DISSERTATION - Tutorial 2

I managed to create a structure for my dissertation before this tutorial and email it to Richard as requested, however, I didn't get round to actually writing anything or drafting up the first chapter as suggested. This wasn't too much of a problem it turned out as we got to talk about some ideas that I had developed from my research visit to NIKETOWN in London over dissertation week and we also refined the structure of my dissertation.

Here are the notes I took from the tutorial.

• change from 4 chapters to 3 chapters
• consumerism branding
• start chapter 1
• ask support how to structure that chapter
• introduction
• main body
• 4 or more theories of branding in consumer culture
• conclusion
• relates back to title
• Can use a variety of examples (don't go mad)
• famous brands - Pes soap
• brands associating itself with something else
• expand on methodologies

Richards notes and feedback.

• amended dissertation to focus on three chapter structure.
• 1 - brand theory and consumer culture
• 2 - NIKE and cool branding
• 3 - case studies
• Chapter 1 (2000 words) - use a variety of examples
• intro
• main body
• 4 or more theories
• conclusion
• relate back to title
• link to next chapter
• By next tutorial - start chapter one

So basically this was a good tutorial and I don't feel as behind on the work as I did beforehand and I just need to draft my first chapter for the next tutorial and we can go from there.

RESEARCH - trip to London and NIKETOWN

To strengthen my case study with some primary research I took a trip to London (for the first time ever) specifically to visit the NIKE flagship store and observe what they are doing with there products and the experience customers have when they visit.

The store was very organised and precise, it had a lot of installations that display the clothes and products which made it almost feel like a museum dedicated to NIKE. They have utilised different popular sports and urban subcultures and echoed them in the displays. For example, there were shoes suspended in frames made from basket ball hoops, and when you enter the building you're greeted by not only the staff but a series of mannequins dressed in American Football gear tackling each other.

A lot of brands seem to be doing this with their bigger stores. They are reinvesting in the layouts and displays to give customers a new experience of shopping. With the every growing online world of retail and the expanding availability of purchasing something without even leaving the comfort of your own home, these new 'experience' driven outlets are attempting to bring people back to the world of manual consumption.

Some of the image quality isn't great because I had to use an iPhone instead of my SLR so I didn't look like I was stealing designs or anything like that. Fortunately looks of other people were doing the same so I blended in quite well.

This is the main reason why I wanted to come and visit. To see the NIKEID studio where you can get your NIKE trainers customised. Even though you are wearing a NIKE product you still get some of you put into it.

RESEARCH - NIKEID

With people in consumer society forever wanting to be individual and unique it's difficult for brands to give their customers something that will make them feel that way. The word brand itself implies that something is permanently marked and it's unchangeable so when we buy a branded product we'll be getting the same branded product as every other consumer.

NIKE have tackled this with their NIKEID brand. It's a sub brand to the overall NIKE brand that allows customers to go online or to their stores and customise their shoes. I've tried this myself on the NIKEstore website. http://www.nike.com/gb/en_gb/

So you can see that you can customise pretty much every part of the shoe besides the sole and tread of it. You can even remove the NIKE name and SWOOSH from the shoe entirely in some cases.

RESEARCH - the century of self

This is a link to the documentary thats been broken down into small chunks that can be viewed with great ease than the full length video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC-FSZQgwdA&playnext=1&list=PL983A4502BAD80B3A&feature=results_main

A very long documentary which I probably wont be able to get through but I've been watching it and taking notes when I can. I've been picking up specifically on the consumer and brand related topics and quotes. Trying to select specific points that relate to my topic I hope to use the theories to build up my first chapter and reference to it in the second.

DISSERTATION - 1st tutorial

This was the first of my six half hour tutorials for my dissertation. I felt quite under prepared for it as I haven't done copious amounts of reading and I don't have any sort of structure planned out for my topic and content. Fortunately Richard and I managed to discuss quite a bit and it really helped to verbalise some ideas. As we picked apart the topic and asked some fundamental questions, it made the direction of my dissertation more clear.


These are the notes I took during the tutorial, some are brief but others I've tried to expand on.


When do I bring the case study into my dissertation? Does it come in straight away or do I make a few analytical points first?

At the end. Make general points on the methodologies to begin with then direct it towards the specific with you case study.



Look at the the first two chapters of Naomi Kliens 'No Logo' and read the chapter on the marketing of cool.

Analyse consumer culture and apply brand theory to the NIKE franchise - use  no logo chapter one and two and the documentary 'The Century of Self'


Plan of action

define methodologies
set up dyslexia tutorial sessions
use appropriate theories
speak to Lisa about Vans - similar topic for dissertation
watch century of self again and take notes - extract useful parts and quotes and ideas
look at the consumption reader

1st task - take the shell structure we discussed and add flesh to the bones of it in bullet points

2nd task - email it to Richard ASAP

3rd task - book second tutorial, roughly 2 weeks time



Richards feedback sheet

DISSERTATION - google scholar search on consumerism

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8608.00063/abstract

DISSERTATION - Consumerism - the typical wikisearch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism

Extract

Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the purchase of goods and services in ever-greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen. Veblen's subject of examination, the newly emergent middle class arising at the turn of the twentieth century, comes to full fruition by the end of the twentieth century through the process ofglobalization.^[1] In this sense, consumerism is usually considered a part of media culture.

Sometimes, the term "consumerism" is also used to refer to the consumerists movement, consumer protection or consumer activism, which seeks to protect and inform consumers by requiring such practices as honest packaging and advertising, product guarantees, and improved safety standards. In this sense it is a movement or a set of policies aimed at regulating the products, services, methods, and standards of manufacturers, sellers, and advertisers in the interests of the buyer.^[2]

In economics, consumerism refers to economic policies placing emphasis on consumption. In an abstract sense, it is the belief that the free choice of consumers should dictate the economic structure of a society (cf. Producerism, especially in the British sense of the term).^[3]

The term "consumerism" was first used in 1915 to refer to "advocacy of the rights and interests of consumers" (Oxford English Dictionary) but in this article the term "consumerism" refers to the sense first used in 1960, "emphasis on or preoccupation with the acquisition of consumer goods" (Oxford English Dictionary).

DISSERTATION - Reading list and their useful chapters

'NO LOGO' by Naomi Klien

Useful chapters//chapters of interest:-

- chapter three - Alt. Everything: the youth market and the marketing of cool p63-87
- chapter five - Patriarchy Gets Funky: the triumph of identity marketing p107-129
- chapter six - Brand Bombing: franchises in the age of the superbrand p129-143
- chapter nine - The Disregarded Factory: degraded production in the age of the superbrand p195-231
- chapter twelve - Culture Jamming: ads under attack p279-311
- chapter fifteen - The Brand Boomerang: the tactics of brand-based campaigns p345-365
- chapter sixteen - A Take of Three Logos: the swoosh, the shell and the arches p365-397
- conclusion - Consumerism Versus Citizenship: the fight for the global commons p439-447

'DESIGN FOR SOCIETY' by Nigel Whiteley

Useful chapters//chapters of interest:-

- chapter 1 - Consumer-led Design p7-47
- chapter 2 - Green Design p47-94
- chapter 3 - responsible design and ethical consuming

'DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABLE CHANGE' by Anne Chick & Paul Micklethwaite

Useful chapters//chapters of interest:-

- chapter 2 (2.1) - Societal challenges are design challenges
- chapter 4 (4.1 through to 4.4)
- chapter 5 (5.2 & 5.3)
- chapter 6 (6.1 & 6.3)

'GOOD: AN INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS IN GRAPHIC DESIGN' by Lucienne Roberts

Useful chapters//chapters of interest:-

- Section 2: approaching good
- Section 4: Being good - specifically look at 'Graphics design/public art: Sheila Levrant de Bretteville'

'VISUAL COMMUNICATION FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE' by Jonathan Baldwin & Lucienne Roberts

Useful chapters//chapters of interest:-

Culture section
- whats is culture? p74-82
- style and identity p88-98
Conflict Section
- the political designer p136-146

'THE FUNDAMENTALS OF BRANDING' by Melissa Davis

Useful chapters//chapters of interest:-

- chapter 2 - Deconstructing Brands
- chapter 3 - The Changing Brand Audience

'DESIGN FOR THE REAL WORLD - human ecology and social change' by Victor Papanek

Useful chapters//chapters of interest:-

Part One: how it is
- chapter 5 - Our Kleenex Culture: obsolescence and value p86-102
Part Two: how it could be
- chapter 10 - Environmental Design: pollution, crowding, ecology p248-285

'THE GREEN IMPERATIVE - ecology and ethics in design and architecture' by Victor Papanek

Useful chapters//chapters of interest-

- chapter 5 - the biotechnology of communities p105 (looks at the consumer)
- chapter 7 - Form Follows Fun p139
- chapter 8 - Is Convenience the Enemy? p159

'SUSTAINABLE' by Aaris Sherin

Useful chapters//chapters of interest:-

Part One
- chapter 1 - Overview of Sustainable Design p12-26
- chapter 2 - Sustainable Motivators p26-36

'BRANDS AND BRANDING' by Rita Clifton & John Simmons

Useful chapters//chapters of interest:-

Part 1
- chapter 2 - the financial value of brands p27
- chapter 3 - the social value of brands p47
Part 2
- chapter 5 - brand positioning and brand creation p79
- chapter 7 - visual and verbal identity p113
- chapter 9 - the public relations perspective on branding p143
Part 3
- chapter 12 - an alternative perspective on brands: markets and morals p185

CTS - Dissertation - Consumerism seminar

Design for Consumerism.

Branding theory - methodology - specify methodologies in proposal form

- do inter views later in the research so you can ask better/the right questions for your primary research

- 2 sides to consumerism

- anti-consumerism - activist movements - global crisis - anti-capitalist movement

- Occupy movement

(critical side of consumerism)

How do brands survive and work?

How do they operate?

How is a superbrand constructed? - Apple is an example

Communication Theory - methodology - how brands relate to the consumers

Book - Wally Ollins - how brands work - A-political stand point

Book - Naomi Klien - 'No Logo' - very political stand point

Documentary - Adam Curtis - 'Century of the Self' - available on youtube in four 1 hour parts

 - Marx

- Freud

- western american mass consumerism - using  theories of Freud and Edward Berinays (PR)

- talks about consumerism as a pacifying device - how does the designer negotiate that with the audience?

'Conspicuous Consumption' - T. Veblien

Consuming to gain status - buying so others see we are buying things

Baudrillard - consumer culture - symbolic value of the commodity - commodity fetishism - Marx should be referenced with this as he came up with this concept

How does consumerism work as a social system?

Whats the social context?

Consumption statistics?

Get a detailed definition of consumption to help your dissertation.

Designer as a wage labourer.

- taking on jobs we don't ethically agree with - how does a designer negotiate with the job and their own ethics and views of consumer society?

- culture jammers

- V. Papanek - Social Tithe - 10% of your time should be spent designing to change society

- First Things First manifesto

Modern politics relates to consumerism - politics as a pacifier - we feel as though we are getting our say in the matter

Simmel - trickle down theory

- process of emulation occurs

- upper class buy certain brands and commodities

- lower class see the upper class buying those brands and commodities

- lower class then buy them as well in an attempt to gain a similar status

- the upper class see that the lower class have bought the same brands and commodities and start to buy different ones instead

-  the lower class don't gain the desired status as it no longer applies to those brands and commodities

There is also a Trickle Up theory.

- brands taking on street fashion from ghettos for example - NIKE adopting the fashion of people from the Bronx

Theodore Adorno vs Walter Benjamin - theorists

Pseudo - individualism

D.I.Y movement - anti-capitalist - make your own designs, music, fashion, clothes etc

- counter culture

CTS - Dissertation Research Methods Lecture

Focus - focussing your topic makes a stronger dissertation

- don't generalise

Dissertation title - focussed and clear

e.g. 'The role of costume within the film "A Taste of Honey"'

spider diagram of title - highlight key points and subheadings to take notes on

Types of research.

Primary & Secondary research.

- visual practice, experiments, interest & enquiry (research & critical diaries)

- questionnaires - plan them, pilot them, think about the information you want to receive, mix up the type of question (tick box, written, multiple choice), send them to a range of people, send them to the right people

Interviews

- professionals

- companies

- tutors

- students

- people involved in your topic 

- give them waring of the kind of questions you're going to be asking so they can prepare efficient answers

Case Studies

Site visits - document the place and the visit

Literature Search 1

- books - academic books and image based books

- journals - academic journals and image based journals

- websites, blogs and online forums

- videos and DVDs - extras/behind the scenes documentaries

- CD, tape cassettes, vinyl recordings

- TV and radio

- Newspapers, maps, reports

- printed ephemera - flyers, posters, beer mats, anything that isn't meant to last

Literature Search 2

- knowing where to look most effectively

- effective use of catalogues - narrowing and broadening search terms - using related terms - browsing using Dewey Decimal Classification

- use of contents page and index - chapter heading relevance

- reading the introduction or abstract (used with journals)

- using a books own bibliography to inform further reading

Book search

LCA library - library.leeds-art.ac.uk

LMU library - www.leedsmet.ac.uk/lis

UoL library - need to apply to SCONUL to get access - www.leeds.ac.uk/library

The British Library in Boston Spa - www.bl.uk

copac.ac.uk

use quotation marks when searching specifically.

Journal search 1

infotrac - store of online magazines

Journal search 2

JSTOR - www.jtor.org (only available in college)

Internet Search 1

- Athens - www.athens.ac.uk - store of password protected sites - need to get password from library

Internet Search 2

WGSN

Tips.

Don't bite off more than you can chew - keep in focused and make it manageable

Create a sense of momentum - start a bibliography immediately

CTS - Design for Sustainability seminar

"the more you read the more you write"

Proposal with a theme - don't have to be married to the title.

Literature search.

- library

- internet

- google scholar

- dast dissertations

Sustainability.

design with eco or ethical concern

ethics vs profits

common good vs individual gain

(communism/socialism vs capitalism)

Green movement 1960

1987 Bruntland Report - start of sustainability movement 

meeting the future without compromising the needs of today

environmentalism - jetisen - acknowledges the flaw in society but doesn't want to give it up

ecologism - (deep green)

Green washing - peoples views of the world can be capitalised on

V. Papanek BOOK - 'The Green Imperative' - social tithe

McDonough 'Cradle to Cradle'

Spheres of sustainability (within capitalism)

Environmental//Social//Economic

eco-socio-economic

How companies focus on being sustainable as well as making a profit

Generation Press - sustainable print.

CTS - Design for Social Change seminar

8000 words.

The dissertation should be broken down into about 4 chapters, an introductory section and a conclusion.

This in mind each chapter should be roughly 1500 words long

The for chapters will also allow you to take 4 different views on your topic.

Methodologies - coherent approach - semiotics, marxist, ecological, communication theory, post colonial, psychoanalytical (different methodologies will give you different answers)

Opportunities for hybrid methodologies.

Primary research - gets you more marks

- interviews - designers, peers, professionals, art objects, logo (anything you analyse)

- empirical study - experiment - study archives (evidence gained through observation)

- own interpretation of a text is primary research

Secondary sources - books about topic - approach - primary research - chapters

Social Change.

design activism/political

BOOK - L.Baldwim 'Visual Communication: From Theory to Practice'

'all design is political'

it always supports one side of society

supporting the dominant side of society

Relations of Production

Dialectical Materialism

Base (producer) superstructure (legitimises)

Base - economical reality, technology, workforce, force of production - balance of power, black and white, gay and straight, slave and master

Design either disrupts this cycle or follows it and in that argument all design is political.

To make a social change design would have to go against one side of this cycle.

IDEOLOGY - political programme - false consciousness - set of views and beliefs

BOOK - N.Klien 'No Logo' - design for social change will break any ideologies and take off any lids of false consciousness

Ocuppy, 99%

Adbusters - culture jamming

Audience - to make an impact you need to focus on the audience (audience theory)

Subculture (oppressed - superstructure) Culture (dominant - base)

Cycle of subculture - mass media

V. Papanek BOOKS - 'Design for the Real World' 'The Green Imperative'

Social Tithe - 10% or your time should be spent working on projects that design for social change.

Feedback on idea for dissertation.

Brand culture.

Subcultural brand culture.

Big brand culture

Naomi Klien

Culture jamming

The society big brand culture creates

How big brands negotiate ethical green washing

How big brands cope with social change

Narrow it down and do a literature search.

CTS - Follow up Dissertation Briefing

- get all the support you can

- don't be lazy

- get organised

- it starts now - handed in 2nd week of February

- choose something you will be interested in for 8 months and could write 8000 words on

- make it personal to you - its relevant to you as a designer if its personal

- case study dissertations are a good way of keeping it focused. Limited case study

Seminars.

- sustainability - ecopolitics - ethics

- consumerism - relation between designer and consumerism - some politics - culture jammers - brand - retail graphics and retail environment

- social change - politics - V. Papanek - ethics - design that improves the world

- accessibility - relation between designer and audience

- future - design building the future - predicting technology

- interaction - idents - wayfinding - design that leads somewhere - moving image

- form follows function - is it acceptable to be a designer with a style - or should you prioritise communication