OUGD601 - Applying Theory Seminar

The purpose of this seminar was to explore how different people use, talk about and apply theory to academic written work, such as essays, textbook extracts and journal articles.

The Design Journal: Exploring the First Momentary Unboxing Experience with Aesthetic Interaction: Chajoong Kim, James A. Self & Jieun Bae.

This journal article wrote about experience with aesthetic interaction in terms of packaging design, relating it to the ideas of 'unboxing' and unboxing videos. Rather than an introduction, the article began with an 'abstract'; a passage of text explaining briefly what has already been discovered and concluded from the essay and research in order to give an overview of the essay. In contrast, an introduction is introducing what you will discuss and intend to find out. This article starts by explaining the different concepts which will be applied throughout to help develop and produce their packaging designs - linking contexts to practical work (or contemporary design practice). The article then goes on to explore theoretical research in regards to their contexts.

The article is split into different sections, outlining different aspects of their research and practical work. This is not necessary relevant to our essays, however it gives an idea as to how they could be structured into different sections; talking about a context, applying it theoretically and then concluding the section. However, within our practical work, if applicable, talk about procedures and testing prototypes on people.

The article then ends in an overall discussion on what they have discovered, aesthetic interaction and emotion in the context of product packaging, and then a conclusion. Think about implications in terms of applying theory to context (contemporary design practice).

Other parts of this article have been highlighted which could also be applied to my own essay topic in terms of aesthetic experience, such as definitions of aesthetic experience according to Kant and Desmet as interactions that go beyond "it looks good", and discussions which can be linked to ideas of aesthetic experience in terms of user-centred design.

Design and Culture: The Graphic Thing: Ambiguity, Dysfunction, and Excess in Designed Objects: Phil Jones.

This second journal article looks at the idea of 'thingness' in terms of embodied realism and experience, which has clear links to ideas of phenomenology (the philosophy of experience). Like the previous, this article also begins with an abstract explaining what will be done (what will you discuss in your essay and how do you intend to go about it?), then follows into an introduction, which draws on theory and explains how it relates to graphic design and 'thingness'.

One thing this article does in particular is use different definitions of theories as a starting point and different discussions in regards to this (use in own essay as an introduction into the theories and topics, as a theory only becomes a theory if it has different view-points and definitions - it is important to highlight this), and then explain these definitions, but look specifically at one and how this relates to what you are doing (practically) - this allows your essay to become more specified.

Like the previous article, this follows sections, analysing how 'thingness' is achieved using examples (triangulation of points and visual analysis - show how your theories link with examples of contemporary graphic design practice).

The article then concludes on what has been found, rounding up all the arguments discussed within the work. Look at why your topic could be both good and bad.

Parts of this article can also relate to my own essay topic in terms of phenomenology and experience, looking at links with psychology like gestalt psychology, conscious and unconscious experiences, and how we use these different experiences, behaviours and interactions to form our understanding of certain 'things'. This article also gives a good practical example which I could use within my own essay as visual analysis - Paul Elliman's 'Found Font'.

OUGD601 - Final Images For Analysis

In deciding on a more specific focus of my essay to be on the production and aesthetics of poster design, this meant that I needed to find different image sources that can be analysed within my essay, which more appropriately link to theory and my research question. For this reason, images of poster designs will be analysed, those which show the use of handmade production methods, those which show the use of digital production methods, as well as those which take on a more multi-disciplinary approach in using a mixture of both production methods.

Potentials for handmade design:

Anthony Burrill, 'You Know More Than You Think You Do', woodblock letterpress print.

Potentials for digital design:

Massimo Vignelli and Michael Bierut, poster for 'IDCNY Welcomes The AIA Covention' (1988).

Potentials for multi-disciplinary design:

Marcus Irwin, 'Heaven When You Smile', screen-print on magazine advert.

Final chosen images:

After some research and brainstorming, it was decided that the essay should include one image source on handmade design, one on digital design, and two which take on a multi-disciplinary approach, these last two being analysed near the end of the essay in order to support my conclusion and final arguments.

Anthony Burrill, 'Work Hard and Be Nice To People' (2004), woodblock letterpress print onto paper.
Burrill, A. (2004) Work Hard And Be Nice To People. [letterpress print]. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/anthony-burrill-to-the-letter (Accessed 12 November 2018)

Massimo Vignelli, digital poster and graphic programme for Piccolo Teatro di Milano (1964).
Vignelli, M. (1964) Piccolo Teatro di Milano. [Poster and Graphic Programme]. Available at: www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/reputations-massimo-vignelli (Accessed 3 October 2018).

Marcus Irwin, 'Why?' (2012), digital assemblage.
Irwin, M. (2012) Why? [Digital Assemblage]. Available at: www.marcusirwin.org (Accessed 9 December 2018).

Michael Bierut, 'The Skirball Center Identity' (2018), multi-disciplinary collaged posters.
Bierut, M. (2018) The Skirball Center Identity. Available at: https://www.itsnicethat.com/news/michael-bierut-pentagram-the-skirball-center-graphic-design-070218 (Accessed 14 September 2018).

OUGD601 - Forming A Research Question (2)

"How does the experience of a piece of design affect our aesthetic appreciation?"
(Handmade vs. digital - needs a specific piece of design).

"How does the experience of a handmade or digital piece of design affect our aesthetic appreciation (of the/these design/s)?"

"How does the experience of a handmade or digital (piece of) ________ affect our aesthetic appreciation of the design?"

"How does the experience of a handmade or digitally designed/produced (piece of) ________ affect our aesthetic appreciation of the design?"

(Piece of advertising/ branding/ poster design)

Final Question:
"How does the experience of a handmade or digitally produced poster design affect our aesthetic appreciation of the design?"

OUGD601 - Presentation Feedback

- impressive amount of research into the topic, especially theoretically, however this needs to come to a halt for the time-being and need to focus on forming a research question, as until you have this then you cannot inform the direction of your essay as specifically as it should be.
- think more about contexts in terms of the practical type of design subject (e.g. branding, etc.), handmade vs. digital needs to be more specific.
- practical work needs a more specific element, the handmade vs. digital aspect can still work, but this is too broad in a sense - idea to produce a digital version of something and a handmade version of the same thing, for example, wedding invitations. How would someone experience both forms and how would they feel about them? For example, people would probably be less impressed to receive a digital wedding invite than a physical one.
- are you interested in the processes or the actual design outcomes in terms of handmade vs. digital design? Think about this and how you go about the topic in the essay.

OUGD601 - Initial Time Management Plan

Timeline:

October - continue conducting research into chosen topic, start to work on essay structure and making connections between points and arguments found within research so far. Alongside this, start to think more about practical brief, produce rough ideas / sketches.

November - start to finalise theoretical work / essay, and focus on producing final developments for practical work which will support the essay.

December - final production of work and begin to collate all relevant information into design boards. Write project statement.

Work on regularly updating blog throughout to show work in progress and a clear development of how research, written work and practical work has all been
informed by one another.

OUGD601 - Research Presentation

OUGD601 - Forming A Research Question

In beginning to try and form a research question based on the research I have done, I have been looking at the overarching themes of phenomenology and aesthetics, such as psychology and experience, the homogeneity and evolution of design, and handmade vs. digital graphic design.

Theoretical = phenomenology.
Contextual = aesthetics.
Practical = handmade vs. digital graphic design.

OUGD601 - RESEARCH - Psychology and Phenomenology of Aesthetic Experience

PSYCHOLOGY AND PHENOMENOLOGY OF AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE:

- a lot to consider between ourselves and artistic expression. Aesthetic psychologists have tried to understand this from a scientific perspective for years. According to them, we can understand an aesthetic experience through objective, quantitative analysis of how shapes and colours in particular artworks influence parts of the brain. But does this tell us everything about aesthetic experience?

- Aristotle (Greek philosopher) thought that artwork was much more than the sensation it created in the mind. Art becomes art because of our interaction with it.

- now, some believe we cannot understand aesthetic experiences through objective, quantitative analysis, but must attend to the subjective experience of every individual. Namely, how an artwork appears differently to every person.

- 'the magic of art' then does not exist in the artwork itself, but in the interaction between the art, the viewer and their own social history.

[objective/subjective, universality of design/cultural, social, historical influences, etc].

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0Vcfmvb5-M

(Accessed 15 October 2018).

OUGD601 - RESEARCH - Philosophy Of The Arts

PHILOSOPHY OF THE ARTS: AN INTRODUCTION TO AESTHETICS:
Gordon Graham

- "the person who declares something to be beautiful can find as reason for his delight no personal conditions to which his own subjective self might alone be party [and therefore] must believe that he has reason for demanding a similar delight from everyone. Accordingly he will speak of the beautiful as if beauty were a quality of the object and the judgement merely a reference of the representation of the object to the subject" (p.17-18).
- 'while it is true that beauty needs to be appreciated subjectively, when we see beautiful things we are aware that the pleasure we derive from them is not a function of something peculiar to us, some 'personal condition to which our own subjective self might alone be party'. Beauty is subjective, but it is not merely personal, as the expression of a preference is when we refer to something of which w happen to be especially fond (p.18).

REFERENCE: Graham, G. (2005) Philosophy Of The Arts: An Introduction To Aesthetics. London and New York: Routledge.

OUGD601 - RESEARCH - Philosophical Aesthetics

PHILOSOPHICAL AESTHETICS: AN INTRODUCTION:
Oswald Hanfling

Aesthetic qualities: Beauty and proportion:
- 'there is an ancient view that beauty consists essentially of such properties as symmetry and proportion'.
- Aristotle - "the chief forms of beauty are order and symmetry and definiteness, which the mathematical sciences demonstrate in special degree".
- St. Augustine - "beautiful things please proportion, with pairs of equivalent members responding to each other" (p.41).

Beauty and feeling:
- 'David Hume (1711-76) pointed out that there must be more to the perception of beauty than the perception of particular objective qualities'.
- 'Hume's account of beauty may be described as 'subjectivist', for according to it beauty is, or is dependant, on a subjective occurrence: a feeling or 'sentiment' with the observer' (p.45).
- 'there is a connection between beauty and feeling' (p.46).

Aesthetic experience:
- 'for the Greeks, in the time of Aristotle (384-322 BC), the word was 'aesthesis'. It referred to both sensation and perception, and meant in general, 'perception by means of the senses' (p.111).
- 'we are reminded that much aesthetic experience is grounded or has its beginnings in sense experience' (p.112).
- "aesthetics deals with a kind of perception. People have to see the grace or unity of a work, hear the plaintiveness or frenzy in the music, notice the gaundness of a colour scheme, feel the power of a novel, its mood or its uncertainty of tone. The crucial thing is to see, hear, feel" (Sibley, 1965).
- 'although aesthetic experience may begin with the senses, it does not end with them. If we reflect on what is involved in 'sense perception' or 'sensory experience' we realise we are not referring simply to physical stimuli and responses' (p.113).

REFERENCE: Hanfling, O. (1992) Philosophical Aesthetics: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.

OUGD601 - RESEARCH - Introduction To Phenomenology

INTRODUCTION TO PHENOMENOLOGY:
Dermot Moran

- 'phenomenology was announced by Edmund Husserl in 1900-1901 as a bold, radically new way of doing philosophy, in an attempt to bring philosophy back from abstract metaphysical speculation wrapped up in pseudo-problems, in order to come into contact with the matters themselves, with concrete living experience' (pg.xiii).

What is phenomenology?
- 'phenomenology is best understood as a radical, anti-traditional style of philosophising, which emphasises the attempt to get to the truth of matters, to describe phenomena, in the broadest sense as whatever appears in the manner in which it appears, that is as it manifests itself to consciousness, to the experiencer'.
- 'as such, phenomenology's first step is to seek to avoid all misconstructions and impositions placed on experience in advance, whether these are drawn from religious or cultural traditions, from everyday common sense, or indeed, from science itself'.
- 'explanations are not to be imposed before the phenomena have been understood from within' (p.4).
- 'phenomenology was seen as reviving our living contact with reality'.
- 'in the 1930's, both Satre and Merleau-Ponty saw phenomenology as a means of going beyond narrow empiricist, psychological assumptions about human experience, broadening the scope of philosophy to be about everything, to capture life as it is lived'.
- 'Satre sees phenomenology as allowing one to delineate carefully one's own affective, emotional and imaginative life, not in a set of static objective studies such as one finds in psychology, but understood in the manner in which it is meaningfully lived' (p.5).
- 'our experience properly described must acknowledge that it presents itself as the experience of engaging directly with the world'.
- 'above all else, phenomenology must pay close attention to the nature of consciousness as actually experienced, not as it is pictured by common sense, or by the philosophical tradition'.
- 'phenomenology must carefully describe things as they appear to consciousness. In other words, the way problems, things and events are approached must involve taking their manner of appearance to consciousness into consideration' (p.6).

The origins of the term 'phenomenology':
- 'phenomenology for Kant is that branch of science which deals with things in their manner of appearing to us, for example, relative motion, or colour, properties which are dependant on the human observer'. (Gestalt psychology links?)
- first used the term in letters sent in 1770 and 1772.
- Franz Brentano first employed the term in 1889 - Husserl's inspiration for the use of the term (p.7).

Phenomenology in Brentano:
- attempt to rethink psychology as a science.
- 'Brentano had proposed a form of descriptive psychology which would concentrate on illuminating the nature of inner self-aware acts of cognition, without appealing to casual or genetic explanation. In other words, Brentano was proposing a kind of philosophical psychology, or philosophy of the mind'.
- 'we are not able to observe our mental acts while occupying them, but can reflectively grasp them as they occur. There is no act without an object; an empty act cannot be conscious of itself'.
- 'however, acts can have a secondary moment whereby they become conscious of themselves. This accompanying act of reflection is so built into the original act that it cannot be wrong about the nature of the act upon which it is reflecting' (p.8).

The structure of intentionality:
- 'the basic insight which allowed Husserl to explicate this conception of objectivity-for-subjectivity was his radical understanding of the intentional structure of consciousness'.
- 'Husserl presented this as the basic thesis that all conscious experiences are characterised by 'aboutness'. E.g. every act of loving is a loving of something, every act of seeing is a seeing of something'.
- Husserl - 'disregarding whether or not the object of the act exists, it has meaning and a mode of being for consciousness, it is a meaningful correlate of the conscious act'.
- 'phenomenology turns to consciousness, it is proposing above all to be a science of consciousness based on elucidating the intentional structures of acts and their correlate objects, what Husserl called the noetic-noematic structure of consciousness' (p.16).

REFERENCE: Moran, D. (2000) Introduction To Phenomenology. London: Routledge.

OUGD601 - RESEARCH - Phenomenology

PHENOMENOLOGY:
Shaun Gallagher

- 'phenomenology is the study of human experience and of the ways things present themselves to us in and through such experience' (Sokolowski, 2000).
- 'phenomenology is the study of structures of consciousness as experienced from the first-person point of view' (Smith, 2008).
- 'the first-person point of view means that the phenomenologist, the investigator of consciousness, studies his or her own experience from the point of view of living through that experience'.
- Edmund Husserl considered as the founder of the phenomenological movement.
- 'phenomenology is usually characterised as a way of seeing rather than a set of doctrines. In a typical formulation Edmund Husserl presents phenomenology as approaching 'whatever appears to be as such', including everything meant or thought, in the manner of its appearing in the how of its manifestation' (Moran, 2002). (pg.7).

- phenomenology is a way of seeing rather than a set of doctrines.
- "method of seeing".
- 'for Husserl, phenomenology (literally, the 'science of appearances') was a method that attempted to give a description of the way things appear in our conscious experience'.
- 'the way things appear in our conscious experience may be different from the way things actually are in reality, but the phenomenologist is rather concerned about how we experience things' (pg.8).

- 'similar to empiricists like Locke and Hume, who claim that all knowledge comes from sensory experience, Husserl would say that all knowledge comes through consciousness' (pg.9).

- Martin Heidegger's definition of phenomenology (1962) - phenomenology means letting that which shows itself be seen from itself in the very way in which it shows itself from itself. This is the formal meaning of that branch of research which calls itself 'phenomenology''.
- 'that is, Heidegger thinks that phenomenology is concerned with the question of the meaning of being' (pg.10).
- (Gestalt psychology - links?)

- 'the phenomenologist investigates his/her own experience. 'I' examine my own consciousness. As a result, one objection that is often raised against phenomenology is that is it subjective' (pg.56).

- 'the issue concerning subjectivity is not about the subject matter, it concerns the approach: first-person vs third-person'. Third-person studies consciousness from the outside and indirectly.
- 'phenomenology distinguishes between two senses of objectivity: 1. objectivity in the sense of excluding biases, 2. objectivity in the sense of studying something as an object (from the outside)'.
- 'phenomenology claims that its first person approach is objective (in the first sense) - it is careful to rule out any presuppositions or biases that come by way of pre-established beliefs, theories, opinions, etc. And phenomenology also appeals to the importance of intersubjective validity' (pg.57).

- objection: hermeneutics (theory of interpretation) 'contends that since phenomenology needs to use language, such use introduces uncontrolled biases that may be built into languages itself - how do we know that the structure introduced by language doesn't distort the supposed structure of consciousness?' (pg.59).

- 'phenomenology ultimately makes an appeal to intersubjective validity. One can do cross-cultural phenomenological studies and negotiate among different languages to abstract the essential commonalities of description'.
- 'phenomenology aims for universality (pure transcendental description) but doesn't claim that is it easily achieved' (pg.60).

Intentionalities:
- 'one of the central concepts in phenomenology is that consciousness is characterised by intentionality' (pg.62).

- 'every mental phenomenon is characterised by what the scholastics of the middle ages called the intentional (or mental) inexistence of an object, and what we might call, though not wholly unambigiously, reference to a content, direction towards an object (which is not to be understoof here as meaning a thing) or immanent objectivity. Every mental phenomenon includes something as object within itself' (Brentano, 1995).
- 'medieval philosophers refer to the relationship between the form of an object and the knowledge act of the mind as intentionality'.
Husserl's theory of intentionality:
- 'intentionality is the 'aboutness' or the 'directionality' that is involved in perceiving or knowing anything' (pg.63).

- 'intentionality is also taken to be the 'mark of the mental'.
- 'every mental phenomenon includes something as object within itself, although they do not all do so in the same way. The intentional inexistence is characterised exclusively of mental phenomena. No physical phenomenon exhibits anything like it. We can, therefore, define mental phenomena by saying that they are those phenomena which contain an object intentionally within themselves' (pg.64).

- 'intentionality means all means all consciousness is consciousness of something' (pg.67).

- 'Husserl would say that the fact that consciousness is characterised by intentionality means that consciousness has a certain structure which can be expressed as 'consciousness of something as something' (pg.68).

REFERENCE: Gallagher, S. (2012) Phenomenology. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

OUGD601 - Visual Analysis and Triangulation (3)

Starting to bring together even more points and arguments:
ROMAN CIESLEWICZ'S COVER OF TY I JA (YOU AND I) MAGAZINE:

OUGD601 - DESIGNER RESEARCH - DR.ME Studio

DR.ME STUDIO:
- DR.ME is a creative studio based in Manchester and the French Riviera, and is made up of two graphic designers/ creatives, Ryan Doyle and Mark Edwards.
- influences include Neasdon Control Centre and Mike Perry, with whom they worked with for 2 months as students.
- one of their first projects together was to produce a record sleeve for Dutch Uncles, an English pop band and their album Cadenza. The design for this album consisted of a hand-cut, contemporary collage, which fed into most of their future projects. Not only did this project develop their own unique style of work, but it also inspired them to create more visuals for music, taking opportunity from local venues and musical friends. DR.ME suggest this for many new graphic designers, as it gives you freedom to experiment and helps to start getting your name out in the industry.

REFERENCE: Studio talk by DR.ME themselves (20 December 2016).
Doyle, R. and Edwards, M. (2016) Studio talk to LAU Graphic Design Level 4, 20 December.

An experimental collage piece based on experimentation with angles and numbers.

- the style of work produced by DR.ME studio is largely collage based. This style and method of producing design could be linked to that of Roman Cieslewicz in that a large proportion of his work was also based on collage (or photomontage), including his cover designs for You and I magazine, one of which I have chosen to analyse within my essay.
- shows how some contemporary design is returning to such handmade techniques/ how aesthetics have changed and evolved (full circle).

OUGD601 - DESIGNER RESEARCH - Roman Cieslewicz

ROMAN CIESLEWICZ:
- Polish graphic artist, printmaker and poster artist, 'became a French citizen in 1971'.
- 'my studies were influenced by Karolak, Kantor, Gardowski, Berman and the Blok group. They gave me my first clear perspective on proportion, and an apprenticeship in the art of compositional imbalance - balancing elements without necessarily centring them'.
- "I've often used the offset screen. The flexibility and round form of the screen dots make it possible to bring out each gesture of the subject. A lack of equipment and the need to visualise my ideas immediately resulted in a repetitive reproduction of mechanical techniques. I find the many imperfections of the hand-made very pleasing".

http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/reputations-roman-cieslewicz
(Accessed 4 October 2018).

- 'one of the founders of the Polish poster school which promoted an aesthetic striving for simplicity and clarity, while urging the use of poetic metaphor and an abundance of mode of expression'.
- 'Cieslewicz's art merges a number of intellectual and emotional threads through close relationships and between words and artistic forms to create a language of powerful visions'.
- 'the artist was inspired - especially in his later period - by the Russion constructivist avant-garde of the 1920s and by the Polish group, Blok. Combining romanticism and poetry with cold rationalism, and setting emotions in play with strict logic, his work penetrates our subconsciousness and teases its associations'.

https://culture.pl/en/artist/roman-cieslewicz
(Accessed 4 October 2018).

- Cieslewicz was also an art director for the Polish cultural magazine Ty i Ja (You and I).
- most of the covers were designed between 1960 and 1963, then sporadic covers until the 1970's. 'His covers on the early issues are almost all straight photo-montages with humour or a sense of the unreal created by a playful use of size and relation between elements. In the later issues, he brings in a lot more illustrative elements, and flat uses of colour, making them look more poster-like'.

Final image source:
- cover of Ty i Ja (You and I) magazine, designed in 1968.

https://justseeds.org/jbbtc-24-roman-cieslewicz-pt-2/
(Accessed 4 October 2018).

OUGD601 - RESEARCH - People Of Print

PEOPLE OF PRINT: INNOVATIVE, INDEPENDENT DESIGN AND ILLUSTRATION:
Marcroy Smith and Andy Cooke

An interview with Danielle Pender:
- curator at KK Outlet in London, a gallery that showcases a lot of printed graphic, illustrative and photographic work. Print is integral to what they do and the work they exhibit.
- also founder and editor of Riposte, a smart magazine for women.
- "supposed mistakes can make a print more beautiful; there is an element of risk and reward, whether things turn out as you'd expected or if there's some perceived imperfection" (pg.18-19).

- "it [print] isn't just about preserving a bygone craft that bears no relevance to the modern age. Print is just as relevant today as its always been. It tells us something about where we've been, what we value and how we want to be remembered in the future".
- "print offers a different experience altogether. It's sensory, the smell and the feel each add something different to the content. Something committed to print holds more weight in the eye of the reader than something online" (pg.19).

- "our days are now filled with so much digital noise and information [...] this constant stream of information has become omnipresent. [...] I don't think this chatter allows us the time and space to really evaluate what we're reading or looking at and what we really think about it all [...] so this constant scrolling of stimulus doesn't make us think deeper or allow us the time to read more about a certain issue" (pg.20).

- "humans are tactile beings, they understand through touch. They also understand, by looking at history, to learn where they've come from, who they are and how to be in the future. I think printed matter, whether magazines, books, photographs or artwork, will prevail because it's part of our make-up, and I think that is something to be celebrated" (pg.21).

REFERENCE: Smith, M. and Cooke, A. (2015) People Of Print: Innovative, Independent Design And Illustration. London: Thames and Hudson.
Pender (2015, quoted in Smith and Cooke, 2015, p_) stated...

OUGD601 - Visual Analysis and Triangulation (2)

Starting to bring together more points and arguments:
MASSIMO VIGNELLI'S COVER FOR NEW YORK SUBWAY DIAGRAM:

OUGD601 - DESIGNER RESEARCH - Massimo Vignelli

MASSIMO VIGNELLI:
- "we brought discipline to design. We are systematic, logical and objective - not trendy. Trends kill the soul of design". (link to aesthetics and the present homogenity of design).
- an influential Italian designer 'born in Milan in 1931, but has been practising design in New York for nearly 50 years. Many of Vignelli's projects are regarded as classic examples of modern design'. ("The Vignelli Aesthetic").
- cover of New York subway diagram, designed in 1970.
- New York subway map, 'following the Beck London Underground diagram, Vignelli produced a diagram of subway lines. The map is widely admired for its beauty and utility, though New Yorkers disliked its indifference to above-ground geography'.

- "the centre is the most powerful position. One could say the most effective design is positioned in the centre between progressiveness and conservatism. There is a timelessness in this notion of balance, and timelessness has always been an important priority for me".
- "graphic designers today are changing because of the computer. They all work with a digital technology so they are really switching more and more towards information architecture". (link to the evolution of design/ is graphic design changing as a discipline because of the computer?/ can this even be classified as graphic design anymore? information architecture).

- "in graphic design there was a certain vocabulary of elements and typefaces. Should it require something classical, in the sense of something refined, then we would use Garamond. For something more informational we would use Helvetica. Our goal was to simplify things. We were purposefully eliminating, simplifying, disregarding a lot of alternatives, and limiting our choices to the point of then creating our own vocabulary". (link to ideas of simplicity in design/ John Maeda and simplicity/ the homogenity of modern design in that everything looks the same/ Helvetica).

http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/reputations-massimo-vignelli
(Accessed 3 October 2018).

OUGD601 - Finding Other Potential Image Sources

ALAN FLETCHER:
- "it's just a more complicated pencil".
- 'the computer is no different from any other tool, and should be treated accordingly. But the lack of physical engagement is a hindrance'.

JOHN MAEDA:
- "software is evolving as a compost heap of useless options, expired releases and nonsensical interfaces, making computers harder to read and increasingly less reliable".
- 'the practice of digital art and design will inevitably have difficulty in moving forward while its virtual tools are designed merely to emulate existing tools, and while it still uses terminology derived from pre-digital processes'.
- "in the field of digital art, an entire generation of creators shop at the equivalent of home-improvement megastores, eagerly acquiring all kinds of prefabricated components and add-ons. Blissfully unaware - or even worse, uninterested in - the basic nature of the technologies they are using as tools".

ROMAN CIESLEWICZ:
- "you can imagine anything you like and put it in a computer, but it will never have the perfection of the hand-drawn image or the freedom which I value so much. I don't like the square, aggressive teeth of the computer screen".
- 'ultimately, one of the drawbacks of digital processes is the freedom they offer - they can prove as disabling as they are liberating'.

MASSIMO VIGNELLI:

- "I was raised to believe that, as a designer, I have the responsibility to improve the world around us, to make it a better place to live, to fight and oppose trivia, kitsch and all norms of subculture that are visually polluting our world".

- "I don't think that type should be expressive at all. I can write the word 'dog' with any typeface and it doesn't have to look like a dog. But there are some people that think that when they write 'dog' it should bark".

- 'he believed that we have a responsibility to improve the world by getting rid of 'bad' graphic design, which raises problems of subjectivity. He believed that design must be timeless, however it is clear that design is not static, it is constantly developing with the times'.

OUGD601 - Visual Analysis and Triangulation (1)

Starting to bring together points and arguments:
THE SKIRBALL CENTER IDENTITY:

OUGD601 - RESEARCH - The New Handmade Graphics: Processes

THE NEW HANDMADE GRAPHICS: BEYOND DIGITAL DESIGN:

Anne Odling-Smee

Analogue processes:

- 'over time, printing has increasingly become technology rather than a craft or trade. In the nineteenth century, technical developments within the industry meant that power-driven machines began to take over tasks traditionally carried out by craftsman. Design standards also dropped as printers tried to outdo one another, exploiting emerging technologies to answer the needs of large firms who relied on printing to identify, describe and label their products in a newly competitive market'.

- 'more recently, the relationship between design and printing has become particularly problematic. Since digitisation in the twentieth century, the gap between the role of the printer and the designer has widened, leaving designers with little understanding of how to achieve the results they want'.

- 'although software can now stimulate the effects of overprinting, designers still have to imagine results, as computers are unable to display on screen what actually happens on paper - they cannot provide an accurate prediction'.

- Eric Kindel, graphic design tutor at Reading University (2002) 'concluded that many designers might avoid colour printing because of "the perennial difficulty of prediction, the scarcity of imaginative examples, the lack of clients and printers willing to countenance uncertainty and experimentation, or the configurations of present-day software applications that obscure the expressive potential of the printing process" (pg.20).

- 'digitisation has had a big effect on the quality of printed matter. The vast proportion of material is now litho-printed, and for short-runs, digital outputs (where toner is used instead of ink) are increasingly used. The litho-print process has now attained such a high level of finish that the things it produces can appear bland and characterless; and digital outputs can look monotonous, restricted by the set of colours and limited paper stock available'.

- "there is a tendency for printers to scan very well, but sometimes you want roughness" (Phil Baines, designer and tutor at Central Saint Martins).

- 'digitisation has meant that professional levels of reproduction can be quickly and easily achieved, but it has also made the notion of quality in design more ambiguous. It seems unlikely that digital reproduction will ever match the immense subtleties of tone and resolution that analogue imagery can contain'.

- "software is evolving as a compost heap of useless options, expired releases and nonsensical interfaces, making computers harder to read and increasingly less reliable" (J Maeda and N Negroponte, 2000). As far as Negroponte is concerned, the practice of digital art and design will inevitably have difficulty in moving forward while its virtual tools are designed merely to emulate existing tools, and while it still uses terminology derived from pre-digital processes' (pg.21).

- "print is undergoing an extraordinary renaissance in which it celebrates materiality, flexibility and desirability - areas in which screen-based design cannot compete" (Michael Worthington, 1999) (pg.22).

Letterpress:

- reasons for the resurgence in the use of traditional printing methods - 'the main attraction is tactility, which computers cannot yet simulate' (pg.22).

- 'physical involvement with a process that produces work with distinctive qualities of weight, texture and smell also creates an opportunity for creative and inventive thinking that, effectively, working in front of a screen removes'.

- 'designers are forced to conceptualise pictorial space by setting type in reverse, which encourages them to consider a wider range of options before deciding on a solution; while on-screen, they usually work from left to right because this is closer to the process of reading' (pg.24).

Exposing the process:

- 'designers are recognising that some people feel more comfortable knowing how something is made; and it is easier to visualise the print process when it uses analogue as opposed to digital methods. Evidently, this is beneficial for the designer, but it is less obvious why consumers of design value this purely visual understanding' (pg.28).

- 'analogue processes appear to be associated with the notion of trust. These methods also suggest that time and effort have been invested to a degree that digital printing does not need to, so an item that has been created using this kind of print becomes more precious' (pg.29).

Effects of digitisation:

- "you can imagine anything you like and put it in a computer, but it will never have the perfection of the hand-drawn image or the freedom which I value so much. I don't like the square, aggressive teeth of the computer screen" - Polish designer, Roman Cieslewicz (1993). Ultimately, one of the drawbacks of digital processes is the freedom they offer - they can prove as disabling as they are liberating'.

- "its just a more complicated pencil" - Alan Fletcher. The computer is no different from any other tool, and should be treated accordingly. But the lack of physical engagement is a hindrance. The use of the computer's virtual functions denies designers the opportunity to retain the image in their imagination or to visualise an outcome, encouraging reliance upon the prescribed routes that have been conceived by the program's creators' (pg.32).

- 'because of this, some designers are now going back to analogue methods where the whole nature of the process is fixed, where decisions have to be considered, and where experiments have a direct impact on people's understanding of the design process' (pg.33).

Analogue and digital:

- 'computers have transformed graphic design. They offer both flexibility and speed, enabling more control over the pre-print process than ever before' (pg.40).

- 'but computers are not seductively useful - they are a necessity. Almost everything has to go through a computer at some stage, as designs need to be put into a format that printers and producers are used to receiving. Yet regardless of this, the computer is no more conductive to creativity than other processes, "the computer does nothing for you, it just makes things a lot easier" describes Pepijn Zurburg' (pg.42).

Linking old and new:

- 'proof that the demands of the industry are changing is demonstrated by the fact that digital programmers have also been finding ways to link old and new forms of technology. John Maeda, for example, brings all the qualities of craftsmanship into his work. Some new forms of software are helping to encourage the integration of non-digital processes. It is now possible to have illustrative animation on websites, making it easier for graphic designers to incorporate personal image-making processes into a digital medium'.

- 'the limitations imposed through restricting themselves to just one tool are finally driving many people to start mixing other techniques and processes into their work' (pg.43).

REFERENCE: Odling-Smee, A. (2002) The New Handmade Graphics: Beyond Digital Design. Hove, Sussex: Rotovision.

OUGD601 - RESEARCH - Consumer Psychology

CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY:

Catherine Jansson-Boyd

What is consumer psychology?

- 'consumer psychology is about understanding why and how individuals and groups engage in consumer activities, as well as how they are affected by them. A large part of this discipline is focused on the cognitive processes and behaviours involved when people purchase or use products' (pg.1).

How consumption affects people's lives:

- 'a number of research studies conducted by psychologists have repeatedly shown that consumption is an integral part of people's lives. For example, it has been found that consumer activities can impact upon people's identities and how individuals convey their social status through the use of certain products and services' (pg.3).

- 'structuralism focused on understanding the structure of the mind and psychologist Wilhelm Wundt believed that psychologists should focus on immediate conscious experience. Throughout his career he investigated many different areas if psychology, but attention may be the most relevant area to consumer psychology. Wundt viewed attention as the part of perception that reflects what humans are consciously aware of' (pg.6).

- 'how individuals are influenced by consumption may be sen by how they choose their material possessions. By choosing the 'right' kind of products, they display their identities to others' (pg.13).

[Note: Although most of this research source is about consumer psychology in particular, and how advertising affects consumer's buying behaviours, some areas could potentially link with other sources I have in regards to phenomenology and experience since this also concerns the conscious mind.]

Perception and attention:

- 'perception and attention are two areas that are integral to understanding consumer processing. The way in which consumer stimuli are evaluated is guided by our perception which is linked to previous experiences' (pg.38).

- 'perception is the way in 'which information acquired from the environment via the sense organs is transformed into experiences of objects, events, sounds, tastes, touch, etc' (Roth, 1986). It is a process whereby stimuli are selected, organised and interpreted'.

- 'the study of perception is the study of largely unconscious processes through which information in the external environment is attended to, and it is biased by previous experiences so that only certain things appeal to our senses (Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 1988). Our perception is an active process that continuously categorises and interprets information provided by our senses. It enables people to almost instantly gain an understanding of what objects and scenes they encounter mean. This is done by linking previous experiences to the stimulus they come across, as well as adapting the way in which they are perceived. The information is then co-ordinated to form a perceptual pattern which will subsequently be stored in memory' (pg.39).

Gestalt theories:

- 'one aspect of perception that as been well researched is how features are organised into whole figures. The research was originally conducted by a group of German psychologists in the late 1800's and early 1900's, that became known as the Gestalt school of psychology. The name came out of their beliefs that humans tend to be biased to see distinct forms even if they encounter design features that are slightly irregular'.

- 'however, part of the critique of the Gestalt laws is that they are difficult to apply to how humans perceive 3D objects (Eysenck, 1993). However, they are applicable to two-dimensional objects such as drawings which also make them highly suitable to integrate into marketing stimuli' (pg.39).

- 'the gestalt theories previously outlined focus mainly on the way in which human perception is affected by visual input. Of all of the senses used, vision is the one that is most commonly researched and discussed. This is not surprising considering that visual attention is a vital way to acquire information in consumer (and other) environments and it does account for approx. 80% of human perception (Levine, 2000). Visual perception enables people to experience the existence of objects as well as their colour, form and position (Padgham and Saunders, 1975). Naturally, this is partially due to the fact that vision is often the only way to gather information about products and brands in consumer environments' (pg.42).

Aesthetics:

- 'a large part of generating favourable perception is the physical characteristics that will make the consumer think of a product, display or retail environment as more or less attractive'.

- 'the dilemma for marketers is how to present consumers with information that will generate a favourable perception. Berlyne (1971) suggested that different cultures may be homogenous in their response to stimuli, which suggests that there are some underlying general concepts that determine consumers' preferences of design in general' (pg.46).

REFERENCE: Jansson-Boyd, C. (2010) Consumer Psychology. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.