Oct 21, 2018Oct 21, 2018 by Davy

Week 10 Lecture – New Media

What is New Media?

New media is based on the belief that we are currently living in a “Post-digital” age, but as I discussed in the post about this weeks reading, I do not believe we are “, but I will discuss this era, as it is still a major development in the timeline of graphic design

Examples of new media are:

Forums and Chat Rooms
Email
Social Networking Sites
Content Aggregators
Virtual Reality
Online Gaming
Blogs
Portals
Social News Sites

So What Counts as Post-Digital?

Personally, I am not too sure of this answer, even with further online research, it is hard to narrow down, but I believe it starts around the time when smartphones were created. This was the start of putting screens and/or internet capabilities on everything, as discussed in the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT believes that everything that can be connected to the internet will be connected to the internet, and with recent advancements, such as the Smart Lights that can be controlled by an app and refrigerators that tell you when food is about to go off, this statement could not be more true.

https://www.mesh-net.co.uk/what-is-the-internet-of-things-iot/internet-of-things-graph/

Example of The Internet of Things (Going too Far)

The Smalt Shaker, as implied by its name, is a smart salt shaker that uses an app on ones phone to play music, set the colour of the shaker, and most importantly, dispense precise amounts of salt. It is currently a project being funded on Indigogo (as of 2017) and has 51 supporters. All jokes aside, I did chose this for not only comedic purposes, but also to convey the how accurate The Internet of Things theory is, showing that even something as menial as a salt shaker can be digital.

Copy_of_06.14.2017_191755.0

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/8/3/16088526/smalt-smart-salt-shaker-app-alexa-smartphone

Oct 18, 2018Oct 21, 2018 by Davy

Week 10 Reading – What is ‘Post-digital’?

What is “Post-digital”?

Post-Digital cannot be defined by one meaning, there is no definite answer to the question. This text goes through many different variations of the term post-digital, with one even relating the term digital to meaning, any form of numerical measurement, claiming that a guitar is digital as its frets are spaced at a precise point, while a violin goes off feel alone. Although, that last example was a bit on the crazy side of things, I believe that we are not living in a post-digital age at all, as the term post-digital does not make sense in our current context.

What I believe is Post-Digital

Personally, I believe that we will always be in a digital age, just over time it has become less apparent as digital and technological aspects of our lives have become more integrated into our surroundings, and therefore feel that the term “Digital Age” is more appropriate. Our cars have computers, our refrigerators have screens, even a vacuum cleaner can navigate every inch of our floor and find its way back to the charger. And this is why I believe that digital technology is not a movement, or a revolution, but instead a key aspect in the development of humanity. Unlike post communism and post punk, digital technology stuck around and not only that changed the world we live in, in almost every way, therefore, I find it is more related to something along the lines of the bronze age and stone age. We still use stones like flint to start fires, just now its located in a lighter. We still use Bronze, just now its in the form of specialized spark free tools and bearings; And like these past ages, we will continue to use this technology, until another technology influences society in such a way., creating yet another age.

Summery

Overall, I found this reading to be quite thought provoking, as it actually allowed for the reader to discover their own definition of what they believe is “Post-Digital” rather than sticking with one. In the end, (as seen above), it allowed me to discover my depiction of post-digital, which turned out to be not digital at all.

Oct 9, 2018Oct 21, 2018 by Davy

Week 9 – From Analogue to Digital

Pre-Graphic Design

Before computers, graphic design consisted of physically using templates and sticking letters and images onto a page. These pages would then be used to chemically expose a printing plate for mass printing. Although this method was accurate, it was tedious and like Gutenberg’s printing press, each letter had to be placed one by one. This was completely changed when computers were involved.

Computers

When it comes to graphic design, the change from analogue to digital was quite sudden. Since the first commercial computers were aimed at math and word processing, it did not take long for graphic designers to discover the ability to create a page layout, even with their simple green text on a black screen set-up. This would use commands to change styles types of fonts, and rely on the designers ability of imagining what this should look like printed.

This Documentary reveals Graphic Design before Computers made it Easy - Features - Digital Arts - Google Chrome 21_10_2018 5_15_58 PM

https://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/features/graphic-design/this-documentary-reveaks-graphic-design-before-computers/

The Macintosh

The Macintosh computer was one of the most influential devices in the history of graphic design, as it allowed the user to see what they were creating as they were creating it. Released in 1984 it only took one year for a commercial technology not far off of InDesign to be developed for the use of page layout, and this software was called Aldus PageMaker. Like InDesign, PageMaker could layout text and images onto a page using template and what ever fonts were available. This revolutionised the graphic design industry, and was made more useful, with the release of the Macintosh Plus, which supported colour.

macintosh-hello-100226408-large PM1screen

Computer: https://www.macworld.com/article/2090545/the-mac-at-30-the-next-30-years.html

Software: http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Software/Pagemaker.html

Technological developments from devices and software, such as what is mentioned above were the stepping stones for the design tools that we know and love today.

Oct 8, 2018Oct 21, 2018 by Davy

Week 9 Reading – The Language of New Media

Why This Text Was Confusing

Right off the bat, I’m just going to admit, this reading kind of flew over my head. It was hard to understand and follow, since the pages were crooked and the reading was long, with repetitive use of metalanguage and a need for contextual knowledge that I was unfamiliar with. Due to this, I will more or less be elaborating one of the questions from the tutorial.

What does Manovich mean when he suggests that cinema, the printed word and HCI could sit within the same conceptual plane

“Cinema, the printed word, the human-computer interface: Each of these traditions has developed its own unique way of organizing information, presenting it to the user, correlating space and time, and structuring human experience in the process of accessing information.”

Manovich suggest that a cultural understanding is required in not only the understanding of Cinema and printed word, but also in the use of a HCI, as people who have not grown up with the influence of technology would not understand the icons of any computer. This could be explained for say, in the floppy disk icon used on most computers and digital devices, would not be understood by a human who has grown up in technologically behind country. Many other examples may include the symbolic icon of a power button, using both the “1” and “0” of binary to show this button both turns “on” and “off” this device.

https://www.freepik.com/free-icon/power-button-off_744481.htm

Although I also argue against this concept, where I feel that some technology could be understood, such as the concept of arrow keys as the act of pointing is a fairly universal concept amongst humans, so the use of this primitive symbolism may be conveyed through a contextual barrier.

Oct 1, 2018 by Davy

My Presentation

Vietnam War Propaganda

Firstly, I will list my tutors feedback.

Good linking between between topics and images of the slides.
Clear definitions used throughout my presentation of key terms (referring to propaganda and the Vietnam War).
Could use rearranging.
Talking more about flower image.

Disclaimer: Obviously, being my own presentation, I am not only going to be more informed, but more critical on myself, so expect this to focus more on negative, rather than the positive.

My response to this feedback and other feedback I have picked up myself.

I do believe my slides did link well with the topics I was presenting, yet I feel that some did not fit in, as most but not all, were in black and white. Not only that, but there was one specific slide that layout wise, was nothing like any other slide in my presentation.

My definitions I feel were clear and gave the viewer the context required for my presentation.

With the rearrangement, I was to fixated on using a template that I received, which without the context or proper layout, made my presentation confusing in the “summarising slides”, which acted more like an extra slide for each topic that had been put randomly at the end.

I also agree that I should have talked not just about the flower image, but about all the images and examples. I felt that my evidence was quite summarised with most examples not even stating a date, nor author, although this was because Vietnam War Propaganda was a surprisingly hard to find information on; Even when searching the library, I only found 1 book which related to the military side of Propaganda, and another, I just used for images.

There is some good that I feel came out of this assignment, and that is that pecha kucha’s make a long presentation feel very short. I may use aspects of this assignment in future presentations.

“Be your own worst critic. When things go wrong it’s tempting to shift the blame. Don’t. Accept responsibility. People will appreciate it, and you will find out what you’re capable of.” – Paul Arden

Oct 1, 2018 by Davy

Presentation Reviews

Studio Ghibli – Zoe Jenkins

As a fellow fan of Anime and in turn, Studio Ghibli films; I found this presentation to be quite interesting. The use of .gif files in the presentation made the slides visually interesting and stood out from the crowd, as no other presentations had utilised this feature. This did lead to a slight problem with some pages being overly crowded with visual information, although i found this to only be a problem on one particular slide with four .gif files playing at once. Verbal presentation overall was clear and passionate to the topic, as Zoe clearly has a passion and knowledge for her chosen topic, with the only gripe being a distinct reliance on palm cards, yet this can be said about most of the presentations. The structure and argument of the presentation was comprehensive, explaining an in-depth history of Studio Ghibli, its films and accomplishments. For evidence of research, the presentation left me with no unanswered questions, and felt as if all that needed to be discussed was covered.

Overall I found this presentation to be a clear and in-depth overview of Studio Ghibli.

40nfe-imgur

Victorian Photography – (Could not get students name)

This presentation was one that took me by surprise as one of my favourites. Although, I had previously known about post-mortem photography being common in Victorian times due to such high infant mortality rates and wide-spread disease, I had never ventured into this topic further than seeing it mentioned in documentaries and text books. The visual presentation of the slides, although simple, worked perfectly with these types of images, due to the photographs on each slide being the discussion point of what was being said. Some arrows were added at certain points which helped identify key aspects. The verbal presentation had a continuously steady rhythm of information. If there was not enough information on her cards for the allocated 20 second slide time, the student would quickly break away and engage with the images on the fly. The structure was well presented, with a clear progression through history, even linking back to the present time. Overall there appeared to be a vast amount of research for such niche, but noteworthy aspect of visual communication history.

In conclusion, this presentation was very engaging in a topic I never knew I would find so intriguing. I will probably look more into this subject in the future.

Sep 5, 2018Oct 21, 2018 by Davy

Week 6 Lecture – Visual Identity

What is Visual Identity?

Visual identity relates to what aspects of a brand make it stand out from the rest, (kind of like if a brand was a person, who would they be? What would they wear? etc.). In this case of design, we are mainly focusing on the visual aspects and their relation to what the brand creates or provides. This can be explored in the development of the McDonald’s logo, as it shows how overtime, as brands become more famous they require less context, and so-forth the logo design becomes similar.

https://www.izeyodiase.com/psychology-of-color-branding-in-logos/

As seen above, what started as a simple barbecue restaurant turned into the multi-billion dollar franchise it is today. Some of the major changes include, the use of colour in the 1953, showing how the red became iconic in branding from an early age. Then in 1961, the addition of the yellow arches appear, which have become the most iconic aspect of any McDonald’s branding . Then as time progressed the “McDonald’s” typeface became simplistic, up until the point where it was separated from the logo entirely. Now that McDonald’s is so mainstream, like Nike, the single of the golden arches in “M” is enough for most of the worlds population to understand that this is “McDonald’s”.

Along with McDonald’s other examples include

Apple

maxresdefault

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibeH2T7Qclg

Pepsi

https://www.logolynx.com/topic/pepsi#&gid=1&pid=3

The Rolling Stones

lengua-rolling-stone

https://ecodiario.eleconomista.es/musica/noticias/8001076/12/16/Los-Rolling-Stones-publican-su-primer-album-de-estudio-en-una-decada.html

The Effects of Colour

There is also a belief that certain colours have certain effects on branding too. This has been questioned with McDonald’s, as some people speculate that the psychology of the colour yellow grabs the attention of the viewer, while also improving their mood, likewise of being in sunlight. While the red encourages appetite and evokes the user to take action. I believe some aspects of this may be true, as many of the most popular food brands seem to theme some form of red in their branding design, such as Domino’s, KFC and Coca-Cola.

Due to this reasoning, I feel that visual identity is key in any kind of successful branding use.

Sep 3, 2018Oct 21, 2018 by Davy

Week 6 Reading – Ways of Seeing

Psychology of Brand Identity

The “Ways of Seeing” the psychological aspects of brand identity, with one of the more prominent terminologies being “spectator-buyer” and “spectator-owner”. These are the terms used to discuss the imagery of the product, beyond the capabilities of the product.

Spectator-Buyer

The spectator-buyer is a term used to describe how a potential customer before they buy a product of desire. They are seen to envy their future self who has that product, and gain excitement from the thought of others jealousy towards them. This gives the impression, that by having this object, the customer will be seen as greater then they were before. This is seen in branding such as Jeep’s famous “Don’t Hold Back” slogan. This feeds the spectator-buyer ideas looking more adventurous if they drive this off-road vehicle, along with a feeling of indestructibility.

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Spectator-Owner

The spectator owner is the role of the person trying to sell the product to the buyer. This terminology works better in the case of selling things that change the appearance of the customer. The most common example of this would be jewellery shop staff complementing on how somebody looks with their product on. This use of encouragement is the fake envy that they desire from those around them. Obviously, the owner is not truly envious of the jewellery, otherwise they would not be selling it in the first place. This can be in the form of faltering ones prestige of appearance and trying to seem separated from those around them.

Aug 29, 2018Oct 21, 2018 by Davy

Week 5 Lecture – Photography

The Repercussions of the Camera

The invention of the camera brought upon many possibilities for both documentation and art purposes, but due to its accuracy in capturing pictures, some painters felt threatened by the invention of this new technology, while some conformed to this new technology and began learning photography, others used this as a way to strike out amongst the construct of normality, creating surrealism.

Surrealism

Surrealism was created in the early 1920’s and known for representing dream or hallucinogenic like paintings. This can be seen in one of the most iconic pieces form the surrealist movement, The Persistence of Memory (1931), by Salvador Dali.

salvador-dali-the-persistence-of-memory-c-1931_a-l-7143317-0

https://www.art.co.uk/products/p5991468465-sa-i781458/salvador-dali-the-persistence-of-memory-c-1931.htm

This work conceptually nonsensical, yet it is this randomness that makes the work so interesting in the first place. Even though the work is so famous, to this day, we still do not know what the meaning of this work is. “Why are the clocks melting?”, “What is the meaning of the half face?”, “Why does the water break off into a tile?” and many other questions are asked when looking at the strange features of this landscape.

Social Commentary

Along with the development of portable cameras, came the realisation of their use in Social Justice. In this context, Social Justice is the act of bringing to light the mistreatment and struggle of the under-privileged and and abused.

Public Domain

This photograph from 1908 shows children working at a glass works and is part of the National Child Labor Committee. Pictures such as this were beginning to spread around the late 1800’s to early 1900’s inspiring the public opinion on the morality of sending children to work in such dangerous conditions. This would eventually lead to strict rules in the worker rights.

This style of photography is still used today, whether it is in the form of charity foundations building sympathy to encourage donations or to report on the effects of natural disasters on the less fortunate. I personally feel this is an okay practice, as long as it is done in a way that is faithful to the truth.

Aug 28, 2018Oct 21, 2018 by Davy

Week 5 Reading – Camera Lucida

Photography as Proof

“Camera Lucida” discusses the true value of a photograph in a more philosophical kind of way. A large focus of the reading based on the use of the photograph as “Look”, “See”, “There it Is”, conveying that photographs serve the purpose of proving something exists. With out a photograph, how can you prove something happened or even existed.

Photography is Unique

The reading also discusses the belief that a photograph can never be reproduced in the exact same circumstances. Although the above statement seems deep and philosophical, it only works within reason, such as. If you take a picture of a car in a well lit studio, that picture could be reproduced on a level of accuracy undetectable by the human eye, and each picture can also be duplicated through digital media. This statement does work however for natural imagery, such as taking a picture of an endangered animal in its natural habitat, or a picture thunderstorm over the ocean, as nature in its own way, is to chaotic to reproduce.

The Value of a Photograph

One intriguing point identified was the value of a physical photograph in its fragility. Why do photographs in physical form cause more emotion then one of many displayed on a screen? Is it due to the fact that it is a physical object that never changes, or the fact that it will eventually deteriorate over time? Questions like this get me deep in thought, as I have thousands of photographs on my phone, but the photographs that mean the most, are the physical strips from photo-booth’s with my friends and I, hanging on my wall. Even though the digital equivalent of these images are on my phone, I still can’t help but feel more emotions from the physical object.