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.
No comments:
Post a Comment