Lecture 5 Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of sign systems and the theory of the meaning behind the signs. A sign is something that points to a meaning and is understood by the viewer. Signs can include gestures, facial expressions, mark making, speech, slogans and letter forms.

There are different types of signs  these are iconic, symbolic and indexical.

Iconic signs look like what they represent so this image off the roundabout sign most commonly found on British roads is an example of that.

The fire exit sign is another example of Iconic sign due to it looking like the door that its representing.

Symbolic signs are something that have to be taught and understood by more than 1 person. The English alphabet is an example of this as we are taught words and letter forms from a young and and eventually understand it. So if the Symbolic sign is only known by 1 person so somebody makes up their own language it isn't symbolic until another person can speak and understands it.

Indexical signs are signs that point to an object, for example a doctor would look for idexical sign to find the meaning of an illness.

Lecture 6 How do we absorb Information?

Everybody takes in information in different ways and with all the pieces of information that we are exposed to on a daily basis it's shocking how little we actually do take in. We tend to pick and choose the relevant information and push out some of the most interesting things we come across.

Information Overload

Information overload occurs when a individual is bombarded with whey too much information causing disorientation and confusion. As a designer its best to visualise any sort of import information to make sense of it.

The way we absorb information falls down to our 5 senses.

Sight

Sight for me has to be the most important within design as I am able to see things that inspire me see things that get me thinking, I am able to visualise ideas by seeing them and interpreting them in my own way.

We see hundreds of thousands information on a daily basis, for me personally I remember information a lot better if I have seen it and engaged or got involved with whatever it is.

Sound

Sound and hearing are another important thing for me when it comes to design, i do remember things quickly if I say them vocally a few times. When I'm looking for inspiration and am stuck for ideas I often listen to music to help the process along, listening to music for me brings on emotions that help me get in the mode to design something meaningful. On a day to day journey we must hear a lot of different noises too, I find that sometimes my hearing aids me more in cautious situations.

Taste

Taste I would say is probably the least important when it comes to design, but for me I find that the emotional response I get from eating something that I like helps my brain thing of creative ways of solving problems.

Smell

Like taste smell for me is directly related to food and the emotional satisfaction I'm given from eating food. The smells that are floating about on a daily basis can trigger thoughts and does trigger thoughts about certain thing like perfume or petrol.

Touch

Touch for me in design is very important as how something feels and the texture of something can be visualised. When we feel pain that ultimately bring up emotion and this can be then transferred or has an influence on whatever were designing.

Lecture 7 Disruption

Disruption occurs when someone comes up with a new and very different idea which sometimes causes other people to try and follow or imitate the same idea, this happened with the Cadbury gorilla advertisement causing it to be spread in a viral way. Disruption is creative thinking at its best due to the designer thinking of a totally left field way to solve the brief but sometimes this can have the opposite effect and cause the advertisement to be banned.

London 2012 Logo

June 2007 saw the launch of the London 2012 logo and to most people it was a design disaster people called it 'a kids competition entry' but at the same time it has been recognised more due to this fact. When an individual view the logo if they don't like it they're going to think about the reasons for that and ultimately embed the logo in their mind. I don't actually feel the logo is a good piece of design as it does look very childish and could be executed in a much better way, but at the same time when I do see the logo again when I'm traveling around its something that will catch my eye instantly.

Old Spice Ads

In this set of advertisements the designers have given a humorous approach to solving the problem as the ads would stick in the viewers mind if they found it funny enough. Old Spice is normally associated with an older man so with them using this method they would probably get some younger customers as the ad has been spread in a viral way. 

Competition

When  an advert or idea is successful there's always going to be somebody else who wants to cash in off that success often offering a cheaper version of the same product.

To promote the Sony Bravia television Sony produced this advertisement, it show 250,000 coloured bouncy balls being rolled down a street in San Francisco. The message behind the ad is the balls are a representation of the vivid colours that can be seen while watching the certain tv, this ad has won awards for its creative concept which would naturally force competitors to want to do the same.

To promote the new Samsung 3D televisions Samsung produced this ad, within the ad tvs have been put into real life situations causing people to marvel at the screens. The idea is not 100% original but works for what its trying to do there is a loose tie to the Sony ad as they both do something that engages the people and the surroundings.

Lecture 4 Information Design

Information is an ordered sequence of symbols that record or transmit a message.(wikipedia)

Information design is the design or grouping of information in order to make it easier to view for a certain audience, this can include map/ way finding and charts/ graphs.

One of the experts in information design is Edward Tufte , he believes that even the collection of more complicated data can be visualised in a way that makes it easier to understand.

In this chart Tufte has visualised the 1812 defeat of Napoleon's army as it advanced and retreated from Moscow.

Corbin Design

Corbin design is a way finding and environmental graphic design firm based in Michigan and was established in 1976 by Jeff Corbin. Corbin design has various clients across America and Canada and has hundreds of successful working way finding projects.

On of Corbin designs successful way finding projects was for Downtown Raleigh in North Carolina. The problem/ brief that was pitched was to create a way finding system to direct Raleigh's 370,000 residents and 11.5 million tourists that visit Raleigh each year. The new system works well and gives better directions to points of interest and venues.

Things to think about for successful information design

1) Visual Hierarchy-This is important because its essential that the most vital information is picked up first by the eyes of the audience. Certain things associated with visual hierarchy are type, colour, line and space.

2) Grouping of Information- This is important so that the viewer doesn't have to look in different places to find relevant information, the grouping of type, lines and space within the layout makes it easier for the audience to view and understand.

3) Consistency- It is important that the information being presented is consistent in style, language and layout without consistency  information gets lost or the intended message isn't received by the audience.

Lecture 3 Design Ethics

Ethics are a rational study of human dilemmas based on human actions, these actions might be influenced by someones personal opinion, lifestyle or moral stance. I believe that morals are guides set out by society and in a way are codes of conduct. depending on a person's point of view any act could be thought to be immoral if that person's morals are in direct opposition of your own, a person can be a-moral if they sit in between morality and immorality.

As designers we are instruments of mass communication and have an a-moral approach to the majority of work placed before us. We can refuse to take a brief if the outcome clashes with our beliefs but most of the time designers have to make a living and give little thought to the impact of the designs.

Nazi War Posters

The person who designed the pro-nazi war posters most likely had a moral stance but probably had little choice and had to comply with whoever was in charge at the time. To the Jewish community any pro-nazi posters and the people designing them would be in direct conflict with their beliefs and way of life.

Uncle Sam Posters

The 1812 posters urge men to join the army regardless of colour religious background. It's unethical to take a person's life but in the interests of war all that is set aside, the designer of the uncle Sam poster doesn't really think about the impact his artwork will have by influencing people to go to war.

Six Feet Under Poster

This poster was published to promote the new series of Six Feet Under and appeared in Radio Times, Time Out, The Observer and the Times Magazine. The ad was eventually banned, the ad agency at the time responsible for the idea and production probably thought it was a good idea until it had a bad response from the audience. To a person viewing the ad who might of recently lost somebody close the ad could be seen as extremely offensive and also promotes death, the designer hasn't thought in depth about the impact it would have on its audience.

Its easy to design a piece without thinking about where it will end up or how well the audience will receive it, as a designer I have to make sure I know my audience and give more thought to whether what I am designing fits that purpose.

Lecture 2 Design and Advertising

When I think about the word advertising other words like promotion, brands and products come to mind. But advertising doesn't just have to be about profit or gain, it could be to educate or inform the general public. Many companies like to lie to their customers often bragging that their product has some special function when more often than not this turns out to be a false claim. The most successful advertising is the kind that doesn't lie to the customer advertising that give the facts, one of the most iconic example of companies telling the truth through advertising was Volkswagon's 1950s 'Think Small' campaign. The advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach took a risk by advertising a car that was smaller than the bigger american cars of the time. They told the the truth by saying yes the can is small but with the economic climate being bad at the time people need a car that is cheaper to run.

Dove Real Woman Campaign

In 2004 Dove launched a campaign to promote the average bodied woman instead of the stick thin models often used in campaigns of the sort. This was an example of advertising telling the truth to its customers, they also challenged the mindset of the audience by having the 'Fit or Fat' idea causing the viewer of the ad to think.

Visual Language

This ad has a very clear message and that's one that get the audience thinking about what a real woman is. This series of ads isn't for profit of gain but exposes the Dove brand by delivering a question that will stick in the viewers mind. 

Audience

I believe that the audience for these ads are everyday people but at the same time they are targeting people's belief of what models should look like and since the product will most likely be bought by average looking people they visualise this in their ads.

Cadburys Gorilla Advert

In 2007 Cadburys and designer Juan Cabral teamed up to create the gorilla advertisement. The brief that was pitched to ad agency Fallon was simply 'Bring back the joy' which was an attempt by Cadburys to get consumers back on their after the 2006/2007 salmonella scare.

Visual Language 

The message behind the ad isn't clear at first but by the gorilla expressing itself through playing the drums it is evident that there is a positive feel to the ad. The advertising agency Fallon took a risk with them not knowing how the audience would take the ad but due to its wacky concept it was well received.

Audience 

After the salmonella scare trust in the Cadburys company by the general public was depleted and they saw sales drop. they wanted to let customers know that their chocolate was safe to eat and wanted to connect to the feeling of joy associated with eating their product.

The best advertising is the sort that tells the truth about the product, advertising that ask questions or gets its audience thinking also advertising that is different enough to stick in the viewers mind. not all advertising has to show the product they're selling either.

Lecture 1-Bertrand De Langeron

Bertrand De Langeron aka So-Me is a Parisian graphic designer, animator and also the art director of Ed Banger Records. It is evident from So-Me’s body of work that he has taken inspiration from some of the iconic graphic designers and illustrators.(Saul Bass) 

Composition

So-Me deeply considers the composition and layout of text and image within his work making sure his own illustrative style is still present as well as keeping everything legible, an example of this is SoMe’s ‘Response to Kanye West’ album artwork.

 

He uses visual hierarchy so you focus on the eye catching ‘Kanye’ in red then your eye naturally follows to the ‘West’ then to the stylised image of he man himself. Your eye finally ends up in the bottom right corner this is because the information or text ‘Roc-A-Fella Record 2007’ is not as important as the actual headline. The hand drawn styling of the type gives a more relaxed and personal feel to the illustration, the merging of the ‘ Always Be Alone’ type works well due to the yellow text being on a black background.

Target Audience and Context

Research into the target  audience is essential for the message behind any piece of work to be understood, without that depth of research the work might miss, offend or be interpreted by the audience in an unintended way. In the following music video So-Me has thought about the target audience and the context of how graphic illustration would fit into the video and have meaning.

 

In this video So-Me has visualised the contrast between reality and the warped reality  form being on a euphoric high. The way he has done this is very clever, as the the character (Kid Cudi) walks about town everything he sees or come into contact with is illustrated causing the character to do a double take like whatever he's seeing isn't real.

Creative Thinking

Creative thinking exercises and activities in design give a wider range of ideas and often give a totally different approach to solving a design problem or brief. There are various different exercises that utilise a persons creative brain, here are a few I have found.Creative Thinking Excercises

So-Me recently teamed up with Coca-Cola to create a specially designed bottle for Club Coke. He has displayed creative thinking in the design of of the bottle and the display box, the box and bottle are more of a collectors piece of art as So-Me has used his hand drawn style to illustrate the joy of music in the whole design.