Assignment 5

Does the fashion industry continue to use smoking to sell fashion in spite of the current anti-smoking opinion? Why exactly do they believe including cigarettes in their advertising is beneficial to their brand?

Whilst investigating whether the media promotes smoking in semester one, some interesting points arose. Such as whether the problem was the media promoting smoking or anti-smoking campaigns ineffectiveness to counteract it? Young people may be able to identify more with the positive portrayal of smoking in the media than health campaigns designed to try and solve the problem. It may be the case for many young people that smoking is primarily about image and that is why the fashion industry has such an impact on promoting it. The fashion industry is unlikely to be using smoking to sell tobacco, but are they still are using images of tobacco to sell fashion? If so, in what way do designers, editors and photographers believe that linking tobacco with fashion is beneficial to their product? I propose to investigate this through some of the research methods learned in semester two, such as observations, questionnaires and interviews.

It may be the case that designers are simply trying to create a rebellious image for their brand through the inclusion of tobacco in advertising to appeal to young people. However I hypothesize that it may be more about the bad publicity gained. For example a punk band can sing about rebellion and dress the part but without actually being rebellious they lack credibility. Credibility might be the key, so is this what designers are aiming for by using smoking images in opposition to our present anti smoking society? By snubbing the anti-smoking movement they perhaps appear daring and that’s what fashion is somewhat about.

Firstly I will need to confirm whether the fashion industry does continue to use images of smoking in its publications and advertisements. To confirm this, I intend to examine a sample of magazines. These will be taken from the top five best selling UK fashion magazines; Glamour, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Instyle and Elle. I will review a year’s publication to get a fair impression of each, primarily looking for images with smoking content. By closely analyzing them I will be able to see what atmosphere is being conveyed in the pictures and themes that emerge. For example certain styles of clothes or other items used in the image such as super cars etc and what message they communicate.

After collating the themes and attitudes found in the magazines I will conduct short semi structured interviews with the editors, designers and photographers who have included smoking in their work. I mainly want to find out what they believe the artistic benefits of including tobacco products are. ‘Smoking is often used in these magazine spreads to capture a certain mood or image’ (Amos, 1992). Is this true and what exactly is it about adding a cigarette that they believe will help make their product more appealing? Or are they using it to provoke? Do they feel the bad publicity they might receive would be beneficial? I will also ask their views on the modern stigma of smoking and the current health warnings against it. Do they feel a responsibility when portraying smoking as stylish? Is it purely art? In addition I think it will be interesting to get the perspective of vocal anti-smoking figures within the business. I will ask them why they think many use tobacco products and why they personally feel so strongly against it. After conducting the interviews I will collate my information looking for isolated and common beliefs.  Throughout the process I will insure anonymity to all participants.

I had initially thought about using questionnaires instead of interviews. However I felt that through interviews I might get more in-depth results. The types of people I wish to question are often busy professionals and questionnaires might get intercepted or lost by secretaries etc. I have also considered the possibility of phone interviews in the case of the interviewee being too busy. If neither face-to-face or telephone is convenient I will ask if a short questionnaire would be more suitable. I hope that by doing this I will get as wide a range of answers as possible.

After analyzing my findings from the interviews I will take my information to two focus groups of young people to elucidate their opinions on the beliefs of the designers. In order to be economical with resources and time I will use a group of students from Dundee University, from a range of courses and backgrounds. To generate conversation I intend to use prompt questions and record the results through service design tools such as group sketching and use a tape recording of the conversations primarily for reference to pick out key words and themes. The problem with just approaching students is they may be from a particular demographic and they might not be representative of all young people. To balance this I would approach youth workers from an economically deprived area to help conduct a similar focus group to insure I had a wider range of results.

Through analyzing literature and magazine spreads, interviewing professionals and conducting focus groups with young people. I will attempt to find out why tobacco is continually used to promote products. It will be interesting to compare the opinions of the professionals as to why they do it, with views of young people to see whether they believe that they are in fact influenced by smoking imagery.

pLanninG FOR tHe FuTure!

To keep us busy over the stupidly long summer holidays our lecturer thought he'd do us a favour and set us some things to keep us busy...how thoughtful! We have been asked to come up with 5 books we will read, 5 things we will do to our blogs and 5 people we will connect with. Here are mine -

Books

'Where good ideas come from: The natural history of innovation' by Steven Johnston. I have chosen this book because of the rave reviews both my lecturer and my dad have given it. I particularly like the idea of the common place book. An idea from renaissance Europe that encouraged thinkers to jot down ideas and thoughts in one place. This is something that i think i'd like to try.

'You can find inspiration in everything - And if you cant look again' by Paul Smith. I have been using this book for my current self motivated project and have skim read parts of it. I would like to sit down and actually take time to read the book as it seems he has a lot of design and business wisdom. He tells the story of how he grew from nothing and he sill comes across in the book as a level headed man. Hopefully by reading this book i will be able to find inspiration in everything.

'What the dog saw' by Malcome Gladwell. This is a more recent book from the author of, 'The tipping point' a book i really enjoyed reading and discussing in the first semester.  'The common theme that runs through all Gladwell's pieces is his desire to show us the world through the eyes of others – even if the other happens to be a dog.' The Guardian. Hopefully this will be just as interesting as 'The tipping point' and will provide just as much debate between me and my dad.

'Pattern' by Orla Kiely just looks beautiful. Being a textiles student and big Kiely fan this is right up my street. But apart from just looking at the amazing pictures the text also appears to be really interesting. Like Paul Smith she recounts her journey to success and the pitfalls she found. It just seems like a really inspiring book and shows that you have to work for fame and fortune. I will definitely be asking for it for my birthday this Summer.

'The back of the napkin' by Dan Roam. Ooops this was a recommended book for this semester that sadly i bought and never read. But it does look quite interesting so over the summer i'll give it a go and learn more about brain storming and visual thinking. 

Blog

Hmmm i am quite happy with my blog but i have heard that Word press is the place to be so importing my blog into a Word press will be the 1st thing i will be doing this summer. After looking at some Word press pages i have noticed that you can add several pages so next i think i'll add an assignments and an about me page. Maybe if im feeling adventurous i'll add a flicker photo stream to share photos of my work. Lastly I plan to investigate Twitter. At the moment I have next to no idea what it is, how you use it and what the benefits are! But hopefully soon i'll be a pro. See you on Twitter!

Contacts

1. Amanda Mercer - 2009 graduate from Cumbria University. She makes vintage inspired ceramic and textile pieces. I think her work is really interesting as it shows how textiles can be used in different ways. 'Within my ceramic pieces I work with porcelain as if it was fabric translating textile qualities through the clay surface'. Plus it really appeals to my love of nostalgia.http://www.amanda-mercer.co.uk/page5.htm

2. Poppy Treffry - Cornwall based designer that makes pretty illustrated textiles for your home. I remember seeing her work for the first time on a holiday in Cornwall and loved the stitched quality! http://www.poppytreffry.co.uk/

3.  Alice Apple - A textile graduate from Devon who currently makes toys and fabrics inspired by colourful 60s and 70s prints. I have a soft  spot for flower prints, i think this is why im so attracted to her work. Some of her stuff reminds me of Orla Kielys work, which i also love!  http://www.aliceapple.co.uk/#

4.  Know Your Onions - I would love to get in touch with the designers of this small company that make quirky jewellery, 'it feels contemporary yet somehow antique'. I want it all! http://www.knowyouronions.net/index.html

5. Hume Sweet Hume - Small highland knit wear company that was initially run out of their front room. They make unique home accessories, bags, scarfs, hats and jumpers. 'The scrap book sections reflect; family, community, land, sea, sky and objects found, given and received. These form an integral part of our inspiration'. It is really interesting to see where their inspiration has come from and that is why i want to get in touch.http://www.humesweethume.co.uk/about_us.php

 

StREEt QuILTs

These pieces by Amy Ahlstrom, combine textiles with pop and street art in the form of quilts. Amazing!

http://www.amyahlstrom.com/index.html

Assignment 4 - HApPy tO HeLP

How do salespeople influence purchases?
A lot of people have a lot to say on the subject of salespeople. "rude and ignorant", "civility costs nothing, no matter how little your wage was, you should always treat people as you would want to be treated yourself." Are a few of the comments i found on the "This Morning" Facebook discussion page.
So for this project instead of asking the shoppers for they're opinions, i thought i'd ask the sellers themselves how they believe they do or do not influence their customers and their experiences when the tables are turned.
I began creating my questions by researching and  reading some articles on peoples experiences in high street shops. The articles below gave me a few ideas.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2010/jul/09/sales-assistants-happy-to-help?INTCMP=SRCH


http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/janet-street-porter/i-was-and-am-lousy-shopassistant-material-682193.html  


I then needed some salespeople. So i went to my home village of Aberdour and armed with bribes of cake, went into a few of the independent gift shops and asked if they wouldn't mind. I spoke to Annie and Claire both shop owners. Claire had worked in retail all her life where as Annie had only been in the business 5 years after a career change. I hoped this would give me different perspectives on the subject.  

I wanted to find out a few things in particular. 
1. Their views on customer behaviour.
2. How easy they feel it is to influences sales.

3. How influential to sales do they think employing people for the way they look?
4. How they feel being sold to themselves?


Here are the questions i asked - 


Question 1. Do you find customer behaviour predictable? 
Of the two sales people i spoke to, the general view was customer behaviour was very predictable. The way people look and walk into the shop gives them an instant first impression and predicts their buying habits. Walkers for example don't come out expecting to buy and their body language shows this. One of the shop owners, whose shop was definitely aimed at females, said in general men are in buying presents and have a very 'in and out' approach. They come in and pick up one of the first things they see suitable. "They are shopping for purpose not for experience."


Question 2. How easy is it/do you find it to influence sales?

On the subject on trying to influence sales both said they didn't do it actively and it wasn't something they enjoyed. This surprised me, so i asked what they didn't like about the sale process? Annie said simply it just wasn't something she found easy and she was overly aware of being pushy. "I often say something like 'is it still cold out?' and see by their response if they want a chat. A lot of the time people will answer, 'yes' and then go back to their shopping. Then i know to leave it. Its common sense." What is interesting about Claires response is that she said she would just as easily put off a customer from a product as encourage them to buy it. Simply because she didn't want customers coming back with regrets or feeling pressured. "You have a responsibility" It seems that some sales people are just as aware of putting off customers with pushy service. 


Question 3. Does creating an ideal buying experience influence purchases? How would you create this?
Claire said something she is dedicated to is showing an interest in the person. She commented that if possible she trys to remember regular customers names and create a personal experience, that she believes has been lost in the UK,  due to the mass produced high street and supermarkets. I found a BBC news article called, "Why service is still so bad in the UK" by Rosie Waites and it makes some very interesting points. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12123463 She argues that no matter how good the product in a shop or restaurant, it is the service that makes people come back and "regulars are their lifeblood". This is something that is definitely true for these wee shop, as they rely on repeat customers and positive word of mouth to gain them trade. 
Annie mentioned how she feels making things aspirational is key. Clothes shops mock up outfits to create a desire and a 'If i buy that i could look like that" attitude. She says she trys to do the same. "when people come into my shop, i think its important that people feel there buying into a lifestyle." I think this technique is being used more and more for example Jack Wills shop fittings are used as much as their clothes to create an experience. Queen of shops Mary Portas champions this idea and of how influential to purchases creating desire can be. "We all know the power that a well-designed shop window can hold over us; in one glance you can be transported into a different world. Through the glass, products come alive in a visual story that compels you to enter the store and part with your hard-earned cash." http://www.maryportas.com/mary/
  

Question 4. Being a salesperson how do you find being sold to? 
Annie's immediate response was, "I know their game."  She was joking but i understood what she meant. Being in the business perhaps make you more aware of people actively selling. She also said she now saw them less sincere. Claire also said she didn't like being sold to, neither do i particularly and neither did any of my friends who i asked. Does anyone like the hard sell? When we complain about customer service we just bit of acknowledgement and help when we need it. "... there's a difference between being helpful and trying to pretend like you're a shopper's best friend." Say Johnathon Haynes, author of "Sales assistants: When 'Happy to help' becomes a hindrance", for the Guardian. He is arguing that some sales assistants are adopting a very Americanised over helpful attitude to service, that can just as much influence you. Influence you into getting out of the shop as quick as is physically possible. "His incessant interest lost him the sale and left me a touch disturbed." 


Question 5. Can you name some high street shops where the sales assistants have influenced you? Either good or bad.
At this question both needed little time to think and i think this sums up  a lot. People remember the service they receive. Claire said one of her worst experiences was in Jenners in Edinburgh. "Nothing major happened but the sales assistant was just down right rude" She thought that this particular Jenners sales assistant thought she was above dealing with customers. This seems to be one of the biggest problems facing the service industry, a snobbery.  Chef Michel Roux Jr thinks "The issue of service in Britain is, maybe, a class problem with service seen as subservient." A huge number of people on both sides see selling and service as a lower class job and this the root of the problem. Mary Portas comments that service is at the centre of the retail trade and that those who offer it are key players in the overall success of the company. Service can be a well paid and respected career.


Question 6. Do you think its right/beneficial to sales to employ people for the way they look?
This question came out of reading an article about Riam Dean who sued Abercrombie and Fitch for banishing her to the stock room after finding out she had a prosthetic arm and it didn't fit with their 'Look policy". http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8116231.stm 
I wondered what these 2 shop owners though about this. 
Annie - "I think this is definitely wrong." She said she found nothing wrong with asking employees to dress smart or wear clothing that the shop sells. Again its all about being aspirational to the customer.
 Claire - Thought that in this case it was completely discriminative and is annoyed at how much people are judged on appearance. "Of course the big shops are doing it, they want people who are the right look for their brand." Again she said she would want anyone she employed to be well presented but as long as they were good at their job she didn't really mind.

The insight i gained from Claire and Annie turned out to be much more than just about the influence on purchases and more about the retail service industry as a whole. Sales people do have make a huge impression on us when were shopping, whether good or bad it is something people like to boast and rant about. People are harking back to the days of good service and are beginning to realise that they deserve it when they are shopping. Of course there are other influences to sales but nothing beats that personal touch.


 

2 cOMes aftEr 3 RIgHt? Assignment 2

For this assignment we were to look at the idea of Polysemy. Polysemy is when a word has two or more similar meanings and that everyone interprets them differently. Apparently all images are 'Polysemous' and that different text or imagery can completely change and 'fix' the meaning. In the essay 'The Rhetoric of the Image' the author Roland Barthes asks, 'How does meaning get into the image?' and this is what we were attempting to find out by carrying out this experiment.
Our group decided to go for the ink blot experiment and started by creating our random ink blots. I then went about asking my 3 non art student flatmates over a cup of tea, "what do you see?" The results were more interesting than i thought.
Ed - a business student and all round extreme sports guy thought the 1st looked like an angry dolphin, the 2nd a brain and the 3rd some skis.
Robbie - Ray Mears wannabe and Geography student thought that the 1st was a horse shoe crab, 2nd a space volcano and the 3rd some tree bark.
Nick - Film and English student and radio 4 listener saw the 1st as a spinning diablo, no 2 as rain on a window and the 3rd as smudged musical notes.

1.

2.

3.

Apart from being totally different it was strange how what each person saw completely represented their interests and personality. (It probably would have been beneficial to speak to more people, perhaps within a different age range or social environment.) The next part of the experiment was to add some text or extra pieces of imagery to 'fix' the image and hopefully encourage everyone to see the same thing. To the 1st i added 2 triangles to the top to represent ears and now all three saw either a fox or cat. On the dotty example i wrote the words, 'buzz, buzz' and immediately they all saw bees. Thirdly i added blue ink to the liner example and 2 out of three now saw water. It is impressive how 3 such different views could be altered to the same by such simple additions.
It makes you think about the power of images in advertising and how they are manipulating images to make us, the consumers see their products positively and want to buy them. When i told my three experimentees the results they also commented that they couldn't believe how susceptible they had been and how much I'd influenced them into seeing what i wanted them to see.
I also told them i had sneaky ways of getting them to do the dishes, so they'd better watch out!

TaLL, SKInnY, dECaF LaTte tO Go! Assignment 3

Rugby. Field. Grass. Boys. Ball. Rain. Shouting. Huddle. Scrum. Shorts. Mud. Goals. Cheers. Game. Teams. Gang. Broken Ribs. Laughter. Outsider. Fear. Cold. Banter. Water Bottles. Support. Strength. Zone. Training. Girl.

For the Design Safari assignment i decided to go to a Rugby match. Foolish perhaps as i am someone who hasn't even graced a football match, so rugby was definitely throwing me in at the deep end. I went with my boyfriend who is on the rugby team but happened not to be playing that particular Wednesday afternoon. It made me feel only slightly less anxious going with him, despite the fact that he knew everyone and had promised not to leave me on my own. As we arrived at the Riverside pitches we had to walk through the changing rooms, amongst people milling about in football and rugby strips but pretty much the first thing i saw was some guy getting medical attention for broken ribs. Not a great way to put me at my ease. As we approached the field the game was in full swing and all i could hear were encouraging shouts and whistles from the group of people standing at the side. As we got closer the ball was kicked up into the air and being a rugby novice i thought it was heading straight for me. I let out  a squeal as the ball landed far far away from me and many of the people standing on the pitch line turned with unimpressed expressions to see who the idiot was. I recon though, their response would have been very different if a boy had acted the way i did. This is when i realised i was the only girl amongst about 30 boys. If we were being asked to go somewhere out with our comfort zone, i was so far out i couldn't even see mine.
The atmosphere on the pitch side was tense but very social. Some were watching the game intently, shouting things and clutching their heads in their hands when things went wrong. Others were chatting and laughing and floating from group to group. There were definite huddles of people, probably friend groups but i wasn't keen on trying to join any. They all seemed to be acting quite masculine and laddy not really caring to be introduced. I think in that environment its constantly competitive, each of them trying to outdo each others stories. It seemed to me that most of them were putting on a facade taking on the persona of a rugby boy and my boyfriend agreed saying that most of them acted differently on a one to one basis. As a new comer i didn't feel that welcome, but maybe that's because i didn't really fit in. No one was horrible to me but i feel they didn't really have much time between play fighting and slagging each other off, for me. 




Noise. Cake. Smells. Cups. Aprons. Laptops. Dishes. Napkins. Teenagers. Music. Counter. Queue. Shopping Bags. Signs. Prices. Chairs. Papers. Chatting. Cream. Standing. Waiting. Window. Broom. Panini. 

For my secondary site i went to the Starbucks in Dundee Overgate on a Sunday afternoon. The first thing i notice was the way that as soon as you enter you are directed towards the food counter and then herded round to the till, place where you collect you coffee, the napkin counter and then the seating. This all follows a one Way system directed by the differently coloured tiles in a path on the floor. After being processed through the system i sat a watched how clinically people were queuing mostly single file and moving up. This is the epitome of the fast food culture. However much Starbucks have tried to create a coffee shop, what they really have is a dressed up Mc Donald's. I heard once that the average time it takes someone to order, pay for, eat and leave Mc Donald's is 14 minutes and it seems the same with Starbucks. If you want a fast fix go to Starbucks, if you want the experience of going to a cafe, steer well clear. Another thing i noticed is the table politics. The people who take up a whole table meant for 4 just for themselves and those who baggsie tables before they've even ordered. These things seem to really annoy people when they do the table scan. In Starbucks there is alot of people standing and walking which isn't very relaxing, especially for those with their laptops out working. Starbucks is the last place i would go. Something else that was prominent was Mobile phones. Lots of people seems to be talking and texting, especially those sitting on their own. I suppose its probably a defence mechanism, something to do with your hands and somewhere to look, i know i do it. But its still kind of sad that people cant even go for a coffee without being on their phone. I think people are more likely to do certain things in a cafe chain than in an independent cafe and i think my findings would have been very different if i had gone to a smaller place. For example some people were eating their own food, letting kids run about wild and again abundantly using their phones. But on the other side the staff were messing about amongst themselves (trying to make a cream egg frappes) and not paying the customers much attention and also sweeping around dining customers. neither was treating the other with much respect.

Through going to both of these places i have realised that people do act differently in different situations. probably if i met any of the boys from the rugby in the street they would be in a completely different frame of mind and react to me differently. Also going into Starbucks and really looking and taking in my surroundings has put me off it a bit. It seems so clinical to me now and not the sort of place i want to  go and sit and pay extortionate prices to do so.
And do you know where else i wont be going... thats right, the rugby!

sERvicE DesiGN ToolS

After browsing the examples of design research tools i came across Group Sketching. This is the process of doing simple drawings to encourage everyone to take part and enhance the flow of ideas. It sounds simple but i think it would have been beneficial when we started our, trend forecasting project. No one really understood what trend forecasting was and there was confusion as to what we were being asked to do. If we had all gotten together and used this technique everyone would have gone off with a clearer aim in their mind i feel. Also the idea of Mood Boards seems like it would have helped us along our way. In our sketchbooks we are encouraged to create colour pages not unlike mood boards but if everyone was told to make an A2 mood board to completely capture their topic, shapes, colours and over all mood this might have stopped people going on tangents as they could always refer back to it. I think this is some thing i am definitely going to try and do at the start of my next project.

"Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!"

I have never been a huge fan of Disney films. 'I haven't even seen the lion king', i commented on last Friday to a group of shocked faces. Fridays lecture on disneyfication really interested me and has been one the few lectures that i have enjoyed telling my friends and family the facts i have learned. Did you ever think about Disney being sexist? I don't think i really did but after it was pointed out its as clear as day. Particularly in the short film we were shown that commented on the idea of Jasmin in Aladdin, seducing Jafar (or whoever, see not a Disney groupie) to help Aladdin get away with the lamp. When you think about this its ridiculous, conveying to young girls that all they need to do to get what they want is sell themselves. Similarly in The little mermaid when Ariel sacrifices her voice to have legs so she can be with the prince but now all she has to woo him with is her body, a similar message don't you think? Maybe some films are sending out a fairy tail messages about mens and womens roles but they are fairy tails and many have been told for hundreds of years, is this perhaps looking a bit too far into things? Like everything these days people are looking for the hidden meaning or conspiracy.

Another really interesting point was about Disney land and the master planned community, Celebration Town in Florida, also not surprisingly set up by Disney. A perfect man made town, a real life fairy tail. Our lecturer likened it to the film 'The Truman show' where the main character seems to be living this idyllic life in the perfect town, but little does he know its all fake because he's living in a soap.

It seems that Disney have a bit of an obsession with the perfect and it surprises me that anyone would want to live in such a prescribed, set like place. I have a complete aversion to this after growing up in a small village where people strived to create there own little Dibley. For example a few months ago the council decided to treat us with some new lamp posts. After thousands were spent and the new lamp posts were in, there  was an uproar that these were not in keeping with the historic buildings and the council were harassed into ripping them out for mock Victorian lamp posts. Whats funny is this small village probably wouldn't have even had lamp posts in Victorian times. The image of the perfectly preserved olden days village is fake. These villagers are doing exactly what Disney does. It reminds me of the lyric in the song 'One God', by The Beautiful South. "The world is turning Disney but theres nothing you can do, were trying to walk like giants but we're wearing Pluto shoes".
 I still don't like Disney but not because i believe its going to corrupt our children but because its just a bit...Disney!

WhILSt i ShOuLd HAve beEn WORking!

For my trend forecasting project i have been looking at recycling, upcycling and revamping. By trawling through blogs i have come across some interesting, inspiring and frankly weird vintage and recycled art. One that caught my eye was this Teabag frame. The artist Armen Rotch, infuses tea bags in different ways and then almost uses the variation as his pixels to create patterns.

 Coincidentally whilst flicking through Elle decor, these quirky tea bag illustrations by Charlotte Farmer caught my eye. I have realised that when asked who my favourite artists are i often go for illustrators.

  

Other  Illustrators i have come across are 'Girls can tell', an artist who specialises in illustrated home wear. What makes hers especially interesting is the wording she uses in her designs. She describes herself as having a 'Diagram obsession' and this is what i think attracts me to her work.

Something else that caught my eye was 'Swoon' a street artist from New York who specialises in illustrative, life sized figures going about their business in the city. I think i was attracted to the vibrant colours and rustic back grounds she chooses. It is messy, energetic and patterened, which appeals to my love of textlies.

I have become quite interested in street art since watching the Banksy film, "exit through the gift shop". As well as being inspired by the unique street art he comes up with time and time again, it also caused a huge debate amongst my friends as to whether this film was in fact another clever ruse by Banksy? The New York times movie reviewer commented he had created a new genre, 'the prankumentary'.

 

SNoOpIng ASSiGnmenT 1

The other week our lecturer happily stated that of all the people who have blogged about 'Snoop' by Sam Gosling, only one has disliked it. Unfortunately im another one who is somewhat unconvinced. I received the book and at first glance thought this was going to be completely my kind of read. 'What your stuff says about you', seemed to hold a lot of promise but as i've read on it seems that a lot of his arguments are weak and in fact common sense! "what can we learn about a person from his or her refrigerator...If its immaculate you might infer that the person is slightly neurotic, overly fearful of all the nasty things that evil germs might do to her; but the pristine state might also mean that the owner is away on vacation and tidied up before she left. Or that she's so busy at the office she never eats at home." Apart from describing my mothers regimented fridge to a T, this point doesn't really answer any questions and basically says that it could mean anything. The points he makes aren't really mind blowing and dont seem to be very relevant to the average majority. And when doing assignment 1 i felt i encountered the same problems, anything could mean anything.
For assignment 1 we had to do a 'Snoop' inspired experiment. We were partnered up with a person from another discipline and told to swop either childhood or household photos, then comment on what we thought the other person was like based on what we could see. We had to look at that persons tastes, influences, possessions and environment and then by meeting up with the person, see how accurate we were in our conclusions. Both me and my partner decided to use photos of our bedrooms and i was surprised at initially how hard i found it to gage someones personality based on objects and how conscious i was not to offend.


Here are some of the photos i snooped at.

And here is what i thought about the owner.

From looking at these photos I would firstly say you are a girly girl. There seems to be a lot of pink dotted about and homely decorative objects such as the floral and spotty wall hanging and the pretty flowers around the mirror.

Although clearly lived in the room does feel quite bare as if you like to keep a lot of your stuff at home to keep strong ties with there. Maybe you go home quite a bit at the weekends and see this as a comfy place to live but not your home. The childhood photos also suggest that you look at that time fondly and that you probably have a good relationship with your family.

Your room is full of childhood toys and nik naks, which makes me think that you are not afraid to be yourself and surround yourself with sentimental objects. You’re not trying to shove your style down people’s throats or suck up to people by displaying pictures of fashionable bands or films. I get the impression that you might be a sensitive, easy to get on with person as your room doesn’t give the feeling of a harsh, loud personality.

Visually though I think that nice things are important to you and everything has its place. There is not a lot of clutter and things are arranged on surfaces neatly. This could also link back to strong bonds with parents. Perhaps you come from a tidy home where everything is lain out in little displays and doing this makes you feel at home. Also it looks like everything you have has been well looked after, maybe this is again to do with your upbringing or considerate nature. You don’t look like you are particularly into gadgets, but more ornamental things such as the pretty illustrated wall postcards. However I did spot a mac charger, maybe you bought a mac over a pc because of its design and the fact it looks good or perhaps for your uni course.

You can see that you’re into art by several things dotted around. The black folio, knitted wire, canvases and decorated boxes on your desk all show your creative side. You don’t seem to mind bringing work home with you, making me think that your course is a big part of your life.

It’s obvious that you take interest and care in your appearance judging by the hair extensions and many hair brushes sitting by your mirror, the makeup on your table and the bowl of jewellery on your desk. But not overly so, your beauty products and jewellery are not everywhere it doesn’t rule your life and although you like bold jewellery and nail varnishes you don’t obsess over it. The jewellery looks mostly colourful and so would make me think you’ve got a quirky and creative dress sense. Also down the side of the bed there is a pile of magazines, which makes me think you are keen to keep up with trends.

Overall I feel you have definitely tried to make the room your own although it’s not somewhere you see yourself staying.


As i got more into the exercise i found it easier to think of reasons and traits behind the objects. Although i still felt that i was largely making it up or i suppose using common sense. However i was really surprised at how accurate on some things i seemed to be and how inaccurate the point about going home at the weekends was. This was something i was pretty sure was right!


Here is what my partner commented.


A lot of what you’ve said is right, I’m surprised about what you can pick up on just from photos. I am really girly and I think that’s obvious in everything about me! It’s funny that you said I might go home at the weekends a lot because I rarely ever go back home unless it’s Christmas etc but you’re right with my home ties to my dad who is in the childhood photos with me. I like that you said you would think I’m not afraid to be myself as in general I don’t like to worry or concentrate on what other people think. I do have a mac and I hate pc’s, but that’s mainly from growing up with macs in the house and my dad hating pcs. I do love art and think it’s nice to have arty things on display, I don’t like bare walls and think rooms should always be made to look nice. I can’t believe I have hair extensions in the photos, I never even noticed haha. I do love hair and beauty etc but it’s not the main thing in my life. I think you’re right in saying it’s not somewhere where I see myself staying because I see myself only in Dundee for my uni course and can’t wait to move away to somewhere new when I’m finished. 

I have to say that i think you can tell a lot about a person by their room and in this sense "Snoop" is right and i have improved my observational skills and thinking, by taking its advise. At first i wasn't keen at all on sharing pictures of my bedroom but at the same time i was curious to see what a stranger would pick up on and she was nearly spot on. I think as the exercise has progresses my preconceptions have fallen away and i my dislike for 'Snoop' has lessened. It has highlighted to me that how we dress and the things we have do subconsciously create impressions. It has made me wonder whether i personally have my room this way and dress how i do for myself or for other people? And at the moment i don't really know. In ways its for myself, to make me feel at home and to make me feel good but do i feel good because other people think, 'she has a nice room'? Its hard to come to a conclusion about yourself and your stuff when thinking about it personally, so getting an outside opinions is very interesting and thats where 'Snoop' comes in.

TO My ValEnTiNE!

Here are some lovey dovey cards i have made to sell for Valentines day!

I've been trying out all the fancy stitches i can do on my new sewing machine and all they need now is buttons!

For a few years now i have had a serious soft spot for lampshades.

More traditional with the hearts.

This one is for a lovely new home and says "Lang May Yer Lum Reek"

"Oh Yes Wait A Minute Mr Postman!"