Essay Mapping - Study Task 05 - OUGD501

Essay Map

Using the Study Task Handout, construct an essay map outlining the FOUR main points of your argument.

This essay map should include a sentence which states your thesis, and how it will be addressed. It should also include FOUR sentences, each outlining a different element of your central argument.

You should also refer to how this essay map links to the key sources that you have highlighted and the example(s) of Graphic Design practice.


Task

Begin by evaluating trends within aspects of graphic design. This section will be solely based around the Channel 4 rebrand of 2015, and compared to their previous brand ident and print campaign to evaluate whether the change was necessary/unnecessary/successful/unsuccessful.

Link this to examples of trends that are apparent within other aspects of design—prove that trends are not just limited to Graphic design, main example will be Charles & Ray Eames and how they are mimicked by retailers such as Ikea and specify whether this is mimicry or simply a form of nostalgia for 20th century design. (This section needs validation on whether it is necessary for my argument).

Go more specific with modernism in graphic design, what principles it stood for and how it was utilised by modernist designers to create something that used logic and reason.

Link the previous with examples of postmodernism and how it was a rebellion against the restraints that modernism imposed on design.

Look at the theories of Linda Hutcheon and Fredric Jameson when it comes to parody/pastiche and how these played a role in the transition of modernism to postmodernism.

Link the previous study to how it is relevant today within trends, namely by analysing that of the hipster logo design guide and how it was taken seriously by those outside of the design community when its purpose was to utilise parody to impose irony on the trend community.

Analyse work on the website trendlist.org and how it is relevant in today's design community. Evaluate whether it is successful in communicating a given message or whether it is simply uninformed design for the sake of design.