Refining Ideas & Reasoning For My Chosen Field of Study - OUGD401

Today we all precipitated in a crit to decide what question would be best suited to our interests and I chose to study Consumerism as it appeals to me the most.

Question: “What is the relationship between branding and The Consumer Self (Ewen)”.

Initial thoughts are to go towards technology, as this is a common interest of mine and something I have quite a bit of knowledge in.

Possible subjects include:

• Obsolescence
• Semiotics
• Advertising
• Branding
• Psychology/Human behaviour

Study Task 02 - Modernism & Postmodernism - OUGD401

Neue Grafik (1958 - 1965) first initiated by Josef Müller-Brockmann.

This has to be my favourite example of modernist design. It shows everything that it stands for, simplicity, clarity, it's visually stunning (although I must say I'm biased towards the movement).

Modernism really started to take off near the end of the 19th century and simmered around the beginning of the 20th century. In was initiated by the recent advancements in technology at the time. New processes came along, mass production became very easy to achieve, thus making the movement fresh and exciting, things were changing so fast and modernism had taken the front seat on a journey that would change how we see things for the better.

I have chosen to study Neue Grafik as it shows just how clear cut modernism could be. It included up-to-date reviews on international design, a modernists design bible if you will. 

Heavily inspired by everything Swiss design stood for, it gives you a true sense of how rigorous the layouts really are. Everything is aligned by a grid, just by using common sense and a few lines makes it visually stunning. No beating around the bush, just straight forward, to the point design.

As its purpose was meant for reviewing the best and worst in current design, it doesn't deter the eye with overwhelming content, just an image and a piece of text arranged in a genius way, it's all that is needed to give it its unique yet stylish feel.

    

Emigre magazine cover (1988) (left) / Wet magazine cover (1979) (right)

Some say we're currently living in a postmodernist world, I myself think this isn't the case as you don't really see anything as extreme as the images above anymore.

When postmodernism came to light, it was meant to be almost like a rebellion towards the utopian world modernists desired, some might say it was a dilution to think the world could be so perfect.

The 70's/80's were the perfect era's to introduce this way of woking, as the rise of grunge and punk were settling in and this style seemed to fit perfectly within the current culture (as the images of the magazine's illustrates.).

To conclude, both movements were as strong as each other. They both merged to fit the current cultures of the time. You could almost say that postmodernism was a response to modernism and that if it wasn't for these movements we'd still be trapped in the tacky 1950's to this day.

Study Task 01 - Analysis & Comparison - OUGD401

'The Uncle Sam Range' - Schumacher & Ettlinger (1876).

Famous WWI poster by Savile Lumley (1915).

The above two posters in question have been discussed in detail and are now going to be compared to see what subtle differences they truly hold. Whether it be the colour’s used, typeface and in the end what kind of socio / historical impact it had on the population at the time of publishing.

The top poster, ‘The Uncle Sam Range’ was observed first, as it was the first poster to be produced out of the two back in 1876, by advertisers Schumacher & Ettlinger. The product in hand, which can be a little distorted when looking at the poster as it does not truly focus on the oven (Which is what the supposed selling point is), but more of the environment it would be used.

Additionally, the advertisement does seem quite forced in how the creators have tried to convey its meaning. The use of bold stripes and stars in the colour’s of the United States’ flag is extremely prevalent and is about as patriotic as it gets.

In terms of the communication of the two they are completely different. The war poster is trying to convey a propaganda message to guilt trip the men who did not go to war. Yet on the other hand, the Uncle Sam Range advertisement focuses on translating a more modest message, a celebration marking the 100^th anniversary of the USA’s independence.

In terms of detail, they are from two different ends of the spectrum. Uncle Sam’s is highly detailed and looks as if it uses more of a scene to translate its message, which is to give the audience (in this case, quite clearly the population of the USA) a feel of patriotism and pride. Furthermore, the war poster is trying to convey guilt and shame, yet praise those who did go to war as the scene in the poster shows.

Illustrating a young daughter and son near by as they ask their father what contribution he has made to WWI, this is purely trying to persuade, the use of an old style western typeface combined with the use of red, white and blue shades makes it clear that it is aimed at the western forces, primarily to engage the viewer to join the army. The capitalization of the ‘you’ emphisises how it is speaking out to the viewer, the underline makes it so it cannot clearly be missed.

Although both posters show complete different concepts they do have quite a lot of similarities, in terms of their use of colour, type and most importantly setting. Both posters make it so the viewer can instantly relate and apply the situation to their own lives.

To conclude, my findings that reveal the two posters’ strategy are not quite the same, yet have very fine similarities that can very easily be visually picked out. But when you look further in the meaning of the two posters, it becomes clear that they have two completely different intended meanings.

Module & Studio Briefing - OUGD401

We've recently been briefed on what we will be doing in our context of practice for this year. It will consist of the following mandatory aspects:

• A 3000 word essay on each session with a practical body of work.
• A blog post providing evidence for each session.

The module will consist of five different subjects that we will explore in the following weeks. These subjects are:

• Modernism
• Post-Modernism
• Gender Representation
• Social/Political
• Consumerism

Personally, already having an interest in Modernism, I think that it would be a wise choice to go by my instinct and do something I'm familiar with. But I have yet to have all the necessary sessions to decide what I truly want to work with. So for the time being, I'm going to see if any of the other subjects in question will appeal to me, rather than ruling everything out.

With tutor guidance I will be able to build a working knowledge of the subject in hand. Additionally, I will also have to build a bibliography of a least 10 or more sources (There are at least 7 books that are recommended in the brief.) in order to pass the module, these must be structured using the Harvard system.