Portfolio Task 6 - Theory Into Practice

This is a response to Garry Barker's blog post regarding his thoughts on communication theory. The entry starts as a simple description of communication; the attempt in a relationship to share and to understand meaning by assigning certain things with that meaning. In this way we don't need to actually have the thing we are trying to communicate, as the shared understanding of what represents it is enough to convey meaning.
He then goes on to talk specifically about design and how we, as designers, have come to the assumption that the combination of type and image is the best solution to the problem of communication. This is true to a degree, although this idea is really subjective as far as designers go. Many prefer to use type instead of image or image instead of type to communicate although it obviously depends entirely on the message. He then goes on to a really interesting point:


"You could say that one implication of communication theory is that evaluation of a good visual design/communication can be done by measuring the comprehension by its audience, not by aesthetic or artistic preference."


This is something that I have always thought about. As a graphic designer, the point of my work is to communicate messages, but does that mean that the message should be visually communicated as simply as possible without any other visual information? To communicate a message as best as possible without any possibility of confusion or misunderstanding, surely a printed statement alone should suffice. In this way the audience will read exactly what the point is and nothing more. There could be no confusion because there would be no grey areas. With this chain of thinking, how good a design is would not be based on how it looks but probably just on how simple and clear it is. 
However, this is obviously not the case otherwise genuinely good elaborate design would not be appreciated (no matter how subjective that statement may be). I think that this has something to do with more complex communication theory regarding memory and experience caused by interacting with vivid and exciting design. 
Another point that Garry makes:


"In this case the problem in terms of communication theory is that if the people evaluating the design are themselves design professionals they are too 'attuned' to design to be aware of how a non designer would receive the communication."

This is a piece of design work that I created this year on a brief based around designing packaging for airline meals that promoted information and awareness for the unethical killing and consumption of Manta ray in eastern Asia (Strange and oddly specific, I know). Design-wise, I quite like the illustrations and the way the each image comes together as a whole, although I'm not sure how well the message has been conveyed. 

This touches on Garry's point about designers evaluating design. I spent several weeks looking at these images over and over again, and I even know exactly what they are meant to represent and what kind of reaction they are supposed to create.

From my completely subjective view and over-exposure to the images, I would think that they communicate relatively well in terms of the message that they are actually supposed to give. In a similar way, Garry actually says that maybe ANY designer who looks at the work will look at it with a designer's eye, concentrating on aesthetics and layout and typography.

In essence, both the designer and myself could be reading these images in a way that contradict each others views but also both contradict that of a completely objective passenger on a plane which would be the audience that the product is actually intended for. 

Portfolio Task 5 - Sustainability & Capitalism

The Erin Balser text defines sustainability in a number of ways. The exact quote defines sustainability as "Inter and intra-generational equity in the social, environmental, economic, moral and political spheres of society". This pretty much covers most things but in total the article describes sustainability as a response to environmental crises as a whole. This includes climate change, depletion of resources, deforestation, species extinction and any other issues related to the world decreasing in quality, usually as a result of human interaction.
In theory sustainability should be a global and communal effort. However, sustainability requires some things which not everyone can do because of financial issues or depending on country of residence. As a result, sustainability, rather than uniting society under one goal, continues to further separate the social classes which is where capitalism comes into play.

The text defines the main attribute of Capitalism as Karl Marx's idea of 'Capital Accumulation'. That is to say that the goal of Capitalism is to accumulate more and more capital over time and to expand. The idea is to continue to find more and more things that can turned into a means to gain money, although not just gain money but to gain continued and increasing profit and to grow. Capitalism constantly needs to create and then to beat competitors. Capital accumulation never has a finite figure or quantity; it is a never ending goal. "Capitalism is constantly expanding, capital accumulating is never-ending".
It is also important to note that the text specifically mentions the fact that capitalism does not just continue to grow in one linear direction but looks to grow and increase and consume capital in all directions.

Capitalism's sole goal is to continue to grow forever. Therefore a crisis of capitalism would be anything that  happens or is scheduled to happen in the future that could halt the cycle of growth and either cause a loss (or recession) or cause the cycle to end indefinitely. A great example is the one given in the text relating to world resources. Industry as a whole is dependant on natural resources to function; oil, coal and wood being the most used resources and being dependent on creating electricity and powering vehicles. Capitalisation is completely dependent on industry, in fact the two come hand in hand. When the world's last natural resources run out then capitalisation comes to a complete halt.

Yet in spite of this looming capital apocalypse, capitalism has found it's way to continue and take advantage of the crisis rather than let it hinder growth. Capitalist economies have reinvented themselves as being concerned with this inevitable environmental crisis and created consumerism that helps the situation. Now capitalism introduces products and services that are 'environmentally friendly' and that will help to save the world. They also have a new selling point, as a consumer now gets peace of mind a feeling of accomplishment by paying for something which helps another thing bigger than just themselves and prolongs a large scale crisis. People can feel philanthropic by going about their day to day lives.

Better still, the majority of products and services that are concerned with the environment and make an effort to better it will cost more than those that do not, allowing for capitalism to charge even more and potentially make more profit. As an example, recycling is inherently a better thing than causing mass waste, yet it costs considerably more than simply using landfill.

Even better again, sustainability is a concept that can last forever. Instead of actually solving the problem, sustainability merely delays it. In fact the definition of the word sustain is to 'keep from giving way', as though it is a temporary solution that will do until something can actually be done about the source of the problem.

Many solutions have been offered to the problem of sustainability, both theoretical and practical. In fact some have come so far that they have moved from theoretical to practical; One example being electrically powered cars. The idea behind the electric car has been around for decades and is very simple in theory. If a car runs simply on electricity, then the electric energy is transferred into kinetic energy and friction and just disperses between the two. This creates absolutely no emissions which is considerably better for the environment than the internal combustion engine used in petrol and diesel powered vehicles. This idea has come really far in the last 10 years or so and hybrid cars are common, integrating both petrol power and electricity to create far less fuel exhaust emissions. In fact, just recently Nissan have released a completely 100% electricity powered car for home use called the Nissan Leaf. In theory this is a brilliant idea, as the car now creates no emission and can be charged from an owners garage instead of needing to go to a petrol station. But question of where that electricity comes from is a strange one.

The car is powered through a modified mains attachment. Which means that the electricity is exactly the same as that used to power a house. The thing that stands out here is that the huge majority of the electricity from that mains source will have been generated through the burning of fossil fuels, as the majority of all electricity is. Instead of burning petrol, other fuel sources like coal will be burned instead. This fact is never mentioned anywhere on the website or adverts. The car itself does not lie with the large claim of "Zero emission" painted across the side, although it does mask the real truth. So how much better for the environment really is the car? Which raises the question of whether the £30,000 price tag is a reflection of the required technology or another capitalist venture.

This example and many others prove that capitalism definitely is compatible with sustainability, and may actually have found a longer lasting way to grow as the world becomes more and more increasingly environmentally concerned and sustainability grows to cover more aspects of contemporary living.

Portfolio Task 4 - Communication Theory

This is the Shannon-Weaver model of the process of communication which was developed originally in 1949 and has since become one of the leading models in communication theory. It began in the context of telephone communications but since has spread through several other groups as a representation of how communication works, including fine art and design. The concept behind the model is relatively simple.

It start with the information source. This is the original party that holds the information to be transmitted. It then sends a message to the transmitter which is whatever medium the message will be transmitted through. This sends the signal through a specific channel where it is received on the other end by a receiver (and possibly decoded at the same time). The receiver then forwards the message to the destination which is whereever the message was originally intended to go by the information source. 

The other key concepts are entropy, redundancy, noise and to a lesser extent channel capacity.

Entropy effectively means the amount of data being sent as a message in terms of quantity, whereas redundancy means that there is more data than necessary being sent to understand the message. Redundancy doesn't actually make a message redundant, as it is used in things like the English language. There are far more symbols in the English language than are actually needed to communicate any message, so in having more symbols we are able to understand a message quicker and communicate in more depth. Channel capacity is the amount of message data that a channel can actually transmit with and noise is any external source that interferes with the sending and delivery of the message. 

All of these points by definition are mostly relevant to actual messages in terms of signals like telephone conversations, however they can easily be crossed over into a context of design. 

This example below is a piece of design by Peter Crnokrak called "Everyone Ever in the World" which is a piece of information graphics based around communicating the total number of people that have ever died in a war, massacre or mass genocide. It is hugely mathematically based and scientifically precise as well as being aesthetically pleasing and impressively clean from a design point of view. 

When taken into context it is easy to see how design and communication theory cross over. 

It all starts with the information source, which in this case is the designer. Crnokrak is the information source and he is looking to send a message. This message is that a comparatively large percentage of the human race has died as a result of war and massacre (about 1.25% in total). The transmitter therefore is the poster itself and I suppose the channel could be the surface area of the paper (or it's potential to hold information) which has been thought about a considerable amount, as the surface area is representational of the total people to have ever lived, with the die cut areas representing those to have died.

The receiver in this instance would be the audiences eyes, as they will need to look at the poster and decode the information to comprehend it. The destination therefore is the person, having received, decoded and understood the message. 

In terms of entropy, this poster contains a serious amount of data. This means that the message is not immediately clear, although there is so much information on the poster that it will always be understood when looked at in detail and given time to decode. There is also a lot of redundant data being shown on the poster. Probably a considerable amount of this data is not needed to communicate the same message, however the redundant data all comes together in an aesthetically appropriate design  which makes the poster more eye catching, impressive and altogether more memorable. Some may argue that in fact all of this information is completely necessary to communicate the message to the same degree, and without any of it then the same communication would not be achieved. The channel capacity in this poster is incredibly important as it has been very precisely measured and cut to relate directly to the data figures of those killed in the wars and massacres. 

As for noise, this could again be argued either way. There is a lot of type covering the poster which would take a very long time to read in total and may dissuade many people as having too much information. However, holding on to the idea that all of this information is necessary to communicate the message properly, there is actually relatively very little noise at all. The type is clear and easily legible and has a fair amount of space between each character and each line to make it easily readable. The poster is only in black and white to avoid any clashing of colour to affect visibility and achieve maximum contrast for easy reading. There is a fair amount of white space across the poster which also helps to focus the information and make it look like considerably less than it actually is. 

All in all, this poster has clearly been thought out in great detail in terms of communication theory and the designer has effectively used everything he could to achieve maximum message delivery and clarity of communication. 

Portfolio Task 2 - On Popular Music

Theodore W. Adorno was a German born philosopher and sociologist who produced most of his work between the 40's and 60's before his death in 1969. He was a member of the Frankfurt School of social theory which was a school based around Marxism and was generally very anti-capitalist. Adorno is probably most renowned for his work on musicology and popular music. He obviously felt very strongly about this topic and its effects in the world as he goes into a lot of detail and a lot of his comments seem very pessimistic and verge towards some kind of apocalyptic repercussions in his extreme examples.

Personally I think that Adorno is just very old fashioned and seems to be talking about "modern" music of the time rather than "popular". Also he references Beethoven way too many times. Still, he has some really interesting points to make and deserves recognition.

Adorno very roughly said that popular music has no quality and all sounds the same, although he goes into much more detail about why it is like this and what that means. He starts this by saying that there are "two spheres" of music; Popular (or 'hit') music, and serious music (immediately demeaning the former through it's name). In essence, serious music seems to be considered by Adorno as a form of art, often referring to classical music of around the 16th century. In comparison, popular music seems to span several genres in Adorno's writing.

In fact, Adorno puts the main difference down to one word: Standardization. Adorno says that all popular music is standardised. That is effectively to say that all popular music is the same; not in terms of actual tune or lyrics but more so in structure. Adorno even seems to go as far as to say that the reactions on an emotional or experiential level are also standardised. He makes a point of saying that popular music will effect the listener in the same way as all other popular music because it is written into the structure of the song and is actually expected by the listener.
"The whole is pre-given and pre-accepted, even before the actual experience of the music starts"
In Adorno's eyes we already know what to expect when we listen to music, so in essence nothing is gained from doing so.
Adorno also says that popular music is standardized even when an attempt is made to make sure that it isn't standardized. At this point, it seems like Adorno is pretty much set on thinking that popular music isn't a good thing and that there is no way to remedy the situation.

Another aspect of popular music that Adorno references is pseudo-individualization. This is the idea that popular music gives listeners the sense of individuality when it really only creates conformity. People often use music to represent themselves and people often create a personal identity through the kind of music that they listen to. This is true for almost anywhere in the world and extends beyond the music into trends and lifestyle choices that have come to accompany a genre. In Adorno's view, if all hit music is standardized and all popular music is effectively the same, then the individuality gained from consuming a certain type of music is not individuality at all but actually mass conformity.
He even seems to go as far as to say that this is a tool of power in a capitalist world. By creating this false sense of individuality, we as citizens feel like we have free will and can choose what we listen to and shape our own identities, whereas in truth our identities are shaped for us and popular music is used to make everyone conform and crate a society that is easier to control. Without this pseudo-individuality, the public would see that we are not in control which could spark rebellion. I'm sure that Adorno also goes into more depth about how this conformity is used to further capitalism by forcing people to buy certain products or trends that fit a genre of popular music.

Jason Derulo - Whatcha Say:
This is my example of popular music that conforms to a lot of Adorno's theories and ideas quite well. It probably works so well because it is also a rubbish song.



This song works most relevantly when analysed against the term 'Standardisation'. To start with, the whole theme of the song is very reminiscent of about a billion other songs just in the R'n'B/ Pop genre alone. The general, "I should have treated you better/ I miss you/ I made a mistake/ Forgive me" song about girls is one of several very general categories that songs often fit in to, so in terms of content originality this song is definitely hugely standardised.

As for the sound of the song, this too is a trend that spans the entire popular culture scene at present. The post-recording studio editing creates the robotic-like voice effect called "auto tuning". It is a technology developed by Antares Audio Technologies which allows correction of audio pitch in vocal and instrumental recording. It can effectively assign any recorded not to another note so that it doesn't actually matter what a voice sounds like as it can be edited to whatever is needs to be. This took off in the early 2000's as a discreet way to cover up mistakes or off-tune singing but in recent years the effect has been intensified and used openly rather than discreetly to create the vocal effect as in this song. It is now featured in hundreds of popular songs that are released right now, making this song standardised even more.

The last point to look at for standardization would be the actual melody of the song itself. The verses are relatively repetitive and conform to the same conventions of most popular music of the genre, but the chorus is actually completely lifted (or "sampled") from a well known older existing song; "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap. Sampling has also become a popular practice in creating hit music and literally involves taking parts of other songs and using them in a different song. By doing this, the songs are very literally standardised by the exact sound that they create, which by Adorno's standards mean that the same emotions and experience will be derived from each song and the song is "pre-given" and "pre-accepted" on a completely literal level as it has genuinely been heard thousands of times before.

Lecture Notes - Globalisation, Sustainability & the Media

Globalisation: Socialist - POSITIVE - Internationalisation

Everyone works together -
sharing for common interest

Capitalist - Expand national markets - globally. POSITIVE
Integrate the world
Increased profit - desirable

"Stamford encyclopedia of philosophy" - defines and explains
^ wide range of poitical, economic and cultural trends
-classical liberal politics in world economy
- dominance of western society
- growing power of the internet
- pursuit of utopia

People become more similar - 'homogenous'
George Ritzen - Mcdonaldsisation - principles of fast food restaurant dominate more and more sectors of society

Similar to Adorno on popular music.
Marshall McLuhan - space & time in temrs of planet lost due to electrical involvemnt.
"render individualism redundant"
"Corporate independence mandatory"

"Pessimistic hyperglobalizers" - Increasingly homogenized culture
Chomsky + Schiller - cultural imperialism
Not about integration - about assimilation

. All media is woned by roughly 6 media monopolies.
OLIGOPOLIES

News corporations divide the world into territories of descending market importance.
1- North America
2 - Western Europe, Japan, Australia
3 - Developing importance
4 - everything else (3rd world)

US media - A new form of imperialism.
Chomsky & Herman (1998)
"Manufacturing consent"

Propaganda model - 5 basic filters

• ownership
• funding - corporate funded - please the paymasters
• sourcing
• FLAK
• Anti communist theory

FLAK - Flak groups

lobby groups pressure media companies to a certain slant of cultural reasing.

GCC - US based global climate coalition

media pressure groups support Texaco/Ford

Anti Ideologies - Against the enemies of America/ England. 

2006, Al Gore, "An Inconvenient Truth"

Dir. Davis Guggenheim 

America causes the problem and then says that everyone else is the solution

Solution to preoblems caused by capitalism is to further capitalism - spend more money on new cars etc.

Sustainability - "Development that meets the needs of the people without compromising"

Deep green thinkers - ecologism - overthow capitalism

Environmentalism - Recycle/reuse - try harder and everything will work out

Greenwash - Appears to be green when not really changing anything

Portfolio Task 3 - Essay Idea and Reading List

The idea that I am going to take forward for the essay is the idea of comparing hyperreality to contemporary society and then more specifically towards Star Trek. Hyperreality plays a huge part in todays hugely digital era and this could have a lot of adverse effects on the 'real' real, although I doubt I would be qualified to make those predictions. Instead I will research into where Hyperreality can be found in contemporary society and to what extent. I will then focus specifically on Star Trek, as it has a huge cult following which takes the tv programme beyond the original intended air time and into the real world where it manifests in costumes and conventions and to a certain extent in genuine technology.

I have found that these books are available from the Library which could help with research for the essay:

• Storey, J., 2000. Cultural Theory and popular Culture: An introduction. 3rd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall 
• Baudrillard, J., 1994. Simulation and Simulacra. Translated from French by S. Glaser. Michigan: University of Michigan Press
• Debord, G., 1984. Society of the Spectacle. Michigan: Black & Red Publishing.
• Baudrillard, J., 2002. The Gulf War Did Not Take Place. Indiana: Indiana University Press
• Woolley, B., 1993. Virtual Worlds: A Journey in Hype and Hyperreality. London: Penguin Books

Essay ideas

These are a couple of starting points that I have come up with for ideas for the essay.

1. The Gaze - Advertising and moral concerns
The Gaze lecture and seminar have taught me that media and advertising have a very different effect to usual social interaction and can force a change in behaviour and lifestyle. Advertising is a really common form of design and can be seen everywhere. Each piece of advertising design has the potential to reach hundreds of thousands of people, so the designer has a responsibility to their work and to the public consumers.
 "Good: An introduction to Ethics in Graphic Design" by Lucienne Roberts has a really interesting section on the history of design and how a designers responsibility for their own work is a relatively new concept which came as a result of secularisation, industrialisation and consumer culture.
I would like to explore the idea of responsibility to the masses through design and what kind of moral struggle a designer should put themselves through when considering advertising for certain causes.

2. Hyperreality - Video Games
This could be pretty interesting as a topic for the essay. Video games are hugely played worldwide but more specifically in the western world which is considered to be a superiorly developed culture. Gamers span every age group to a degree and hundreds of hours are spent in virtual worlds rather than the real world. This is obviously because there are loads of things that you can do in video games that can't be recreated in the real world as they break laws, endanger lives or feature things that just don't exist .
Games often recreate or simulate scenes from reality in relatively accurate detail making them simulacra. As technology develops (graphics, speed, interactivity) the games keep getting closer and closer to perfect simulacra of reality (Cartographer analogy).
On another route, there are many hugely interactive games that simulate the world and represent things from reality but have gone so far that they have no real representation of reality making them hyperreality (E.g. World of Warcraft, Call of Duty).
People spend huge portions of their lives on these games and it would be interesting to look at the effects of games getting more and more realistic and more accessible to online gameplay where entire new hyperrealities are created. Does it make the western world less developed?