Thursday 28 November 2013
Thursday 21 November 2013
Monday 18 November 2013
OUGD501 - CoP Concept & Progress tutorial
Context of Practice Concept tutorial
Essay:
I proposed my idea for my final essay: The idea that if consumerism surrounds us and manipulates our lives to compulsively by stuff we didn't know we wanted/ needed, but yet we are aware of this, know the effects of consumerism, and don't care - is it still a threat to our sanity/ lifestyle? A few arguments for and against this will be discussed.
Practical:
In store/ shopping centre campaign questioning people as to why they are buying the products they are buying - a juxtaposition of literal consumerist culture taking place and thoughts around it.
Essay:
I proposed my idea for my final essay: The idea that if consumerism surrounds us and manipulates our lives to compulsively by stuff we didn't know we wanted/ needed, but yet we are aware of this, know the effects of consumerism, and don't care - is it still a threat to our sanity/ lifestyle? A few arguments for and against this will be discussed.
Practical:
In store/ shopping centre campaign questioning people as to why they are buying the products they are buying - a juxtaposition of literal consumerist culture taking place and thoughts around it.
Thursday 14 November 2013
Monday 11 November 2013
OUGD504 - Laser cutter induction
Laser cutter induction
For future reference and to utilise the facilities around the college for Design for Print, I booked myself into a laser cutter induction.
We received a booklet on how to use the laser cutter, and then had a go ourselves.
It was fairly straight forward, although there were a few things I thought were worth noting down:
While we were down in the wood workshop, we decided to ask Jake and Matthew about some of the facilities available to us. They told us that we would need to find out which machines would be of use to us and they would be happy to demonstrate and teach us how to use them.
Some of the machines available:
Radial Armsaw
A radial arm saw is a cutting machine consisting of a circular saw mounted on a sliding horizontal arm.
Surface / Thickness planer
A thickness planer (also known in the UK and Australia as a thicknesser or in North America as a planer) is a woodworking machine which is used to create boards that are of an even thickness throughout their length and flat on both surfaces.
Spindle Moulder
spindle moulder in the UK, is a stationary woodworking machine in which a vertically orientated spindle protrudes from the machine table and can be spun at speeds typically between 3000 and 10,000 rpm. Cutter heads may be mounted on the spindle. As the workpiece is fed into the machine, the cutters mould a profile into it. On some shapers, router bits can also be used using a special mounting adapter. The machine normally features a vertical fence, against which the workpiece is guided to control the horizontal depth of cut.
Router
A router is a tool used to rout out (hollow out) an area in the face of a relatively hard workpiece, typically of wood or plastic.
Vaccum Former
Vacuum forming is a simplified version of thermoforming, whereby a sheet of plastic is heated to a forming temperature, stretched onto a convex, or into a concave, single-surface mold, and forced against the mold by a vacuum (suction of air).
My favourite machine out of all of these are the laser cutter and the vacuum former, as I think that it will be a useful tool when creating packaging, such as blister packaging.
For future reference and to utilise the facilities around the college for Design for Print, I booked myself into a laser cutter induction.
We received a booklet on how to use the laser cutter, and then had a go ourselves.
It was fairly straight forward, although there were a few things I thought were worth noting down:
- File format other than the Ethos Software is Adobe Illustrator files and vector images. NOT PDFs because they will not save it in vector format, this is only good for raster images.
- When opening an illustrator file, it's best to copy the design from that file once opened to a blank Ethos file to ensure that all the options are available (default settings available on a blank doc)
- Fonts are not saved on illustrator files, so be sure to create outlines on all text with consideration of stuff that may fall away within the letterforms.
- Be sure to pick the 'laser effects' preset when creating a new doc.
- For images, lower the raster stripe size for more intricate detail.
- Inverse the raster effect when working with acrylic as it goes lighter when engraved.
- The laser cutter is NOT drop in, but booking only.
- To pause the laser cutter at anytime, press the hand symbol button at any time during the job.
***
While we were down in the wood workshop, we decided to ask Jake and Matthew about some of the facilities available to us. They told us that we would need to find out which machines would be of use to us and they would be happy to demonstrate and teach us how to use them.
Some of the machines available:
Radial Armsaw
A radial arm saw is a cutting machine consisting of a circular saw mounted on a sliding horizontal arm.
Surface / Thickness planer
A thickness planer (also known in the UK and Australia as a thicknesser or in North America as a planer) is a woodworking machine which is used to create boards that are of an even thickness throughout their length and flat on both surfaces.
Spindle Moulder
spindle moulder in the UK, is a stationary woodworking machine in which a vertically orientated spindle protrudes from the machine table and can be spun at speeds typically between 3000 and 10,000 rpm. Cutter heads may be mounted on the spindle. As the workpiece is fed into the machine, the cutters mould a profile into it. On some shapers, router bits can also be used using a special mounting adapter. The machine normally features a vertical fence, against which the workpiece is guided to control the horizontal depth of cut.
Router
A router is a tool used to rout out (hollow out) an area in the face of a relatively hard workpiece, typically of wood or plastic.
Vaccum Former
Vacuum forming is a simplified version of thermoforming, whereby a sheet of plastic is heated to a forming temperature, stretched onto a convex, or into a concave, single-surface mold, and forced against the mold by a vacuum (suction of air).
***
My favourite machine out of all of these are the laser cutter and the vacuum former, as I think that it will be a useful tool when creating packaging, such as blister packaging.
OUGD501 - First things first Seminar
First things first Seminar
Today, in our last seminar of the year (!) we raised a discussion about the different viewpoints and opinions that sprung from the 'First things first' manifesto of 1964 and the revised version of 2000. We were split into 4 groups and then made notes on each of the 4 pieces of texts relating to these matters:
First Things First 1964:
With a little background research into the initial author of First Things First; Ken Garland, we can put into context his reasonings. In the decade this was written, the western world saw a boom of consumerism. The country finally saw a true recovery from the world wars and the country was back on it's feet, with some disposable income to spend. Without having objects around them for so long, it was inevitable that there would be a surge in materialism. This meant that lots of designers saw a change in their job role from essential political artist to advertiser, flogging mundane objects to the general public for a living. Meanwhile, there was another war stirring up the publics concern: Vietnam. This could be argued the start of revolutionary hippie culture against the war, which Garland was a part of; for example the very first Easter March. He argues that designers are getting bogged down with the more trivial design tasks while they could be involved and prioritise their efforts in more meaningful, functional design.
First Things First 2000:
The revised First Things First manifesto was a much angrier and urgent relative to its proceeder. This was because of the overwhelming force of consumerism rapidly increasing since the first manifesto in the 60's. Rather than a polite request, this manifesto is a wake up call to designers, asking them to challenge consumerist culture and create 'more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication' to stop exploiting their creative talent. As opposed to the mundane consumerist objects listed in the First Things First 1964 manifesto, the 2000 one lists things such as credit cards, diamonds and designer coffee, much more self-indulgent and contracting products. This manifesto is also addressed to all creatives and not just graphic designers like the original manifesto.
First Things First (Revisited) article from Emigre magazine by Rick Poynor:
Rick Poynor addresses some of the issues and observes the different attitudes towards both First things First manifestos. He states that even those designers who lay low and turn away from their political responsibilities and argue that they are just making a living creating adverts and don't want to change the world are still contributing to the political state of affairs by feeding the consumerist culture whether they like it or not because design has power. He also goes on to say that the manifestos aren't just design related, they are a political project; the environment we live in was designed!
The Footnotes of First things First by Michael Bierut from 2007:
In these footnotes on the 2000 manifesto, Michael Bierut argues against and defends his way of living. He lightly points out that the creatives who signed the manifesto were already well established as designers and didn't NEED to be involved in the mundane tasks of advertising for consumerist culture and that the position they were in was probably because they had to go through all of those kind of tasks to be in a position to refuse them or that they've always had the pleasure of designing for the 'culturally elite'. He also questions the manifesto's request for motives: Can you just drop out of the consumerism game? And if you can, should you? What good will come out of it? He also questions that the world is complicated and nothing is as simple as just becoming a designer for a pure cause, and uses the Brooklyn Academy of Music, a nonprofit organisation charity funded by a consumerism tobacco giant company as example. Does the fact that it's funded by a 'negative' organisation make the Academy evil itself? He concludes with the argument that is it really a good cause? Is switching from mass manipulation for commercial ends worse than mass manipulation for political ends? It's all propaganda in the end!
The task from this session can be found here.
Today, in our last seminar of the year (!) we raised a discussion about the different viewpoints and opinions that sprung from the 'First things first' manifesto of 1964 and the revised version of 2000. We were split into 4 groups and then made notes on each of the 4 pieces of texts relating to these matters:
First Things First 1964:
With a little background research into the initial author of First Things First; Ken Garland, we can put into context his reasonings. In the decade this was written, the western world saw a boom of consumerism. The country finally saw a true recovery from the world wars and the country was back on it's feet, with some disposable income to spend. Without having objects around them for so long, it was inevitable that there would be a surge in materialism. This meant that lots of designers saw a change in their job role from essential political artist to advertiser, flogging mundane objects to the general public for a living. Meanwhile, there was another war stirring up the publics concern: Vietnam. This could be argued the start of revolutionary hippie culture against the war, which Garland was a part of; for example the very first Easter March. He argues that designers are getting bogged down with the more trivial design tasks while they could be involved and prioritise their efforts in more meaningful, functional design.
First Things First 2000:
The revised First Things First manifesto was a much angrier and urgent relative to its proceeder. This was because of the overwhelming force of consumerism rapidly increasing since the first manifesto in the 60's. Rather than a polite request, this manifesto is a wake up call to designers, asking them to challenge consumerist culture and create 'more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication' to stop exploiting their creative talent. As opposed to the mundane consumerist objects listed in the First Things First 1964 manifesto, the 2000 one lists things such as credit cards, diamonds and designer coffee, much more self-indulgent and contracting products. This manifesto is also addressed to all creatives and not just graphic designers like the original manifesto.
First Things First (Revisited) article from Emigre magazine by Rick Poynor:
Rick Poynor addresses some of the issues and observes the different attitudes towards both First things First manifestos. He states that even those designers who lay low and turn away from their political responsibilities and argue that they are just making a living creating adverts and don't want to change the world are still contributing to the political state of affairs by feeding the consumerist culture whether they like it or not because design has power. He also goes on to say that the manifestos aren't just design related, they are a political project; the environment we live in was designed!
The Footnotes of First things First by Michael Bierut from 2007:
In these footnotes on the 2000 manifesto, Michael Bierut argues against and defends his way of living. He lightly points out that the creatives who signed the manifesto were already well established as designers and didn't NEED to be involved in the mundane tasks of advertising for consumerist culture and that the position they were in was probably because they had to go through all of those kind of tasks to be in a position to refuse them or that they've always had the pleasure of designing for the 'culturally elite'. He also questions the manifesto's request for motives: Can you just drop out of the consumerism game? And if you can, should you? What good will come out of it? He also questions that the world is complicated and nothing is as simple as just becoming a designer for a pure cause, and uses the Brooklyn Academy of Music, a nonprofit organisation charity funded by a consumerism tobacco giant company as example. Does the fact that it's funded by a 'negative' organisation make the Academy evil itself? He concludes with the argument that is it really a good cause? Is switching from mass manipulation for commercial ends worse than mass manipulation for political ends? It's all propaganda in the end!
The task from this session can be found here.
Sunday 10 November 2013
OUGD504 - Design for Print - Graphics research
Design for Print - Graphics research
Because I want the pass the parcel to be posh, I need to look into more luxury graphics. But I want it to be playful and fun at the same time, 'Posh pass the parcel' is an oxymoron in itself!
The style I'm going for is Victoriana/ Art Deco - anything that shimmers!
The strong typography will provide a good juxtaposition to the funny nature of my product.
I really like the idea of using bold, important lettering to display something silly as it will be humorous and fun.
I would like to use a pattern on the inside of my boxes and other coodinating graphics on the outside. this way, when the boxes are unravelled, it's clear as to which is the interior/ exterior.
This taboo/ humorous subject is portrayed in an upmarket manner.
Again, these un-obvious/ offensive words are displayed in important, classy typography in gentle shades and furniture.
The use of gold and gem colours is very art deco and classical and yet pass the parcel is a fun party game, the combination of which will be funny!
I really love the combination of foils and colours in the printed pattern of these designs.
I really like the oxymoron in this product, it's a lot like mine in that sense.
I really like the mystical style to this invitation, it's really whimsical yet strong, and the colour scheme makes it look upmarket.
Thursday 7 November 2013
Monday 4 November 2013
OUGD501 - CoP Seminar - the Media and the Gaze
The Media and the Gaze
From what we learnt in the previous lecture we can see there is a very strong consistency in visual language that women have been represented in a certain way in our culture and always have been.
Women are displayed in our culture in a way that sexualises / objectifies them, and unfortunately normalises this.
In terms of objectification, women are considered the sex to be viewed, and men are considered the sex that act/ provide / do.
This idea is derived from, and has survived since the male economic dominance historically. Men being the producers of visual culture historically, and the audience of which they are providing for being predominantly male also, we see an emergence of a male biased ideology of the female form.
This doesn't mean that women were not talented or skilled as artists but were simply socially excluded, historically.
'Birth of Venus' - An arty, classical depiction of a goddess which isn't feasible and unrealistic is therefore not offensive in this sense.
And yet 'Olympia' was viewed as offensive and taboo, although if anything the nudity is more modest. This is because the woman in the image doesn't invite you to view her but meets your gaze with challenging eyes. She is relaxed, unfazed, but not in the way that she is sexually comfortable around you, but in the sense that she is used to the situation - she is a prostitute. This less dreamy, more feasible sense of reality is thought to have made this feel more offensive than that of Venus.
According to art historians, to be naked is to be without clothes and to be nude is an art form. John Berger would disagree with this and says that to be naked is to be yourself but to be a nude is to be exposed and objectified by other's gaze.
From what we learnt in the previous lecture we can see there is a very strong consistency in visual language that women have been represented in a certain way in our culture and always have been.
Women are displayed in our culture in a way that sexualises / objectifies them, and unfortunately normalises this.
In terms of objectification, women are considered the sex to be viewed, and men are considered the sex that act/ provide / do.
This idea is derived from, and has survived since the male economic dominance historically. Men being the producers of visual culture historically, and the audience of which they are providing for being predominantly male also, we see an emergence of a male biased ideology of the female form.
This doesn't mean that women were not talented or skilled as artists but were simply socially excluded, historically.
'Birth of Venus' - An arty, classical depiction of a goddess which isn't feasible and unrealistic is therefore not offensive in this sense.
And yet 'Olympia' was viewed as offensive and taboo, although if anything the nudity is more modest. This is because the woman in the image doesn't invite you to view her but meets your gaze with challenging eyes. She is relaxed, unfazed, but not in the way that she is sexually comfortable around you, but in the sense that she is used to the situation - she is a prostitute. This less dreamy, more feasible sense of reality is thought to have made this feel more offensive than that of Venus.
According to art historians, to be naked is to be without clothes and to be nude is an art form. John Berger would disagree with this and says that to be naked is to be yourself but to be a nude is to be exposed and objectified by other's gaze.
OUGD501 - CoP Study Task 4 the Gaze
This image advertises Christina Aguilera's new perfume. In comparison with 'everyday' women, and maybe even Aguilera herself in real life, this image portrays the gaze of a stranger being returned; 'Those women on the billboards, though; they look back. Those fantasy women stare off the walls with a look of urgent availability'. This in many people's opinions would be considered fictional and therefore offensive as it assumes that the usually perverted, unwelcome stare of a stranger is in fact not only OK, but of the norm - creating a spectacle of the female form.
But it could be argued that this fictional setting will remain fictional because of the real-world women still refusing the gaze (in a general sense). This kind of imagery could be considered an escape and opportunity to practice the gaze without the real-world awkward social situation. People, in this case, a sexually compatible audience, can stare without hinderance or hesitation and this is a lot more comfortable: 'Perhaps this sex-at-a-distance is the only complete secure relation which men can have with women. Perhaps other forms of contact are too unsettling.' Could this have a negative affect on real life situations; does this alienate real-world relationships, one where the woman might refuse to comply with your intentions or with your gaze?
'Voyeurism is a way of taking sexual pleasure by looking at rather than being close to a particular object of desire. Peeping Toms can always stay in control': This comfortable, fake situation is preferred by many, in particular under confident individuals that perhaps have real-life power or control issues, or have social anxiety issues, for example.
It's not all about power though, it's also about clarity. While some real-life situations can seem confusing and complex, in this world messages are clear! It's not necessarily about owning the situation, but being welcome in it - it gives a sense of being wanted and in this sense, it's about ownership; but of your own feelings: 'Perhaps in the images, the meanings are fixed and reassuring; perhaps only in the images could true controlling security be reached?'
In this image, because of her vulnerable pose she isn’t portrayed as powerful nor particularly wealthy but yet it says 'feel like a queen'. This can be commenting on a sexist notion that one doesn't have to be knowledgable / politically orientated to have power, but just look good/ attractive. Even though she is stated to be in the overpowering position, she appears in a subservient manner. Could this give the idea that the gazer is of higher power all along and this entire advert is an ego-feeder to them? - 'The aesthetic sex is the subordinate sex because beauty like truth is one of those empty terms, filled by the values of a particular society at a given historical moment.'
The question is, if this advert is geared towards females, why does it address a male audience? Could this be to stir up envy or aspiration?
Friday 1 November 2013
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