COP3 Seminar

Article 1: Graphic design in the real world

1. What is the main argument of the article?
Main argument being made is that graphic design thinks its being activist by creating visual campaigns, which are actually rooted in creating publicity and awards for the people involved. Whereas graphic design can actually allow the users to make their own decisions and be activist this way- doing something that goes against the norm.

Visual communication allows the user to decide how they want to use the information. Persuasive activism works better

2. What is the main theoretical framework for the article?
-Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World (1997)
-Nigel Whitele, Design for Society

3. What types of design do they critique?
Visual communication (posters?) which use persuasive language

4. What might you as a designer take from this? what do you do with this information
We should be able to make our own decisions in response to a design.

Article 2: The Graphic Thing

1. What is 'thingness' as it relates to graphic design?
If a poster was 3D and had 6 faces when stuck onto something, it'd become more of a thing than a generic flat poster stuck to a wall, would it be more of a thing than an object?
-'things' do not have as much context
-thingness= own existence of its purpose

2. What is the main argument? what can we take from this?
Things are what we make of them, expanding the conventions of what a thing is...

3. Can you identify a coherent theoretical framework in the article?
Not really...doesn't need to be discussing linguistics etc to explain what thingness is in relation to objects, doesn't need a scientific explanation.

Article 3: The future of print design relies on interaction

1. How does this research article differ from the previous two?
They created an actual project and then discussed it, more technique focused and design outcome focused, particularly how it relates to interaction

2.What is the main aim or argument of the research?
How the print project shows its reliance on interaction

3. Does the author utilise a theoretical framework?
yes

Re-visiting Old COP Feedback

I felt that it was important that I look back at COP feedback from level 4 and 5 in order to see what worked well and what needed improving, so that I know what I can do to improve further this year. In first year, my question was related to the history of print making, whereas in second year my question was

Feedback for Level 4 COP:

The feedback for first year COP I definitely agreed with, I felt that I really learnt a lot more about print and the history of it, this knowledge helped me with projects in second year. I also agree that in order to improve more I could have triangulated more.

Feedback for Level 5 COP:

I was quite disappointed with my second year feedback as I did feel that I didn't get as high as I should have- maybe because the tutor misunderstood the aims of the practical in relation to my essay...so to improve on this in Level 6 I need to state and make the links between my essay and practical clearer so they're understood better.

I also worked really hard on the practical and felt that the practical outcomes were to a high standard and better than my level 4 COP practical work. Maybe at some points I began to focus more on the practical than essay and this is was where I slipped?

In both years my practical outcomes involved design for production and print as I'm better at this and enjoy it more than design for screen, I am sticking to this for my COP practical work this year.

The biggest area that needed more focus and research on in both years was cognitive skills.

Areas to improve and consider to do better this year:

• Make clearer links between the essay and practical, make sure there is a clear relation between the two with relevant research behind it
• More triangulation
• Have an equal amount of focus on the essay and practical- don't prioritise one more than the other. Balance.

New Practical Idea

During the presentation I asked for advice on my practical, the feedback mentioned that it doesn't necessarily have to be a cross-cultural contrast project, but still focus on products and packaging from a specific culture.

Another piece of feedback mentioned that I should discuss in essay how things are designed to look stereotypical to that culture when they might not actually be appropriate. Amber used the example of a cactus image on Mexican food packaging and how we consume that because we think it looks more authentic to Mexican food, because of the stereotypical imagery.

I definitely want to focus on Eastern culture throughout my practical as I'll be comparing Eastern and Western culture in my essay. Also because my background is Eastern culture (Pakistani) so it's personal and relevant, meaning I know a lot about it already.

After a bit of thinking and discussions with friends, I came up with a different developed practical idea, which focuses on Eastern culture through spice packaging:

• With the visuals, focus more on the concept of process production of the spices, the history and where each spice comes from, the specific areas of Pakistan/India they come from, the plants they come from, the type of people that pick it etc. 

• Show more of the meaning and stories behind each spice, the history...a deeper meaning than the stereotypical stuff that you see on the packets and think of...like elephants, a mandala, detailed paisley pattern, a spice.

• Make a list of the stereotypes, the do’s and don’t of each

Furthermore, this summer I designed a logo and initial business card designs for a brand called Season Yorkshire (see blog posts on PPP tagged 'Season Yorkshire'. Season Yorkshire provide hand blended, authentic spices as well as a sell out cook book.

The main aim of the designs was to communicate the Pakistani/Middle eastern culture subtly with an overall modern aesthetic. The things I learnt and research I gathered for this commission would be relevant towards my COP practical work.

COP Presentation Feedback

Today I had my COP Presentation in front of Amber, Simon and a group of my peers. The overall aim of the presentation was to communicate how my question has changed from my proposal, what I have researched over summer, the key points and arguments I will discuss in my essay, practical ideas and my time plan.

I found that the overall presentation went well and the tutors agreed that I was right to change my question from my proposal to what it is now as culture is such a wide subject. I also received a lot of helpful feedback for my practical which I needed most, I feel that I can now move forward with my practical and make some tweaks to the idea as well as more things to discuss in my essay.

Notes and feedback from presentation:

• For the question, go with the more detailed version instead of 'to what extent does culture impact design' as culture is so broad, I agree with that I should go with the second version of my question.

• Maybe don't just focus on food products, focus on different products that relate to and represent that culture...some further research

• The westernised view of Japanese design- what we initially think, very typical Japanese, is this culturally appropriate etc

• Discuss in essay how things are designed to look stereotypical to that culture when they might not actually be appropriate, e.g. a cactus image on Mexican food packaging and how we consume that because we think it looks more authentic...

• The practical doesn't necessarily have to be a cross-cultural contrast project. Still focus on products and packaging from a specific culture though.

• Cross cultural design research is really interesting, keep going with this. Look more into stereotypes etc

COP Presentation

Culture and Identity

One of my favourite and most useful books out of the books I have read specifically about culture is Culture and Identity by Warren Kidd. The book provides a solid base of the concepts that are essential for an understanding of culture and identity.

The areas I found most useful and interesting touched on how culture and identity have informed and continue to shape high, low and popular culture, class culture and media influence.

This book is useful towards my topic as a persons identity is shaped by their culture, so as a designer it is important to know this when working for other people. Also because art and design is a big part of culture and identity, art is one of the factors that shapes a culture as well as other factors such as religious beliefs, language, traditions, rituals and more.

Selection of notes and quotes from book:

-Page 28: 'Culture and identity have been key issues in sociology since its inception. They allow sociologists to discuss who we think we are and how we behave as individuals and groups.

-Page 23: Section:choosing between cultures
'One might believe that there are absolute standards of taste and that some values are better than others... some cultures and subcultures are better or more advanced than others because they are based on higher standards...’

Page 26

-What is culture:
“ ‘The way of life of a group of people’ in other’ in other words, how they live their lives”

-It’s important as a designer to consider culture and have knowledge of different cultures, not only so that we can design things appropriate for the specific culture, but also because art and design is one of the key elements that shapes a culture and represents a different way of life. ‘The way of life of a group, its culture, is the product of a massive social undertaking: the result of the collective, combined and interrelated efforts of all its members’ (page 9).

-A designer needs to know cultures as much as a culture needs art in order to be culture.

Page 9

-Page 10: ‘Culture creates the world we live in’...Page 11: 'Cultures exist both subjectively and objectively...they shape styles of dress, food, art, music and so on; and they are subjective because they are concerned with individuals' interpretations'

-When discussing the future of culture and design and the importance of keeping up with cultural design trends as a designer…’societal evolution can be divided into five key stages, through which all cultures will travel’ (page 56)

Practical Initial Ideas

I've now started to come up with some ideas for what I could design for my practical, it is important that my essay builds into my practical work- both need to have strong links between each other.

My initial ideas focus on creating designs for food packaging and branding as food is one of the biggest parts of every culture. Also, throughout my reading I came across a lot of cultural psychology theories which touch on cultural differences within mannerisms and ways of doing daily tasks, food was one of the main examples used, e.g. chopsticks vs knife and fork.

Initial Ideas:

• The practical should show an example of a product being made and designed to function appropriately for another culture...

• Branding/packaging- Indian spices packaging designed for Japanese culture vs Japanese sushi packaging designed for Indian culture- design both products. A Cross-cultural contrast project. This would show the importance that as a designer we must consider the clients' culture in order to designing something appropriate for them- this point will be mentioned in my essay.

• Examples for branding and design other than food packaging could be app design, homeware, accessories, architecture.

Below show mood boards for inspiration when starting my practical work. Mood board 1 focuses more on posters and advertising design from different cultures that I found interesting, whereas mood board 2 focuses on Indian and Japanese food packaging and branding (which is what I want to focus on for my practical cultural contrast project)

Mood board 1

Mood board 2