Independent Project Thoughts & Critical Context Draft 2

Independent Project

First Proposal

1. Project Title

2. Introduction (150-200 words)

· About social inequality and how it affects both the individual and the country.

3. Brief (200-250 words)

· Investigate deeper into inequality and how it makes people feel

· Try to see things in a different way and find a key aspect that can be highlighted in the issue of inequality

Things to look into:

· What problem they face

· Lifestyle

· How they feel/ Happiness

· Hardship

· What are their opinion

4. Audience (150-200words)

5. Deliverables (150-200words)

· A photographic and illustration magazine that displays the research made and conclusion obtained in an interesting way.

· Can try to include AR to the magazine.

· Can also play with the pages with die cuts, accordion folds, and pop ups.

6. Research Methods (150-200words)

· Interview and survey people about how they faced inequality and what they felt. What they think should be done to stop inequality.

· A first survey can be made to see what type of inequality is most common.

· Can also directly go towards social class inequality as this is the type of inequality that is most measured.

· Make an observation study (not sure because of covid)

7. Timeline from week9-14 (may be in point form)

8. Resources (APA referencing format)

Second Proposal

1. Project Title

Illustration vs Surrealist Photography

2. Introduction (150-200 words)

· Explain both sides of Illustration and Surrealist photography

3. Brief (200-250 words)

· Investigate which one is more impacting

· What is the different vibes people get with the 2

· What makes them reflect on the message more “use social inequality as an example”

Things to look into:

· Do they get the message

· How it makes them feel

· What are their opinions

· Votes between the 2

4. Audience (150-200words)

· Young adults age 18-30

· Because they have more interest in arts

5. Deliverables (150-200words)

· A photographic and illustration magazine that displays the research made and conclusion obtained in an interesting way.

· Can try to include AR to the magazine.

· Can also play with the pages with die cuts, accordion folds, and pop ups.

6. Research Methods (150-200words)

· Survey shared online on facebook survey sharing groups and maybe even art communities

7. Timeline from week9-14 (may be in point form)

8. Resources (APA referencing format)

References for Project

Walsh, J., 2018. The Future of Everything CRISPR. [image] Available at: <https://www.behance.net/gallery/83121183/The-Future-of-Everything> [Accessed 24 September 2021].

Little White Lies, 2021. TRUTH & MOVIES. (89).

BDM's Creative Series, 2020. Photoshop Tips, Tricks and Fixes. (28).

Schmitze, C., Franco, T. and Norfolk, S., 2021. Photography magazine. Artdoc Magazine,.

Critical Context

Design is a strong and effective way of communicating ideas and influence people. We, humans, are constantly influenced by design without even realizing it (Ghosal, M., 2020.). It can be from any form, from little objects that make our lives easier to huge advertisements on the road. Advertisements use design to push us to buy certain products or services, they use strong imagery to influence people for example Rolex who incites people to buy their products to get a sense of belonging in a certain social class (Haider, T. and Shakib, S., 2017.). But it is not always the case. Sometimes it is used for a greater purpose such as promoting peaceful living amongst people of different cultures and ethnicities. This was done in Singapore based on Leong K. Chan (Chan, L., 2011). As an example, for the 41st National Day in Singapore, a montage of the different ethnicities was made with the members of the parliament together with the slogan of “Together. We Celebrate Our 41st Nation Day”. Based on that we can already see the potential of design for a greater purpose. Appropriately, design can be used to not only influence people but also insight change in society in issues people usually overlook or do not care about and promote a better future.

Chan, K., 2006.

Belinda Baldwin also talked about the power of imagery (Baldwin, B., 2012), it was way back from 2012 and she talked about how easy it is to edit images that we take on our phones to spread propaganda about issues happening in the world. She showed some examples with minor edits that only highlighted the issues and other that were completely made up but the realism of it created even more impact on the people seeing them. We are now in 2021 and there has been a lot more improvement in technologies and it is now even more easy to create impactful visuals. Thomson, T., Angus, D., Dootson, P., Hurcombe, E. and Smith, A., 2020, stated how many fake edited images are out there and used by journalists and how it is getting harder and harder to differentiate between the altered and the original image. But as Belinda Baldwin said, imagery is a power, it all depends on how we, designer use it as it can have both its good and bad sides. However, only an image can make the audience stray from the main message sometimes. It is always good to have a title or a slogan that goes with conceptual images to direct the audience attention (Suler, J., 2013.). And that’s where design can elevate this whole idea, with the proper balance between the use of image manipulation and typography in creative ways, we can create impactful and meaningful work that will speak the right message to the targeted audience with more emotion and influence them in the right way.

Angela Luna, a fashion designer successfully demonstrated how the design industry could be used to help create awareness and attempt to solve issues of the world (Luna, A., 2016.). In her case she used fashion to try to help refugees on the problems they face by creating jackets that transforms into tents, backpack, sleeping bags and baby holder. The jackets are also equipped for flotation and visibility at night and are waterproof. Her project also worked to create awareness to people and let them know about problems that these people face. However, this is not nearly enough to help refugees effectively, that is why she is also working on making this a brand that will harness the revenue obtained and donate to refugees in need. Her project shows how design can cross boundaries and attempt to participate in solving issues of the world. Similar concepts can apply to graphic design more specifically creating strong messages with powerful visual concepts and influencing an audience, make an impact and build a space for people to reflect and pitch in ideas to help solve the problem. And in a better scenario, with graphic design, we, designers can even propose solution and make them visually presentable to show an audience and begin a move which was explained by Doug Powell, 2012.

Richmond, J., 2015.

References

Ghosal, M., 2020. What is Design, really?. [online] Medium. Available at: <https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/what-is-design-really-3500d944fd1> [Accessed 22 September 2021].

Haider, T. and Shakib, S., 2017. A Study On The Influences of Advertisement On Consumer Buying Behavior. Business Studies Journal, [online] 9(1). Available at: <https://www.abacademies.org/articles/a-study-on-the-influences-of-advertisement-on-consumer-buying-behavior-7177.html> [Accessed 22 September 2021].

Thomson, T., Angus, D., Dootson, P., Hurcombe, E. and Smith, A., 2020. Visual Mis/disinformation in Journalism and Public Communications: Current Verification Practices, Challenges, and Future Opportunities. Journalism Practice, [online] pp.1-25. Available at: <https://scitechdaily.com/seeing-is-no-longer-believing-the-manipulation-of-online-images/> [Accessed 22 September 2021].

Suler, J., 2013. Photographic Psychology: Image and Psyche. [online] Truecenterpublishing.com. Available at: <https://truecenterpublishing.com/photopsy/titles.htm> [Accessed 22 September 2021].

Powell, D., 2012. Design a Force for Social Impact: Doug Powell at TEDxArtCenterCollegeOfDesign. [video] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-7y23DQurE> [Accessed 31 August 2021].

Chan, K., 2006. National Day poster © East Coast Town Council, Singapore. [image] Available at: <https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Envisioning-Chinese-Identity-and-Managing-in-Leong-Chan/ef49a0aa8ae1864261478d29e9421bd566bff3ee/figure/0> [Accessed 23 September 2021].

Richmond, J., 2015. Design for a difference. [image] Available at: <https://www.newschoolfreepress.com/2016/05/07/a-parsons-student-designed-her-senior-thesis-to-help-syrian-refugees/> [Accessed 23 September 2021].