Sunday, 10 February 2013

OUGD401 Design Context: Politics, Society, Culture and History

In our session we were given four words. one after another after a small period of time POLITICS , SOCIETY, CULTURE & HISTORY. We paired up and had to make an A3 piece of paper into 8 sections. Next to make a list of 20 things 10 each that first come to our head when given a word. 


Politics
  • riots
  • lies
  • news
  • unfulfilled promises
  • stress
  • men
  • government
  • law 
  • society
Society 
  • chavs
  • alienation
  • drinking
  • classes
  • mess
  • culture
  • people
  • race
  • shops
  • struggle
  • money
  • tax
  • government
  • law police
  • dole
Culture
  • holiday
  • food
  • language
  • clothes
  • fashion
  • aeroplane
  • destination
  • design
  • documentation
  • tropical
  • pop
  • religion
  • expensive

History
  • museum
  • nazi
  • books
  • technology
  • lectures
  • progress
  • architecture
  • human evolution
  • culture
  • war
  • wikipedia
  • social status
  • people
  • global
For the second a3 piece of paper we split it up the same but we had to make a list of the positives and negative for each sub category.

Negatives:
  • Politics:- stress , riots, decisions , budget, law
  • Society:- Chavs , drinking , mess , alienation , drinking , money dole , mess, classes
  • Culture:- colour , documentation , religion, expensive
  • History:- Nazis , war , social status, people





 What is a manifesto? 















'a written public declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government.' Wikipedia

Manifestos are a standard feature of the various movements in the modernist avant-garde and are still written today. Art manifestos are mostly extreme in their rhetoric and intended for shock value to achieve a revolutionary effect. They often address wider issues, such as the political system. 

Manifestos typically consist of a number of statements, which are numbered or in bullet points and which do not necessarily follow logically from one to the next.'
Wikipedia

First things First manifesto:

1964, Ken Garland - a designer
 33 signers


'Its aim was to generate discussion about the graphic design profession's priorities in the design press and at design schools. Some designers welcomed this attempt to reopen the debate, while others rejected the manifesto.' Wikipedia

Incomplete manifesto for growth:

http://www.brucemaudesign.com/4817/112450/work/incomplete-manifesto-for-growth

Bruce Mau 

Hanna Victorsson: Illustrator and graphid designer - posters on the Incomplete Manifesto for Growth



 http://hannaviktorsson.com/#an-incomplete-manifesto-for-growth
  

http://99u.com/articles/7005/5-Manifestos-for-Art-Life-Business


'Manifestos are a powerful catalyst. If you want to change the world, even in just a small way, creating a personal or business manifesto is a great place to start.'
'Needless to say, developing a set of principles that you believe in and constantly strive to stand by is an invaluable tool. '
The Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright 

1. An honest ego in a healthy body.
2. An eye to see nature.

3. A heart to feel nature.

4. Courage to follow nature.

5. The sense of proportion (humor).

6. Appreciation of work as idea and idea as work.

7. Fertility of imagination.
8. Capacity for faith and rebellion.

9. Disregard for commonplace (inorganic) elegance.
10. Instinctive cooperation. 

The Marketer: Seth Godin 
1. The greatest innovations appear to come from those that are self-reliant. Individuals who go right to the edge and do something worth talking about. Not solo, of course, but as instigators of a team. In two words: don’t settle.
2. The greatest marketers do two things: they treat customers with respect and they measure.
3. The greatest salespeople understand that people resist change and that ‘no’ is the single easiest way to do that.
4. The greatest bloggers blog for their readers, not for themselves.
5. There really isn’t much a of ‘short run’. It quickly becomes yesterday. The long run, on the other hand, sticks around for quite a while.
6. The internet doesn’t forget. And sooner or later, the internet finds out.
7. Everyone is a marketer, even people and organizations that don’t market. They’re just marketers who are doing it poorly.
8. Amazing organizations and people receive rewards that more than make up for the effort required to be that good.
9. There is no number 9.
10. Mass taste is rarely good taste. 

The Designer: John Maeda
1. Reduce: The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.
2. Organize: Organization makes a system of many appear fewer.
3. Time: Savings in time feel like simplicity.
4. Learn. Knowledge makes everything simpler.
5. Differences: Simplicity and complexity need each other.
6. Context: What lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not peripheral.
7. Emotion: More emotions are better than less.
8. Trust: In simplicity we trust.
9. Failure: Some things can never be made simple.
10. The One: Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.

The Writer: Leo Tolstoy
1. Get up early (five o'clock).
2. Go to bed early (nine to ten o'clock).
3. Eat little and avoid sweets.
4. Try to do everything by yourself.
5. Have a goal for your whole life, a goal for one section of your life, a goal for a shorter period and a goal for the year; a goal for every month, a goal for every week, a goal for every day, a goal for every hour and for every minute, and sacrifice the lesser goal to the greater.
6. Keep away from women.
7. Kill desire by work.
8. Be good, but try to let no one know it.
9. Always live less expensively than you might. 
10. Change nothing in your style of living even if you become ten times richer. 

The Company: Apple  
1. We believe that we're on the face of the earth to make great products. 
2. We're constantly focusing on innovating.
3. We believe in the simple, not the complex.
4. We believe we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution.
5. We believe in saying no to thousands of projects so that we can focus on the few that are meaningful to us.
6.We believe in deep collaboration and cross pollination in order to innovate in a way others cannot.
7. We don't settle for anything other than excellence in any group in the company.
8. We have the self-honesty to admit when we're wrong and the courage to change.




The Holstee Manifesto



The passive aggressive manifesto
created as a response from the other typography based manifestos




Never Give In Manifesto 

www.rachelcarterdesign.co.uk/Never-Give-In-Manifesto#.URZ6mOiUtsM 

A list of design manifesto's

http://backspace.com/notes/2009/07/design-manifestos.php



POLITICAL

In a Political climate when much seems uncertain, especially in regards to the economy. It seems to me that to be a politician these days, you must be an elite. Many of the most powerful politicians of today come from wealthy backgrounds and are not in touch with the real world, so to speak. I believe that this country should be ran by the people for the people. I find it hard to believe that the politicians of today can truly serve the people when they have never walk in their shoes. I believe that we should have an equal government with people of all races and genders, all cultures and classes in order to truly and powerfully represent the people. 

CULTURE

I openly accept all cultures. Learning from different cultures is the greatest way to discover you self and the world around you. I think that in order to gain a true prospective of of life and its purpose i want to be well travelled and to have experienced different cultures for my self.

HISTORY

History has a massive influence in how we see the world today, and the decisions that are made. It is an extremely powerful tool in which improvements can be formed,  nothing should be left untold about history, so long as the evidence is there. Evidence should be shown and used as a tool to shape the future further. I believe we should continue to use and develop only the successful and positive skills learnt in history.

SOCIETY

In a society where people are often penalised for being different, i believe we should strive for an accepting society, where everyone has equal opportunities, and is viewed as an individual, rather than statistic. Prejudice should be eliminated and we should all be accepting of who we are as individuals as well as those around us. 

Friday, 1 February 2013

OUGD401 Design Context: Beauty, Style and Taste

OUGD401 Lecture Notes: Democratic Lecture.


"Design is not your job. Design is about people, your personality and the ability to make relationships work is a massive factor in your employability"



WHAT IS GRAPHIC DESIGN?


"Identify what your good at 
and what you want to do!"


It has become redundant and exists in a small proportion. 
There are two types of design - Logical and Emotional.

Designers that use logic
Utilise 

Clarify function
Rationalise
The communicative elements beyond any other means to present a formal and precise argument to their audience
Designers that use emotion
Use any and everyday form of communication available

Intelligence

BRAND SPANKING

"The deeper you dig the higher you rise
That's were your brand will come from"
It's ubiquitous + bullshit

Corporation is different to branding
The irritation is that branding is now a catch all term
Fed Ex : Consistency + repetition
AOL: As many logo's + dynamic
Context: What it means in the context you are trying to do


PORTFOLIO

"The portfolio is probably the most subjective piece
 of work you will ever design - not everyone's going to like it."

You can have the best portfolio but it is all down to the individual person
Simple portfolios work best
Don't over complicate it
Don't look at trends, be true to your work as it might come back to haunt you


PLACEMENTS

"Placements are a must. .
 it's all about experience!"

WHY YOU SHOULD 




    Agency insight


      New expectations


        Real work


          Hone all of you skills


            Build bridges ad meet some interesting folk


              Put you ahead of the competition


                Improve your tea making


                  Reassure you of your ability make you more confident

                  WHY YOU SHOULDN'T

                  Make a loss money - wise
                  Away for a period of time more often than not alone 
                  Taken advantage of

                  GETTING A PLACEMENT

                  Have a hit list 
                  Research everything
                  Show your work before you call
                  CV - Experience is the main thing
                  Talk to people who have been through the experience

                  WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU'RE THERE

                  Be punctual 
                  A little enthusiasm goes a long way
                  Be yourself 
                  Spell their fucking name right
                  Play the game . . your taking from them to give something back

                  Wednesday, 30 January 2013

                  OUGD401 Lecture Notes: Photography as Document


                  Jacob A. Riis "a growler gang in session" ( robbing a lush) 1887 - street Arabs, the lawless youth, rein-acted 

                  Lewis hine, Russian steel workers, homestead 1908 - sociological, never exploit, retains self, reports the conditions 

                  Duffer boy 1909 

                  F.S.A- farm security administration - migration, desperate for work 

                  Margaret Bourke-white "sharecroppers home" 1937 - temporary structure built for shelter, lined with newspaper, practical material, insulated, creative, not objective, Opposite of American dream 

                  Russell lee "interior of a black farmers house" 1939 - less artistic use of composition, meekly recording 

                  Dorothea Lange "migrant mother" 1936 
                  Hungry, desperate, no name or her history 
                  Iconic, classic mother n child sitch,

                  Walker Evans - floyd Burroughs (gerorge gudger) hale county 1936 - no editing or manipulation, real gritty poverty

                  Bill Brandt - Northumberland miners at his evening meal 1937 - northerner, working class

                  Robert frank 'parade - Hoboken, New Jersey' 1958 - contradict, othering not exploitative 

                  William Klein st Patrick's day, fifth avenue 1954 - 55 - his presents is akbowledged

                  Dance in Brooklyn 1955 - blur, dark connotation, captures movement of the city, grain and blur - redefine the tradition of documentary 

                  Magnum group - founded in 1947 by henri Cartier Bresson - unaware of presence , seamless photographer, surrealism, mystery 

                  The decisive moment - photography achieves its highest distinction - reflecting the universality of the human condition in a never-to-be moment

                  France 1932 pic , reflection in the water, sees the world as a stage, no manipulation, modernism, truth to the materials 

                  Documentary and war 
                  Robert capa "the falling soldier" 1935 - the moment of the soldiers death, claims its wasn't real,
                  Robert capa " Normandy, France" 1945 

                  George Rodger "Bergen - Belsen concentration camp" 1945 , horror, 

                  Lee miller 

                  Hung cong ut - attack 1972, anti war statement, iconic, viewers discuss, relation of the photographer to the subject, 

                  Robert haeberle "people about to be shot" 1969 - implicit shooting, desire to gather info, overrides human response 

                  Don McCullin "she'll shocked soldier" 1968 - trauma, retreats, idealised landscapes 

                  Vietnam - reffered to the war in colour

                  Documentary exhaustion Clarke 1997;163 

                  William niedich 1989 - documentary constructed, attempt to re-write American history, sydjugation of American Indians, 9 th cent processes 

                  Edward Curtis native north Americans (early 20th century) 

                  Rodger Korangi, Nuba tribesmen, 1940 

                  Bruno barbey - left wing riot protesting 1972, aesthetic over social impact 

                  Jeremy deller "the battle of orgreave" 2001 

                  Deller is both reserving the memory of political struggles which no longer have force in the culture - Nash 2006 

                  Wednesday, 23 January 2013

                  OUGD401 Lecture notes: Avante-garde Cinema

                  Avante-garde Cinema

                  • In opposition to main stream cinema 
                  • Non linear/ Non figurative/ Non narrative
                  • Require a different kind of spectatorship
                  • Hard to define, challenges and questions peoples understanding
                  • Radicalism- doesn't get shown because it doesn't appeal to general audience
                  • Outside capitalism

                  Un chien andalou (1929) Dir. Lius Bunuel




                  Un chien andalou is a 1929 silent surrealist short film by the Spanish director Luis Buñuel and artist Salvador Dalí. It was Buñuel's first film and was initially released in 1929 with a limited showing at Studio des Ursulines in Paris, but became popular and ran for eight months.The film has no plot in the conventional sense of the word. The chronology of the film is disjointed, jumping from the initial "once upon a time" to "eight years later" without the events or characters changing very much. It uses dream logic in narrative flow that can be described in terms of then-popular Freudian free association, presenting a series of tenuously related scenes.

                  The idea for the film began when Buñuel was working as an assistant director for Jean Epstein in France. Buñuel told Dalí at a restaurant one day about a dream in which a cloud sliced the moon in half "like a razor blade slicing through an eye". Dalí responded that he'd dreamed about a hand crawling with ants. Excitedly, Buñuel declared: "There's the film, let's go and make it.'" They were fascinated by what the psyche could create, and decided to write a script based on the concept of suppressed human emotions.

                  Massively influencial and the start of what radical cinema could become.
                  Still inspires and influences people to this day



                  Mathew Barney- Cremaster



                  The film project was 8 years in the making 1994-2002, it consists of 5 feature length films, accompanying sculptures, drawings and photographs. It alludes the process of sexual differentiation during the embryonic process. Filmed in the Guggenheim gallery.

                  Oskar Fischinger- Spirals

                  Modernist
                  Hypnotic 
                  'in the process of seeing you become aware of seeing and the coordination between the eye and the brain'


                  James Whitney-Lapis 1966



                  tried to link speed of the film to brain waves. Romantic, with a mysticism about the word. Categorised as a romantic poetic film.


                  Stan Brakhage-Black ice 1944




                  Stan Barkhage-Moth light 1963




                  A giant in American avant garde cinema
                  tried to portray a sense of hynagogia- a state between waking and sleeping. a shamanistic vision where nothing makes sense but your brain is still functioning.
                  He often blurred hand painted film with actual film
                  James Stanley Brakhage  better known as Stan Brakhage, was an American non-narrative filmmaker. He is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th-century experimental film.
                  Over the course of five decades, Brakhage created a large and diverse body of work, exploring a variety of formats, approaches andtechniques that included handheld camerawork, painting directly onto celluloid, fast cutting, in-camera editing, scratching on film, collage film and the use of multiple exposures. Interested in mythology and inspired by music, poetry, and visual phenomena, Brakhage sought to reveal the universal in the particular, exploring themes of birth, mortality, sexuality, and innocence.
                  Brakhage's films are often noted for their expressiveness and lyricism