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!"