curlz (bottom)!

Imagine if all the road signs in the UK were to be changed from the highly thought through and legible typeface - “Transport” - to something cluttered, complex and decorative such as “Curlz”. Then everyone would notice because no one would be able to read the directions, would inevitably get lost and then complain about the design of the road signs being terrible. Conversely though, no one congratulates the designers of the “Transport” typeface at the end of a journey for giving them clear directions to their destination!

This is a topic that really interests me, I think it could be applied to so many cases. For example, Gaps recent logo change (who was talking about Gap before that hideous Helvetica thing was released?!). Their “well designed” previous logo was invisible to people and isolated from their judgement simply because it was always there, serving it’s purpose.

I would like to develop the idea that the most successful design is always invisible. In a world saturated by design all competing for our attention. As a designer does your work not only have to satisfy the brief in hand, but also shout above the crowd? Perhaps proving that good design doesn't always have to be invisible.

These are all just the very beginning of lots of ideas that I am going to research and look into further for my dissertation. I have created a mind map of my though process so far. Tomorrow we have our first dissertation seminar so I am sure that will give me a clearer idea of what is expected from a dissertation, at the moment I am a little clueless! But it’s a start…

PS. I realise that the picture of the mind map is tiny, I have uploaded it to photo bucket HERE it's still pretty small. However it is too late to sort it out tonight, I'll rescan it tomorrow bigger :) night!

Seminar Group Meetings and Mind Maps

Design Studies: Assignment 1

Corporate Identity and Design

Corporate Identity is the persona of a company or corporation expressed consistently through out their branding and trademarks made up from a variety of different visual elements such as their logo, typeface, colours and slogan. It is a unique visual statement to communicate the ethos, aims and values of the business and to make the corporation clearly distinguishable from their competitors.

A corporation’s corporate identity can be used as a powerful visual symbol of communication, used to demonstrate a clear sense of direction, to build awareness and to strengthen their global brand; it represents how they view their self and how they want to be viewed by others.

It is incredibly important that the corporate identity and values of a corporation must be all embracing, encompassing all that it says and does (Olins 1989). The products it produces, the buildings and factories it trades from to their communication material must honestly represent their aims and values. An important non-visual element to a corporate identity is how the organization behaves towards their staff and customers, as this will have a huge impact on how they are viewed. (Olins 1989)

Gillette and Holiday Inn are two highly recognisable global corporations who understand that an identity must be consistant throughout their brand.

History

The roots of corporate identity can be traced as far back as thousands of years ago from the marks made on the bottom of earth ware pots by potters to distinguish their work from other potters, to religious organisations such as Christianity and Islam who have recognisable visual identities and symbols that have developed and grown over centauries. (Brown 1998)

During the Industrial revolution, identity in the form of trademarks and logos became popular with businesses and factories. The concept of corporate image as we recognise it today was not invented until the twentieth century however there are clear links with today’s corporate identity and the business practice conceived during the industrial revolution. Today the logo serves as one visual element that makes up a corporate identity. (Napoles 1988)

Identity plays a large roll in national symbolism, from the design of bank notes, the colours and imagery in flags to the uniforms of the armed forces all have to be created and designed to show the nation’s ‘persona’, distinguishing them from other nations and to clearly communicate with their people a sense of belonging. (Olins 1989)

During history there has been many examples of nations having their identity changed and their traditions reinvented especially through the use of symbolism and propaganda to help manipulate and sway people. (Olins 1989)

During Napoleon’s rain as French Empire from 1840, he understood extremely well how to use these techniques of manufacturing symbolism and using it to his advantage, creating new government positions, monuments, uniforms and badges, he even commissioned artists to paint propaganda. All of this was used to help sway people, making them aware and helping them to understand what his ‘organization’ was all about.

Many techniques used by Napoleon and other leaders throughout history to create their ‘corporate identity’ are mirrored in modern day corporations. The main issues are still the same, how to motivate people, how to clearly put across your objectives and aims, how to instil a sense of belonging and win people over while getting them to understand the spirit of the corporation. (Olins 1989)

However corporate identity as we know it today was first conceived around sixty years ago as a result of companies beginning to understand the importance of communicating their business values and aims in the growing global market. Globalization increased competition of market-share and as the need for recognition became progressively more intense the importance of a well-designed, efficient and successful corporate identity became essential. (Lubliner 1994)

Design and Corporate Identity

The roll of a designer is incredibly important when creating a corporate identity, in our worldwide market place the design of a corporate identity cannot be left to chance, it is not about simply creating a pretty logo and stationary, designers have to do extensive research and work closely with board members and executives to create an identity that encompasses all the corporation’s main objectives which should then be clearly demonstrated and applied throughout every aspect of it’s design.

The use of symbolism is incredibly important within an identity to successfully create an atmosphere where people feel like they belong, wither it be the colours and slogans used, the values imparted or monuments erected all must emphasise and constantly confirm what the corporation stands for.

Today, in the globalized world we live in identities must be designed to cut across cultures and languages, to be recognizable all over the world and essentially be highly distinguishable from their competitors. If an identity is not coherent and consistent then their key aims and strategies will not be met. (Lubliner 1994)

Things that a designer should constantly think about when designing an identity are ‘who is the company?|’ and ‘what does it do?’ (Lubliner 1994)

In the early 1980s Aston University in Birmingham was run down and was perceived as a second rate university. It lacked a coherent identity; it did not have a clear sense of values or aims, which was contributing to low staff moral and poor student grades. However a new Vice-Chancellor wanted to change the image of the university and hired corporate identity consultants who through research identified the main problems. They went on to design Aston University a corporate identity which included, a new logo which was applied to everything, landscaping the grounds, campus building work, signage and other graphic materials so that the university’s aims and values could be clearly expressed and it’s persona could become apparent.

Ultimately they created a new image and vision of the university, which has continued to expand and grow; now making Aston one of the leading universities in the country for information technology. (olins 1989)

This is a brilliant example of how good, well researched and considered design of a corporate identity can help an organization achieve it’s goals, strengthen it’s name and improve it’s credibility to the wider world. Proving that a well designed corporate identity is linked with business success, and demonstrates why corporations embrace the power and influence of symbolism that a corporate identity can provide.

Bibliography

Author Unknown . (2008). Graphic Design Dictionary. Available: http://newyorkgraphicdesign.info/graphic-design-dictionary.html. Last accessed 6th Oct 2010.

Author Unknown . (Unknown). Audio Branding Academy: Glossary.Available: http://audio-branding-academy.org/abaweb_en/abaweb/?page_id=24. Last accessed 6th Oct 2010.

Brown, Jared & A. Miller, (1998). What Logos Do and How They Do It. pp. 6-7.

Lubliner, M. J (1994) Global Corporate Identity, the Cross Border Marketing Challenge. Rockport Publishers, Inc. ISBN: 1-56496-110-9

Napoles, V (1988) Corporate identity design. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN:0-471-28947-7

Olins, W (1989). Corporate Identity, Making business Strategy Visible Through Design. Thames and Hudson. ISBN:0-500-01472-8

Travel Poster Love!

If like me you've got a bit of a thing for vintage travel posters then you can imagine my delight when I came across this site. It has loads of links to various vintage clip art at really good resolutions but most excitingly look at all these iconic vintage American travel posters!

See more here.

Glad to be back!

Me on Tower Bridge, London

Here I am back at uni, sitting in a deserted media lab after a very long break. So what have I been up to?

Not long after breaking up from uni my boyfriend and I jumped on a train (first class no less!) down to London for a long weekend as a belated birthday celebration. We went to the transport museum, where I would of bought as many cool vintage travel posters as I could if Lee hadn't dragged me away and thankfully prevented my from spending all my money at once (I settled for a couple of postcards). We paid a visit to the London Museum and Tower Bridge museum and greatly enjoyed just wandered around soaking up the atmosphere doing many other touristy things on route.

A highlight was going to see Avenue Q, which I had wanted to see last time I was in London but it was taking a break. It was hilarious, they had the whole theatre in fits of laughter and gasps of "OhMyGoodnessCanYouBeliveTheyJustSaidThat?!". Brilliant, it was like watching a grownups version of Sesame Street, well worth the money. And as always when I go to a musical I was humming the songs for days and days after, although this time I was getting a few funny looks...!

And then I was off to Rome (Yes, another birthday present...!) with my Godfather. We spent a very relaxing week in the Italian countryside halfway up a mountain before hitting Rome. It was so rural we were the only tourists for miles and miles, quite a culture shock having spent a few days in London. The food and scenery were to die for. Rome was superb but far far to busy for my liking, I had a great time but would love to go back in the off season for a proper visit and to see the city a without feeling I am being swept along with the crowd.

Then I was off to Northumberland camping with my parents, a little less glamourous and a little damper than Rome or London but good fun all the same. Especially getting a fish supper and and ice cream in Seahouses. Yum.

And a spot of knitting on the beach...?!

When all my gallivanting was oven it was back to work in Rocket Cafe at Churchill (Morningside) in Edinburgh, which keep me busy very. It's a lovely little cafe and they do really good coffee, it was also very very busy!

More excitingly, I have also been working on a 'proper job', designing a website, which I will reveal a little later.

And a very good childhood friend had her first baby, a lovely little girl called Lily. As a birth present I designed and got printed thank you cards for her.

So I’ve been kept busy but am super happy to be back at uni.

Voice artists, integral to a brand...

The other night as I was drifting off to sleep I was listening to a programme on Radio 4, it was a documentary about voice artists. I wish I hadn't been so tired and fallen asleep half way through as what I remember of it was very interesting. (I tried and failed to find it on iPlayer)

One part of the programme was talking about companies using voice to enhance part of their brand not only within their advertising but as a whole, using the same voice artist for their radio ads and for their internal staff memos. Therefor increasing and creating consistent brand values throughout every aspect the company.

I found this so interesting because as a graphic designer it is integral for me to realise what a brand is, (not just a logo!) and I had never thought about how important a voice might be to a brand. Although it seems so obviously important now, the programme highlighted that it is often the last thing to be considered by the advertising industry too.

There is also great skill needed to be a voice artists, not just being able to read off a script. (although I think that might play a big part in it!) Often they have to fit vast amounts of information into only a few seconds, condensing their voice but not the quality.

Malcolm Gladwell Lecture

Birthday present round two commenced last sunday evening when I went to the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh to see Malcolm Gladwell give a lecture supporting his new book, What the Dog Saw.

I have only read one of his books, The Tipping Point as a university assignment but enjoyed it and found it very interesting. So although I wasn't sure what to expect I was looking forward to hearing what he had to say.

His chosen subject for the lecture was serendipity, concentrating on the roll serendipity plays in science, focusing on the story of two friends who worked to develop cancer fighting drugs.

I did not come away from the evening feeling overwhelmed with new theories or innovative concepts, I did not feel like it had changed my life or I would carry what he had said with me for years to come. When you pay to see an influential author I think you may expect to come out with some of these boxes ticked.

However he was a very talented speaker and story teller, he kept everyone engaged and interested. And I came away with an insight into how hard it is to bring medication to market, how rigorous the testing process is and although it seemed there was no obvious significant information imparted to us, on further reflection there are definitely underlying and subtal messages that can be taken from the lecture.

And it was delivered in an entertaining way.

(Also for some reason, he didn't look how I imagined him to!)

You Can't Stop the Beat!

My 21st birthday is approaching and as a gift I went with some of my family to see the musical Hairspray yesterday in Glasgow. It was superb, I had such a good time. I saw the film version with John Travolta which I enjoyed but this was 100x better, Michael Ball is hilarious- the chemistry between him and Les Dennis was great, they look like they're having so much fun. Here are a couple of photos of me and my mum after the show.

It's coming to Edinburgh in December and I've already decided I'm going to see it again!

Playing with After Effects

One of our recent projects from uni was learning how to use After Effects. I created a short ident animation for my blog. I'm not very happy with the end but hopefully it's not too bad for a first attempt!

Assignment 5b

Over the past year I have learnt many new skills from Design Studies, they range from primary and secondary research methods, how to create a Harvard bibliography to mind mapping and much more. Here I would like to propose how I would go about applying the techniques I’ve learnt to a tackle a studio brief differently.

I have chosen to look at one of my recent briefs where we were each given a different area of the shipping forecast and research, mine was Fair Isle. We then had to create an attraction within our area and brand or advertise it. The constraints of the brief were very open as we could tackle it in whatever way we wanted, anything from building an underwater community or creating an alternative reality set far in the future, our solution could be as sensible or crazy as we wished.

Through my research I discovered that the Norse name for Fair Isle means island of peace, from this I started to think about creating a religious community on the island. This led me onto creating a religious cult who worship birds and are recruiting members. Which then resulted in me to creating an advertising campaign for a rehab centre on the island, making claims of wonderful success rates and results, however it is all too good to be true as once the addicts are on the island the rehab centre makes no attempt to cure them, instead keep them there with the aim to sacrifice them to their gods, the birds.

Although I carried out research at the beginning of this brief I am now going to explore how by applying the news skills I have learnt I could achieve a more in-depth understanding and a greater valuable knowledge of the subject.

I would begin with mind mapping and brain storming the area, perhaps in small groups with others in the class and help others in return to mind map their area too, this would spark initial ideas and a wide variety of suggestions would be generated which I may have not thought of by yourself. From these initial ideas I would be able to base the following research on the ideas that have been generated.

To gain a basic understanding of the area of Fair Isle I would do a Google search although I know online sources are not always to be trusted and you should never solely rely on the information you gather to form online research.

During my online research I came across some photos taken on Fair Isle by a local photographer. Taking inspiration from the visual experiment technique from the beginning of this semester I could print off a selection of photos and show them to a range of people. It would be beneficial to gather responses to the photos focusing on how the photos of the island and island life make people feel, if they could connect the photos in a short story or feel any strong connections or just general feelings towards the photos. This would generate very valuable data into people’s interpretations of the island and uncover any preconceived ideas people may have of Fair Isle. This is valuable information that Google could not generate!

I then may look at the library’s Cross-Search facility to see if there has been any interesting research done on Fair Isle or other remote islands regarding issues such as island living. If I was still focusing on religion and cults then this research tool would be very useful for finding secondary data on this subject area. As because the subject of religion is so broad, there are many articles on the subject.

I will also use the library to research different advertising approaches, especially Guerilla style advertising as I feel this approach is the best way to reach my target consumer.

A very beneficial research method for this project to gain a great knowledge of the area would be observation. However because the island is very remote this is not a very practical method. Perhaps instead of observing the island I could go to a number of different religious buildings to observe and to gain a more diverse knowledge of different religions. This would help me when I came to construct my own religious cult for Fair Isle. I could also arrange a visit to a local rehab centre to observe and collect literature such as any posters or leaflets to see how they are designed to draw inspiration for my own design work.

I think it would be extremely important to carry out interviews with the cult’s target market, who are alcoholics and drug addicts are at their lowest, desperate to a get clean quick by the easiest way possible. This would mean sourcing addicts and interviewing them to find out exactly what they would look for in a rehab centre. If the requests generated were unachievable in a legitimate rehab centre, all the better for my research, as I want the centre to sound ‘too good to be true’, whatever they suggested I could use as valuable material for my advertising. I could also show the subjects a selection of the adverts I had created to gain feedback and to see how effective they would be. I could then use their feedback to revise the advertising campaign, making it more effective.

Sourcing alcoholics and drug addicts could potentially be putting myself at risk so I could interview recovered addicts as an alternative.

By applying these research techniques to a studio brief I am gathering a richer type of information. I can gain knowledge that is of a higher value and much more useful than the facts and figures found on the internet. All too often a Google search is the first thing we do when is comes to research. But I definitely think by using these primary and secondary research methods within my studio briefs I will achieve more interesting outcomes and solutions that reflect real people’s problems and needs.

One of the most important things I have learnt this year is that design is more than aesthetics. Design is about creating meaning, it is about understanding people’s stories, if you cannot understand their stories then you cannot design for them. This is why it is so important to involve people, though interviews, observation and discussion in your research, as ultimately you are designing for them.