OUGD401 - Cop Seminar

Today we had a short crit do discuss our ideas of moving further with the project. I decided that I wanted to focus on the gender question, "To what extent does advertising construct our ideas of gender?". I feel like I could produce some interesting work with this question, and I think I'm going to focus my ideas around how adverts are today. I am also going to look at historical context, for example the Guerrilla Girls and how they used advertising as a tool to get their message about feminism across. I think that I could produce a series of posters to send out a bold message, for example, kitchen and bathroom cleaner adverts are mostly aimed at women still today, and I feel that's totally gender bias and not reflective of how our society is. I could look into info-graphic posters or look into producing an information leaflet based on how far society has come in terms of women in advertising. I'm also looking at taking some work from a time where it was "normal" for women to be used as an object in advertising, and remodeling it so it can be used in today's society, or re-making the poster to show how awful it was and to send a message across about how men have always had the upper-hand in many different industries. 

OUDG401 - Consumerism, Gender Representation and Political/Social Change.

Consumerism:

We now live in a society where we base our worth off what we can buy. We construct our identities through the consumer products that inhabit our lives. 

"The Commodity self" is a concept by Stewart Ewen that enhances this idea of basing our worth off of our possessions. We are constantly distancing from our true selves and replacing it with our commodity self, a vision based off clothes, makeup, fancy cars, the latest technology.

Advertising works by attaching symbolic associations to it that attract us. For example, a perfume advert will have beautiful people being social and sophisticated, and the connotations of this is that if we buy, we will have all of these qualities too. We must consume to be superior.

The commodity culture perpetuates false needs through advertising. It does this in 3 ways. Aesthetic innovation is one of them, where a company brings out the a new model of something, and all of a sudden our current model becomes useless. We must continue to buy because this new product looks nicer, or has slightly better specs. 

Companies also design products to break or become useless after a certain amount of time. This ensures that we continue to consume and the system keeps progressing and making profit. 

Advertising also conceals the background and history of products. We have no idea how something was made, and usually forget that there was an actual human being behind it all. The product is more important than the actual person and labour that went into making it, for example when you go to IKEA, you are presented with an anonymous flat pack box that looks the same as everything else. There is no way of assigning value to it and we have a lesser understanding of the actual product and where it came from.

Reification is an advertising technique that gives products human associations. They are perceived as sexy, romantic, cool, sophisticated, fun, etc. This makes them more relatable and can connect with the consumer.

Commodity culture manipulates us and makes us think one-dimensionally. It stifles us and prevents us living full, meaningful and creative lives.

Gender representation:

In modern advertising, women are either seen as domesticated or hyper sexualised beings. A quote from John Berger states that "men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at."

This quote enforces the stereotypes of gender, and Berger is observing this from his time (which still applies today).

Throughout history of art, men have made erotic images of women for other men to view and enjoy. This labels women as the vain, aesthetic gender and because of this label, women get laughed at for being so concerned about their appearance. Its quite contradictory as this label was enforced by men in the first place. It is a game of power. Men are enforcing all of these labels and norms into the society to gain power. Women are presented to be sexually available, but not threatening. They have a youthful, submissive face but have a fully sexualised body. They are there to be enjoyed by men.

There is a piece of text on the front of a porn magazine that states "The cure to frigidity - HYPNOSIS". This is essentially saying that if any girl doesn't want to make sexual advances towards you, something is wrong with her and she should be hypnotised!

There is a male voice across every industry, for example, in film, design and architecture, all the dominant figures are male. This has been going on since these industries began and it has created a world that has been made for men.

Images that have been marketed at woman have the same male voice. A wonderbra ad has the caption "hello, boys!". It is a call to the men in the world. Come and look at this woman in her underwear!

Another caption for the wonderbra campaign is "engineering 101". This could be a reference to the making of the bra, but it could also be saying that women are not capable through a way of their abilities of getting an education in engineering, and the only way they can actually progress through life is by having massive breasts and showing them off to the world. 

Women are being repressed for the interests of men. 

Another aspect to this is that men are also objectified in advertising. There is an emphasis that a woman has a right to dress how she likes and demand sexual satisfaction from men. This content is a clear rejection of the conventional response to sex that existed 20 years ago. Men are classed as 'eye candy' and have to respond to the requests of women. 

All of this content is predominantly governed by the heterosexual, which is another factor to keep in mind. These ideas could be seen as unattainable by some readers/viewers, which makes us dissatisfied as people, so linking back to consumerism, we buy more stuff to make us feel better. 

Political and Social Change:

Propaganda seems like the most obvious choice for this topic, and although it is very interesting and varied, it would be quite difficult to create a body of work for past events such as World War 1. 

The introduction to self education could be something to look at, or the movement of modernism. The Bauhaus movement was a huge project with the idea that we could create one universal language for all of humanity and that we could create affordable art for all, etc. 

Underground sub culture rejects values of modern society. Zines and OZ Magazine is something that could be researched too.

Overall I think that I am going to chose gender roles as my chosen theme for my project as I am already passionate about it and I think I could produce some good work.

OUDG401 - Study Task 2 Modernism and Postmodernism

In today's seminar we had a brief introduction to modernism and postmodernism, to give us an insight to which question to choose for our main body of work for this module. Since I have never studied either of these styles and periods before, I found it really interesting and useful to go through it.

Modernism's key principle is that form must follow function. The purpose of the image is primary to the design, how the image looks comes second. There is a rejection of ornament, it's simple, basic and minimal. This means that the work will look timeless, and isn't connected to a specific period or time frame. 
The international typographic style is used within modernism. It consists of a set of guidelines that should be followed, including using a grid, sans serif typefaces, abandoning using illustration in favour of photography, and having flush left, ragged right body text.
The modernists believed that they could save the world with this pure, universal style. There was a sort of grand plan for the future of humanity, which consisted of equality, taking disorder and confusion out of the world and using new technology and harnessing it for the better of humanity. Modernism wasn't just present in graphic design, it influenced architects too. Many buildings started forming between the 50's and 70's that were known as brutalist architecture. A good example of this is Preston Bus Station:
                                     
There is no personal element to this building, It looks very mechanical, robotic and soul-less. The modernist's dream of everything being equal, clean and ordered took away the culture and the human element. They had a radical vision that was flawed.
I do really enjoy the modernist style, but only really in terms of graphic design. Here is a piece by Wim Crouwel that displays the modernist principles:
                                            
You can see that everything has been created through a grid structure. There are no unnecessary decorations, and there is a clear message. I think that this work is successful, but the ideas behind it can be quite flawed when applied to the entirety of society.

Postmodernism was in its prime between the 80's and 90's, and was a direct response to modernism. It is characterised by:
- Exhaustion
- Pluralism (many different styles)
- Pessimism (modernism was a failed radical vision)
- Disillusionment with the idea of absolute knowledge
Postmodernism takes modernist principles and changes them, it adds character, meaning and personality. One understanding of the world (modernism) has been replaced by a failed project, and the world has become chaotic again. Postmodernism is saying that the world is, and forever will be a huge messy chaotic mixture of design, people, buildings and attitudes.
Some artists believe that there are many political reasons to reject modernism. Paula Scher feels that modernism is largely corporate and scary. Every company would use Helvetica, and she felt there was no meaning or human aesthetic behind it. I have chosen an example of postmodernist work created by Paula Scher:
                         
This is a world map, but you can tell that it denys all the principles laid down by the modernists. There is no order or clear structure. It completely rejects the grid. The design of this piece is purely aesthetic, and the function follows the form. I think that this piece is really striking and is full of extravagant  colours and textures. It allows the artist to express themselves and not conform to strict guidelines laid down by the supreme perfectionists. Postmodernism was a response to modernism, and it tore down all the rules and broke the boundaries of the time.

OUGD401 - Study Task 1 Image Analysis Exercise

        

The Uncle Sam Range firstly strikes me as very patriotic. There is a sickly amount of red, white and blue, and an American Eagle perched upon Uncle Sams shoulder. It is the centenary of their Independence. America is filled with pride here and it doesn't look like it's an advertisement for a range. Sat around the table there’s Uncle Sam, representing America, then 3 children, Dixie, West and New England. There’s also "the world", signing the Bill of Fare from the dinner party. This list viewed up close suggests that America is more culturally diverse than many countries that have been populated for thousands of years. It shows Ireland eating many variants of potato, and China eating things like ground grasshoppers and birds nests. America is enforcing its wealthy status upon the world. 

This advertisement is aimed at middle class men. The cooker is not in the main frame and has been relegated to the left. It's not the mans job to cook for his family, and this is an American dream for a man. If the range were in the main frame it would appeal more to women, because that is what they were expected to do. The man is the main breadwinner in the family, he controls the household. These men are promised a better life if they consume. They will be able to support their family.

The second graphic image is a propaganda poster made during the first world war. It depicts a scene from many years later, when a man is sat with his children discussing The Great War. He is asked, "Daddy, what did YOU do in the great war?", and is looking sadly into the viewers eyes.
This poster is persuading people to join the forces by way of guilt. It is saying, "If you weren't part of the war - why not? Do your part. Your children will not be proud of you." This poster engages with the viewer, and makes them feel the same way as this man in the image. It's a confident poster. It describes the war as successful and great, even though at the time the result was far from certain. It tells the viewer that they will have a better life if they join the forces. The war will be won!

Both of these images were targeted at men. They touch on the masculine pride and the male duty to be a leader of the household. They are forms of propaganda, influencing their audience towards their cause (or cooker). They are both promising a better life to their audience - successfully winning the war, and a means to support their family. They each have a lack of women, which I think is a comment on the social structure of the time. Women were meant to cook and clean and please their husbands, and therefore do not need to be seen.
I think that the most striking difference between these is the cultural tone. America is very patriotic, happy and celebratory, saying that "if you buy this range, you could also be this happy!", whereas the British poster is more humble and persuasive. It uses guilt rather than pleasure influence people.
There is also no viewer engagement in the range advert. Everyone is busy at the dinner party, and are having too much fun to directly address the viewer, where as in the war poster there is a lot of engagement. The father is looking directly at the viewer, almost as a cry for help. He makes the viewer feel guilty, which is what the aim of the poster is. They need people to fight in the war, and this poster makes it out as their duty.

OUGD401 Context of Practice Lecture - Visual Literacy

Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image.
In this lecture we were taught that pictures can be read. We were all presented with a sign. A blue stick with a ball on top, and a pink zig zag with a ball on top. We all knew what this sign meant - toilets. We all knew that the blue meant mens toilets, and the pink meant womens toilets. These are all rules that we have come to accept. 
The conventions of visual communication are a combination of universal and cultural symbols. We have all come to an agreement that one thing will stand for another.
We were also taught about visual syntax, and visual semantics, and to be visually literate requires an awareness of these.
VISUAL SYNTAX - Refers to the structure and visual organisation of elements within the image, affecting the way that we "read" it.
VISUAL SEMANTICS - Refers to the way an image fits into a cultural process of communication.

We also learned some other key definitions involving visual literacy:
SEMIOTICS - The study of signs and sign processes, indication, designation, likeness, analogy metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication
VISUAL SYNECDOCHE - This term is applied when a part is used to represent the whole, or vice versa. Main subject is substituted for something directly connected to it, e.g. The Statue of Liberty representing New York,
VISUAL METONYM - A symbolic image that is used to make reference to something with a more literal meaning. By way of association the viewer makes a connection between the image and the intended subject. Unlike Visual Synechdoche, Visual Metonym has a close relationship but is not directly linked, e.g. Yellow cabs representing New York,
VISUAL METAPHOR - Used to transfer the meaning from one image to another, e.g. The Big Apple.

Overall I found this lecture really interesting and I learned a lot of key terms to improve my understanding of visual literacy.