“Consumer Culture” by Douglas J. Goodman and Mirelle Cohen is an evidenced based book which in chapter one “From consumption to consumer culture” outlines the main reasons for consumption. The main points which the authors try to put across is that consumer culture is a way of life and consumption is an act. The authors explains how consumer culture came about from the beginning to the consumer culture as we know it today. The authors explain that before the industrial revolution people consumed for the family and bought from local shops, things started to change when social competition became popular and the upper class people used fashion as a means to differ from people in same or lower social ranks. “the Elizabethan nobleman now began to spend less for his family and more to secure his place in this new social competition.”(Goodman, DJ. Cohen, M. Pg7) The authors go on to say that the “competitive consumption spread beyond the court to create new institutions and lay the foundation for a consumer culture”. (Goodman, DJ. Cohen, M. Pg7) The authors have interesting facts on fashion consumerism as they say that it has in a way shaped the way people consume out with fashion. Examples which they give is Wedgewood who was a manufacturer and retailer of pottery. He was one of the few people who understood the fashion phenomena and new it can be controlled. He knew that fashion was “characterised by trends and cannot exist without people” (Goodman, DJ. Cohen, M. Pg12) so he adapted this sort of thinking to his own company staying close to the next fashion trend in order to know what people are going to buy next. Many people then followed this sort of thinking and when one fashion began another would follow such as hot drinks which required cups to hold in.
In the 1st chapter Goodman and Cohen try to identify where consumer culture came from and how it evolved into what it is today. The Authors use interesting facts such as links between fashion consumed products to everyday products and the idea of evolution in shopping such as local stores to general markets and from department stores to shopping malls. The idea of people consuming more and more is supported by the way we live now.
In chapter 2 The authors back up their views on fashion consumption as they state “consumption is the sole end of all production” (Goodman, DJ. Cohen, M. Pg28) and go on to say that the reason people consume is due to either increase in salary or were led to “unwholesome desire” (Goodman, DJ. Cohen,M . pg28)
The author is trying to put across that the way we consume has come from the changes in society and is shaped by peoples new way of thinking. Before people would buy because they needed but nowadays people buy because they want and desire. The idea behind consumption is if fashion culture did not exist in society that the economy may not be the way it is today because fashion plays such a big role in the way people live.
Goodman, D J. Cohen, M. 2004. Consumer Culture. ABC-CLIO. Santa Barbbara, Calafornia.
Thursday 2 December 2010
Summary on Compulsive Consumption Behaviour"
“Compulsive consumption behaviours” is a journal by Julianne Trauttmann-Attmann and Tricia Widner Johnson who try to determine if “bulimic behaviours, Fashion interest and and the importance of being well dressed had a casual relationship with compulsive buying” the research is based on the relationships among “binge eating, compulsive clothing buying and fashion orientation”. From this research the authors are trying to find the importance of consumption and whether one behaviour will link to another. “compulsive behaviour may be reached by an examination of whether or not one compulsive behaviour leads to another”. It is important to understand that this article is not just made up of the authors thoughts and opinions but refers to a large amount of other research on similar topics such as Bullimia, compulsive shopping behaviour, self image and many more. The authors use techniques such as questionnaires and the BULIT-R (Thelan et al., 1991)bulimia test given to a group of students in order to gain valuable information towards their topic. One particular test which the authors refer to is a research method by Edwards (1993) where he uses a 13 item Likert-Like scale. With Edwards permission the authors changed the scale slightly from general compulsive buying to compulsive clothing buying to fit the purposes of their research. In the results of their tests they found that there was a positive link between “disordered eating behaviours and compulsive clothing buying”. They also discovered that there wasn’t a strong link between “binging behaviours and interest in fashion or the importance of being well dressed.” This shows that people who have binging tendencies do not necessarily have a great interest in fashion as such but rather they have an interest in buying clothes for the sake of buying. Although eating and buying clothes are two completely different activities, the results show that people adopt the same behaviours for both. This is particularly true in female consumers.
When reading this article it is important to understand the idea of consumption and reason why people consume fashion. Also knowing the difference between people who are interested in fashion and those who are binge eaters who buy the sake of buying. In understanding these point it becomes clear that consumers consume for different reasons.
The authors have put forward very interesting facts and research and although they did mention at the end that gender should be a variable for further examination, it would have been a fairer test if males took part in the research. “the present study utilised female college students in the U.S as participants” Their assumption that female are mostly “ at risk “ could well be true but may not always be the case as their reference was taken from 2002 and the journal is written in 2009. Over a 7 year period the most at risk people may have changed. The authors also mention that people who suffer from binging disorder are often recommended by therapists to take up shopping as a solution but in fact they are probably passing them onto another disorder. If binge eaters read this journal this may be of help not to shop compulsively or vice versa.
Trautmann-Attmann, J. Johnson, T W. 2009. Compulsive Consumption Behaviours: investigating amoung binge eating, compulsive clothing buying and fashion orientation. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 33.
When reading this article it is important to understand the idea of consumption and reason why people consume fashion. Also knowing the difference between people who are interested in fashion and those who are binge eaters who buy the sake of buying. In understanding these point it becomes clear that consumers consume for different reasons.
The authors have put forward very interesting facts and research and although they did mention at the end that gender should be a variable for further examination, it would have been a fairer test if males took part in the research. “the present study utilised female college students in the U.S as participants” Their assumption that female are mostly “ at risk “ could well be true but may not always be the case as their reference was taken from 2002 and the journal is written in 2009. Over a 7 year period the most at risk people may have changed. The authors also mention that people who suffer from binging disorder are often recommended by therapists to take up shopping as a solution but in fact they are probably passing them onto another disorder. If binge eaters read this journal this may be of help not to shop compulsively or vice versa.
Trautmann-Attmann, J. Johnson, T W. 2009. Compulsive Consumption Behaviours: investigating amoung binge eating, compulsive clothing buying and fashion orientation. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 33.
Thursday 28 October 2010
Jewellery Textiles
When I was researching 5 senses related to textiles. I came across a company called Sinead Saunders handmade jewellery and accessories. The pieces were beautiful so I thought i'd share with everyone.
This is a beautiful gold ring.
a purple knitted corsage. It looks so delicate and feather light lines. The yarn colour and weight reminds me if something from the coral reef. 
There are more of these gorgeous designs on www.spring-crafts.co.uk/sinead-aunders.htm
This is a beautiful gold ring.
a purple knitted corsage. It looks so delicate and feather light lines. The yarn colour and weight reminds me if something from the coral reef. There are more of these gorgeous designs on www.spring-crafts.co.uk/sinead-aunders.htm
"Made in China" 2
I told my Boyfriend all about the lecture and how I found it interesting and he so happened to be in London and went to The Tate Modern Museum. He came across an unbelievable installation which is named 'Ai Weiwei sunflower seeds' which is associated with "Made in China". This installation consisted of 100 Million hand made and hand painted porcelain sunflower seeds. 
I decided to read up about the peice by 'Ai Weiwei' and the installation really does make you think about the products we use and where its from. A lot of the products I use are made from China and the vast number of seeds makes me think of all products china produce. A lot of questions were raised from this work such as "What does it mean to be an individual in todays society?" this relates back to my previous blog about being in competition with people in china and all over, We have to stand out and put ourselves out there in order to be noticed. Another interesting question is "What do our increasing desires, materialism and number mean for the society, the environment and the future?" This question relates well to my dissertation topic consumerism.
I decided to read up about the peice by 'Ai Weiwei' and the installation really does make you think about the products we use and where its from. A lot of the products I use are made from China and the vast number of seeds makes me think of all products china produce. A lot of questions were raised from this work such as "What does it mean to be an individual in todays society?" this relates back to my previous blog about being in competition with people in china and all over, We have to stand out and put ourselves out there in order to be noticed. Another interesting question is "What do our increasing desires, materialism and number mean for the society, the environment and the future?" This question relates well to my dissertation topic consumerism."Made in China"
Ni Hao (Hello) Recently I have been taking a Chinese (Mandarin) Language class because I find the chinese culture very interesting. I have a chinese back ground as my parents are from Hong Kong and Grandparents from China. As a child I didnt care much for my culture because I thought it was normal and thats the way everyone lives but as I learn more in design world about culture and global production I find it fascinating and the fact that I was brought up with a chinese background makes it a little more personal.
By chance or luck we recently had a lecture with Jonathan Baldwin who gave a really interesting lecture on China. He called it "Made in China" He talked about the Chinese inventions such as Silk, Tea, Gun Powder and many more. With all these inventions the Chinese Isolation came about as the chinese didnt need to trade with anyone else around the world as they produced all their own products. It has been said that Marco Polo broke the isolation when he introduced Europeans to Central Asia, China. The Opium war started when China stopped trading tea for Opium with Britain. China got defeated in both wars leaving the government to tolerate the opium trade. Hong Kong became the middle trading place.
All this history leads to the present where a lot of products are made from china with cheap labour. This causes a lot of poverty in China. The difference between the rich and poor is extreme because the rich as filthy rich and the poor are living on near nothing. It is known that there is a new Billionaire in China everyday which gives you an idea of the increase of China's economic power. Jonathan Baldwin showed us an interesting video on China and it showed the cheap labour of China is taking over jobs all over the world. It also shows big companies such as apple sending there products to be manufactured in China. This means less money is spent on production and more income for the company. As Jonathan explained that jobs in the design world are hard to find as we are up against people in China, I got a little kick up the bum and feel I need to work A LOT harder. Learning Mandarin is one step in the right direction.
By chance or luck we recently had a lecture with Jonathan Baldwin who gave a really interesting lecture on China. He called it "Made in China" He talked about the Chinese inventions such as Silk, Tea, Gun Powder and many more. With all these inventions the Chinese Isolation came about as the chinese didnt need to trade with anyone else around the world as they produced all their own products. It has been said that Marco Polo broke the isolation when he introduced Europeans to Central Asia, China. The Opium war started when China stopped trading tea for Opium with Britain. China got defeated in both wars leaving the government to tolerate the opium trade. Hong Kong became the middle trading place.
All this history leads to the present where a lot of products are made from china with cheap labour. This causes a lot of poverty in China. The difference between the rich and poor is extreme because the rich as filthy rich and the poor are living on near nothing. It is known that there is a new Billionaire in China everyday which gives you an idea of the increase of China's economic power. Jonathan Baldwin showed us an interesting video on China and it showed the cheap labour of China is taking over jobs all over the world. It also shows big companies such as apple sending there products to be manufactured in China. This means less money is spent on production and more income for the company. As Jonathan explained that jobs in the design world are hard to find as we are up against people in China, I got a little kick up the bum and feel I need to work A LOT harder. Learning Mandarin is one step in the right direction.
Dissertation Mind Map
For my Dissertation, I propose to research the Topic Consumerism. Within Consumerism I would like to cover consumer culture, Production of products, The influences of media, technology and designers have on consumers. As a textile designer I will look more along the lines of fashion and how textile designers can design ways to make a product sustainable. Some Key words which I find make up consumerism is Fashion, Trend, Production, Media, Culture, Sustainability, Designers, Ethical.
This is a small mind map of my ideas on consumerism. I will expand on each section when I have done more research on the subject. Some of these points I found very interesting when I had the discussion with my group. The video's which I watched in my lectures inspired me to do consumerism as I found it very interesting to learn how people are influnced to buy what they buy. Also my Fair Trade wiki topic related to consumerism which i also found interesting and would like to persue in this topic of production and consumerism.Dissertation Group Meeting
In our group (9), we all met up in the textiles studio on the monday of reading week to talk about dissertation topics. We all chose topics along the lines of our wiki topic. I had an idea of what I wanted to do but wasnt sure what I could do for it. After speaking to the group and making group mind maps for each other I found that there was lots of ways in which I could take my subject of consumerism.
Wednesday 6 October 2010
Design Studies Assignment 1c - Wiki - Fair Trade and Design
Fair Trade and Design
Connie Lou
Textile Design
Definition on Fair Trade
Fair Trade is an organisation which helps people in the world’s poorest countries such as Dominican Republic, South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda and many more, escape poverty and promotes sustainability. The Trade is made up of many organisations from producers, marketers, traders and charities. These organisations are there to make sure that farm workers in these marginalised countries get a fair price for their goods to assure better living and a safe working condition. Products are marked with the FAIRTRADE mark when the product has met the FAIRTRADE standards set and owned by Fair Trade Labelling Organisations International (FLO). FLO is made up of 24 organisations across Europe, Japan, North America, Australia and New Zealand as well as producer organisations from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. There are many Fair trade products which hold the FAIRTRADE mark such as Bananas, Coffee, Tea, Honey, Olive oils, Nuts, Cotton and many more. Places which sell these products range from high street shops such as Top Shop and Marks and Spencer, to supermarkets such as Tesco and Co-op, charity shops such as Oxfam and online shops such as People Tree and Gossypium.
This is the Fair Trade Foundation Logo from the Fair Trade Foundation website (2010)
Brief History on Fair Trade
“The concept of Fair Trade has been around for over 40 years” (Fair Trade Foundation (2010a)) but hadn’t taken off till the late 1980s. Fair Trade is a dynamic range of movements and campaigns to the negative effects of globalisation. The Fair Trade movement is comprised of a set of groups identified as FINE. The Name came from the first letter of each group. Each group have their aims to improve Fair Trade but all have the same goals which are to improve the livelihood and wellbeing of producers through market access, promote development opportunities for disadvantaged producers, protect children from exploitation, raise awareness among consumers, changing the international trade and to protect human rights by promoting social justice and environmental sustainability. The Fair Trade movement started after a market-based approach to globalisation and Consumer boycotts such as the Grape boycott and Nestle boycott. (Reynolds, Murray, Wilkinson, 2006) These boycotts were used to tackle the hard working conditions of farmers in South Africa. They lasted 5 years which led to Fair Trade in the 1960’s.
The earliest traces of Fair trade in Europe date from the late 1950s when “Oxfam UK sold crafts made by Chinese Refugees”. (Witkowski, 2005) Later in 1964 The Fair Trade Organisation was established. In the early days fair trade organisation’s traded mainly with Handcraft producers as crafts provided extra income to their families which were sold through world shops. World Shops or Fair Trade shops are specialised retail outlets offering and promoting fair trade products. “The European world shop conference took place in 1984” (European Fair Trade, (2010)) which led volunteers to work in the shops from all over Europe.
In the early 1990s food stuff sold in fair trade was rivalling crafts due to the change in consumer marketing by the Alternative Trade Organisation (ATO). In the later 1990’s, new ATOs such as Cafedirect and Day Chocolate Company were “consciously established to operate in mainstream markets, usually specialised in food marketing”. (Tallontire, A. 2006) By the 21st century these businesses became very successful and beneficial to producers.
In 1997 the Fair Trade Labelling Organisation (FLO) was created, which was later split into two organisations. They certified products with the FAIRTRADE mark and their goal is to make Fair Trade more accessible to consumers They did this by moving fair trade into “supermarkets where most people do their shopping” (Raynolds,Murray,Wilkinson,2007). The best known initiatives within FLO is the Fair Trade Foundation in the UK, they’re an organisation licensed to use the Fair Trade Mark on products in the UK. “Fair Trade bananas were first sold in supermarket Co-op in January 2000 in 1,000 shops throughout UK which other supermarkets soon followed.” (Fair Trade Foundation (2010b)) “Fair Trade has evolved rapidly over the past half century, with consumers spending over £1.6 billion on fair-trade certified products, benefiting over 7 million people – farmers, workers and their families in 58 developing countries.” (Fair Trade Foundation, (2010c)) In 2008 findings show that 70% of consumers recognise the FAIRTRADE mark and 64% are aware of the idea behind the mark. The success in Fair Trade has helped the workers, one cotton farmer from India quoting “I did not get any education but I want my children to, Because of Fair Trade price, I can send them to school” (Fair Trade Foundation, (2010d))
This is a picture taken in the Oxfam Charity Shop by Connie Lou with all the Fair Trade Products
Design Practice and Fair Trade
There are many design issues within Fair Trade, cotton is one of them as it’s only a tiny percentage of all fair trade products sold in the UK, compared to coffee which comprises 50%. Textiles and fashion is a main issue to look at within Fair Trade products due to the use of cotton. Cotton is a relatively new fair trade product which started in 2005. Textile and fashion design has become increasingly popular and are made all over the world in unethical conditions. Even if textile or fashion products use fair trade cotton, it isn’t to say that the products are constructed ethically. Some companies which use and produce products ethically with fair trade cotton are People Tree and Gossypium. People Tree is a high fashion company with designers who aim to “create a garment that’s truly beautiful” (People Tree, 2010) with the producers in mind at all time and tries to maximise the benefits to them. The People Tree fashion is aimed at the upper market as the prices are higher; this is due to the organic cotton used and the hard working labour of each product. On the People Tree website there are little symbols beside each garment showing techniques and craftsmanship involved when making each garment. This gives the consumer a better idea of what they are buying and where the product has come from. Fair trade cotton is generally more expensive and better quality. Although consumers may understand the reasons behind fair trade, people generally don’t think about it while they shop and would still go for the cheaper alternative which is not ethically produced. Fair Trade is always looking at new ways that can improve the understanding of fairly traded products by trying to push the ethical fair trade garments to all markets. Fair Trade has recently tried by putting in fair trade products into high street shops such as Top Shop and Marks and Spencer which have had a positive effect. Other ways which have had a positive effect on fair trade cotton is Tesco’s new range of clothing made from organic fair trade cotton. This new range was in a lot of newspapers and on internet web pages where the biggest and most powerful marketing is made effective. Fair Trade Foundation has recently put out a project to Northumbria University to the fashion students, where they had to design a fashionable piece made from cotton produced in the developing world. The effect on this project deepened the students understanding of Fair Trade cotton which may influence the way they work, planting a seed for the future. Fair Trade are placing workshops in some Fashion courses which will continue to expand around the UK. This way more designers will be using Fair trade cotton and will learn to produce ethically. Fair trade foundation quoted ‘we want fair-trade cotton to become the norm” (Fair Trade Foundation, (2010e))
European Fair Trade, (2010) www.european-fair-trade-association.org/efta/Doc/History.pdf
Fair Trade Foundation (2010a) www.fairtrade.org.uk/what_is_fairtrade/history.aspx
Fair Trade Foundation (2010b) www.fairtrade.org.uk/what_is_fairtrade/history.aspx
FairTradeFoundation, (2010c) www.fairtrade.org.uk/what_is_fairtrade/facts_and_figures.aspx
Fair Trade Foundation, (2010d) www.fairtrade.org.uk/producers/cotton/agrocel_pure_and_fair_cotton_growers.aspx
Fair Trade foundation (2010e) http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/products/cotton/questions_answers.aspx
People Tree, (2010) http://www.peopletree.co.uk/content/handcrafted.php
Raynolds, L. Murray, D. Wilkinson, J, Globalisation and its antinomies, Fair Trade The challenges of transforming globalisation, Routledge, 2007, pg8
Tallontire, A. Chapter 2 The development of Alternative and Fair Trade: Moving into the Mainstream, Ethical Sourcing in Global Food System (Barrientos, S. Dolan, C) Earth Scan London,2006, pg37
Witkowski, T. Fair Trade Marketing: An Alternative system for Globalisation and Development, California State University, Long Beach, 2005
Design Studies Assignment 1b
On our 2nd meeting with Group 9, we all researched our subject and talked seperately on our findings. I found this helped me a lot as I understood my subject more as I said it out loud. It was interesting to hear what everyone else had learnt about their subject. We all made up mind maps on our own topic which we all found really useful in remembering our points and researching our subjects.
This is my initial mind map
I found writing it again when i had more researched helped me outline my Wiki so I wrote out another one with more detail.
I went into more detail about the History so I made up another mind map.
Design studies - Assignment 1a Seminar Meeting
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This is a picture of our group meeting.
Below is a list of all the topics which we chose in Group 9
Ailsa McCreadie - Textile Design - Green Wash and Design
Ruth Hill - Graphic Design - Environmental Sustainability and Design
Karen Rodger - Graphic Design - Crime and Design
Sarah Finnigan - Jewellery Design - Education and Design
Graeme Kennedy -IED - Biosphere and Design
Jennifer King - IMD - Interactivity and Design
David Smith - IMD -
Wednesday 31 March 2010
Assignment 5B
Design Essay Part 2
The brief taken from textiles which I intend to relate with design studies techniques is a brief on ‘Trend Forecasting’. In this brief we had to research new trends for 2010 and 2011 for male, female or children’s wear. There is a magazine in the library called the ‘Textiles View’ where we all chose a trend and had to research from there. I felt design studies made a difference to my way of researching as I did a mind map of all the different things I could look at and where I had more branches, I decided was the best idea. I also learnt from design studies that discussion with peers would help me gain information. Every week we have a seminar with a tutor and 8 other peers where we would talk about our work, and everyone would discuss each other’s work. This helped me a lot with my project. Out with the seminars I would ask people who aren’t art related to view my work and give their opinion to see what they think as I feel a wider audience will give a fresh look to the subject and may give interesting suggestions. These discussions with people are useful but very limited. From all the research methods I have learnt from design studies I would like to incorporate them with my future projects. Another method which was used in our studio was a brain storm of 3 titles, 1 being ‘what do you perceive textile research to be?’ 2’what is your understanding of the design process?’ and 3’what are the skills and knowledge which are different to other students in other disciplines?’ This was very helpful as my peers where pointing things out which I wouldn’t have thought of. Short discussions on each point was also useful because everyone interpreted the points differently also therefore having different points of view on a subject gives you a wider horizon to work from.
Techniques that I used similar to design studies, and carried out from the beginning and throughout my projects, was to look up books in the library for inspiration to see what other people have done. For the trend project in particular I found looking up books, magazines and the internet was very vital in getting the project right because trends are already made up therefore its your own interpretation on the trend which counts. Fashion trends can also change up to four times a year so the internet is a great tool to keep up to date as information online is constantly updated. A technique which I could have carried out was the interviews as I felt this would have benefitted my work. I would have carried out an interview at the beginning of the project because I would have liked to find out what females from the high street would like to wear in the future and to see if they follow trends. I would have a few trends in mind which I would show them as visuals and get them to choose the one they liked best. Using these visuals is a similar idea to the culture probe technique which I haven’t tried out yet, this technique requires making up a pack which could have coloured pens and paper, you would hand them out to people and get them to interpret the subject, and then collect this pack after they are finished. This is a good technique as the participants would have their own space and wouldn’t feel under pressure, it also gives a true reflection of the subject. After the interviews I could take all the common answers and work from that. This technique is very useful because finding first hand information and testing the public makes the project more interesting and gives me a better understanding of the subject. I think interviewing is the best way I can get first hand source on a subject because other techniques such as discussions wouldn’t give you an answer as accurate, it would be more of a guess of what other people might say. Although interviews are not 100% accurate for the whole population, I think combining it with secondary source from books and internet will give me a close indication of what I am looking for. This project is very open for the ways to research the project. Other ways I would gather information would be observation because I could sit and observe people coming out shops or going in shops, what people buy, their body language and listening to what they might say to friends while they are looking at a garment. Groups of people would be very good to observe because in the book ‘Tipping point’ Malcome Gladwell mentions that an observer in London saw a group of people in a flashy place in London wearing shoes by Hush Puppies which made them a new trend. So observing groups of people and what they wear might indicate if something might be the next big trend. After observing these groups of people I could make another set of interviews for groups of people and see what trends influences them and why they buy things.
The brief taken from textiles which I intend to relate with design studies techniques is a brief on ‘Trend Forecasting’. In this brief we had to research new trends for 2010 and 2011 for male, female or children’s wear. There is a magazine in the library called the ‘Textiles View’ where we all chose a trend and had to research from there. I felt design studies made a difference to my way of researching as I did a mind map of all the different things I could look at and where I had more branches, I decided was the best idea. I also learnt from design studies that discussion with peers would help me gain information. Every week we have a seminar with a tutor and 8 other peers where we would talk about our work, and everyone would discuss each other’s work. This helped me a lot with my project. Out with the seminars I would ask people who aren’t art related to view my work and give their opinion to see what they think as I feel a wider audience will give a fresh look to the subject and may give interesting suggestions. These discussions with people are useful but very limited. From all the research methods I have learnt from design studies I would like to incorporate them with my future projects. Another method which was used in our studio was a brain storm of 3 titles, 1 being ‘what do you perceive textile research to be?’ 2’what is your understanding of the design process?’ and 3’what are the skills and knowledge which are different to other students in other disciplines?’ This was very helpful as my peers where pointing things out which I wouldn’t have thought of. Short discussions on each point was also useful because everyone interpreted the points differently also therefore having different points of view on a subject gives you a wider horizon to work from.
Techniques that I used similar to design studies, and carried out from the beginning and throughout my projects, was to look up books in the library for inspiration to see what other people have done. For the trend project in particular I found looking up books, magazines and the internet was very vital in getting the project right because trends are already made up therefore its your own interpretation on the trend which counts. Fashion trends can also change up to four times a year so the internet is a great tool to keep up to date as information online is constantly updated. A technique which I could have carried out was the interviews as I felt this would have benefitted my work. I would have carried out an interview at the beginning of the project because I would have liked to find out what females from the high street would like to wear in the future and to see if they follow trends. I would have a few trends in mind which I would show them as visuals and get them to choose the one they liked best. Using these visuals is a similar idea to the culture probe technique which I haven’t tried out yet, this technique requires making up a pack which could have coloured pens and paper, you would hand them out to people and get them to interpret the subject, and then collect this pack after they are finished. This is a good technique as the participants would have their own space and wouldn’t feel under pressure, it also gives a true reflection of the subject. After the interviews I could take all the common answers and work from that. This technique is very useful because finding first hand information and testing the public makes the project more interesting and gives me a better understanding of the subject. I think interviewing is the best way I can get first hand source on a subject because other techniques such as discussions wouldn’t give you an answer as accurate, it would be more of a guess of what other people might say. Although interviews are not 100% accurate for the whole population, I think combining it with secondary source from books and internet will give me a close indication of what I am looking for. This project is very open for the ways to research the project. Other ways I would gather information would be observation because I could sit and observe people coming out shops or going in shops, what people buy, their body language and listening to what they might say to friends while they are looking at a garment. Groups of people would be very good to observe because in the book ‘Tipping point’ Malcome Gladwell mentions that an observer in London saw a group of people in a flashy place in London wearing shoes by Hush Puppies which made them a new trend. So observing groups of people and what they wear might indicate if something might be the next big trend. After observing these groups of people I could make another set of interviews for groups of people and see what trends influences them and why they buy things.
From this information I would go back and have a discussion with peers to see if new points might be suggested and things I could change or try again.
From all these techniques which I have mentioned, I feel that I could use them throughout all my studies, especially in my dissertation as I have all these techniques behind me to help me gain first hand information. Interaction with people will enhance my interest on a subject and I feel this is very important. The most effective method I find is the interviews because I can adapt and choose questions and participants to suit my area within design. It is also important to know what the participant may feel when you are asking these questions which I have learnt in one of the tasks within Design Studies. This helps me word my interviews so that the participant doesn’t feel uncomfortable or reply with little information. Methods which have been learnt from design studies have been used regularly in the studio as my peers and I have tried out using brainstorming and regularly discuss our work and help each other out and it will continue with in the later years.
From all these techniques which I have mentioned, I feel that I could use them throughout all my studies, especially in my dissertation as I have all these techniques behind me to help me gain first hand information. Interaction with people will enhance my interest on a subject and I feel this is very important. The most effective method I find is the interviews because I can adapt and choose questions and participants to suit my area within design. It is also important to know what the participant may feel when you are asking these questions which I have learnt in one of the tasks within Design Studies. This helps me word my interviews so that the participant doesn’t feel uncomfortable or reply with little information. Methods which have been learnt from design studies have been used regularly in the studio as my peers and I have tried out using brainstorming and regularly discuss our work and help each other out and it will continue with in the later years.
Bibliography
M.Gladwell, 2000, The Tipping Point, United States, Little Brown
Assignment 5A
Design Essay Part 1
The topic, in which I am going to explore more fully, is Advertisement. I have chosen this subject because I feel as a designer, our work has to be advertised to be noticed and if new ways of advertisement were to be introduced then advertisement of work will be much more powerful. In order to understand advertisement, many ways can be used to research and analyse it. So far I have researched some literature on new 3D technology and the effectiveness of advertisement. In some of the journals, which I have read, they mention that they have taken out some experiments, finding out if music was an important factor within design, and how big of an effect advertisement has on consumerism. Finding out other people’s research and analysis is not enough to understand a subject. I feel there are many other ways that can better the understanding of advertisement such as primary research. This means I can have first hand information and be involved in the researching, making my subject more valid.
The points which authors made about advertisement, ‘if music has an effect on advertisement’ and ‘if advertisement is a big factor in consumerism’ To further research these points I would carry out 2 separate interviews which will enable me to engage and interact with people and ask them questions such as the type of music they listen to, and if that type of music was played on an advert, would it make the advert more appealing. As these questions are just mock questions I would make up a series of questions and have a pilot interview with somebody semi close to me as they are more likely to give me a more accurate account on the subject, also doing these pilot interviews will help me test my wording to see whether I’d get a one word answer or a fuller answer. Doing an interview is a very good technique to find out a certain subject as I feel it is more personal and gives it a sense of truth and validity. I would carry out these interviews on a cross section of people through age and gender as male and female perceptions on a subject may differ. Age is very important to understand in an interview especially if you want to find out about a subject such as advertisement because youths listen to different music to elders and have a different effect on them. Therefore doing these interviews on more than 4 participants will give me a better idea of the range in answers and the common points which are made between the participants. After gaining all this information, Market research would be included because advertisements are aimed at a certain age group therefore doing research on a certain age group to see what would appeal to them would make an advert more effective. Information within the interviews will help the understanding of advertisement that only interviews can show because other primary research techniques such as observation wouldn’t give me the same solid answers and watching someone doesn’t give you a full picture of what is going on in someone’s mind. I wouldn’t rule out the observation as I feel the body language of a person and the way someone dress tells you a lot about someone. If you observe someone while walking past an advert on a wall, their body language could show their feelings towards it, such as an advert with bank interest rates wouldn’t appeal to a young child but would appeal to an adult. Observation is more visual than an interview so I feel it has an advantage in that way. Visuals can also be used in an interview as I could ask someone to describe a poster and different people will see different things. I feel the combination of both these techniques will enhance my understanding of advertisement. After gaining all this information I would put it into a mind map and discuss with peers or people with more understanding to advertisement than myself to see their views on the subject. Talking about the information may add new ideas on the subject and going back to the idea of different people see different things, maybe my peers will see advertisement in a different way to myself. Brainstorming these new ideas with peers will be helpful as it will give me a chance to review what I have learnt and maybe I could repeat the techniques with a few new questions and see if I would get different answers. To further my understanding I would take these new points and use cross search to see what other people have said on this subject. This might answer my raised questions or make my points valid. A technique which I learnt about experimenting with pictures might not work as well as interviews and observations but shouldn’t be ignored because experimenting with a poster with words and no words will show if an advert is successful in conveying its message and what changes could be made to a certain poster. I would also be able to find out what people find interesting and could enhance it by adding or taking away a factor (music, text, imagery)
The techniques that I would carry out to understand my subject are a combination of Observation and series of Interviews and carrying out experiments with visuals. I feel all of these techniques are very useful in getting first hand information. Also being involved in researching is very interactive and gives what I’m trying to find out an importance. I feel making an interview makes me think about a subject deeper and having discussion with peers helps me analyse the information. The use of primary resource and secondary resource is very important in researching a subject because finding out what others have said through their research expands the knowledge of the subject. This also adds an importance or makes my information valid if someone else has found something similar. I feel all these techniques are equally useful in gaining information and I would use them in most research-based subjects in the future. As a designer I feel my main focus is Textiles but techniques which I have learnt in design studies can be related to all areas of design, it also allows you to work in a cross section of design areas rather than just your specialised area. In this subject I am writing about Advertisement which is more related to Graphic design but is interesting to see how advertisement is related to different areas of design.
Bibliography
Morris. JD, Boone. MA, 1998, The Effects of Music Emotional Response, Brand Attitude, and Purchase Intent in an Emotional Advertising Condition, Florida, University of Florida.
Long. P, Wall. T, 2009, Media Studies: Text, Production and Context, Harlow, Pearson Longman.
The topic, in which I am going to explore more fully, is Advertisement. I have chosen this subject because I feel as a designer, our work has to be advertised to be noticed and if new ways of advertisement were to be introduced then advertisement of work will be much more powerful. In order to understand advertisement, many ways can be used to research and analyse it. So far I have researched some literature on new 3D technology and the effectiveness of advertisement. In some of the journals, which I have read, they mention that they have taken out some experiments, finding out if music was an important factor within design, and how big of an effect advertisement has on consumerism. Finding out other people’s research and analysis is not enough to understand a subject. I feel there are many other ways that can better the understanding of advertisement such as primary research. This means I can have first hand information and be involved in the researching, making my subject more valid.
The points which authors made about advertisement, ‘if music has an effect on advertisement’ and ‘if advertisement is a big factor in consumerism’ To further research these points I would carry out 2 separate interviews which will enable me to engage and interact with people and ask them questions such as the type of music they listen to, and if that type of music was played on an advert, would it make the advert more appealing. As these questions are just mock questions I would make up a series of questions and have a pilot interview with somebody semi close to me as they are more likely to give me a more accurate account on the subject, also doing these pilot interviews will help me test my wording to see whether I’d get a one word answer or a fuller answer. Doing an interview is a very good technique to find out a certain subject as I feel it is more personal and gives it a sense of truth and validity. I would carry out these interviews on a cross section of people through age and gender as male and female perceptions on a subject may differ. Age is very important to understand in an interview especially if you want to find out about a subject such as advertisement because youths listen to different music to elders and have a different effect on them. Therefore doing these interviews on more than 4 participants will give me a better idea of the range in answers and the common points which are made between the participants. After gaining all this information, Market research would be included because advertisements are aimed at a certain age group therefore doing research on a certain age group to see what would appeal to them would make an advert more effective. Information within the interviews will help the understanding of advertisement that only interviews can show because other primary research techniques such as observation wouldn’t give me the same solid answers and watching someone doesn’t give you a full picture of what is going on in someone’s mind. I wouldn’t rule out the observation as I feel the body language of a person and the way someone dress tells you a lot about someone. If you observe someone while walking past an advert on a wall, their body language could show their feelings towards it, such as an advert with bank interest rates wouldn’t appeal to a young child but would appeal to an adult. Observation is more visual than an interview so I feel it has an advantage in that way. Visuals can also be used in an interview as I could ask someone to describe a poster and different people will see different things. I feel the combination of both these techniques will enhance my understanding of advertisement. After gaining all this information I would put it into a mind map and discuss with peers or people with more understanding to advertisement than myself to see their views on the subject. Talking about the information may add new ideas on the subject and going back to the idea of different people see different things, maybe my peers will see advertisement in a different way to myself. Brainstorming these new ideas with peers will be helpful as it will give me a chance to review what I have learnt and maybe I could repeat the techniques with a few new questions and see if I would get different answers. To further my understanding I would take these new points and use cross search to see what other people have said on this subject. This might answer my raised questions or make my points valid. A technique which I learnt about experimenting with pictures might not work as well as interviews and observations but shouldn’t be ignored because experimenting with a poster with words and no words will show if an advert is successful in conveying its message and what changes could be made to a certain poster. I would also be able to find out what people find interesting and could enhance it by adding or taking away a factor (music, text, imagery)
The techniques that I would carry out to understand my subject are a combination of Observation and series of Interviews and carrying out experiments with visuals. I feel all of these techniques are very useful in getting first hand information. Also being involved in researching is very interactive and gives what I’m trying to find out an importance. I feel making an interview makes me think about a subject deeper and having discussion with peers helps me analyse the information. The use of primary resource and secondary resource is very important in researching a subject because finding out what others have said through their research expands the knowledge of the subject. This also adds an importance or makes my information valid if someone else has found something similar. I feel all these techniques are equally useful in gaining information and I would use them in most research-based subjects in the future. As a designer I feel my main focus is Textiles but techniques which I have learnt in design studies can be related to all areas of design, it also allows you to work in a cross section of design areas rather than just your specialised area. In this subject I am writing about Advertisement which is more related to Graphic design but is interesting to see how advertisement is related to different areas of design.
Bibliography
Morris. JD, Boone. MA, 1998, The Effects of Music Emotional Response, Brand Attitude, and Purchase Intent in an Emotional Advertising Condition, Florida, University of Florida.
Long. P, Wall. T, 2009, Media Studies: Text, Production and Context, Harlow, Pearson Longman.
Monday 15 March 2010
Interview
'What does the way someone decorates their living space tell you about them.' This was the topic I chose to carry out an interview on. I got together with a group of girls in my Textiles class where we all brainstormed some ideas for the interview questions. Some headings which we came up with were, Generation, Influences, Space, Colour co-ordination, Use/sustainabilty and Taste. We thought that maybe Age or Childhood would play a big part in the way people decorate their space. The choice of decorations could be influenced by many things such as friends and family or TV, Magazines or personal interest. We thought this would be very suitable for finding out about someones personality.
Writing my own questions for the interview was quite hard as I had to word it in a way so that I wouldn't get a one word answers and had to make sure that the interview flowed. We were asked to make a semi structured interview which meant that I could add in questions if something interesting popped up during the interview. I asked a variety of age groups to try and get the sense of 'Generation' and time. These age groups varied from early 20's to someone in their 70's and were of both gender.
An interesting interview was of a couple who stayed in the same house. I asked the same questions to both people and the answers reminded me of Jonathan Baldwin's Lecture on 'Taste'. He did this little experiment on 2 people who got asked the same questions with the other out the room, The male gave short answers whereas the female would go into detail such as ' I have a comfy sofa with big fluffy cushions' My interview with the couple was also interesting as they both had similarities in their answers but different views on their living space. For example they both thought their house was homely, relaxed and comfortable but they differed in answers when I asked what their favourite item in the house was. The male said 'iPhone' which is related to technology and female said 'her wedding ring' or washing machine for practical reasons. She also mentioned she didint like technology in the sense of computers and phones. This shows that there is a balance in consumption as people buy to consume the latest and some buy for practicality. 'The culture of Design' by Guy Julier refers to consumption to 'need' and 'want' which relates to my interview of consumers buying because they 'want' something(iPhone) and buying because they 'need' something(washing machine)
The idea of taste can be influenced by generation or by Childhood experiences. In a few of my interviews when I asked the participants about the colour co-ordination of their space and why they colour co-ordinated, they said it looked nice and it was influenced by their parents. One male said there was no colour co-ordination at all in his childhood home but mentions that his Friends decorate their homes in the same way as his current home. This may mean that his taste has been influenced by the people around him therefore colour co-ordination became a theme throughout his house. In my interviews I also asked how they came about decorating their place whether they used Magazines or watched decorating programmes on Tv and a lot said they looked at magazines for inspiration and one interesting lady said she used mood boards and swabs of colours on different walls to see what they would look like in different lights. This was to do with her personal interests as she mentioned she was a collector of antiques which was the main theme throughout the house. She decorated her space accordingly to her ornaments and furniture. She was influenced by antiques as a child where she developed her own style and refered to magazines for ideas. The collection of these antiques shows that she does not consume new products, the sense of sustainabilty is captured here as old furniture or ornaments have stood the test of time.
Writing my own questions for the interview was quite hard as I had to word it in a way so that I wouldn't get a one word answers and had to make sure that the interview flowed. We were asked to make a semi structured interview which meant that I could add in questions if something interesting popped up during the interview. I asked a variety of age groups to try and get the sense of 'Generation' and time. These age groups varied from early 20's to someone in their 70's and were of both gender.
An interesting interview was of a couple who stayed in the same house. I asked the same questions to both people and the answers reminded me of Jonathan Baldwin's Lecture on 'Taste'. He did this little experiment on 2 people who got asked the same questions with the other out the room, The male gave short answers whereas the female would go into detail such as ' I have a comfy sofa with big fluffy cushions' My interview with the couple was also interesting as they both had similarities in their answers but different views on their living space. For example they both thought their house was homely, relaxed and comfortable but they differed in answers when I asked what their favourite item in the house was. The male said 'iPhone' which is related to technology and female said 'her wedding ring' or washing machine for practical reasons. She also mentioned she didint like technology in the sense of computers and phones. This shows that there is a balance in consumption as people buy to consume the latest and some buy for practicality. 'The culture of Design' by Guy Julier refers to consumption to 'need' and 'want' which relates to my interview of consumers buying because they 'want' something(iPhone) and buying because they 'need' something(washing machine)
The idea of taste can be influenced by generation or by Childhood experiences. In a few of my interviews when I asked the participants about the colour co-ordination of their space and why they colour co-ordinated, they said it looked nice and it was influenced by their parents. One male said there was no colour co-ordination at all in his childhood home but mentions that his Friends decorate their homes in the same way as his current home. This may mean that his taste has been influenced by the people around him therefore colour co-ordination became a theme throughout his house. In my interviews I also asked how they came about decorating their place whether they used Magazines or watched decorating programmes on Tv and a lot said they looked at magazines for inspiration and one interesting lady said she used mood boards and swabs of colours on different walls to see what they would look like in different lights. This was to do with her personal interests as she mentioned she was a collector of antiques which was the main theme throughout the house. She decorated her space accordingly to her ornaments and furniture. She was influenced by antiques as a child where she developed her own style and refered to magazines for ideas. The collection of these antiques shows that she does not consume new products, the sense of sustainabilty is captured here as old furniture or ornaments have stood the test of time.
Friday 12 March 2010
Design Issues in Starbucks
Is Starbucks a higher classed franchise?
How do Starbucks expand their empire?
These are the two questions which I am going to explore. After a discussion in my seminar last friday, I am still confused to whether Starbucks is a higher classed franchise than likes of McDonalds or other fast food shops. In the seminar we were saying that Starbucks is aimed at a higher classed market due to the layout, atmosphere, and the type of people who go to starbucks. The layout of the starbucks is more inviting than mcDonalds as it has the comfy couches which makes a customer feel as though they are at home. The atmosphere was quite calm while i was observing it, although it was very busy. There wasnt enough spaces and the place was quite crammed. The tables were mainly for groups of two which is very inconvienient for families who have children or parties of more than 3. Maybe Starbucks designed the layout this way for people to come in smaller groups such as business type people and for people who want a space which is more peaceful. When I think of starbucks I think of people in Book shops or libraries with a cup of coffee and a book. This may be the reason why people think that Starbucks is aimed at the higher classed. Altough it may seem that Starbucks is aimed at a higher market I feel places like Mcdonalds all serve the same purpose therefore I dont feel that there is a market difference between them. There is a difference which I could compare in the two businesses which is the age market because I think it is more likely for someone in their late teens to drink a cup of coffee than it is for a child/toddler to do so.
How do starbucks expand their empire?
Starbucks uses many different ways to make their business grow. The theme within all the Starbucks is the same. The general atmosphere and lighting is warm and inviting. You could go in a starbucks in Scotland and go in one half way across the world and it would still give you this feeling. The recurring colour of green appearing on all their products and even the aprons which the employees wear makes Starbucks instantly recognisable. They provide a fast and efficient service which is very appealing for take away service for people on the go or people who want to sit and enjoy their coffee for hours. They provide internet service making it convienient for business men on their lunch breaks. All these points show why Starbucks is so successful in expanding their empire.
How do Starbucks expand their empire?
These are the two questions which I am going to explore. After a discussion in my seminar last friday, I am still confused to whether Starbucks is a higher classed franchise than likes of McDonalds or other fast food shops. In the seminar we were saying that Starbucks is aimed at a higher classed market due to the layout, atmosphere, and the type of people who go to starbucks. The layout of the starbucks is more inviting than mcDonalds as it has the comfy couches which makes a customer feel as though they are at home. The atmosphere was quite calm while i was observing it, although it was very busy. There wasnt enough spaces and the place was quite crammed. The tables were mainly for groups of two which is very inconvienient for families who have children or parties of more than 3. Maybe Starbucks designed the layout this way for people to come in smaller groups such as business type people and for people who want a space which is more peaceful. When I think of starbucks I think of people in Book shops or libraries with a cup of coffee and a book. This may be the reason why people think that Starbucks is aimed at the higher classed. Altough it may seem that Starbucks is aimed at a higher market I feel places like Mcdonalds all serve the same purpose therefore I dont feel that there is a market difference between them. There is a difference which I could compare in the two businesses which is the age market because I think it is more likely for someone in their late teens to drink a cup of coffee than it is for a child/toddler to do so.
How do starbucks expand their empire?
Starbucks uses many different ways to make their business grow. The theme within all the Starbucks is the same. The general atmosphere and lighting is warm and inviting. You could go in a starbucks in Scotland and go in one half way across the world and it would still give you this feeling. The recurring colour of green appearing on all their products and even the aprons which the employees wear makes Starbucks instantly recognisable. They provide a fast and efficient service which is very appealing for take away service for people on the go or people who want to sit and enjoy their coffee for hours. They provide internet service making it convienient for business men on their lunch breaks. All these points show why Starbucks is so successful in expanding their empire.
Sunday 28 February 2010
Observation
For my Observation location Me and 2 other girls in my class decided to go to Starbucks Coffee Shop. When we got there we found had to wait for spaces to become available. We were luckily as we got the comfy couch near the corner where we did our observation. We drew the layout of the coffee shop to make it easier to understand. As we drew the layout we figured that there was a one way system which wasn't sign posted but was very obvious there was one. I think this is to do with good design system made for Starbucks as Starbucks is a massive franchise. Their target is more money so designing a way for quick coffee break and efficient service will allow them to serve more customers in a short period of time and therefore make more money.
As we sat there observing people who come in to get a coffee and take away I thought back to Starbucks way of making money and how there branding is advertised through take away cups. The employees wear a green apron which separates them from the customers. The aprons give the employees a certain personality like they are undercover and have to put on an act on. The space in Starbucks was very confined, everyone sat really closely together which made some people feel self conscious and feel like an invasion of privacy. people mainly came in twos or on their own. People who came in twos were either couples or business people or just friends. Infront of us sat a woman and man who came and asked us if the space was free as there were no other spaces in the coffee shop. They were talking about business shown by there body movement. They made a lot of hand gestures and has sheets of paper with charts etc on it which made me think it was about work. We realised couples sat closer together which made there body language more intimate and private. Friends sat further apart and were more open as it was very casual and not as cautious about other people. People who st on their own tended to be more self conscious. They tended to fidget or do something to keep themselves occupied, They were more wary about people watching them and self conscious. There was this man who sat diagonally apart from us in the shop who stared at us a lot which made me think that he noticed we were observing people. He glanced over a lot looking uncomfortable with us looking around. Another example of someone who sat alone being more cautious with people around them was a woman who dropped a bottle and looked around to see who was looking at her. If this situation held 2 or more people the person who dropped the bottle wouldn't care who was looking as she would be more confident. The Starbucks we went to is situated inside a shopping center which gives you a sort of feeling of the people around you. Majority of the people in Starbucks were well dressed. They looked middle classed working people who shop in similar places as we do. Shops within Overgate shopping center. There were a couple of men who were in suits which look very business man. One had his laptop which means he could be making use of Starbucks free WiFi. This is another way attract customers. Starbucks is made very attractive with little things which people don't think about. It is very open made with full length windows which attract customers, as an invite for people to come in. As we were leaving we noticed a group 5 or 6 girls who sat in the corner of the coffee shop. They were unaware of their surroundings and sat in the corner to keep away from other people so they can have their own space.
Sarah presenting the large windows
Maxine standing at the entrance showing route to desk.
Me walking towards exit but shows the customers around the shop doing there own thing. sitting down, waiting for order.
As we sat there observing people who come in to get a coffee and take away I thought back to Starbucks way of making money and how there branding is advertised through take away cups. The employees wear a green apron which separates them from the customers. The aprons give the employees a certain personality like they are undercover and have to put on an act on. The space in Starbucks was very confined, everyone sat really closely together which made some people feel self conscious and feel like an invasion of privacy. people mainly came in twos or on their own. People who came in twos were either couples or business people or just friends. Infront of us sat a woman and man who came and asked us if the space was free as there were no other spaces in the coffee shop. They were talking about business shown by there body movement. They made a lot of hand gestures and has sheets of paper with charts etc on it which made me think it was about work. We realised couples sat closer together which made there body language more intimate and private. Friends sat further apart and were more open as it was very casual and not as cautious about other people. People who st on their own tended to be more self conscious. They tended to fidget or do something to keep themselves occupied, They were more wary about people watching them and self conscious. There was this man who sat diagonally apart from us in the shop who stared at us a lot which made me think that he noticed we were observing people. He glanced over a lot looking uncomfortable with us looking around. Another example of someone who sat alone being more cautious with people around them was a woman who dropped a bottle and looked around to see who was looking at her. If this situation held 2 or more people the person who dropped the bottle wouldn't care who was looking as she would be more confident. The Starbucks we went to is situated inside a shopping center which gives you a sort of feeling of the people around you. Majority of the people in Starbucks were well dressed. They looked middle classed working people who shop in similar places as we do. Shops within Overgate shopping center. There were a couple of men who were in suits which look very business man. One had his laptop which means he could be making use of Starbucks free WiFi. This is another way attract customers. Starbucks is made very attractive with little things which people don't think about. It is very open made with full length windows which attract customers, as an invite for people to come in. As we were leaving we noticed a group 5 or 6 girls who sat in the corner of the coffee shop. They were unaware of their surroundings and sat in the corner to keep away from other people so they can have their own space.
After the observation part of the task we had a little discussion on all the points which were made. We put ourselves in other peoples positions and things which we all agreed on were that If we did the observation on our own we would've felt intimidated and self conscious. We felt as though we were invading peoples space and that we wouldn't have liked to have been watched especially in a place that was designed for relaxing. As I mentioned earlier we were also getting watched by people who were on their own which made us feel uneasy even though we were in a group. We noticed it more because we were deliberately watching but if we went in casually just for a cup of coffee I don't think we wouldn't have noticed it as much. A really good point which we said was that even though we were observing people, it doesn't actually tell you about the person or people you look at as you wouldn't know their lives. We all said we do little things when we are on our own such as Sarah playing with her fingers and I play on my phone which confirms our note that people keep themselves occupied when their on their own.
Sarah presenting the large windowsMe walking towards exit but shows the customers around the shop doing there own thing. sitting down, waiting for order.
End of Project!
At end of Trend Forecasting project, we had an informal presentation and who thought an informal presentation was so nerve racking. We had to talk about how we came about chosing our 'Trend' and the process we went through to get our final outcome. I chose to do Knit for my samples which were simple but effective. Although my trend was blooming pattern I focused a lot on colour composition. I only used a few techniques but came out with quite a few designs which I thought worked quite well. I tried a lot of these knit samples on fashion models and below are my 3 favourite designs on models.
This layered knit is made up of tucks where I limited the colours to a sandy beige and a deep red.
Maxi Dress, good for summer. I used partial knitting technique for this sample giving irregular lines.
My sample is on the jumper of this model. Not too sure what the technique I used is called but the plain bit is ribbed which is not noticeable on the model but adds interest to the jumper.
Monday 15 February 2010
Experiment
My understanding of polysemy by from the Essay 'Rhetoric of the Image' by Roland Barthes from my first reading was very vague. I understood from the essay that an image could have more than one meaning but the language in it was really diverse which made it hard for me to grasp. While I was reading through the Essay I tried to relate Barthes statements to my own discipline. Things which I thought related to Textiles was words and how it changes a subject from a persons interpretation. I related it to my Trend Project as we had to choose a heading and interpret it in our own way into fabrics, The fabrics which we make from the interpretation of the heading is similar to the Text and Image used in the essay and how people interpret things differently. After writing notes and discussing the Essay with people in a group I came to understand it a bit more. We then did an experiment which tried to help our understanding of polysemy. In order to start the experiment we had to group up to look for 3 random images. Our images were the below:
After obtaining these images we each went away to ask family and friends to make up a story with these 3 images in a random order. I asked my sister who is 16 and still at school, My boyfriend who is 25 and is a sales assistant and my aunty who is 40 and works in a chinese take away. The stories they came up with were different. Similarities in the stories occurred in the group so we decided to pick our favourite story being that it was a holiday to a costal village of the Mediterranean where they followed a path lined by palm trees, this led them to the beach where they bumped into a local lady who agreed to take them around the local beauty spots. This was very interesting as a lot of the stories jumped to the conclusion that the pictures represented that it was a holiday. This relates back to the Essay by Barthes as he mentions 'stereotype'. His example was on a pasta advert which showed people immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was Italian and in this experiment it showed that because there is a girl on a beach then people assume its a holiday. As we agreed that this was the story most common in all of our stories we added a 4th image to enhance the understanding of the rep taking the tourists to local beauty spots, so went out again to ask strangers around the art college to read the images in the order we gave them. We asked 5 different people and the majority came up with similar stories. One girl called Michaela said it was people on holiday who meet a rep, she lives on the beach and later they meet up with family to go for a walk along a path. This story was pretty close to our chosen story as she mentioned the Rep on the beach and it was a holiday. As a lot of people assume these picture connotated a Holiday, it makes me think of culture as we think sun shine and beaches relates to holidays whereas people who live in countries with beaches would read the picture as being a normal day. In the last part of the experiment we added text to each of the images. Our 4th image was :
We added words such as Mediterranean, Path, Rep and Activity. These words really helped the people who were analysing our pictures as they were much closer to our original story when text was added. An example of this is a girl called Shawn. Her initial story was the girl was on a plane, then goes for a walk, stops for a drink at the beach and then goes for a walk in the forest for an excursion. When text was added her story became A plane view of the Mediterranean. Walked along a path to hotel to meet Rep who took them to do activities. This shows that the concept of Polysemy in Barthes Essay does work shown in this experiment. In the Essay Barthe mentions the Linguistic Message which I translated to be the Written Message. Text is used for quickness so that people don't need to ask 'What is it?' Barthe also mentions that text adds Fresh information to an image which is clearly shown in our experiment. People responded more clearly and had a better understanding of what is portrayed in the images when Text was added. In the Denoted Image section of Barthes Essay he said that the 'Literal message cannot be substantial but only relational' shows that the text added to the image is only related to the image to make the experiment work. If the experiment was done with just text and no image then the story wouldn't transmit the correct story that's trying to be told.
After obtaining these images we each went away to ask family and friends to make up a story with these 3 images in a random order. I asked my sister who is 16 and still at school, My boyfriend who is 25 and is a sales assistant and my aunty who is 40 and works in a chinese take away. The stories they came up with were different. Similarities in the stories occurred in the group so we decided to pick our favourite story being that it was a holiday to a costal village of the Mediterranean where they followed a path lined by palm trees, this led them to the beach where they bumped into a local lady who agreed to take them around the local beauty spots. This was very interesting as a lot of the stories jumped to the conclusion that the pictures represented that it was a holiday. This relates back to the Essay by Barthes as he mentions 'stereotype'. His example was on a pasta advert which showed people immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was Italian and in this experiment it showed that because there is a girl on a beach then people assume its a holiday. As we agreed that this was the story most common in all of our stories we added a 4th image to enhance the understanding of the rep taking the tourists to local beauty spots, so went out again to ask strangers around the art college to read the images in the order we gave them. We asked 5 different people and the majority came up with similar stories. One girl called Michaela said it was people on holiday who meet a rep, she lives on the beach and later they meet up with family to go for a walk along a path. This story was pretty close to our chosen story as she mentioned the Rep on the beach and it was a holiday. As a lot of people assume these picture connotated a Holiday, it makes me think of culture as we think sun shine and beaches relates to holidays whereas people who live in countries with beaches would read the picture as being a normal day. In the last part of the experiment we added text to each of the images. Our 4th image was :
We added words such as Mediterranean, Path, Rep and Activity. These words really helped the people who were analysing our pictures as they were much closer to our original story when text was added. An example of this is a girl called Shawn. Her initial story was the girl was on a plane, then goes for a walk, stops for a drink at the beach and then goes for a walk in the forest for an excursion. When text was added her story became A plane view of the Mediterranean. Walked along a path to hotel to meet Rep who took them to do activities. This shows that the concept of Polysemy in Barthes Essay does work shown in this experiment. In the Essay Barthe mentions the Linguistic Message which I translated to be the Written Message. Text is used for quickness so that people don't need to ask 'What is it?' Barthe also mentions that text adds Fresh information to an image which is clearly shown in our experiment. People responded more clearly and had a better understanding of what is portrayed in the images when Text was added. In the Denoted Image section of Barthes Essay he said that the 'Literal message cannot be substantial but only relational' shows that the text added to the image is only related to the image to make the experiment work. If the experiment was done with just text and no image then the story wouldn't transmit the correct story that's trying to be told.
Inpsirational Designers
Catching up with my latest project!
I have recently been researching artists which inspire me and have similairites to my project, A reminder of what I am doing: My project is called 'blooming pattern' which I am basing the theme of floral and organic patterns. I have included some more structural patterns in my source drawings but I mainly just florals. Designers which I have been researching are Cath Kidston whose work is based of floral patterns. She designs and prints these florals on homeware, accessories, bags etc. I love the colours she uses and the delicate and blodness of colours. I have also been looking at a Taiwan designer called Johan Ku, He is a knitwear designer who is very bold, one piece which I really like is an assymetrical peice and has mixtures of textures made from chunky knits to thin tight knits. I really like the stuctural look to his garments. Below is an image of his design.
This is Cath Kidston's Floral designs:
Some other inspirational designers include Derek Lawlor who is a fashion designer and Mark Fast another Knitwear Designer.
Mark Fast
Derek Lawlor
I have recently been researching artists which inspire me and have similairites to my project, A reminder of what I am doing: My project is called 'blooming pattern' which I am basing the theme of floral and organic patterns. I have included some more structural patterns in my source drawings but I mainly just florals. Designers which I have been researching are Cath Kidston whose work is based of floral patterns. She designs and prints these florals on homeware, accessories, bags etc. I love the colours she uses and the delicate and blodness of colours. I have also been looking at a Taiwan designer called Johan Ku, He is a knitwear designer who is very bold, one piece which I really like is an assymetrical peice and has mixtures of textures made from chunky knits to thin tight knits. I really like the stuctural look to his garments. Below is an image of his design.
This is Cath Kidston's Floral designs:
Some other inspirational designers include Derek Lawlor who is a fashion designer and Mark Fast another Knitwear Designer.
Mark Fast
Derek Lawlor
The Culture of Design
The Culture of Design by Guy Julier
After reading chapter 4 (The consumption of Design) for the first time I was very confused in how it related to my area of design and how it related to me at all, but after the seminar last Friday I got a better understanding of the chapter. It actually raised a lot of questions and is very inspiring to see the link to my discipline. In this chapter Julier talks about Consumption in society culture and how all this relates to design. In the seminar we had a brief discussion on what discussion is we said it is the 'use of something', and is 'traditionally exchanged with money' We also said that consumption has a lot to do with Identity as we buy (meaning we consume )usually to 'fit in' to a group or society. I consume from a day to day basis which means I play a role of consumption. I buy things as my group of friends buy things and we are all similar in personality, this could also happen in other groups which make like a big consumption boom. I feel that society plays a big part in consumption as they tell the public 'we need this' and this is the best and newest thing which makes people want to buy. When people start to buy in this way, its never going to be enough and people start to buy and buy and buy like a vicious circle. In this Chapter Julier referred to this consumption circle as desire which means to 'need' or to 'want'. So what does consumption have to do with design? how does it relate to textiles? is design the problem for consumption? Design effects consumption as it is the designers who design either posters or objects such as clothes, homeware to attract people to buy things. Before reading this book I didn't think consumption related to my discipline at all but looking into it further and being a victim and provider of consumption I understand how this relates to Textiles. The discussion in the last seminar made me think about what I buy and if what I buy is disposable such as buying from Primark and how I would buy an excessive amount of garments and accessories which are thrown out a couple of months down the line when it is 'out of fashion' I do believe that as a Textile designer, that designers do play a big part in consumption as we make and design these garments which follow a trend 4 times a year means that fashion/trend followers will have to buy the new and latest fashion piece. Things which designers could change to reduce consumption could be thinking up different ways in recycling material or designing a dress which will change and manipulate to look like a dress with lots of different looks. This idea of manipulating could be applied to many other things such as bags or accessories. Maybe in the future Consumption caused by design could be reduced if designers come up with a design solution for this problem. I also feel that if consumption dint exist then there wouldn't be a point in having designers as a lot of designers would be out of jobs so in a way I feel consumption helps the economy going and more design jobs are available.
After reading chapter 4 (The consumption of Design) for the first time I was very confused in how it related to my area of design and how it related to me at all, but after the seminar last Friday I got a better understanding of the chapter. It actually raised a lot of questions and is very inspiring to see the link to my discipline. In this chapter Julier talks about Consumption in society culture and how all this relates to design. In the seminar we had a brief discussion on what discussion is we said it is the 'use of something', and is 'traditionally exchanged with money' We also said that consumption has a lot to do with Identity as we buy (meaning we consume )usually to 'fit in' to a group or society. I consume from a day to day basis which means I play a role of consumption. I buy things as my group of friends buy things and we are all similar in personality, this could also happen in other groups which make like a big consumption boom. I feel that society plays a big part in consumption as they tell the public 'we need this' and this is the best and newest thing which makes people want to buy. When people start to buy in this way, its never going to be enough and people start to buy and buy and buy like a vicious circle. In this Chapter Julier referred to this consumption circle as desire which means to 'need' or to 'want'. So what does consumption have to do with design? how does it relate to textiles? is design the problem for consumption? Design effects consumption as it is the designers who design either posters or objects such as clothes, homeware to attract people to buy things. Before reading this book I didn't think consumption related to my discipline at all but looking into it further and being a victim and provider of consumption I understand how this relates to Textiles. The discussion in the last seminar made me think about what I buy and if what I buy is disposable such as buying from Primark and how I would buy an excessive amount of garments and accessories which are thrown out a couple of months down the line when it is 'out of fashion' I do believe that as a Textile designer, that designers do play a big part in consumption as we make and design these garments which follow a trend 4 times a year means that fashion/trend followers will have to buy the new and latest fashion piece. Things which designers could change to reduce consumption could be thinking up different ways in recycling material or designing a dress which will change and manipulate to look like a dress with lots of different looks. This idea of manipulating could be applied to many other things such as bags or accessories. Maybe in the future Consumption caused by design could be reduced if designers come up with a design solution for this problem. I also feel that if consumption dint exist then there wouldn't be a point in having designers as a lot of designers would be out of jobs so in a way I feel consumption helps the economy going and more design jobs are available.
Tuesday 2 February 2010
Swapping Personal Photos
In this assignment we were ask to swap photographs of either our home or pictures of ourselves growing up with a person whom we don't know very well. I swapped with a girl in Textiles called Jaqui. We decided to take photographs of our own spaces within the house because the pictures of when I was a child are a little embarrassing. The main point in this swapping of photographs is to let someone use you as a first hand source and to let you feel what other people would feel when you are asking them personal questions.
When i started to analyse jaquis photographs made me start comparing my own pictures in my head because I was thinking about what Jaqui may be thinking and analysing about my photos. The way in which we took the photographs were quite different as I had been taking far away shots of the rooms in my house whereas Jaqui zoomed in on details showing more of her personality.
When I was looking at the pictures I started to bullet point things that I felt she portrayed in her pictures. There were 11 pictures of her personal space, 6 of them were taken of her room. What i found throughout the pictures is the tidiness and the cleanness of the home. Everything was so neat and precise in where it sat. Starting with the pictures of Jaquis room I realised she had a lot of Cuddly toys. Majority being 'Me to You' Bears. The Bears show that she has a very cute personality and close friends who give her these bears as gifts for birthdays and Christmas. Looking closely at the bears I noticed she has a boyfriend as there is 2 bears which are stitched together with a (Love You) heart. Another picture reveals that Jaqui is trendy and is into her fashion, this is probably the route she'd be taking in textiles. She is very neat and tidy as her clothes were on hangers and shoes were in boxes stacked in a neatly together. Looking at her hangers and Shoe boxes I found out her sizes and where her shopping takes place. The usual were New Look and River Island. A picture of her bed showed that she had just been shopping and placed everything on her bed. The bed has a Gold throw and brown and beige cushions. These colours are neutral and relaxing which makes me think she likes to relax and cosy in bed. There is a remote on the bed which tells me that she likes watching Tv when relaxing and what confirms this is her big Tv in the corner surrounded by her little bears. On the bed was also a new look bag and waterstones bag which confirmed my analysis of her shopping habits, also revealing that she likes to read. Her favourite colour is shown to be more neutral colours shown on her bed covers and the pale pink dresses which are hung up. Another picture shows two towers of bangles which together would be about 40 bangles which shows that she likes to accessorize and has a big bangle collection. These bangles are neatly stacked on a bangle rack which shows she is very tidy and organised.
Pictures 7 to 11 were pictures around the house 2 of which included her mum and her brother. This gave the impression of a close family as she wanted them to appear in her pictures. In one of the pictures was Jaqui's mum in the utility where there are lots of cleaning products and the mums head looking as if shes busy doing chores. There was a pair of trainers on the surface tops which tells me that someone likes to excercise or does a sport. The cleanliness is a big feature to the pictures, this makes me think that maybe the mum likes to keep the place tidy which is rubbed off on Jaqui shown in her tidy room. The house looks very modern and very well looked after. The colours in the house are mainly blue making the house very fresh. There is a picture of her brothers room which shows his medals on a shelf. With close inspection I found hockey gear which I figured might have something to do with the medals. He is also into his Xbox as there is a sports game sitting on his desk. The walls of his room are blue, this may be related to his supporting of rangers football club as there is a rangers calendar on the wall. In the bathroom is a corner bath and a shower. I figured that Jaqui took the picture of the bath to show that she likes to have relaxing time in the bath to take all the stress away. The bathroom is also blue which is the theme running through the whole house.
After meeting up with Jaqui to discuss our analysis of each other's photographs we found that we had each other pretty much spot on. A few things which I got a bit wrong were that Jaqui was a tidy person influenced by her mum. She told me that her mum would tidy up after her and her brother. Another thing was my assumption of her loves for relax time in a bath was actually the opposite, she told me she hates baths and would rather a shower because it's much faster. I was correct in thinking that she loves her teddies and has a boyfriend and her love for fashion.
When Jaqui was telling me about what she thought about my photographs, I was really surprised how accurate she got me. she noticed that my favourite colour was purple and how I was exercising to tone up and that I like my things organised and separated for easy access. She also noticed my mums charm hung on her bed and how she liked to collect ornaments.
Doing this experiment really makes you think about her personal space and how people might portay you through your belongings. I felt quite nervous about doing this as I didn't know if Jaqui would find me really odd but after the conversation on our pictures I found that we were quite similar in what we like and dislike.
When i started to analyse jaquis photographs made me start comparing my own pictures in my head because I was thinking about what Jaqui may be thinking and analysing about my photos. The way in which we took the photographs were quite different as I had been taking far away shots of the rooms in my house whereas Jaqui zoomed in on details showing more of her personality.
When I was looking at the pictures I started to bullet point things that I felt she portrayed in her pictures. There were 11 pictures of her personal space, 6 of them were taken of her room. What i found throughout the pictures is the tidiness and the cleanness of the home. Everything was so neat and precise in where it sat. Starting with the pictures of Jaquis room I realised she had a lot of Cuddly toys. Majority being 'Me to You' Bears. The Bears show that she has a very cute personality and close friends who give her these bears as gifts for birthdays and Christmas. Looking closely at the bears I noticed she has a boyfriend as there is 2 bears which are stitched together with a (Love You) heart. Another picture reveals that Jaqui is trendy and is into her fashion, this is probably the route she'd be taking in textiles. She is very neat and tidy as her clothes were on hangers and shoes were in boxes stacked in a neatly together. Looking at her hangers and Shoe boxes I found out her sizes and where her shopping takes place. The usual were New Look and River Island. A picture of her bed showed that she had just been shopping and placed everything on her bed. The bed has a Gold throw and brown and beige cushions. These colours are neutral and relaxing which makes me think she likes to relax and cosy in bed. There is a remote on the bed which tells me that she likes watching Tv when relaxing and what confirms this is her big Tv in the corner surrounded by her little bears. On the bed was also a new look bag and waterstones bag which confirmed my analysis of her shopping habits, also revealing that she likes to read. Her favourite colour is shown to be more neutral colours shown on her bed covers and the pale pink dresses which are hung up. Another picture shows two towers of bangles which together would be about 40 bangles which shows that she likes to accessorize and has a big bangle collection. These bangles are neatly stacked on a bangle rack which shows she is very tidy and organised.
Pictures 7 to 11 were pictures around the house 2 of which included her mum and her brother. This gave the impression of a close family as she wanted them to appear in her pictures. In one of the pictures was Jaqui's mum in the utility where there are lots of cleaning products and the mums head looking as if shes busy doing chores. There was a pair of trainers on the surface tops which tells me that someone likes to excercise or does a sport. The cleanliness is a big feature to the pictures, this makes me think that maybe the mum likes to keep the place tidy which is rubbed off on Jaqui shown in her tidy room. The house looks very modern and very well looked after. The colours in the house are mainly blue making the house very fresh. There is a picture of her brothers room which shows his medals on a shelf. With close inspection I found hockey gear which I figured might have something to do with the medals. He is also into his Xbox as there is a sports game sitting on his desk. The walls of his room are blue, this may be related to his supporting of rangers football club as there is a rangers calendar on the wall. In the bathroom is a corner bath and a shower. I figured that Jaqui took the picture of the bath to show that she likes to have relaxing time in the bath to take all the stress away. The bathroom is also blue which is the theme running through the whole house.
After meeting up with Jaqui to discuss our analysis of each other's photographs we found that we had each other pretty much spot on. A few things which I got a bit wrong were that Jaqui was a tidy person influenced by her mum. She told me that her mum would tidy up after her and her brother. Another thing was my assumption of her loves for relax time in a bath was actually the opposite, she told me she hates baths and would rather a shower because it's much faster. I was correct in thinking that she loves her teddies and has a boyfriend and her love for fashion.
When Jaqui was telling me about what she thought about my photographs, I was really surprised how accurate she got me. she noticed that my favourite colour was purple and how I was exercising to tone up and that I like my things organised and separated for easy access. She also noticed my mums charm hung on her bed and how she liked to collect ornaments.
Doing this experiment really makes you think about her personal space and how people might portay you through your belongings. I felt quite nervous about doing this as I didn't know if Jaqui would find me really odd but after the conversation on our pictures I found that we were quite similar in what we like and dislike.
Friday 29 January 2010
Understanding Bourdieu chapter 8
In chapter 8 the authors talk about 'The field of cultural production' and the main focus within this chapter is 'Art' in the Social world. It is really interesting understanding Bourdieu's views on the meaning of art as he beleives that the culture of art and the social culture have a close link. These two cultures or culture is closely linked, because Art is distinguished as art when a piece of work is held in a museum or is told by a legitimit critic that a peice of work is in fact an art piece. I agree with what has been said in this chapter as art is not just made for 'arts sake' as it is a social production and is produced for a market. If art was just for art then it wouldnt work or take off as nobody will know about the 'artist' but if it was made for a market then there would be many people invloved in making art and making the artist well known. I briefly read chapter 9 which I thought backed up art culture and social culture very well because it tells us that artists are not really 'distanced from a social and economic world as they are dependent on a range of collective structure, processes, agents and institution'. A number of things which are invloved makes art social. Another instersting point made in this chapter is 'Taste' in cultural production. I found this interesting as my last lecture covered taste and how we develop these tastes, whether it was through family or culture or friends. In this chapter taste is part of the 'field of power,' this means that the cultural arbitary makes sure that things that are important are valued by everyone whether they like it or not. These things include the cannes film festival which I personally wouldnt be interested in but this is still published in the media. 'Understanding Bourdieu' has a very interesting insight to art and the cultural production, and I agree with a lot of things that have been said and also I found out things that Ive never thought about.
Thursday 28 January 2010
Semester 2 :D
NEW SEMESTER NEW PROJECT
In textile design we have been given a trend forecasting project which is such an amazing subject. We had to choose a theme from 'Textile View' magazine, where I chosen 'Blooming Pattern'Spring/summer 2010/2011, this theme has a lot to do with floral patterns but we were to have our own take on the theme so I have been focusing on patterns rather than blooming pattern. The patterns which i have been looking at are the organic patterns which are found on different surfaces. I went to botanic gardens where i found a lot of unusual surfaces and patterned petals. The colour theme is a more neutral palette with hints of blue and purple. Im going to change the palette to a richer more sophisticated palette which is shown on the first amage above. Above are also some pictures I took from botanic garden and around Dundee. I will scan some pages of my sktchbook in to show my drawings and development.
Byex
In textile design we have been given a trend forecasting project which is such an amazing subject. We had to choose a theme from 'Textile View' magazine, where I chosen 'Blooming Pattern'Spring/summer 2010/2011, this theme has a lot to do with floral patterns but we were to have our own take on the theme so I have been focusing on patterns rather than blooming pattern. The patterns which i have been looking at are the organic patterns which are found on different surfaces. I went to botanic gardens where i found a lot of unusual surfaces and patterned petals. The colour theme is a more neutral palette with hints of blue and purple. Im going to change the palette to a richer more sophisticated palette which is shown on the first amage above. Above are also some pictures I took from botanic garden and around Dundee. I will scan some pages of my sktchbook in to show my drawings and development.
Byex
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