The Beige Tomato

I'm in the News!

2011-05-31T07:20:00.001-07:00

Remember these wee guys? They were the characters I created as part of my Captain Kate's Juice packaging brief we received from Glasgow based agency Good Creative, original post can be found here.

I was completely blown away and very happy with the positive feedback I was given from Keith and Gale from the agency when they came to the uni to crit our work and was even more delighted to be offered a summer long placement with the agency. Which I start in just under two weeks! (very excited)

I have just enjoyed a week in Florence with my boyfriend and my parents and while I was away my dad received an email from a work colleague informing him that I was in the Edinburgh Herald and Post! It was a huge picture of my face and a short article about... "An Edinburgh student has landed a placement at Scotland’s top design agency after winning a challenge to produce a branding and marketing strategy for a range of fruit drinks" The article also included information on Good Creative and the real juice.

And since I got home I've had lots of friends and family call, text and tweet me to let me know where I'm popping up!

Here are a few from the web...

Link

I was also in the Edinburgh Evening News, here.

It's quite strange seeing yourself in the paper, although it's not for the first time this year, I was in the Dundee Courier back in March! This time I'm much happier to be in the paper for my work though!

Some of my work from third year

2011-04-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share with you some of my work from third year, I have really enjoyed this year (much more than second year anyway). This semester has just whizzed by, they've been working us hard, its been stressful at times and long hours have been spent at uni but I've really enjoyed it and have received some very positive feedback. Most importantly I really love graphic design, it was the best decision of my life to change to it from illustration and am really excited about my work placement at Good Creative in Glasgow in the summer, I also have an interview lined up for some more graphics work for the summer so will be interesting to see how that goes too, I am determined not to spend my summer working in a cafe!!

Yqueue:
This was our very first project when we came back after summer in September, it was a three week group project and was suppose to have a tie in or something to do with Wolf Olins, a design and branding agency in New York and London but for some reason that never happened and in fact despite pestering our tutors we are still waiting on feedback from this project! :(

If I remember correctly the brief was to take inspiration from positive aspects of online shopping and invent a service or product which would encourage people to shop on the high street. It was quite a tricky brief as not only did we have to brand and advertise a product we had to invent it too! It was also my first experience of working in a team solidly for three weeks which was... interesting.

The product we invented was, Yqueue, a service used within shopping centre which cuts out queues and eliminates carrying your shopping bags from shop to shop, allowing you to pick up your purchases at any time convenient to you. Through the use of an app and QR codes items can be scanned and added to a virtual shopping basket, once the customer has finished shopping they can then pay for multiple items from a different shops at a click of a button. A Yqueue employee then collects the customers purchases ready for the customer to collect at a time convenient to them.

The promotion takes inspiration form WWII posters, we wanted to creat a victorious message about our triumph over the queue.

Type and Layout:
The main objective of this brief was teaching us all about typography and layout, it was a 6 week project where every week we'd go to our tutor with our work and he'd give us corrections, we'd change stuff and then the next week we'd go back and he's give us different corrections and suggestions and we'd go away and change stuff... So slowly we refined and refined our work. I spent a long time looking for a typeface for this project and experimented with a lot but eventually settled on Museo which can be found here.

The Open University:
This is my YCN submission, I chose the Open University brief, I'm not sure why, I think it was because all the protests and debates about rising tuition fees was gong on at the time and education was obviously on my brain.

The brief was to encourage 16-18 year olds to study for a degree with the open university, I decided to tackle where, when and how students study and used bold colours and cheeky slogans to attract viewer attention.

Yuck 'n' Yum:
This was my Roses submission, the brief was really open and something along the lines of, "Create and promote an unlikely coalition." My idea was to open a diner which combined different types of foods which would be revolting together but aim it at pregnant woman with crazy cravings. It was a wacky but fun brief, I really enjoyed creating the illustrations, teh typeface I used was Market Deco and can be found here .

Dissertation Proposal (part 2)

2011-03-29T02:25:00.001-07:00

Title

How important is environmental type in shaping perceptions and altering the way people interact with their surroundings? And how can environmental typography be used to modify behavior, opinions and alter user experiences within an environment?

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 environmental typography. Typography is an integral part of our lives it is a necessity that we rely on to function, it surrounds us everywhere we go, within signage, billboards, graffiti, posters and corporate identity. But what impact does it have on shaping our perceptions and judgments towards that environment, organisation or government? And can a place be defined and identified by the typography within it? Can type be used as a medium to express a place’s unique culture, values and style, to help enrich the quality of life and our visual environment? Or is the array of type that we are bombarded with desensitising us to our surroundings, visually polluting our cities and towns?

There are many different ways type can be used within an environment, each have a specific job to perform, although the main function, whatever its message is to communicate effectively and clearly. There are many technical aspects when designing with type, such as colour, composition; it’s location and typography choice. The tone of voice, or visual language is also an important aspect when trying to convey feelings or opinions though typography. Type 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.

Along with people, sounds and smells, typography acts as essential component within an environment; helping to give a place it’s visual voice and identity. It provides a means of communication and has the power to produce an emotional response or influence the way an environment functions. By varying how type is used within an environment will alter the impact on the environment and in the way people interact within that environment. I wish to gain a better understanding if there is a difference in impact and influence of an environment based on it’s planed or authorised typography such as signage and advertisement billboards compared to unauthorised type such as graffiti and illegal posters? And when we rely on type so much to gain an understanding of our complex environments what are the consequences when it fails to help us?

Aims

I wish to carry out this research with the aim of having a greater understanding of the role typography plays in how we interact with our surroundings, and how we form judgments (subliminal or consciously) towards that environment, government or organization. I believe by having a good knowledge of this we can begin to understand how to design typography for specific areas, which will help modify behavior, opinions and improve user experiences within that environment.

Objectives

I wish to produce a comprehensive study into my chosen subject, I will do this by using relevant secondary resources such as books, academic articles and web sources but more importantly by carrying out my own primary research. This will involve organizing focus groups to determine first hand the impact typography has. I will do at least two different sessions with different demographics such as designers compared to non-designers to gain a broader understanding of how this topic affects different types of people. I will carry out surveys and questionnaires also looking at public reactions and attitudes to typography within the environment.

Keywords

Environment, typography, sign design, signage, user, exposure, perception, lettering, communication, interaction, function, visual language, values, surroundings, behaviour, legibility, public, efficiency, message.

Bibliography

Baines, P, Dixon, C. 2003 Signs, Lettering in the Environment, Laurence King Publishers.

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

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.

Billings, S, 2008, ‘Paths to Safety’, Design Week, vol. 23, no. 32, pp. 16-17, 7 Aug 2008

The article focuses on the need of signage systems in public places in regulating the flow of people and minimizing the risks of accidents and loss. It states that designing public places will make people safer and may decrease the tension in the environment.

Bonnici, P.1999 Visual Language, The Hidden Meaning of Communication, Roto Vision SA.

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

Burgoyne, P, 2005, ‘Clearly Better’ Creative Review, January, 46-50

In this article, Patrick Burgoyne introduces us to the new typeface that will be used for American road signs. Talks about redesigning the typography for the elderly population who due to ‘halation’, a glowing effect that causes the words to appear filled in which was causing accidents. Shows us sketches of the process from the original to the new designs helps us understand the value simple changes to the counters and x height and how those changes can make the typeface more suitable and readable for the general public. The basic idea to this article is that the small things make big differences.

Butler, J, Lidwell, W, Holden, K 2003 Universal Principles of Design, Rockport, USA

Provides a reference for design concepts. Useful for me, exposure effect, the repeated exposure to stimuli for which people have neutral feelings will increase the likeability of the stimuli. Legibility, the visual clarity of text, generally based on size, typeface, contrast and spacing of the characters used, picture superiority effect, pictures are remembered better than words. Wayfinding, the process of using spatial and environmental information to navigate to a destination.

Castella. T. 2010. Do typefaces really matter?. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-10689931. Last accessed 15th March 2011.

Explores the impact a typeface can have on how a service, product or organisation is perceived. Gives example of how the typeface used in film Avatar caused outrage among type fans. Looks into how a typeface can convey different messages.

Crosby, T, Fletcher, A, Forbes, C, 1970, A Sign Systems Manual, Littlehampton Book Services Ltd, USA

Illustrates and describes a simple basic system for designing, contracting and displaying signs. It also dives into the history of alphabets and the development of type.

Dowdy, C, 2002 ‘Direct Methods’, Design Week, vol. 17, no. 36, pp. 22-25

This journal discusses the improvements being made to the signage on London’s South Bank. Dowdy believes in everything getting simplified down, and cleaned up to improve our London streets and if we don’t cut down, ‘Graphic Nosie’ will begin to take over the streets and it will become evermore frustrating to find your way around and use sign posts properly. The author is trying to make it clearly that we need to clean up our streets in order for them to feel safer, calming and more in touch with where you are.

Editors Of Signs of the Times Magazine 1997, Sign Gallery. ST Publications.

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, ST Publications.

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. 2009, The Wayfinding Handbook, Information Design for Public Places, Princeton Architectural Press.

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.

Graham, L. 2002 Basics of Design, Layout and typography for beginners, Delmar Thomson learning, Canada

This book provides information on basic design principles for designing with type covering areas such as emphasis, technical terms and elements such as colour and alignment.

Hunt, W, Laberccque, E, Rosentswieg, G. 1994, Designing and Planning Environmental Graphics, Madison Square Press

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. 1995, Sign Design Gallery 2, Rockport Publishing

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.

Kress, K and Leeuwen, T, 1996, Reading Images The Grammar of Visual Design. St Edmundsbury Press Limited. Great Britain

Kress and van Leeunwen examine the ways in which images communicate meaning. Looking at the formal elements and structure of design: colour, perspective, framing and composition. The authors demonstrate both the differences and the similarities between the grammar of language and that of the visual communication.

McClendon, C, 1982 Signage: Graphic Communication in the Built World, McGraw-Hill Inc.,US; First Edition

Schwartzman, A. 1998, Designage, The Art of Decretive Sign, Chronical Books.

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. 1996, Signs of the Times, Graphis U.S. INC.

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 that is insightful.

Trulove Grayson, J. 2000, This Way, Signage Design for Public Spaces, Rockport Publishers.

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, 1991, Graphics, Materials, Techniques, Thames and Hudson LTD.

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.

Vartanian, I, 2004 Graphiscape: New York City, Rotovision

This book covers Graffiti, posters, neon lighting, street art, colour schemes, perspectives and forms. The book is organized around structure, communication, problem solving and originality - all problems that drive design itself. Design is site specific; the flavour of the city is tasted through the vast variety of its visual elements that can be called graphic design in its widest sense.

Captain Kate!

2011-02-24T07:09:00.000-08:00

Recently I've been working on a brief set by the nice people at Glasgow's Good Creative. It's to re-brand and repackage a kids juice which was originally called Kate's Magic Fruit Potions. A company set up by a mum who couldn't find a juice that didn't have added preservatives, flavours and sweeteners for her kid to take to school.

We had pretty much free reign with the brand as long as we conveyed the message of a caring small cottage industry with Kate, a trained natural therapist at it's core and showed the drinks unique qualities such as added vitamins and prebiotics.

Kate is central to the brand so I wanted to keep the focus on her however I knew I didn't want to keep the name or the magical theme. I chose superheros as felt children relate really well with them and thought it was a nice twist that Kate was acting as the hero of the lunch box world, fighting the evil additives and protecting our children!

And so Captain Kate's was born. But now thankfully it's finished. There has been a few late nights but I'm looking forward to presenting on Friday.

Assignment 1 of 2011

2011-01-23T08:39:00.001-08:00

For our first assignment we are asked to fill out a personality test to establish our own individual learning style. By using this test I determined wither I am an... ...Activist...

Here is a list of each personality style and a brief outline.

A activist...

Like to be involved in new experiences and are enthusiastic about new ideas. They enjoy doing things and tend to act first and consider the implications afterwards. They are unlikely to prepare for the learning experience or review their learning afterwards.

Activists learn best when:

involved in new experiences
problems and opportunities
working with others in team tasks or role-playing
being thrown in the deep end with a difficult task
chairing meetings, leading discussions

Activists learn less when:

listening to lectures or long explanations
reading, writing or thinking on their own
absorbing and understanding data
following precise instruction to the letter

A reflector...

Reflectors like to view the situation from different perspectives. They like to collect data, review and think carefully before coming to any conclusions. They enjoy observing others and will listen to their views before offering their own.

Reflectors learn best when:

observing individuals or groups at work
reviewing what has happened and thinking about what they have learned
producing analyses and reports doing tasks without tight deadlines

Reflectors learn less when:

acting as leader or role-playing in front of others
doing things with no time to prepare
being thrown in at the deep end
being rushed or worried by deadlines

A theorist...

Theorists like to adapt and integrate observations into complex and logically sound theories. They think problems through step- by-step. They tend to be perfectionists who like to fit things into a rational scheme.

Theorists learn best when:

put in complex situations where they have to use their skills and knowledge
they are in structured situations with clear purpose
they are offered interesting ideas or concepts even though they are not immediately relevant
they have the chance to question and probe ideas

Theorists learn less when:

they have to participate in situations which emphasis emotion and feelings
the activity is unstructured or briefing is poor
they have to do things without knowing the principles or concepts involved
they feel they're out of tune with the other participants, for example people with different learning styles

Or a Pragmatist...

Pragmatists are eager to try things out. They like concepts that can be applied to their job. They tend to be impatient with lengthy discussions and are practical and down to earth.

Pragmatists learn best when:

there is a link between the topic and job
they have the chance to try out techniques
they are shown techniques with obvious advantages such as saving time
they are shown a model they can copy

Pragmatists learn less when:

there is no obvious or immediate benefit that they can recognize
there is no practice or guidelines on how to do it
there is no apparent benefit to the learning
the event or learning is 'all theory'

I found some of the questions quite awkward to answer as relating them to my day-to-day life was difficult, I found most of the questions were not directed at students and especially not arts based students, however I answered them as best I could and here are my results.

Activist: Moderate
Reflector: Strong
Theorist: Low

Pragmatist: Low

I am definitely not a perfectionist theorist and unlike pragmatits I occasionally enjoy a lengthy discussion or two, I relate with activists by being enthusiastic about new ideas and experiences however I do not see myself as a natural leader and although I'm not a shy and retiring wall flower I do not like chairing meetings or leading discussions.

So that leaves me with reflector, and I agree with almost everything except the deadline bit. Regarding any kind of written work I always need a deadline to stir up enough motivation for me to get down and write whatever it is I need to write, without a looming deadline approaching fast I continually put the work off. This is probably because I dislike writing and much prefer any studio based work.

I am meeting with my design studies group this evening to discuss our results and to guess what we think each others learning style is! This might prove to be a bit of a challenge as I have only met them a few times but will be interesting to see what the results are!

Dissertation Proposal Part1

2010-12-01T06:38:00.001-08:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2010-11-24T05:50:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-11-24T05:25:00.000-08:00

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

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

2010-10-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-27T05:10:00.002-07:00

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?

2010-10-26T08:58:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-07T07:22:00.000-07:00

Design Studies: Assignment 1

2010-10-07T05:51:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-09-14T02:54:00.001-07:00

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!

2010-07-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-05-28T03:36:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-11T04:07:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-05-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-28T02:21:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-31T03:52:00.000-07:00

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.

Assignment 5a

2010-03-30T05:15:00.000-07:00

I am interested in the subject of where and how people obtain information, how opinions are formed and shaped by who we interact with and what are society’s main influences regarding how we access information and news. I am interested in finding out if any of these factors have an effect on social behaviours or trends.

I carried out research into this subject last semester, starting by using mind maps and brain storming techniques to first outline exactly what I wanted to look at and how I was going to go about doing it. I looked primarily at secondary research however I would now like to propose how I would collect my own primary research data so I would be able to draw my own conclusions and further my understanding of this subject.

I have looked at two texts on a similar subject, the first was ,“Japanese Network Capital: The Impact of Social Networks on Japanese Political Participation” by Ken'ichi Ikeda and Sean E. Richey which focuses on how social capital has a large influence on political behaviour. The second text I read was, “What do Americans Really want to know? Tracking the behaviour of News Readers on the Internet” By David Tewksbury, which looked at how the widespread use of the internet for news reading has changed the way we process information.

Both of these articles deal with different aspects of my question, the Japanese political participation study looks at real life social networks found in local communities, business’s and various volunteer and government lead organisations to see if differences in social structures influence different political beliefs and behaviours. Whereas Tewksbury’s research mainly focuses on news consumption online to discover if the new digital age is changing the way we read the news and if this has any lasting effects on the long-term health of democratic nations.

For my own personal primary research into this topic I firstly need to consider what research methods would be suitable. I want to obtain honest unbiased results into the relationship between news consumption and how or if that effects social behaviours.

I have carried out my own face-to-face interviews into this subject. From my research I was able to conclude that the primary medium used for news consumption and discussion was done on the internet.

My research was insightful but I believe it was not conclusive in proving that people’s views and opinions are influenced by the people they interact with. This could be due to not a large enough section of people being asked, however from my findings I can see the beginnings of trending results and patterns into news consumption. I therefore think further research needs to be carried out in this area.

As I have established that the majority of news and information consumption happens online, I believe it would be beneficial to carry out online observations by looking at the specific online locations where information is most commonly acquired. By using a system such as URL tracking I would be able to determine exactly what websites people are using to read the news and why type of news stories were most popular. I could also begin to gain information and achieve an insight into wither the subjects are sharing or discussing the information with anyone else online.

Using URL tracking is more beneficial and will generate more accurate results compared to asking subjects to keep a diary or to simply asking them in questionnaire format as the automatic recording of URL location illuminates human error such as forgetfulness.

Along with URL tracking it would be beneficial to carry out face-to-face interviews with the subjects as you could begin to gain a further understanding of any offline communications with peers, work colleagues, family etc. they have, and see how this interaction might influence their opinions on the stories read online.

Group interviews made up of people from the same social networks would be beneficial to gain a deeper understanding of influences over opinions and decisions within peer groups. This would show if the people we interact with every day influence or shape our opinions.

Within group interviews individuals can be influenced by others in the group or some might not feel confident enough to share their views, which would lead to everyone not getting a fair chance to speak. However this might work in favour for the type of research I can conducting. The interviewer could begin to see the relationship between the most confident and talkative individuals who may have the strongest opinions and the views of others in the social network. I would begin to see if individuals were being influencing by the more dominant people’s views. However if their views weren’t being influenced, even if they are having others views pressed upon them, this would confirm my results from my interviews that people are not influenced by those they interact with.

I have learnt that some methods of research are not always useful for what you are researching. Many factors need to be taken into consideration such as thinking about how your subjects feel, it is important they are in the right frame of mind and are not put under pressure or feel intimidated. To make sure this doesn’t occur it is beneficial to pre arrange a time and place for the interviews to take place and engaging the subjects in small talk before to help them open up and feel comfortable.

I believe that unstructured interviews are the most beneficial as conversation can flow easier, respondents answers can be fuller and more detailed and as an interviewer you can adapt, change or explain questions further resulting in better responses compared to written questionnaires. It is important for the interviewer to remain unbiased, not to guess or predict answers or to influence the interviewee in any way.

Pilot studies are always necessary so you can gauge the responses of the target age group and or class sector and sort out any problems in your questions before committing a lot of time and effort to the project.

I believe that online URL observations, face-to-face and group interviews are the best research methods to understand where and how people obtain information, how opinions are formed and shaped by who we interact with and what are society’s main influences regarding how we access information and news. By using more than one research method I will gain much fuller and in-depth information than if I were to only to use one data source.

Bibliography:

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

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.

Assignment 4

2010-03-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

So the second term is whizzing by at a tremendous speed and we're onto our fourth design studies assignment. For this one we were asked to continue our primary researching techniques and carry out a number of face-to-face interviews with people we did not know on our chosen subject, the reason they were strangers was to ensure their answers were not influenced by the fact they knew us.

So I decided to ask the question, "How do people access the news and obtain information on current issues in the 21st century? And if or how their views and opinions are influenced by the people they interact with?" This is carrying on from some secondary research I carried out last term on a similar subject.

First of all I had to think very hard about the questions I was going to ask, I had to be careful to not limit the responses to one word, like yes and no. And I carried out a pilot test on my brother to check the questions.

I asked three males age ranging from 20-50 years and a female aged between 20-25. When asked What is the last news story you remember hearing/reading/seeing, do you remember where you head/read/saw it? Two out of the four interviewees said the murder of MaryMcLaren, one of the male(aged 40-50) subjects saw it on Reporting Scotland (TV) and the other female interviewee read the story on the internet although she could not remember where. The news that Facebook were not going to place a "panic button" on their site was the last piece of news male(20-25) remembered and male(40-50) remembered a video of a Lorry pushing a car along a motorway as the last think he remembers seeing on the BBC news website.

When asked if they had discussed this story with anyone female(20-25) said she had talked about the murder case with her boyfriend, likewise male(40-50) discussed the story of the murder with his wife. Male(20-25) however did not discuss the Facebook panic button story with anyone and male(40-50) had not discussed the video however was thinking of posting it on Facebook.

Three of the interviewees listed Facebook within their top three websites, They also listed, Google, Twitter, Google Reader, ifanboy.com, BBC, The Chaos Engine and another German social networking site (one of my subjects was German).

The subjects favoured radio stations were, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 5, BBC Radio 4, Wave 102 (he claimed it was only for the traffic updates!), Classic FM and Tay FM. Only one of the interviewees said he did not listen to any radio stations.

Two of the subjects do not read a newspaper regularly, but both claim to read news online, primarily though the BBC news website.

Another of the subjects, male(40-50) reads the Guardian every day, his partner also reads the Guardian, although he said that she mostly only read the magazine supplement. He did however say that he discussed his views on news and current affairs with his wife.

The male(20-25) subject only occasionally read the Guardian, and stated that his parents bought the Daily Express, he does believe he interacts on a daily basis with people who hold the same opinions and views to him and discusses his views with them.

The German female subject stated that she talks with her friends in Germany on matters regarding politics however she does not know enough about British politics and couldn't tell me if she socializes with people with similar beliefs to her in Scotland as she does not discuss her views with them.

One of the male(40-50) subjects believes he does not socialize with anyone who holds similar opinions and views to him and only occasionally discusses these matters with them.

All four of the subjects confirmed that the primary medium which they obtained the majority of information on current news stories was though the internet, there was not a large amount of variation of locations, the BBC News was very popular and Google Reader/RSS feeds coming second.

From my research I can conclude that the majority of people I interviews use the internet to access news stories and obtain and share information on current issues. Only one person still bought a newspaper everyday and even he supplemented the information with further reading from internet news sites. From my results I would state that people's views are not influenced by others around them. However although my research has been insightful I do not believe it is conclusive, as only four people have been interviewed as I feel if I was to do a second round of interviews I would be better prepared with more in-depth questions as I've now had the time to reflect on my first results and can think of further questions. Another factor is that I wouldn't be as nervous asking the interviewing strangers a second time as I have gained knowledge and experience from this assignment.

I therefore think more research has to be carried out wither people's views and opinions are influenced by the people they interact with.

We carried out a class discussion which was interesting to hear others results and views on their findings as we had all done different questions and subjects. It turned into a really interesting talk about all our topics and we started adding our own opinions and ideas.

Bingo was the Game-O

2010-03-04T05:26:00.000-08:00

Last week I went to the bingo for the first time with a few of my classmates, the purpose of the outing was not solely to have a good night out, but was an educational assignment set by our design studies class.

The aim was to people watch, the theory being that as a designer I need to be aware of people's behaviour in different surroundings, "too often we tend to focus on objects while ignoring their effect, or how they are used."

So off we went with an open mind and open eyes.

First we had to register, which is free. They asked us to fill out a short form with the usual details, name, address, date of birth etc. however what I thought was slightly unusual was that in small print at the bottom of the form was a box to tick if you were a smoker. I have never seen this before, I am presuming it is connected to the smoking ban, I remember there was a lot of news at the time of bingo halls closing down due to it, so it must be important information to them.
While I was standing waiting to finish registering an older woman came up to the desk and informed the man serving that she had forgotten her glasses, he immediately drew out a whole drawer of spare glasses, all different styles and sizes for her to borrow, she started rummaging through trying on different pairs. This made me giggle; I have never seen a spare glasses service before. This surely tells me something not only about the age demographic at the bingo but also suggests that people here have a different attitude compared to other customers at other entertainment venues such as cinemas. People are not embarrassed to borrow what I presume to be lost property specs. I can't imagine many people feeling comfortable wearing someone else’s ill-fitting, unflattering glasses while you are out with your friends socializing. I wouldn’t anyway.

While I was being registered I was asked another couple of questions and was surprised that I was called me by my first name, I then noticed that everyone signing in beside me was also welcomed by name. Was this because they were regulars and the staff knew them? Or is it simply a corporate rule that the staff must read and use customer’s names from their membership card?

I think by the staff addressing customers by name it helps the customer feel a personal connection with the establishment and would surely make the customer feel more welcome and valued. This is a small but important gesture, as their main objective is for you to spend as much money as possible, something you would possibly be encouraged to do if you felt your presence was valued and would encourage repeated business.

Once I was all set with my membership card and dabber I made my way round to another desk buy my books. This is when it started to get confusing as I didn't know what games to play. I asked the woman serving me her opinion and she suggested as a beginner I play the electronic games but I wanted to stick to the traditional way of playing so she suggested I start on the 'early' book which was short and only 80p.

As we went through the doors and into the main hall we didn't know where to sit, if the game had already started, how we'd know if it had or when it would. We opted to sit quite near the back and close to the door. The hall was large and was decorated with bright and colourful features which gave it a holiday or hotel feel, this possibly creates an atmosphere of escapism for the customers.

There were numbers being called and flashing up on screen and we had no idea what for, looking around it wasn't that busy and people were still coming in so we just settled down and tried to work out how to play. It would have been really good if they put some instructions on the books as there was absolutely no indication of how to play anywhere, not even in our welcome pack. It struck me odd that the books didn’t have any Mecca Bingo branding on them at all as the rest of the building and material given to us was covered in it.

Looking around the hall the majority of people were female, and a lot of people on their own, there was also a fair number of men on their own, more than I thought there would be. No one really seemed to be chatting or mingling with each other, everyone was sparsely seated, one woman had a magazine and everyone seemed to have a drink of some sort on their table, wither it was tea, a can of coke or a pint. The majority of people were definitely over fifty and looked working class, everyone was white and dressed similar, very casual and comfortable, it was obvious people don’t make an effort to go to the bingo, not on a Wednesday anyway.

Wandering around the hall was a number of staff all of which wore name badges and t-shirts advertising upcoming events happening at the bingo. All the staff were quite young, under or in their thirties, and there seemed an equal amount of male and female staff. They came to check your card if you’d won and would pay out your winnings. I noticed that there wasn’t much interaction between the staff and the customers, many customers simply handed over their books without so much as a smile.

Other advertising material was placed on all the tables. It was obvious Mecca Bingo has a strong brand theme running throughout their chains, I felt that they mainly aim their marketing at woman, possibly playing to the female stereotype as all the colours used are pink and have lots of stock style photography of groups of females smiling and looking happy. This is slightly surprising when it’s obvious from the number that were there that they also have a large male customer base.

The game was about to begin, the lights went up, heads went down and dabbers were ready and poised, but I still wasn't 100% sure of all the rules, too late the numbers were flying at me. It was confusing and a bit of a blur, I kept missing numbers and I was nervous I might have to shout ‘house’. At the end of the first page there was an audible sigh as everyone in the room who had not won turned over their page, hopeful and ready for the second round. I soon got the hang of it and before I knew it the early book was over. Some of us decided to go back and get the main book, which was a bit more expensive.

During the break between the early and main book I decided to get a drink, spying the small bar in the corner of the hall next to a canteen style café, I braced myself for what I thought was going to be a very expensive glass of wine, however to my surprise it wasn’t, it was really cheap, the same with the food. Everything seemed very reasonably priced; you could get a main meal for under £4. I wondered if this is partly due to the smoking ban, do the bingo halls have to find new ways to draw people in and make money now customers can no longer smoke inside?

The lights went up for a second time and we started the second book, I had got the hang of it now and found myself getting quicker at finding the numbers on my page. Karen was the first and only person in our group to shout ‘house’, not once but twice in the same game! Everyone in our group started clapping and shouting as we were excited one of us had won, this was a huge comparison to other previous winners in the hall who seemed unexcited and flat when calling house. Other players in the hall also started clapping, they seemed amused and happy for us.

It was really interesting putting myself in a place where I had never been before and having to not only observe my own actions but of those around me too. It was an exciting experience as we all were unsure of what to do when everyone else seemed confident and used to the game and surroundings. It made me take a fresh look at how all the different elements of how a business is run comes together, from how the staff work and the branding is applied to how in turn that effects how the customers interact and behave.

Although we were slightly nervous and apprehensive about a night out at the bingo, we all had a really good time, and might even contemplate going back in the future.

More Free Fonts

2010-02-24T02:31:00.001-08:00

I love finding new sites filled with lots of lovely free fonts, so I thought I'd share this with you!

Check out Naldz Graphics for loads retro looking typefaces.

Something I was thinking...

2010-02-22T07:19:00.001-08:00

I was back home in Edinburgh over the weekend and was chatting to my parents over breakfast. They were asking me what I was doing at uni so I started telling them what my last couple of lectures had been about.

Since the begining of the year the main message of the various lectures we've received is that the best possible thing we can learn is to be prepared and ready to adapt our skills for the future. We should not sit around thinking that at the end of our three years in education we will simply become a graphic designer. Some of us will, but the world is progressing at such a rapid rate we have to mold ourselves to fit it. Whatever new services, opportunities or problems come our way we must be ready to work with them. Solving the problems of tomorrow before we know what they are today.

My parents agreed with what I was telling them, however my mum who works as a class room assistant in a primary school and regularly helps with reading groups found what I was telling her a contradiction to what she witnesses every day in the school. She feels that in her primary school the children are simply being spoon fed education. There is no room for the children to solve problems and to show initiative? They are to dependent on adults telling them what to do and where to sit etc. everything is 'labeled' and put in boxes. If the children get used to everyone solving their every day problems for them now, how will they cope when they leave school and grow up?

In one 'incident' where my mum was taking a reading group of children aged 8 around a table where there wasn't enough chairs, the children looked at her blankly as if to say "do you expect me to do my reading standing up?" Not for a second thinking that they could solve the problem by going and collecting a chair from the table behind. She eventually had to tell the children to go and get extra chairs as they couldn't work it out for them selves.

It is slightly worrying that the education system is producing children with such limited problem solving skills, when we're being told over and over again in uni that it is our job to be the problem solvers of tomorrow. If feels that they are more concerned with getting the kids though the school like a conveyor belt, ticking the right boxes and making sure they leave with what looks good on paper.

Instead we should be educating our kids at the age of 8 all about the skills they will need to adapt for the jobs they'll be working in in 15 years time, most of which aren't even invented yet.

Or maybe we should just start with teaching them how to think for them selves a bit more?

Assignment 2a

2010-02-20T05:27:00.000-08:00

We were asked to read the essay Rhetoric of the image, by Roland Barthes for our design studies class. I found this a difficult read, why to academics not think about the poor unacademic types who may one day be reading their work? However I battled on with it and found it helped when I met to discuss it with the rest of my seminar group.

We deduced that Barthe's is talking about the way we perceive images, he uses an example of an advert for Italian food (pasta, tomatoes etc). He talks about the three main ways we see an image.

The linguistic message, which is the text or copy included on the advert, this affects the viewer’s interpretation of image. In the example he gives us the linguistic message not only gives us the name of the product but also helps convey an overall feel for the advert. It focuses our attention, helping us identify the main message being conveyed in the advert.

The coded iconic message is the assumptions the viewer makes from the appearance of the image, in the advert he used as an example the produce looks fresh and appealing, which makes the viewer assume the company sell quality fresh produce. This does not need to be stated in the text as we can see that from the photo's composition. The colours used in the image are representative of the Italian colours, red, green and white, this heightens our perception that the produce is from Italy.

The non-coded iconic image is literally what the viewer sees in the image.

As a graphic designer I need to be aware of the different levels which people perceive an image. I need to think about cultural differences, and what factors such as age and gender play within the viewer’s interpretation.

We then started talking about the current diet Irn Bru advert which is on lots of bill boards around Dundee at the moment. In them there are two images which are identical apart from one has the phrase "sugar free" incorporated in it somewhere. The 'sugar free' is huge and very obvious. The caption reads "Spot the difference.... Diet Irn Bru, same great taste but sugar free". To me the advert doesn't make sense, they are wanting us to see that there is no taste difference in the diet drink compared to the regular one but in fact the images have a huge difference in them. Which to me states the exact opposite, that there is a taste difference and it’s a big one. However another person in the group perceived the ad to work well, he explained that because the only difference in the photos is the statement that it is sugar free this conveys that the drink is exactly the same as the regular version with only one difference (no sugar).

I think this in an example where the viewer really relies on the copy to make sense of the advert. For me if the advert did not state, "Same great taste" I would come away thinking that Irn Bru's sugar free drink tastes completely different to the regular version, which I know from the copy is not what they want me think. So this is an example of how the linguistic message has affected my understanding of an image and advert.

The story of 3 random photos

2010-02-19T05:07:00.001-08:00

For our design studies assignment we were asked to pick three completely random pictures from a stock photography site and ask several people to connect the photos in a story. The story could be as nonsensical or literal as the person liked as long as they linked all three photos, there was no order they had to begin or end with, they had complete free reign.

Some people I asked found this a lot easier than others.

From a male Tools Developer age 25:

"These are flamingos, they are on holiday - you can tell it's an all inclusive one because they all have bands.

It is a very expensive holiday.

Their god looks down and approves of their holiday, despite the window above the god, as far as the flamingos are concerned, there is no higher entity than their stone god.

All is well on the flamingo holiday, and they are looking forward to getting some prawn crackers tomorrow, from the nice lady that ships their bedsheets from China."

From a male dental student age 20:

"Chinese woman is taking a leisurely boat ride when she hits two flamingos with the front end of her boat. A mermaid comes and saves the flamingos and takes them to a flamingo paradise. The ancient Peruvian people then made built a building with a sculpture of the mermaid in her honour as they worship the flamingo."

From a male medical student age 20:

The flamingos are to be transported from an inner city zoo (indescribable in place or time) on an ancient oriental boat to be slaughtered and cooked by the descendants of an ancient queen. The queen is remembered by her family in the form of a stone sculpture on their house.

From male software developer aged 45:

Mabel & Doris had got to talking about how they had never been to Hong Kong to visit their great aunt Flo.

“No time like the present” said Mabel and they made a MAD decision to leave right away on a cut price ‘bring your own bedding’ cruise.

Unfortunately when they arrived Great Aunt had passed on BUT they were VERY pleased to see she had been remembered in a by a loving sculptor friend the harbour wall….."

From female primary school class room assistant aged 43:

"Pete Neon and a band member from the Neon Needles were in down town Hong Kong when they got stoned."
(This story is a reference to a Mighty Boosh episode)#

From male high school student aged 17:

"Two fridge repair men, Roger and Steve, decide to go hunting for flamingos so they can keep them as pets on their farm. This farm is a noodle farm but is not very successful as it is located in Yorkshire. They are convinced that the noodles will grow there and are certain that it is ghosts which are stopping their farms success. To fix this problem they contact an evil wall goblin named Carl who wasn't so much evil as just not well liked. Mainly because he rarely bought people drinks and was no fun at parties. They asked the spiirt for help but he declined because he was in a mood, and Roger fell into such a deep spell of depression that he jumped from a cliff but miraculously survived and now runs a McDonalds franchise in Shetland. Steve got lost in Ikea and was never seen again."

(I'm not sure if this one actually fits the brief as it doesn't seem to connect all three photos? But it's quite funny.)

I also emailed the photos out to a few people who I wouldn't be able to see in time, and one of the few people who got back to me was my old college tutor who kindly stopped her class for a 5 min break to ask them all for their stories.

Unfortunately I don't know their gender or age, only that they study graphic design. Here is a selection of their stories:

"As I was flying on my flamingo across the world I made a stop at china to have my breakfast when I heard about a statue of a head that I must see. I searched high and low but could not find this statue. The only thing I never found."

"I looked up at the mermaid's head on the pub wall and decided to go on a flamingo quest. We will take a raft and go to Flamingo Island, using our white sheets we'll build a tent fit for a princess. Maybe I shouldn't of had that last pint..."

"This is a story about Miss Nootchie and Patch's adventures in Thailand on holiday. the first day they went to the zoo and saw everything pink, it was a short visit but Noochie now does a good impression of a flamingo. Patch demanded that he bought some cheap white fabric so they went on a snorkelling trip to catch one of the ladies on the boats to give us her material. The found the mermaids head above the hotel door very amusing as it looks like the building is giving birth to a fully grown mermaid."

"Once upon a time we lived in a hunted house. The house was very scary and had a woman's head made from stone sticking out the side of the wall. It turns out the woman was a farmer who bread superhuman flamingos to fight terrorists. But one day a boat arrived from Hong Kong and the people left the boat and killed all the flamingos. The woman was very sad and went into a deep depression, eventually turning into stone. A builder was so inspired by her story that he placed her stone head into his first house, this upset the dead woman and caused her to haunt the house forever."

"There was once a woman in Thailand rowing her boat, she was in a peaceful place and rowed past a garden that was beautiful and radiant. Within the garden she spotted flamingos fishing. Their heads bobbing in the pond that was positioned in the middle of the garden. The flamingo walked forward and presented a fish to the woman. She took the fish and row back to shore. At the fish market the woman sells this fish. The fish market is an old building with a stone carving of Possidons wife at the entrance."

"There was an old man who lived in a boat, he was cold and lonely and the boat was very emty with just him in it. One day he decided that he no longer wanted to be lonely so he went ashore to the town and went to the old 'Face-building', so named because of the large stone face above the door.

When he approached the door the face called out, "who goes there? What do you want?"

The old man replied, "I'm just an old fisherman, I came ashore to find a friend"

"Oh really?" The head said surprised. "Fair enough."

Smiling the old man went inside, there in the building the old man decides to buy himself a flamingo.

Never at any point did he bother to ask himself why there was a talking stone head above the door of a shop that sold flamingos, but I'm sure you didn't either, did you?"

Although I cannot tell the age or gender from these stories they help give me an idea of some other view points, reoccurring themes and story lines

Some of the recurring themes in the stories are depression, mermaids, royalty/god and holidays. Most of the stories start with the picture of the flamingos or use the flamingos as the main focus of the story. I feel that the more "creative people" like the HNC graphics students did come up with longer and more detailed stories than the "non creative" people, such as the doctor and dentist who found the exercise difficult and struggled to link the photos even in the most literal way. This is probably because graphics students are used to problem solving and 'thinking outside the box'.

For the second part of this assignment I had to pick one story and find a fourth image that I felt summed up it's main message. So that whoever I showed it to would be able to come up with the same or similar story as the original.

I chose this story:
"Chinese woman is taking a leisurely boat ride when she hits two flamingos with the front end of her boat. A mermaid comes and saves the flamingos and takes them to a flamingo paradise. The ancient Peruvian people then built a building with a sculpture of the mermaid in her honour as they worship the flamingo."

I thought that a photo which represents the Peruvian people worshipping the flamingo would be good and with a small bit of research found that the Peruvian flag is red and white which is to represent the colours of the flamingo, it was chosen to represent the country's new found freedom in 1820. As flamingos represent so much to Peruvian people, I think it would be quite possible that they might build a sculpture in a mermaid's honour for saving them. So for that reason I chose a picture of the Peruvian flag as my fourth image.

Unfortunately I did not have enough time or know enough people to ask them the final parts of this assignment.

I have been finding the workload pretty heavy at uni the past couple of weeks, combined with a large amount of studio work and deadlines and it taking me longer to understand and read assignment 2a, plus reading our design cultures book, I have run out of time. Studio work is not really a problem but combined with the design studies side of things which is a completely new way of working for me, I feel it demands much more of my time than the module hand book suggests, especially combined with the amount of work we have in the studio. I'm upset that I could not finish this assignment.

(Sorry I don't know why the pictures have gone weird, I wont be able to fix this till next week)

Happy Valentines Day

2010-02-14T01:57:00.001-08:00

Envelope map

2010-02-10T05:35:00.001-08:00

Quite a cleaver idea of putting a google map location on the inside of an envelope, nice for corporate invites etc. However it's likely to rip when someone was opening it :/

Nice gimmick though, it adds an extra something...

(found on bestemiray)

In my opinion...

2010-02-06T04:49:00.001-08:00

Tracey Emin's My Bed

This is my response after reading Understanding Bourdieu chapter 8.

One of the things I have always loved about 'art' is that it is so subjective, it draws people together and it divides others, it sparks debate and stimulates conversations. Of course people will come along and state their opinions as definitive, or condemn someone's passion as trash, but really the beauty of the subject is that it's a personal experience, different from one person to the next. There are on the whole no wrong or right answers. Of course factors such as upbringing, social status and education play large rolls in defining or swaying our tastes, what newspapers we read and radio stations we listen to all have a bearing on how we react to art. But I believe the basic instinct of liking or disliking art is something private that comes from deep inside ourselves.

I don't believe that someone who is well educated would necessarily get more enjoyment from a piece of art than someone who is poorly educated. The better educated person may be able to understand the piece better on a technical level, be able to put it into context or it's time period or social surroundings, but you do not need to be an expert to know your own tastes and preferences. On a basic level of enjoyment and personal understanding and interpretation I believe art is the one thing that everyone can have an valid and interesting opinion on.

A big question is what makes something art? What makes something worthy of being hung on a gallery wall? Being put in a case in a museum? Or selling for millions at auction? Do we hold more value to a painting if it has been validated by a renowned critic or done by an already established artist? I believe we do. But does that mean we necessarily like it any better? Personally I don't think I do. I do not like Tracey Emin's work just because it's received so much exposure, press coverage and prestige. In fact I left her exhibition last year feeling slightly disturbed and uneasy, I couldn't think of one of her pieces that I liked. But that got me thinking, was that the emotion she intended I felt after viewing her work? Did she want me not to like it? I think what is important is that it was an experience that evoked an emotion from me.

I think art is whatever you want it to be, there are no right or wrong answers, it is constantly changing, tastes change and fashions will come and go, cultural and social movements will evolve. All these factors influence art and what we think of it. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Semester 2 Assignment 1: The Photo Swap!

2010-02-05T05:15:00.001-08:00

Over the Christmas holidays we had to collect several photos of ourselves growing up, the photos were to be candid snapshots of family days out, birthday parties and every day activities. The aim of the exercise was to swap the photos with another student who you didn't know to see if you could analyse the photos to discover what kind of person they were.

A few of the pictures I gave to Scarlett.

I exchanged mine with, Scarlett, a jewellery student who I had never met or talked to before. Looking at her photos my first impressions was that she grew up in the countryside, I felt she spent a lot of time outside in the garden playing when she was growing up. She is always surrounded by her friends and family in the photos suggesting that she is a people person, who enjoys others company. I think she enjoyed regular days out with her family when she was growing up.

The photos suggested that Scarlett loves to dance. There is a photo of her, her sister and a friend dressed up in costumes performing to her parents in her living room. it looks like they are practising for a show. They are enjoying it as they are smiling and giggling. I could see from a photo on the mantelpiece that Scarlett also did highland dancing. I think she also did some other sport, maybe running and enjoyed participating in school sport events.

Other objects in the room, such as a gold chest and an old clock look as if they could have been handed down through generation, which suggests that her family have strong family values.

There is a couple of photos where Scarlett is with animals, in one she is holding a pet hamster and in another she is petting a small deer. This suggests that She likes animals and is not afraid of them as in her pictures she is smiling and looks proud she is touching the deer. There is no evidence of any larger pets in the household such as a dog so perhaps annimals didn't play a big part in her childhood.

I feel Scarlett likes trying new experiences as long as they are within her comfort zone. In one of her pictures she is on holiday and is sitting on a camel. She is with her friend or sister and in a holiday resort which looks very nice and quiet (which suggests it is a family holiday rather than one with her friends) she is sitting behind the other girl in the photo, rather than at the front. Was it her friend’s idea to go on the camel and not Scarlett’s?

From the pictures I feel that Scarlett is a confident and a very likeable person, she is surrounded by friends and family in all her pictures, I think she is very well loved and adored by her friends and family. i think she has a wide friend base but has a few very close friends. She is always smiling and laughing in her photos. In one of the photos of her at a birthday party all her friends are not looking at the camera, but Scarlett is looking straight into the lens, pulling a pose. This suggests that she is full of energy, outgoing and enjoys being centre of attention.

I think Scarlett's fashion is influenced by the people around her, she dresses similarly to her friends, she follows trends but her style is not "out there".

I met up with Scarlett to discus my findings and to hear what she thought about my photos.

I was interested to hear that I had almost completely sussed her! There was a few things I misinterpreted like that she does actually have a dog, and that the room where she was dancing with her friends wasn't actually her house, so the chest and clock being passed down the family doesn't apply. She agreed with the statement that she likes trying new experiences as long as they are in her comfort zone too.

She then went on to tell me her feedback on my photos.

She thought I grew up in the countryside, but in fact I grew up in a tenement flat on a main road in the centre of Edinburgh.

"She seems a happy and very smiley child. She had a close family upbringing. It looks as though she has a brother and sister that are younger."

I was a very happy child, and had a very close family upbringing however I only have one younger brother, the other girl in the picture was my cousin.

Scarlett worked out that I enjoy family meals, and that we often eat outside in the summer (that's true, we have been know to sit with blankets and our coats on in the past).

She thought that there was lots of plants and flowers which created a happy atmosphere, that I love chocolate and that my family enjoy celebrating occasions like birthdays. This is true, we normally have a family meal either at home or at my Grandpa's restaurant when it's someone's birthday. My dad loves plants in the house, and what girl doesn't love chocolate!!

Scarlett guessed correctly that I'm confident and enjoy socializing with my friends. She also worked out I have studied graphic design for a while and that I'm very proud of my work.

She states that I have a unique style, that I follow trends slightly not not religiously. Which I would have to agree with, I never try to be "unique" in my clothing but am definitely not a slave to fashion or trends. She could tell that I like to change my hair style regularly, she said this shows that I like to experiment, and that I don't feel I have to be the same as everyone else. I like bright colours, which show my bright and bubbly personality.

Although nothing earth shattering was uncovered by either of us I found this a fascinating exercise, I am currently reading Snoop by Sam Gosling which is all about the "science of snooping" so was fantastic to be able to carry out my own investigations. It is amazing how much information you can gleam from a handful of snapshots of a complete stranger. I did feel quite uncomfortable and awkward to begin with it felt daunting having to assess and judge a someone's personal memories of childhood. And it felt weird thinking she would be doing the same to my photos as I was to hers. I began thinking about what she might be thinking about me as I was thinking about her.

(Scarlett's photos to come soon)

When I grow up

2010-01-29T10:23:00.001-08:00

I remember filling out the “In the future I want to be…” section in my yearbook at the end of primary 7 and asking my teacher what someone who designed logos was called, she said she didn’t know and I should just write I wanted to be a “logo designer”. So I did.

I went onto high school where art and graphic communication became my favourite subjects but I had no real idea of what direction I wanted to take my passion in. I flirted with the idea of set design or product design but never for a moment thought I’d make it to Art College. For some reason I did not connect design with art college and as I’ve never been an outstanding artist didn’t think it would be an option. By this time I had forgotten that I had always wanted to be a designer, I lacked guidance from my school, and six years on and I still didn’t know what a “logo designer” was.

It wasn’t until I left school after fifth year and went to college to a BTec in foundation art that I truly saw design as an art form. I ended up specializing in textiles that year which was fun but I knew it wasn’t the career path for me. I went on to complete a HNC in illustration, (purely because I still wasn’t 100% sure what graphic design involved, and illustration seemed a safer option) but as the year went on my work developed a very graphic style.

While everyone moaned about having to learn Adobe CS3 I was thriving on the Macs, I discovered typography for the first time, getting the highest test score in the year (that was including the graphics students too). I felt I did not fit in in illustration, I wanted to make the cross over to the graphic design course. Fortunately I was able to do that, and I completed the final year of my HND in graphics.

Making the switch was the best thing I ever did, suddenly I was surrounded by people who loved the discipline as much as me. I was not a square peg in a round hole, I was round too! It helped that I had very motivated tutors, something I had not experienced in illustration. For the first time I was getting positive feedback for studio work as well as CAD projects, I felt inspired about the industry I would one day end up in.

That year the course ran a mentoring scheme for the first time with six graphic designers from Edinburgh. I was privileged to have this experience as I gained valuable feedback an constructive criticism from the mentors, I made contacts and started to network, I gained further insight into the real world of graphic design. I went to their studios, emailed them, went to the pub with them, I presented to them, brainstormed with them, went on work placement with them. I began to feel and think like a real graphic designer. I was constantly learning new skills I never knew existed.

Like what a concept is. It seems silly now, but about eighteen months ago I didn’t know or understand what a concept was, or understand that you needed one as the basis to all your work. Like a lot of other things I had to learn pretty quickly, I had a whole year of catching up to do compared to my peers.

However during a months work placement I undertook last February at two different design agencies in Edinburgh I grew disheartened. All the excitement of working through and delivering a brief and the buzz of the classroom was lost in the transfer to the workplace. It was simply just another nine till five in a sterile office, the people were nice but there was no spark.

That’s why I applied for art college, I was not ready to enter that type of environment as some of my classmates were. I wanted the excitement, I wanted the thrill and I wanted to be able to stretch myself without limits. In education you have the luxury of inventing solutions that would never go ahead in the real world, I did not want to pander to the client’s every whim just yet.

So I find myself now two weeks in to my second semester and I love it here at DoJ. It took me at least six weeks to settle in and if I’m being honest all of semester one to feel like I belonged in my new course. I still loved graphics, it was just a getting used to a new way of working seemed odd, plus moving to a new city etc. The course seemed slow paced to begin with after the whirl wind year at college but there was new challenges facing me like design studies classes and lectures, more writing and reading are required of me, so while I found some aspects of the course slow to begin with other bits were flying at me.

Just as one of my previous classmates resigns from his junior graphic design post at an agency in Edinburgh after six months on the job to apply to DoJ next year I couldn’t be happier here. I know not all graphic agencies are like the ones I experienced last year, I know it is a demanding and competitive industry, but I also know that graphic design is my passion. I'm not leaving here after three years to settle as a "MacMonkey", I'm aiming higher, and I know DoJ is the right place for me to gain these extra skills to do that.

Valentines day gift ideas

2010-01-28T09:10:00.001-08:00

1.Lorem Ipsum Cuff, $59.00 Veer.com 2. CMYK necklace, $18.00 littleshopof @ Etsy.com 3.Lorem Ipsum silk tie, $40.00 toybreaker @ Etsy.com 4. Kern rings, $11.00 plastique @ Etsy.com 5. Kernie Plush Pal, $49.00 Veer.com 6. Moleskine Pocket Sketch-book, £9.50 Paperchase 7. Ampersand necklace, $24.00 Isette @ Etsy.com 8. Love card, $3.00 Upup @ Etsy.com 9.CMYK taches T, $24.00 forwardcollective @ Etsy.com 10. Candy Script cushions, $40.00 Veer.com

As Valentines day approaches our minds turn to finding our partner that perfect gift. And if your partner happens to be a graphic designer I've found some gifts they would be thrilled to receive. (and put you in the good books for a couple of months at least!) This year be more creative than the standard teddy bear or some milk tray

How to Build an iPhone App that Doesn't Suck

2010-01-24T12:26:00.000-08:00

I mentioned in my last post that we have been given a brief from uni to design an iPhone application. The brief states that "the app is to be original and designed by you." Which is a pretty wide criteria and leaves it very open to a variety of different subjects. Ideally I'd like to design something that I personally would find useful, something I or someone like me would buy and use everyday and utilize the iPhones fetures, such as GPS etc.

While I continue to ponder the best direction to take this project I recommend watching this lecture from Steve Marmon at Stanford University (in America) which covers the ultimate 10 steps to take when developing an app. It is primarily aimed at technically minded students that will actually be able to code their final idea, rather than me, a graphic designer that defiantly couldn't. But I still got loads out of it, so would recommend watching if you too are designing an iPhone app.

And lets hope my app doesn't suck!

Week 1 down

2010-01-22T05:50:00.000-08:00

Well first week back at uni and already feel like I've been back for weeks, but in the best possible way.

Monday got off to a good start with our first new brief of the year and a life drawing class in the afternoon. Later I played with the two cute rats my boyfriend is looking after, they didn't have names at the beginning of the week but they left on thursday morning as Salt and Pepper (because the grey one loves pepperoni, and the other is white...like salt). I also started a new book, Snoop by Sam Gosling. We received a talk from Phil Taylor from the Scottish Crop Research Institute on Tuesday, all about the work they do there, it was much more interesting than it sounds, and I got stuck into our second brief. I also watched The Secret Lives of Pippa Lee and joined the uni swimming pool.

On wednesday I tried to go swimming, but it was shut, so chilled out at yoga instead, and I helped put together some flat pack furniture, well I watched as my boyfriend put them together as I handed him the screws.

On Thursday I had a flash tutorial and managed to make a stick man walk across the screen! I worked on ideas for my projects and briefs various, and I eventually managed to go swimming.

On Friday (well today) I went to my first lecture of the year and had a pub lunch as the union with my lovely classmates. This afternoon we received our last brief of the week - to create and design an iPhone app.

So all in all a good and busy week, looking forward to a chilled weekend.

The perfect gift for a type geek...?

2010-01-19T08:35:00.000-08:00

...Or maybe just anyone with good typographic sense? Either way I'm wearing mine with pride.

A quirky little present from my boyfriend, he found them on Etsy, if anyone wants to purchase their own. I think they are pretty cool, but then again I am probably verging on the side of geek when it comes to type.

Cookie book. Yum yum.

2009-12-30T12:34:00.001-08:00

I received a very exciting Christmas present today, well exciting to someone who loves baking pretty, girly, yummy things. Cookies, is a recipe book filled with lots of nice edible treats you could give as gifts, or eat all yourself, which suits me perfectly. Cant wait to get baking, although maybe I should clear the backlog of other chocolatey Christmassy things first.

A Very Happy Handmade Christmas

2009-12-26T06:58:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed a very nice Christmas day despite being ill. It was very quiet and peaceful, with lots of yummy food, snow, gifts and the delicious Lucas panettone Ice-cream, shared with my Mum, Dad, Brother, Gran and Aunty. Perfect.

Both my mum and I were determined not to be trailing around the shops looking for presents

most of December and decided to craft some if not most of our presents.

Between us we made Christmas Apple and Plum chutney (two batches!), our first venture into chutney making and I think it turned out quite well, (even if we did manage to turn the jar lids orange when sertilizing them). My mum made loads and loads of her famous Dumpling Cakes which she's been making for years and years.

She also got busy on her sewing machine and knocked up some very styllish aprons.

We both got crafting with some socks. I made lots of sock bunnies in a variety of colours and mum tried out an original sock monkey. (I will hopefully post a sock bunny tutorial soon.)

I even received some crafty diy presents...

... and a flask so I can take soup to uni with me :)

My friend Siobhan is an illustrator and sent me a beautiful card. Check out her website here.

Here is my little bro modelling a hat my mum knitted for my boyfriend's Christmas present. She even learnt how to crochet to do the light blue bit around the edge.

I'm already thinking about many more crafty projects for next year's presents.

Hope you had a great Christmas too.

Free Fonts!

2009-12-10T06:06:00.000-08:00

The newest free font website to add to my list, The League of Moveable Type is an open source font collection to rival other font sites on the web. The typefaces look well made and best of all they are completely free.

My favourite free font sites:

Starry Eyed Surprise

2009-12-07T08:50:00.001-08:00

Taking inspiration from Cath Kidston's book, Make, today I customized a plain white t-shirt (£6 from Peacocks)with some cheap coloured cotton and the glorious Bondaweb (no sewing involved). Using the star template from the book and following the Bondaweb instructions I now have a unique starry top for under £10.

Watch this space for more "Bondawebbed" creations.

Assignment Four

2009-12-03T14:00:00.000-08:00

Task 4 in our design studies class asks us to pick two articles from my bibliography from assignment 3, read them in full and then write a short summery of each of the authors ideas, adding our own thoughts on the subject.

Over the past few weeks I have been looking at how design can help tip social behaviour, movements or trends. I decided to look at how and where people obtain information from and how opinions are formed and shaped, who are society’s main influences and how people access information in the 21st century, looking at the internet and social networking in particular.

The first article I have chosen to look at Japanese Network Capital: The Impact of Social Networks on Japanese Political Participation by Ken'ichi Ikeda and Sean E. Richey.

This paper looks at what impact social networks have on political participation and behaviour in Japan. It aims to find out what environment has the biggest impact on promoting political participation. It looks at the way people interact within social networks and who with and if that has a bearing on how they participate in political matters.

It tests this within different network structures to see the impacts of political participation. This study recognizes the importance and growth of social networks especially in the last ten years and looks at many factors such as involvement in formally organized voluntary associations and informal social networks, it examines whether hierarchical networks have a different impact on participation rather than equal relationships and tests the openness to outsiders in these networks.

It covers three main ideas which are, people who are involved with voluntary associations and civic organizations participate more in politics. The second idea is that there is less impact in organizations where there is a hierarchical relationships, in Japan traditionally there is a cultural divide between two social groups, the meue who are superior and the meshita who are inferior. It is seen that the meshita almost always follow the meue’s judgment and therefore may not develop their own citizenship or decision making skills. Alternatively it is also possible that a hierarchical network could increase participation as the meshita could follow the meue’s advice and instructions. The third idea is that participation within organizations which are open to outsiders increases participation as this exposes members to outside issues and problems which may give them the motivation to get involved in politics.

Other factors which the authors believe might promote political participation is daily informal conversations with peers regarding politics as this gives people a chance to gain information with out the risk of looking ignorant. They believe that communication has a important role to play in helping people understand and digest news and important information, the article suggests that without the support from networks our understanding is limited.

Through face-to-face interviews which the authors carry out and data from the Japanese Election and Democracy study they explore these ideas in more depth. Through the comprehensive questioning with the interviewees they explore the type of social network the person is associated to for example is it hierarchal or does it interact with outsiders, who do they speak to most regarding politics and is this person is a source of political information? How often they participate in political activities such as voting or contacting their city hall and other information such as their education, age and income.

I find the conclusions made from the research proves that the more involved a person is in a civic organization the more the person participates in politics, as well as political activity increasing when the individual receives political information from someone they trust. Interest and efficacy also significantly promote participation in politics however income, city size and residency have hardly any effect. This part of the study show that social networks are important as they increase political involvement.

A finding which dose not match the original ideas is that membership of formal and informal associations which have hierarchical relationships do increase participation more than non hierarchical networks. I find this very interesting as the opposite was thought to have been true so this leaves questions regarding why this is.

People may participate more because they are being influenced by older and wiser people that they respect, or it may be that they feel pressured into participation and are simply obeying orders from their superiors. To determine what the most probable explanation for this question they carried out further research which then concluded that people within hierarchical networks are taking the advice of their superiors, and not participating reluctantly due to social pressure.

Openness to others in formal social networks was proven to have a significant positive effect however no data to support whether openness within informal networks has the same impact was proven. The paper suggest that more research needs to be done in this area.

The main finding in this paper is that unlike what they predicted to begin with, hierarchy promotes political participation. It proves that networks have a substantial impact over Japanese political participation.

The second article I chose to look at is What do Americans Really want to know? Tracking the behaviour of News Readers on the Internet. By David Tewksbury.

This paper interested me as it aims to determine exactly what Americans are reading, where they source their information and how often they read the news. It questions whither there are possible long term problems for democratic societies if the public chose to read public affairs less frequently than other news items.

The internet provides a huge amount of choice regarding different types of news articles this gives the user a large level of control over what they read, and the ability to only select stories that interest them. This would mean the user could only be reading a very limited variety of topics, which may have negative repercussions for society.

A society has a duty to keep up to date with information about matters in the public domain so they can use that information to make informed decisions regarding politics and other important matters of the community. However if a society dose not actively chose to read about these subjects but prefers “soft” news such as sport and entertainment, it raises the problem that people are not well enough informed and it dose not matter how much information the media prints if they are not going to read it. Tewksbury wants to find out exactly what type of news Americans are seeking, this would help tailor public affairs news to an audience who may not necessarily seek it.

The paper addresses a problem which other researchers have faced in pervious studies is that people are poor at reporting their own habits, they understand the obligation to read civic news so may only scan or read the headline of the article but claim to have read all of it, which gives an incomplete picture of how people receive the news. However the nature of the internet makes it easier to observe and examine the behaviour of the reader than ever before.

Data from a survey done of over 3000 American adults was used to determine basic news reading habits, such as whether they listened to the news on the radio regularly, watched network news programmes on TV and how closely they follow certain topics.

Tewksbury also uses NetRaitings to help provide data, they are an internet ratings company who gather information from a diverse panel who are recruited by random digit dialling and install tracking software on the their computer which records all URLs which the person goes to.

The results from the research show that online news readers are more likely to read a newspaper or watch a news programme like CNN and listen to the news on the radio but less likely to watch local Television network news. This suggests that online news readers are consumers of news formats that have fewer time constraints.

Sports content was the most commonly viewed news article by the panel compared to national, world, politics, opinion, editorial, and state and local news which together is almost the same percentage as sport content. The study shows that people who read the news more frequently tend to view a more diverse subject of topics. Health, state and obituaries were among the least viewed subjects.

There is a clear inconsistency between the two research methods used to gather this information as during the survey over half of the people claimed to get international news online where as on the NetRaitings sample only 17% of people was observed doing this at least once in the two month period. Which would conclude that online news readers do not select public affairs content as often as they select other news content.

This could be for a number of reasons, the first being that people do things differently than they do offline, it could be that people are simply supplementing what they are reading offline with online articles. It could also be that the sights that the researchers selected for study in this paper could not be reprehensive of the average online news reader, however I think this might be unlikely as they are among the largest news providers online. The third reason is that maybe people just don’t like reading about public affairs?

Regarding the article What do Americans Really Want to Know? I find their conclusion interesting, and the problem perhaps of a designer. They conclude that they do not know the reason why readers prefer soft news articles to public affairs. By rethinking how people view news stories online and the layout and interface of news websites and by redesigning how the news is delivered could spark more interest for the less read stories.

For example I know personally I am more likely to follow up a story I hear about through Twitter or through word of mouth than go directly to a news webpage and search for it myself. So news sights could perhaps think of new mediums for which to get public affairs across. Likewise they should be looking at what is happening on blogs, forums and sights like Twitter to find out exactly how the users are reporting news and events, and what type of stories.

I think social networks have a large influence on how you read the news and what type of news articles you read. This in turn has an effect of how you participate in political matters as if you are not informed about public affairs you cannot participate fully in your community, which in turn affects the long term health of the society.

Both the articles help me to understand how people receive and process information By understanding that hierarchical networks promote political participation I can use and manipulate this information, if I needed to market a product at a certain group of people, for example, the lower social group I could market it at the higher social class and the lower class will follow by example.

For further research I could look into what has happened since these studies have been published and the present date, look into wither more studies have been conducted to follow on from these findings and if so what do they find. I could research if I can find any business models that reflect the findings of the studies or if any news networks have been successful in gaining more readers of public affairs stories.

I could carry out my own surveys and research looking at my own social network in particular to understand the theories laid out in the articles clearer and in context of my own surroundings.

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

Ken'ichi Ikeda, Sean E. Richey. (2005). Japanese Network Capital: The Impact of Social Networks on Japanese Political Participation. Political Behavior. 27 (3), 239-260.

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.

New Website

2009-11-30T06:02:00.001-08:00

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?

2009-11-24T04:01:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-23T01:39:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-17T01:47:00.000-08:00

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

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

Assignment Three

2009-11-17T01:41:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-13T04:08:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-02T15:05:00.000-08:00

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.