Brief Two Introduction

08/11/2016 - Lecture

In this lecture, I was introduced to my second project of the year which is a live brief. We were given the choices of two networks to choose from which are YCN (You Can Now) and RSA (Royal Society of Arts).

YCN focuses on contemporary communication and they have 16 live briefs which I can pick from. The deadline for each brief is 23rd March 2017.

RSA focuses on social environmental and ecological and they have 12 briefs which I can pick from. The deadline for this is 8th March 2017.

We were shown a video made by RSA and it shows people who have previously won and people who work for RSA. The video just gives me an idea of the type of work the previous winners have done to get an idea of what they are looking for and what happens during the marking process. It talks about how useful it is to do a live brief from RSA because I could end up with a job at the end of it. It gives designers an opportunity.

The RSA Student Design Awards: A Student's Story from RSA Student Design Awards on Vimeo.

Timeline

Week One - For this week, I have to pick 3 briefs, one from each competition, from then, I just have to generate ideas for each and talk about it.

Week Two - Develop ideas - Think about which ideas are my strongest, get feedback and pick the right brief for me.

Week Three - This is where we begin to formalise ideas. Think about what kind of skills is required to achieve the chosen brief.

Cybernetic Self - Week 4

18/10/2016 - Lecture

This was a quick seminar. Basically we are in that stage of our project where we have to finalise our ideas.

We have to create a five page PDF which will contain any vital information relating to my project and that PDF will be shown in assessment. It's a small PDF which will mean I have to select what information I will include that best displays and explains my final idea.


Print v Digital

Placement

18/10/2016 - Lecture

The first part of the seminar was about placement. Linda Whiteley came in to do a talk and to give us some key information about placement.

It started off with some basic information that we have to know about placement. It's 48 weeks and I can start from June 2017 to September 2018 which would give me 16 months to complete the placement, more than the 48 weeks so I would have a decent amount of time to complete it. Another great thing is that I don't have to do all 48 weeks at one place, I can do some weeks at one place and other weeks at a different place but as long as I complete the 48 weeks, it is fine.

Another piece of information is that placement year is optional, I don't have to do it if I don't want to and instead, I can finish my final year but in my case, I want to do placement year, it's something that I think would improve me as a designer.

I must be recorded with the placement unit, that is because it will tell the university that I am actually doing placement and going to it so I can be recorded down so the company and the university can confirm that I am doing it. At the end of placement, I must do a report/presentation, about 1500 - 2000 words long and the final result will just be a pass or fail but if I do fail, that does not affect my degree, if I do pass though, there will be a label on my degree saying 'sandwich'.

Why should I do placement?

- Experience - It will help me in my final year at university because I have gained experience so I would know what to do to pass and I can put what I have learned into my university work. It will help me find a graduate job because I would have the experience so I would know what goes on in the industry and I would be more experienced than those who didn't go on placement.

- Self discovery/motivation - I can do whatever I want.

- Possibly of higher degree classification - It will help my grade.

- Work can be fun

Things to consider....

- I would have to pay £500* in the placement year - I can pay through Student Finance.

- What type of placement? There's a thing called EPY (Enterprise Placement Year) where I can create my own business and there will be people who can help me with that.

- Who would I like to work for? - Will it be short term or full year?

- How will I manager my money? I can still apply for Student Finance but I won't get as much as I do if I'm at university and not at placement.

Market Data - Market Research

10/10/2016 - Lecture

In this lecture, we're looking at the market data and market research in the industry. This part is important because I can use market research to help me think of ideas to design.

We started talking about the market research.

We use market research to gather information about the consumer so we are aware of what they need and want. There are two types of market research, the primary data and the secondary data. As we all know, any type of secondary research involves us using the internet or books to find the information we need but primary data is where we find our own research, there are two types relating to primary data, quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative 

Quantitative research is us asking a lot of questions and using the clipboard to gather those information. There are three types of quantitative research, geographic, psychographic and socio-economic.

- Geographic - This data looks at how and where you live.  It looks at that because it could give us a clue of the things you will buy.  

- Psychographic - This data looks at the way you think. It looks at what interests you have, what your passion or hobby is, from that, it would give us an idea of what you would be interested in buying because what you buy could revolve around your hobby or interest.

- Socio-economic - This data looks at your class and financial ability. This could look at how economic activities could affect and influence what you buy.

The pros of quantitative research is that it has a lot of detail because it contains a lot of information, it looks at the different aspects of the consumer, how that person thinks and lives and from that, it could narrow their market to specific consumers, this makes the information very clear and easy to understand. The negative of it is that the method is complex and hard which comes at a cost, it could vary around £150,000. It would be even hard to do if there are any time restraints. 

Qualitative

Qualitative data is information about qualities and the information is something that can't be measured. This involves having an interview and a focus group, having to talk to people who are in the know about an issue that needs to be understood.

Unlike quantitative, qualitative's method is easier and cheaper because all it involves is preparing and arranging a meeting which is something that can be easily done and quite quick at times. The cons of it is that there is no statistical validation, the information given can't be measured like I said before, it's all opinion so there isn't much evidence to it and it's only a success if the discussions are controlled in the right way.

Market Segmentation

We moved onto 'Market Segmentation'. It's a marketing strategy that involves dividing the target market of existing and potential customers and combining the ones who have the same interests, characteristics and common needs.

This can be broken down to different ways, it can be done by age, sex, social class, geography, hobby/interests and so on. This will help you determine what type of customer you are designing for and how you will design it. The objective is to design something that matches the expectation of the consumers.

Below is an example of explaining what market segmentation....

Take books as an example, there are two types, fiction and non-fiction which then splits into different genres, furthermore, it splits into age groups and specific types of different narrative. By doing this, it narrows down the target audience and who you are designing for but also shows that there are different types, it doesn't just stop at genres as an example.

To have a successful market segmentation, you have to make it measurable and identifiable but also, it have to be accessible. It has to be substantial because you have to make a profit and generate a decent amount of money in otherwise it's a waste of money if you think the advertisement will work then a large amount of money can be put in to pay for everything. Finally, it has to have a meaning, it must connect with the target audience, if not, there will be no profit coming in, it has to relate to people who you think will buy into your design.

This lecture was useful because it showed that when it comes to research, there is a wide range of different things I have to look at and I have learned some of the terminologies in this lecture. I also looked at the pros and cons of each so that if I'm at that stage where I have to research and gather information, I would know which would be the most effective one for me at that time depending on time, cost etc.

Cybernetic self - Week 3

11/10/2016 - Lecture

Rafa Alvarez - Distance

This was for a German article to celebrate skype's anniversary and their impact on relationship. This image could relate to those who get involved with a person without actually meeting them in person, how we only show the other person only what we want them to see and not the whole picture, incase they leave you for who you are.

I believe the middle part is pink to represent the feminine, that's where the room is tidy and has stuff like a teddy bear, the blue part is her masculine side where everything is dirty and messy. She could be embarrassed to show it because in society, we are taught to act our gender and society will make fun of us if we try to act like the opposite gender.

Next, we were shown a piece of work that KesselsKramer worked on for the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel which I thought was brilliant.

Who are KesselsKramer? 

- Kesse;sKramer was established in 1996. They are an independent agency in Amsterdam, London and Los Angeles with 50 people of 10 different nationalities.

The Hans Brinker Budget Hotel weren't doing so well so what they did was, they contacted KesselsKramer to help them find a way to get more people to check in, to makes things worse, the hotel standard was very low, how do you advertise a low standard hotel? Easy, play to your strengths, what KessesKraner did was they advertised it in a way that told people, this is what you will get (basically nothing) and showed people how bad the hotel is, they were as honest as they could have been. It was that bad, that it was good in a way.

Below is some of the examples of their work...

This advertisement was shown for a reason, which made it successful was the internet because it spread the news all over the world, it's such a powerful tool and since we're doing a Cybernetic Self project, we too can use the internet as a tool to spread our project but not only that, we can use it to spread our work to attract clients and show it to people who we want to work for like companies. This is some of the ways we can use the internet.

The next person we looked at was Anna Ahnborg. Her work looks at how perception is used online like how something is said or seen, how we use the internet or filters to change what we say, she achieved that by distorting and changing the words in a way that she's asking the viewer, "can you read it?"

The next person was someone I could relate to more called Joan Cornella. His video piece called 'Instaboobs', looks at how we're not always who we show on the internet and how people will go to some extremes by tricking people into getting likes because to them, likes are so important but he did it in a narrative type way which is something I am doing at the moment. This piece shows the dangers of the internet and he likes to look at the unnatural connection between human beings and social media. He's conveying a story and stating a message, I want to do that aswell.

His designs are simple, there's not much detail and it's mostly just bold colours with no shading or whatsoever. The facial expressions on the people is what I think works because it makes the viewer smile or chuckle because it's a weird look but it interests the viewer and makes them carry on watching because it has humor in it.

For my story to work, I need something that gets the viewer carry on reading or watching and I think a slight of humor in it would work, just like how Joan Cornella's work did.

Cybernetic Self - Week two

Lecture - 4/10/2016

What is social media? 

 In a way, we are social media because we use Twitter and Facebook to communicate through the network, how we become one and take information to pass it on therefore internet is people.



This video looks at the aspects of internet and how it has changed the way we are. There's one part that talks about internet and culture and in a way, the internet is a culture because we are different people expressing ourselves from all over the world but we become one because of the use of the internet.

The internet is a canvas that we create our life on it and we use it for different aspects of our lives, we use it to be heard, for education and use the tools to create stuff.

Scenius

The word scenius is like genius but it conveys the creativity that 'scenes' can create. It stands for the intelligence and the intuition that a cultural scene has.

Cybernetic



He talks about how Cybernetic is about having a goal and it is steered towards that goal but there's times where it will be steered away to a different direction but it's so intelligent that it will eventually reach that goal even if it's gone to a different direction by using feedback, it takes in the information and looks at how it can solve the problem and reach that goal.

Cybernetics comes from the Greek meaning 'the art of steering' which makes what Paul Pangaro is saying make sense. It's the science of control and communication in humans and machine.


Examples of work

Mary Ponomareva - Semantic Space

This designer looked at signs, symbols and meaning. This project was about semiotics that took place in a multicultural Chinatown that had restaurants and places from different nations and cultures like China, Thailand, Arabic, Korea etc all on one street. 

What she did, I think, is combining different cultures together to create a new culture since all of them are on the same street, they share many things in common.

She overloaded images and symbols together to create these bizarre designs which can't be fully understood but by combing them together, it creates a new identity.

Identity was what I was looking for because I have looked at identity for my project and how people create new ones online but this piece made me think how everyone online are from different cultures and backgrounds but when they are online, they create their new own culture and they all come together as one.


Aisha Madu - Anti Social Man

Anti Social Man from Aisha Madu on Vimeo.

I like this one because I have a similar idea to this so this is something I could use to inspire me. The short video looks at how technology has affected the way we live, how we spend our time and how we became less social because we rather spend more time on our phones than talking to someone, which is why Aisha Madu has this created this character as a way to make people aware of this matter and try to connect more as a group.

I feel like this video is effective because it speaks to us, we all can relate to some or even all of the stories happening in this video because it has happened to us or we are that person on our phones. I also like the little sayings after each story like 'Don't text em, sit next to em!', it's like the video is ordering people to talk more.

One of my ideas is to look at how technology has affected the way we live and to look at the different aspects of life like relationships, education, interaction etc and to maybe compare it to what was like before internet came along.

Design Process

Lecture - 3/10/2016

In this lecture, we began with looking at the design process chart, it discusses design in the industry world and how it is affected by many different factors outside the design like marketing, production, finance etc and it shows when they get involved at what stage of the design e.g as shown below, production would get involved when the design is at the 'Design Concept' stage because they would have to contribute money to making the design and to develop it.

This is why as a designer, if I was working for a company, I have to think about how it would affect not just me but the finance team, marketing team and so on because everyone is depending on my design that I made which is why mistakes should not happen.

If mistakes does happen, there are several types like human error and design error. If an error does happen, I have to make sure that it's a human error and not a design error because mistakes can occur as humans but we can fix it, we can't fix design errors which then leads to some complications. 

To make sure we are on top of everything that is going on with the world and making sure we don't make a human error, the image below is important because it's telling us that it's important that we know what is going on and what we need to know.

This is vital when working with a client so we know everything that is going on and know if there will be any changes to the world soon because a client might want me to design something that involves another culture, it's up to to me to know about that culture so I don't create something might offend them which makes me look bad and the company who hired me. Pete's advice to us was to read the news.

The next part was about how to deal with clients. Pete's advice to us was to make the client the boss or make them feel like the boss, what that means is if you let the client feel like the boss and let the client have an input into the design, they will buy into it because they have contributed towards it so it will feel like they have created it, this will create a good client relationship because you're letting the client be a part of the design.

It is very important to note down everything that has been said and record any requirements so that I have evidence of the conversation, in case the client starts saying they didn't say something even though they did, I will have evidence of it, not only that, in case I forget anything, I can use the notes to help me remember instead of going back to the client and asking what they said because it will make them feel that I weren't listening.

What I need to understand that all of the information will not be there and what I mean is, the client might not give all of the information to me, that could have been by accident or on purpose, that doesn't matter because my job either way is to ask questions, assess the situation and respond to it. Before I leave my client, it is vital that I have all of the information I need.

Product Positioning

A company would use this technique to determine where they want to present their products in the best possible way. It's a good way to determine who your competitor is so you got an idea of how they work and how you can respond to it e.g There's no point for Lada to be placed by Rolls Royce on the diagram because they can't compete with them because of the quality and price so they have to be realistic of where they are at the moment.

This is also another great way for me, as a designer, to ask the company, where do they want to be in 5 or 10 years because knowing how high or low they want to be placed in the future will tell me what ambitions they have and I can work in a way that suits them, e.g, if a company wants to continue making low quality products at low price, I would know exactly how and how much work I should put into the design.

PEST Analysis and SWOT Analysis

PEST Analysis is a tool used by businesses to assess the market by looking at the different factors like Political, Economic, Social and Technological. It is assessed by analyzing the environment around them to see if they will have an impact on their product or organisation, then the results of it is used to identify the strengths and weaknesses but also the threats, this is where SWOT Analysis comes in.

Brief One - Cybernetic Self

27/09/2016 - Lecture

Today I was given my first brief of the year called 'Cybernetic Self'. I was also given three key words/themes to consider and explore which could be useful to help me with this project.

The words are...

- Autopoiesis - It means a system that is able to reproduce and maintain itself e.g body cells. If we are talking about this brief, it's a way for us to 'self make' and create our identity. What defines us? How technology defines who we are.

- Sociomaterial - It is how people interact with technology, how technology affects us in different ways and the idea of not imagining a society/world without technology.

- Network Self - This is basically my self presentation and identity formed by the network. How we represent ourselves online and through the different social medias out there. We can create different identities that are different to who we are in real life.


Straight off, this brief is basically a way for me to consider self presentation and social connection in the digital age so how technology has defined who I am, how people interact and what it did to my self identity. This project is an interesting one because technology is a big part of my life but I haven't really considered how it affected me, I am intrigued in how it has.

To start off this project, I wrote down a plan of how I will set out my project with the remaining time I have. This will help me keep my project updated.

Week 1 - Idea generation - This part I will generate as much ideas as I can with the help of research, at this point, my ideas don't have to be perfect, just as long as I have some.

Week 2 - Formalise/develop ideas - This is where I pick my best ideas and start to develop them further to help me get an idea of what I want to do.

Week 3 - Begin composing - This is just a development from week 2. This is where I experiment with various techniques, see what works and doesn't work.

Week 4 - Refine/Finalise - This is the part where I have to make some key decisions on my work, see what works and go with that. This is crucial because it is the end so my final piece has to be perfect.

I thought of some key words that I think could help me kickstart my project like identity, self portrait, future, interaction and emotion. I think they are useful because they relate to this project, for example, identity is a good one because we are two completely different people when we are online and when we are in reality, I feel like when we are online, we are more confident and our ego is bigger because we are behind a screen and we can create our own and new identity online, this could relate to emotion and interaction so I have found a way to connect my key words together.

My first step is to simply research. I will look at how people interact online, how technology has affected people and effects it has on us when it comes to behaviour. I feel like this is a good starting point.