OUGD401 - Sign Up Tutorial [2]

I signed up for a tutorial with Richard Miles, head of contextual studies, in order to asses my progress so far and discuss what I need to do in order to progress with my essay. I explained to him my concept and showed him my initial annotations before discussing elements I could include and emphasise. He liked the concept and felt it would make a good essay,  He reinforced that I should define propaganda and the techniques used which I could then later directly apply to my analysis in order to apply a host of contextual theories. He agreed with the points I made in my initial analysis and agreed that I should keep to two images as this would create a detailed and though analysis. 

He then asked how I would make this contemporary in terms of the accompanying physical body of graphic design. I explained my a vague concept that I have of using the obvious racism present in the American propaganda and updating this creating contemporary propaganda highlighting the anti-islamic narrative that is conveyed to the public by corporate news such as 'Fox'. He thought this was an interesting concept that could work well, I explained I would look at keeping a similar style of image using blood imagery and block colours, looking into the use of screen printing as this would give a more authentic finish. 

I feel this tutorial helped to motivate me to start producing my essay as I now have a good basis to start from. I felt Richard was positive towards my concept which is encouraging as I feel this will result in a good quality outcome both of my essay and physical body of graphic design. 

OUGD401 - Propaganda Analysis

Having chosen a range of sources from the library I then started to look for interesting examples of propaganda that I could use to analyse within my essay. I found Propaganda, The art of persuasion: World War II by Anthony Rhodes the most appropriate source. As the main focus of my essay is the use of American and Japanese propaganda I decided to choose 1 form of each. I chose to only use one source of each to ensure my analysis is detailed and though, Due to the word count being 3000 words I felt multiple examples of propaganda would lead to a vague and generic analysis. 

As well as looking through a range of physical books I also looked online for the most effective uses of propaganda within World War II, I then looked across both formats to see if any images were common within both. I found that the 'Rise of Asia' poster was used within a range of online sources and books I chose this image as it contains key iconography that will form interesting findings when analysed. For the American propaganda I found a range of posters but felt the most interesting was the 'This is the enemy' poster I felt from initial observations there were a range of interesting similarities and differences between the two which could make for a good conclusion and evaluation of how graphic design was used within this time period. 

I printed the images side by side and made some quick initial analysis points in preparation for my tutorial, I would then discuss these points in further detail with a tutor in order to gain feedback as to whether they think my research is reading in the right direction in order to create a good quality essay. 

OUGD401 - Gathering Research Material

To mark the start of my research process I went to the library in order to find suitable sources to use for my research, these would make up a range of my Harvard references included within my essay.

Source 1 - Rhodes, A (1987). Propaganda, the art of persuasion: World War II. Hong Kong: Chelsea House Publishers . p137-177, p241-283.

Source 2 - Husband T. (2014). Propaganda: Truth and Lies in Wartime. United Kingdom: Arcturus Publishing Ltd. 

Source 3 - Aulich J. (2011). War Posters: Weapons of Mass Communication. United Kingdom: Thames & Hudson Ltd. 

I felt this was enough to give me some initial in depth reading in to the topic I Later plan to ask tutors for other relevant sources as well as gathering a range of online sources that provide useful information. 

OUGD401 - Harvard Referencing

As part of a CoP workshop I was given further tuition as to how to successfully harvard defence in a range of situations. I was asked to correctly reference the given book in each of the following circumstances. 

• Within the bibliography 
• In the text (when the author is mentioned) 
• In the text (when the author is not mentioned) 

1. Hollis, R (2006) Swiss Graphic Design; the Origins and Growth of an International Style, New Haven Connecticut: Yale University Press 

2. (2006, P.102)

3. (Hollis, 2006, P.102) 

Following this task we asked a range of questions and found that as an average we should include between 6 and 10 examples of Harvard Referencing within our Essay's. 

OUGD401 - Essay Structure/Plan

I took part in a session in which we were given useful advice on how to structure my essay, This helped me with understanding a well device strategy however I feel I am fairly confident at essay writing with an A-level background of studying English Language, I will use these skills to hopefully personalise my essay and tailor it directly to my topic. 

During the second part of the session I was tasked to plan a sample essay structure and plan, It did not require vast details as we were still fairly new to researching our chosen concepts but should include a brief idea of how I was planning to structure my essay. 

Introduction; State the question,  specify a specific research focus, time period, identify why the question is important and state my hypothesis. Within this I plan to set a specific time period, talk about World War II in a fairly general context before narrowing it down to graphic design, specifically the use of propaganda. 

Defining propaganda; Define propaganda as a relevant part of graphic design and state how it was a key form of visual communication during WWII, (potential for Harvard reference quote). Also identify key propaganda techniques and how they have been used. 

Analyse American propaganda; Analyse a range of American propaganda in isolation, look at the key features such as layout composition and subliminal messages. Discuss how it affected American troops, Moral , the country as a whole. Look at racism, power and other potential issues with the use of propaganda. 

Analyse Japanese propaganda in a similar fashion identifying key features however link the evidence back to American Propaganda, E.g; "Similarly to the examples of American Propaganda, Japanese ...." 

Evaluate and Conclude; Show how my research has answered the question, state what has been discovered, avoid personal opinions and use third person to evaluate (and throughout)

OUGD401 - Tutorial

I had a scheduled tutorial with Richard Miles, head of contextual studies, In which we discussed my progress with the module so far and looked at potential topics for my project. We talked about a number of concepts but both agreed the strongest would be to perform a critical analysis of american and Japanese propaganda during World War II. We arrived at this conclusion based on positive feedback from the image analysis task, performed earlier in the year and tailed it to fit the theme I had chosen for my project. 

I have chosen social Political as my topic with a theme of “Discuss the role that Graphic Design has played in Political and/or social change in a specific period in history." We agreed that my specific research focus answered this question as I can discuss the use of propaganda (a form of graphic design) that has played a significant political role within the World War II (a specific period in history)

We then discussed how I can move forward from this point and how this essay would ultimately influence my accompanying physical body of graphic design, this brought me back to my one of my initial concepts looking at Russell Brands views and I could develop my physical body of work to show how capitalist news corporations such as Fox news portrays an anti-islamic narrative, a view to which Russell Brand actively tires to expose through his youtube channel. This would work well as my existing knowledge of American propaganda is there was racist techniques used toward the Japanese something to which I could explore further and ultimately develop into a 21st century relevant body of graphic design looking at Fox news and similar corporations to see if they use any similar techniques to American propaganda. 

I was given some useful sources of information to start my research including researching the actual techniques of propaganda which I found extremely useful to be able to define the techniques used. This tutorial helped me immensely to focus my research and motivate me to start my research.

OUGD401 - Mind Map

In order to firmly establish a topic for my context of practise essay I was required to produce a mind map detailing a range of potential routes in which I could take my essay. This was helpful as it helped to focus in more detail at which topic within my chosen title I would like to specialise in. From this I was then placed in a group with other students studying the same title in order to compare and discuss what topics we had placed on our mind maps and which was the most likely for use to choose. This was again really helpful as it allowed me to add more topics to my mind map that I had not thought of when individually completing this task. 

From this I have become undecided as to which topic I would like to focus on during the rest of this module. I have decided between focusing on capitalism and how other systems could be better than our current economic and political system in which I would look at groups such as the occupy movement. The other focus I feel I could take focuses on the Perl Harbour attack in world war 2 I could look at the use of propaganda used by the American and Japanese governments to see how they are similar or intact dissimilar creating an critical comparison between the two. 

I order to determine my specific research focus, I plan to discuss these two options with my contextual studies tutor and ask for feedback as to which focus could conceive the most interesting results in regard to my essay and body of physical graphic design. From this I will then complete the second part of study task 3 and begin with my extensive research into my chosen topic. 

OUGD401 - Essay choice

As part of the context of practise module I am required to submit a 3000 word essay along with a body of physical graphic design. We were given 5 topics to choose from that included; 

• Modernism: “To what extent have Modernist design principles influenced contemporary Graphic Design?”
• Postmodernism: “How did Postmodernism impact on Graphic Design practice?
• Gender representation: To what extent does advertising construct our ideas of gender?
• Social/political: “Discuss the role that Graphic Design has played in Political and/or social change in a specific period in history.
• Consumerism: “What is the relationship between branding and The Consumer Self (Ewen)”

We were given seminars introducing the basics of each title, in which we learnt the key ideologies of each topic and considered how it would form the basis of my final project. I  was then asked to independently choose a topic I felt I would be able to sustain across the essay and physical body of work and be able to articulate my reasons behind this choice. From  Studio Brief 3 in my context of practise module I had researched about Russell Brands views on Capitalism, found that this interested me as although his views were some what controversial he spoke confidently about how we could change our lifestyle to become less reliant on capitalist ideologies. I feel there was enough research and theories to be able to sustain a 3000 word essay and think I could create an interesting body of physical work to accompany this. For these reasons I have decided to choose the fourth topic; 

"Social/political: “Discuss the role that Graphic Design has played in Political and/or social change in a specific period in history."

I will use my interest in Russell Brand and his political views as a starting point however I think I will focus more heavily on theories from credible authors and theorists. To start my research I was asked to gather reading material from the library and reference it in the Harvard style as this is a skill that will later be needed when compiling my essay and bibliography. The books I have chosen to research include; 

Bylthe, J (1997). The essence of consumer behaviour. Europe; Prentice Hall Europe

McNally, D (2006). Another World is possible - Globalisation and Anti-capitalism. 2nd ed, Canada; Arbeiter Ring Publishing

Clarke, D Doel, M & Housiaux, M (2003). The consumption reader. London; Taylor & Francias inc.

Heath, J & Potter, A (2005). The rebel sell: How counter culture became consumer culture. UK; Capstone Publishing LTD.

OUGD401 - Task 2 Modernism & Postmodernism

Modernism (anon)

This image I feel conforms to the ethos of the modernism movement. It contains all the generic conventions of a modernist piece for example the flush left margin, the use of the Helvetica typeface, the vast amount of white space and the simple and objective imagery used. Unfortunately I found this image on a social networking site and it did not include a reference to the designer, despite my best efforts I could not acquire the required reference. 

Captain Beefhart & His Magic Band, Wes Wilson (1966) 

This Poster, I feel is consistent with the Postmodernism movement within design history. The use of erratic typography which seems to fill the available space, looks bespoke and juxtaposes rules to which the modernist movement conformed too. The bold colours unashamedly stand out to intrigue the audience and rebel against the clarity and precision of the modernist movement. The hand rendered image further rebels against the modernists perfect vision and adds a dystopian edge to the piece. 

OUGD401 - Task 1 Image Analysis Exercise

- Explore the similarities and differences of these two texts with specific reference to; design principles, purpose, meaning, audience and historical context

Text A is a graphic advertisement for ‘The Uncle Sam Range’ designed by Schumacher and Ettlinger in 1846. The image depicts a dinner party hosted by Uncle Sam to which the world was invited to. The purpose of the advertisement was to promote a new cooker ‘The Uncle Sam Range.’ The use of archaic lexis ‘range’ gives insight into the time period in which the image was produced. The typography chosen holds specific relevance, the slab serif typography screams americana and boasts flamboyance. The typeface is suitable for the image as it will appeal to the target audience of Americans and draws on key ideologies of patriotism, as the font was used during the war of independence giving it connotations of victory and power. The delicate script typeface used on the table cloth ‘Uncle Sam’s little dinner party 1846’ directly juxtaposes this bold slab serif typeface, however this ensures the primary focus is the brand name reinforcing the product to its audience. 

The image is extravagantly patriotic. There is extensive use of American iconography, for example; the stars and stripes incorporated into the carpet, the clock face highlighting the 100th anniversary of the declaration of independence, the American Bald Eagle and the pinnacle of American iconography, Uncle Sam, dressed in red white and blue he is undoubtedly the essence of American propaganda. Continuing with the theme of American superiority, the menu the world is clutching reveals cultural stereotypes about the foods each country will be eating. For example Ireland eat 8 types of potatoes, China eat birds nest and grasshopper and Italy eats a verity of pasta. Although this belittles and heavily stereotypes other countries one could argue this promotes the versatility and effectiveness of the cooker, being able to prepare a such variety of dishes for a dinner party.  

I feel the audience for this advertisement is predominantly middle class americans striving to be upper class, this is conceived through the grandeur of the room, the racial stereotype of slaves preparing the meal and the extravagant well tailored clothing. There is an underlying message that if one were to purchase this cooker they would be accepted into this lifestyle and become part of the american dream. 

Text B is a graphic poster by Savile Lumley produced in 1915. Similarly to Text A it is still an advertisement although it is not advertising  a specific product. It is used as war propaganda with the intention of shaming men into joining the war. The use of language reinforces British mannerisms of stereotypically being reserved and polite. The 2nd person pronoun ‘you’ both underlined and in capitals stresses a personal affect as if the poster was talking directly to its audience. The use of colloquial lexis ‘Daddy’ implies childish connotations reinforcing the image, that the daughter is asking this question to her father. There is a respectful tone demonstrating a clear hierarchy between the father and daughter and  by using a script font the hard hitting message becomes more subtle and feminine, again reinforcing the fact a small girl is questioning her fathers pride. This script font is less invasive than for example, a sans serif such as Helvetica, which would change the feel of the poster completely. 

Similarly to Text A, Text B also draws on a patriotic values however the way in which this is executed is vastly different to that of Text A. There is subtle use of red, white and blue used in the characters clothing to symbolise the union jack flag, the traditional English red rose printed onto the curtains as well as a fleur de lys pattern printed onto the armchair giving connotations of a supporting of the crown. Both texts use imagery that coincide with the meaning they are trying to convey, for example Text B uses war iconography such as the small boy playing with canons and soldiers. This could be used to mock the father as the son is emasculating him with his willing to play with army toys as well as suggesting war is a mans responsibility. As an extension of this, one could assume the advertisement is suggesting war is child’s play in order to further mock men that will not participate. 

I feel both texts are aimed at the same audience of middle/upperclass men although for entirely different reasons. Text A uses questionable methods designed to question male pride and exploit family values in order to produce the ideology that it is the mans job to protect his loved ones. Children are used as emotional stimuli on multiple layers of metaphoric interpretation in order to appeal to parents, especially fathers. The image is produced in the middle of the war as a pictorial predicted future of war in which men have returned home and can tell their families about the great things they did to protect them and the British empire. Overall I feel there are a number of similarities between these two strikingly different texts, they both target men and evoke a sense of masculinity, they draw on the concepts of pride and contentment as well as using the advertising techniques of persuasion as their primary function.

Text A - The Uncle Sam Range (1876) 

Text B - Savile Lumley 1915