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15 Aug 2011

Progress Report V
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From 28th July:

Why do we have to keep explaining everything to death? A need to justify and contextualise design is increasingly letting daylight in on magic and typically makes the design in question look less, rather than, more impressive. Propping up design with explanation suggests it cannot speak for itself, that there is a ‘trick’ being played. The best design simply ‘is’. But the PR industry just won’t or can’t stop. [Amos, 2011]

The juxtaposition of positivity and negativity can be reduced to the most simple marks known: + and -. They are very simple, and minimal visually, but their context is vast in many different aspects – take, for example, a juxtaposition of colour – cultures signify black and white in different ways; black is the default colour for a traditional funeral in the Western society, whereas Eastern cultures are usually white. Black, in English history, represented dignity, respect and of spiritual reflection; Queen Victoria wore black for the majority of her reign to mourn for the loss of her beloved husband Prince Albert.
Who is to know whether culture of bad and evilness, who knows that black = evil? Or white = evil? Death = black in british culture, and white in Chinese culture – why is Chinese culture white? Or rather more specifically, who was to discover the meaning of ‘bad’, and ‘evil’, differentiating between ‘good’ in the first place? In a religious sense, it would be the Bible.
The Bible, essentially, is an archaic storybook that tells the life of Christ throughout the centuries, passed down by many different generations, told to children and adults alike, making it accessible for all ages to understand (and perhaps embrace) religion. In Elizabeth Tucker’s report The Dramatization of Children’s Narratives, Tucker explains that (1980, p.184)

Most stories are told in the single dimension of the human voice. Through the young narrator’s blending of traditional and creative elements, the story gradually unfolds and comes to life for its listeners.

The modern-day influence of narrative is no different, with copywriters, marketers and advertisers loitering around the sweet and innocent vocabulary, we are influenced everyday to buy their products by being dictated to with the product, and combined with our increasingly materialistic culture, our associations between the brands and ourselves (how we will be portrayed if we used this brand), we are sold.

Summary of findings and questions so far before the Summer Break:
- Product placement is an adult invention, perhaps something which may be too advanced for children, whom are still developing mentally
- A new materialistic culture has been produced as a result of the adult concept of product placement and advertising; the increase in commercialisation of childhood has dynamically changed the development of children
- How is an idea implanted into a child's mind? Can be begin to implant brands as necessities, as the power of choice is beginning to develop in childrens’ minds?
- Can negative/positive experiences for children be branded?
- What is the difference between the media ‘idea’ and the cultural ‘idea’. Is an idea therefore, the driving force for all communications? If so, what drives the idea?
Bibliography
Amos, S. (2011) jkr: Design Gazette [online] <available at:http://www.jkr.co.uk/design-gazette/2012-olympic-medals-silver-for-design-a-bronze-for-pr-speak/> [accessed 27 July]
Tucker, E. (1980) The Dramatization of Children’s Narratives. [Online] Western Folklore, Vol. 39, No. 3, Children’s Folklore pp. 184-197 <available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1499800> [accessed 16 July]
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26 Jul 2011

Progress Report IV
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From July 21 –

Visual experiments began with erasure of logos and branded products within media; tests were done with one of the most well-known films of all time with a plethora of product placements; Home Alone. But have since managed to catch a fever during this Summer season, so may be out of action for the next couple of days, but since I became ill two days ago, I gave myself some time to processing and organising some thoughts in my head rather than worrying about what to put on paper.
As previously mentioned, the meaning of placement is essentially the placement of an idea, the idea of what is or what can be implanted into your mind, whether subconsciously or not whilst being exposed to a piece of media. In children’s terms, their minds are still in development and therefore more susceptible to different brand exposures, how do ideas become implanted into a child’s mind? How do children differentiate between positive and negatives before knowing the difference between right and wrong?
Brands ‘exists only in the memory of people…is a sign of recognition…and evokes associations in people’ (Franzen and Bouwman, 2001, p.xvii) We implant ideas into our minds with the increasing types of media that we are exposed to – books, newspapers, television, movies. These types of media are created through someone’s ideas brought to life visually or in literary senses. In both cases, both ideas are implanted into people’s minds by adding visuals effects, and in literary ways, the extensive use of descriptive words.
When talking to others about the project, I do not mention the project itself, but rather implant the idea of the project to them, which provides some great insight on implanting an idea in itself. An idea can take the form of anything from a small part in conversation to a whole topic about the everyday, even the concept of a conversation was an idea in beginning a method of communication between common species from the early ages; all ideas require knowledge of some sort to begin with. A flowchart was created to show the process of the placement of ideas, from this flowchart, I realised that I had separated the idea of media and culture into two, but why? This questioned my understanding of the true meaning of an idea; the difference between the media ‘idea’ and the cultural ‘idea’ is simply the medium or method of communication. Then is an idea therefore, the driving force for all communications? If so, what drives the idea?
The driving force for the mental development towards idea generation returns to childhood. More research, and perhaps, an interview with a language psychologist on mental development and the development of words, or, more broadly, communication.

Bibliography

Franzen, G and Bouwman, M. (2001) The Mental World of Brands: Mind, memory and brand success. Cromwell Press: Great Britain
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17 Jul 2011

Progress Report III
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From July 14 –

Meetings with experts or educators have not been set up yet, as there have not been sufficient visual experimentations as yet to progress into finding the right questions to ask experts if such meetings were to take place. An alternative method of collecting data would be to make use of the followers on Twitter, and send out survey questions through to some followers that are within the design industry, this way, I can still have room to improve the structuring of the questions when it comes to the time when I interview experts face-to-face.

I find this situation rather dire, as I am having trouble understanding how to represent research visually, almost reliving the days of studying visual theories, where it is the idea that takes precedence over the final outcome, yet we are told many different things; consider the outcome later, start thinking about the outcome now. So who are we supposed to listen to if so many opinions collide with each other?

The collision of understanding the superfluous world of design nowadays, with the fluidity of the concept of branding is becoming increasingly difficult by day, and I feel I haven’t learnt anything, but rather becoming more confused.

Perhaps becoming confused is part of this course, I haven’t yet managed to talk to a person on this course that is not confused about at least one thing on the structure of the course. Being negative sometimes perhaps, is part of our human nature; to be negative about a certain aspect can increase the attractiveness of other aspects in life, such as finding a job now rather than waiting to graduate, for example. The majority of the world’s population is negative once in awhile, if not, most of the time, with the increasing stresses of metropolitan life, and from this, negativity can also be considered as a brand – we become associated with it in every single aspect of life, and embrace negativity even though it is something that we try to avoid; it is in our human nature to be negative at times.

What of the juxtaposition of negatives, is there a scale of positivity and negativity? Is there a difference between a negativity such as bad substances in a soda drink for children, than negativity such as bad pollution that is harmful to the environment? Is there a visual response to how the level of negativity can be scaled?

As a follow up from the discussion with Eugenie in the last tutorial, can negative branding therefore be made positive by increasing the seductiveness of them? The seductiveness of eating healthily and living well, can it be made better? Positivity is something that can make you feel safe, provide comfort, and improve our happiness by knowing something familiar. On the other hand, negativity can be known as the ‘big, bad world’ or simply the unknown – we have always accepted as fact that there is more of the unknown to us than the known knowledge.

When this is applied to branding, consumers feel safer if we are using the brands we are familiar with – there is therefore an abundance of negativity compared to the polar opposite due to the unknown amount of unknown information that we have yet to discover.
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9 Jul 2011

Progress Report II
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From 7/7 – Tutorial Feedback on 2.3 & 2.4
- Justify imagery within Visual Summary and provide narratives
- Consider the legibility of imagery and text critically
The feedback was extremely useful in providing different ideas and further progress for research; the initial worry before the tutorial was that there may not have been enough cope for visual experimentation. This progress report will deconstruct the ideas that were discussed during the tutorial.
The main topic of discussion that during the tutorial was the main starting point to this post-Major Project Proposal: where product placement can be found, by concentrating on one aspect, such as the legislation imposed on this controversial issue, further investigations can be found. One such extension would be to question the 9pm watershed that has been imposed on television shows, and its real impact on the ones that the watershed is aimed towards, and also the main audience for my Major Project; 7-12 year olds. Do social classes affect children’s choice (or restrictions) on media access after that time? With the availability of technology, doesn’t it simply mean that they can have access to the same material online even if they are in their rooms with their devices other than a television? By stating considerations such as social class, the restrictions imposed by parents are very much different between, for example, a middle-class family, than a working class family; bedtimes may actually be imposed on children from 7-12 years old within the middle-class family, but such may not exist for a working class family. With such points in mind, then is the watershed a time-sensitive issue or simply a red herring?
Product placement is about the placement of an idea within media, not just television anymore, so if a programme were to have an idea already embedded, i.e. having a purpose within the show, would this also be considered product placement, and would this mean that United Kingdom, or sometimes politically known as a ‘Nanny State’ be considered manipulative towards its inhabitants? What is considered positive and what is considered negative?
Campaigns such as Jamie Oliver’s ‘Jamie’s School Dinners’ or ‘Jamie’s Dream School’ aimed to improve children’s lives by promoting healthy eating and also to learn the importance of education – by showing both the negatives and positives of each aspect. By negative points, one means that, for example, in ‘Jamie’s School Dinners’, scenes of school dinners where foods that lack in nutrition are showcased in canteens, with overweight children munching away. The show then shows the alternative by suggesting different healthier foods being served that is packed with nutrition, followed by footage of smiling school children tucking into their healthy school meals, as improved by Chef Jamie Oliver. The positives and negatives are emphasised by editing the right footage for emphasis, followed by colours used within the film filters to further influence the viewer unconsciously; as Alvin Schechter says that “Color isn’t the most important thing; it’s the only thing…color goes immediately to the psyche and can be a direct sales stimulus.” (cite from Alsop, D. 1984, p.37)
By having such a celebrity endorsing such a campaign, it would be natural that more people would watch it for the celebrity factor, the connection with a well-known human being, rather than for the main objective of the programme, in “Jamie’s School Dinners”’s case, to market the idea of healthy eating, and such a celebrity involvement would help to raise awareness on the issue. So would it mean that positive things can help people improve by making them attractive? If so, can be the same done for brands?
If campaigns are strong enough to create an impact in one’s long-term memory, the idea of the campaign will eventually become a brand. From this, it can be said that anything can be considered as a brand nowadays; products, companies, people, even metaphors and gestures. Gestures such as the ‘thumbs up’, ‘thumbs down’, ‘OK’, the Crucifix and their behaviours as a result of the usage are well-known internationally, can we therefore brand with gestures due to the known significance of them?
Bibliography
Alsop, D. “Color Grows More Important in Catching Consumers’ Eyes” Wall Street Journal, 29 November 1984, 37.
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