Dissertation Feedback

Posted: November 14, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Constellation | Leave a comment

After submitting a very rough draft a couple of weeks ago, I have got my mid term feedback from Ashley on what I’ve written so far. Before this point I had already got some foot feedback points from her to help me progress and write a better thesis. I appreciate these tutorials as I’m not a massively confident writer but am determined to improve my writing skills in order to write the best dissertation I can.

…….

UX = User Experience

Posted: October 26, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Constellation, Graphic Communication | Leave a comment

An introduction to the user experience (UX) and the sustainable person experience (SPX)

This session taught me that you must have the ability to empathise with and nurture people as part of the role of the designer in order to gain insight into the end-users experience with the product/piece of communication. We use the term ‘person’ over ‘consumer’ because ‘consumer’ is an industrial economic term and ‘person’ implies individuality and uniqueness.

I needed to ask my self the question “Is my team on target?”
In terms of the Real World project, I would say that my team kept on track throughout the project, taking advice from positive constructive criticism from our mentor, client and the tutors. We must keep in mind we are designing for the benefit of other people not for ourselves.
The user experience focuses on the characteristics of a particular product (in general terms). We are now pushing the boundaries for SPX. How does my design trigger experiences? I must stand back from design to look at things with different perspective and to help find out what can be done to make sure we trigger experience.
Ownership
The experience you seek to trigger is that the person will take on board and take ownership of what you are presenting to them. How do we trigger self motivation?
Belonging
How does your creative proposal trigger a sense of relationships, community and belonging. Make sure they don’t feel alone in the way they feel.
Purpose
How does your creative proposal trigger a sense of hope and give meaning to what the person does. They’re doing it because they want to not because they are told to.
They believe in it, take ownership of it, have a feeling of belonging, and gives meaning and adds value and hope.
Sustainability:
Sustainability is not just to do with the environment (not guided by reduce, reuse, recycle), but with design as well (we are reusing something that may not have come into being before). Design in sustainability is the understanding of the reason things are manufactured and the behaviour of other people. How you design and how those designs become self-sustaining – being able to understand the effects of our creativity.
When it comes to communication, negative messages are very sticky (stick in our minds). The problem is that positive messages take more time to sink in. It takes at least 15 minutes for a positive message to reach our subconscious minds and stick.
I found this session was useful in helping to guide us through the Real World project but also giving me some insight into the way people react and behave to certain pieces of communication. I found that we can learn to adapt to these behaviours and reactions in order to create a successful piece of design. This new knowledge I have gained has also been contributive towards my research into my dissertation.

Dissertation Context with Cath Davies

Posted: October 24, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Constellation | Leave a comment
This session with Cath was very useful. I have been feeling nervous and worried about the dissertation module as I am not completely confident with my writing skills and how to plan and write a dissertation. The session gave me a better understanding on how to undergo my 10,000 word thesis about graphic communication. Throughout my degree Constellation has been a testing ground to enable connections to be made between:
  • wider contexts (theory/history/cultural research)
  • other practitioners work and the contexts that can be applied to understand meanings – analysing their work
  • as a practitioner, you will be able to reflect and articulate in your own diss development
My practice:
I will be looking at development of graphic design and communication solutions through graphic design. I must be able to come away from it to read about graphic design and communications and then come back to it with a different perspective. I must be able to deconstruct other artist and designers work and do the same within my own.
Specific skills evident in my dissertation should include:
  • wider research – I must have found out whats already been written before I arrived.
  • having an understanding of key concepts/issues/debates that have been previously addressed in existing studies.
  • having ability to locate my own research angle in relation to my findings and how think about how my study will develop on these. Am I going to challenge some of the issues that have been noted previously?
Even though many people have already written studies about the topic I am interested in, I will still be able to add them to my thesis by applying my own perspectives. I must apply all of these skills to my own examples and case studies – examples that have not been included before and links to existing theory/historical studies. I need to do this without losing sight of what my dissertation is essentially about and the coherent argument.
Development of coherent argument:
  • Keep reminding the reader of the overall angle of the study throughout all chapters.
  • Each chapter should have a concluding paragraph summarising the findings so far – keep giving prompts to your reader as you go along (write for a fool).
  • Each chapter should present a different angle/approach to the previous one and remind the reader of how this chapter differs to previous ones (and how theoretical perspectives transfer across each chapter).
Reflecting on findings in the final conclusion:
  • should summarise the main findings of each chapter/section and consider the similarities and differences encountered from one case study to another.
  • remind reader of where the study sits in relation to the academic field – has my investigation confirmed or challenged (or both) existing debates that have already been written before me?
  • consider ideas for further work – how could this study be developed? If there was a sequel to your dissertation, what would it cover?
The skill of critical reflection (bigger picture findings – over christmas will need to be finding notes on wider context and links to practice):
  • A wider context of understanding.
  • All aspects of cultural studies can affect rules/concepts etc. that are always changing as the times change – Could context come from looking at modern rules/concepts in relations to those in the past? Use history and culture to reflect.
  • What has the study shown about issues/concepts/historical case studies/contemporary practice relating to visual/material culture?
  • Analyse the ways meanings are generated in your specific case studies in your dissertation (others’ work), how has this process encouraged new ways of thinking about your own work?
  • Are there concepts/debates that could be relevant to your practice?
  • How do you approach your work differently having undertaken this dissertation topic?
Do a body of research/work.
Add your own ideas.
Where do they sit in relation to the research?
A dissertation is all about how ideas are made. I can work out how ideas are made in my own work with an understanding of wider context and the ability to stand back from the findings to analyse and reflect.

Constellation Reflection

Posted: April 15, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Constellation | Leave a comment

In the Autumn term I was placed in the group ‘Stuff’ with Ashley Morgan. In all honesty I felt that the constellation sessions I had in first year weren’t particularly relevant to my course (Graphic Communication), however this year I felt the sessions had a lot more connection to it.

In the sessions we covered such topics as material culture; transitional objects; subjects and objects; semiotics; consuming and consumerism; taste and cool; and things that make us who we are. Although we did not actually have all the lectures due to the lecturer being unwell, I was finding the sessions quite engaging and my interest was beginning to grow. Even with the sessions I did not take part in, I caught up on them through moodle and by taking notes on the presentations for each sessions.

The first sessions involving material culture and transitional objects taught me that material culture influences relationships between people and society, which I think is a great part of graphic communication as its purposes include informing, provoking, persuading and influencing people. I also learnt what a transitional object is and found my own one which is a bracelet given to me by my Australian family, that I wear constantly for  its sentimental value.

In the second session I began to understand the concepts of the signified and the signifier in semiotics. The object/sound/image is the signifier which triggers a person’s mental concept of it which is the signified. Every person will have their own individual concept of something, for example, there are many languages in the world which have different words for things although they mean the same thing. I think graphic communication relates to this as the job often involves producing something (the signifier) that will trigger action or emotion in a person (the signified).

We looked at several theorists in the third session involving consuming and culture, including Mike Featherstone’s theory of consumer culture and Jean Baudrillard’s theory of sign value. After writing an essay around consumerism in first year, I already had some knowledge on this topic and felt keen to continue to learn about it. I think this subject is important to my discipline as it has informed graphic communication in the past and will continue to do so. One of the roles of a graphic communicator is to persuade, particularly when it comes to advertising, and if you are in this industry I think it is important to be aware of current consumer trends and to know what the market wants.

The fourth session was probably the one I was most looking forward to as I was most curious about ‘taste and cool’ and how it relates to my subject. I learnt that the taste of a person is found through the social class, cultural background and even sometimes the education they have had. We looked at Featherstone’s theory about the ‘Aestheticization of Everyday Life’ and Botz-Bornstein’s theories to understood that ‘cool’ has been developed as a behavioural attitude and that what is perceived to be ‘cool’ will change from place to place, from time to time and from generation to generation. I think that certainly Featherstone’s theory of aesthetics applies to graphic communication as it is design and good design will be aesthetically pleasing.

The final session was all to do with the concept of objects defining who we are. There was a discussion and debate around the class as to what we thought about this notion. We read Miller who has used clothes as an example of individuals constructing their identity. There were a lot of contrasting opinions amongst the group but as a whole we came to the conclusion that objects may represent parts of our identities but not our entire selves. I wasn’t sure at first how this might be relevant to my course, but I think it relates to graphic communication in a way that it helps the designer to understand the people they are designing for.

Following these sessions I had to write a short essay based on a theory I learnt and apply it to a chose object.artefact. I decided to write my essay on cars using the theories learnt in these sessions, arguing that a car has more significance to it than just simply being an object that exists. It is an object that is not just used for practical use but can act as a representation of an individual’s self, tastes and the identity they may want to portray to others. As I had enjoyed the sessions of the first term, I didn’t find that I struggled too much with this essay and was satisfied when writing it.

Second term was all about preparing for our dissertation proposal. I found the lectures Cath Davies gave at the beginning very useful when trying to decide what I wanted to write about, and in addition the dissertation planning form was also very helpful. Although I was still a little unsure on the overall point of my idea, the planning form was a good starting point. I have decided to write about graphic design as a subject with the contributions of culture, society and the history of art and design as I am interested in all of these topics and am keen to learn more about my own discipline. The sessions from the first term have certainly influenced my decision and even the essay I wrote about Pop Art and consumerism last year. I continued to research books such as Art, Design and Visual Culture by M. Barnard (1998), Graphic Design: A Concise History by R. Hollis (1994) and Design, Creativity and Culture by M. Barnwell (2011) to gather notes.

I had pulled together over 11,000 words worth of notes from these books plus other sources which made it extremely easy to start the dissertation proposal. I also feel that giving us dissertation supervisors for our own particular ideas has been a very good idea and I am glad I have someone to check my progress or give me help if and when I may need it. In my proposal I have managed to discuss my idea and the concepts that I will expand on in the final dissertation and am satisfied with the outcome. After writing the proposal I feel more inclined to read even more and gain as much knowledge and information as I can in order to begin the 10,000 word thesis for my dissertation. Even though this seems incredibly daunting, I am actually excited to begin my dissertation.

All in all, I have felt constellation this year has been much more useful to me and my discipline.

Constellation Lectures Begin

Posted: October 22, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Constellation | Leave a comment

Our first constellation session was simply receiving brief presentations from each lecturer about their subject/topic and what they could offer for this first term. Following this session we had to submit an application form with preferences for which topic we would like to start with this year. I have been allocated to Stuff: Objects and Materiality in Society which was one of my preferred choices. I chose this topic as I thought some of the things that would be covered could be applied to my graphic communication learning as well as already having a bit of knowledge about consumerism and society from constellation last year.

The first lecture in our study groups started last Friday and we begun with a basic overview and an understanding of material culture and transitional objects. We learnt that material culture suggests non-living things influence relationships between people and society and this is exactly what graphic communication is all about – using our design to inform, persuade, provoke and influence people. Often we become unaware of objects that are present around us yet they still affect they way we learn about ourselves and where we fit into society, even from the age of being a baby. Babies start to become aware of objects such as toys and other things that are not part of themselves and their mother so they begin to transfer dependence to this object. The object (teddy bear/blankie/pillow) becomes the transitional object as it gets dieter and smellier. In 2009 Winnicott claimed that the mother will let the object stay dirty because if its washed, it will break the continuity for the infant and the object will lose its importance as it no longer has the familiar smell the infant is used to.

During the session we were asked to find our own transitional object that we had on us.

Screenshot 2015-10-22 16.26.5610486924_10153464203843283_182592860_n

My transitional object is a leather plaited style bracelet from Pandora which I wear all day every day. It was given to me as a gift from my Australian aunt, uncle and cousins. I am not always aware of it being on my wrist but I always know it’s there as I don’t like to take it off in case I lose it. Its purpose is to be worn as a bracelet, although it was specially designed to put Pandora charms on it. I don’t have any charms as I think they can be tacky and I like it how it is designed originally. The reason this is my transitional object is because it has sentimental value and reminds me of my family who I am very close with even though we live on the other side of the world to each other. I don’t think the bracelet represents me particularly as I am not usually a fan of wearing jewellery but it represents my family and that’s why I keep it with me at all times.

I was unsure if I would find this Constellation topic invigorating at first but after this first session I have found myself very involved and interested in what is being taught so I am glad I was allocated to this study group.

Constellation PDP

Posted: May 13, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Constellation | Leave a comment

I would like to start off this reflection by stating that I have enjoyed constellation more and more since the start of the year, predominantly from the start of second term. I found the first constellation session in the first term very tedious. Of course these study skills sessions were put in place to prepare us the rest of the module. I just found myself losing concentration quite easily, especially with certain teachers. Some of the teachers are great and I found that their communication was good. For example, Alexandros was one of the teachers I thought interacted well with the students and that made me more inclined to pay my full attention to what he was teaching. Others I thought were quite monotonous. Despite this, some of the sessions were useful. When we started second term I liked that each teacher gave a small presentation on the outline of their subject, outlining what would be covered if we chose that subject. After choosing the subject we wanted to study for the rest of the term by a 1 to 10 rating, I was given my third choice – After Modernism. Although this wasn’t my initial first choice I found I was really interested in the topics we were learning about. I particularly enjoyed the Pop Art session which led me to choosing the title ‘Is Pop Art a Celebration or Critique of Consumer Culture?’ for my constellation essay. At first I struggled to start writing this essay but once I started to skim through a variety of books on the topic, the facts and links I found increased my motivation as my knowledge increased. Although the Pop Art session was probably my most favourable, I did enjoy the other sessions as well such as the first session which taught us about Abstract Expressionism and other sessions including Fluxus and Minimalism.The teacher I had for After Modernism was Jon Clarkson. I really liked Jon’s approach to each session. He would give a presentation on the topic in a particular session and constantly be asking the class questions and what our opinions were. I liked this interaction with the students and I found it also made me think more about my own opinions and interpretations of what he was teaching. I think this continued to make me enjoy constellation throughout this term. Jon also organised a group trip to London to visit the two Tate galleries to help inform our learning. I really appreciated being taken here with the university as I got to see and experience the excellency of Tate Modern which had some amazing work on show. In my opinion, trips are a great way to interact with and get the attention of students. The trip was also another good way for me to get to know a few more people in my class and as I am quite a social person, I always like to meet new people. I am pleased to now have the new knowledge I have and to have had practice in writing longer essays as I have not done a long piece of writing since my A-Levels two years ago. The new writing skills I have will certainly help towards my preparation and writing of my dissertation starting next year. Overall I have found constellation quite enjoyable and stimulating.