Lecture 09: Globalisation, Sustainability & the Media

Definitions of Globalisation 

Socialist- the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones. It can be described as a process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together. This process is a combination of economic technological, sociocultural and political forces. 

Capitalist- the elimination of state-enforced restrictions on exchanges across borders and the increasingly integrated and complex global system of production and exchange that has emerged as a result

"Covering a wide range of distinct political, economic, and cultural trends, the term “globalisation” has quickly become one of the most fashionable buzzwords of contemporary political and academic debate. In popular discourse, globalisation often functions as little more than a synonym for one or more of the following phenomena: the pursuit of classical liberal (or “free market”) policies in the world economy (“economic liberalisation”), the growing dominance of western (or even American) forms of political, economic, and cultural life (“westernisation” or “Americanisation”), the proliferation of new information technologies (the “Internet Revolution”), as well as the notion that humanity stands at the threshold of realising one single unified community in which major sources of social conflict have vanished (“global integration”)."

-Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

'American sociologist George Ritzer coined the term 'mcdonaldisation' to describe the wide ranging sociocultural processes by which the principles of the fast food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of american society as well as the rest of the world'

-Manfred B Streger, Globalisation: A very short Introduction, page 71. 

Marshall McLuhan

'Today, after more than a century of electric technology, we have extended our central nervous system in a global embrace, abolishing both space and time as far as our planet is concerned (1964)

Rapidity of Communication echoes the senses. We can experience instantly the effects of our actions on a global scale.

Centripetal forces - bringing the world together in uniform global society

Centrifugal forces - tearing the world apart in tribal wars.

Three problems of globalisation:

sovereignty - challenges to the idea of the nation state

accountability - transnational forces and organisations: who controls them? 

identity - who are we? nation, group, community 

Cultural Imperialism 

If the 'global village' is run with a certain set of values then it would not be so much an integrated community as an assimilated one.

key thinkers:

-schiller 

-chomsky

Rigging the 'Free Market'

Media conglomerates operate as oligopolies . Liberalisation of the worlds community. 

American culture starts to simulate companies all over the globe. 

New corporations divide world into territories of descending market 

important 

1. north america

2.western Europe, japan and australia

3. developing economies and regional producers (china, india, brazil)

4. rest of the world 

us media power can be thought of as a new form of imperialism

-local cultures destroyed in this process and new forms of cultural dependency shaped, mirroring old school colonialism

-schiller - dominance of us driven commercial media forces US model of broadcasting onto the rest of the world but also inculcates US style consumerism  in societies that cant afford it. 

Big Brother - Mono-culture. Meaningless gameshow, mindless public (ringing in and making money for these corporations) 

Chomsky & Herman (1998) Manufacturing Consent

See news as a giant system of propaganda for capitalism especially US capitalism, public take everything as fact.

Propaganda model - Five basic filters

-ownership (eg. Rupert Murdoch- dictates news, political backing- Blair/Labour)

-funding 

-sourcing

-flak

-ideology (eg. Anti-Islam

Flak

US- based Global Climate Coalition (GCC)

- comprising fossil fuel and automobile companies such as exxon, texaco and ford. the gcc was started up by Burson-Marstekkar, one of the worlds largest public relations companies to rubbish credibility of climate scientists and scare stories about global warming. Flak is characterised by concerted and intentional efforts to manage public information.

Al gore, 'an inconvenient truth' raises moral awareness 

Jim Inhofe 'Global warming is one of the biggest hoaxes ever perpetuated on the American public' 

Sustainable Development - economic development that is conducted without depletion of natural resources.

'most things are not designed for the needs of the people but for the needs of manufacturers'

Ecologism -  Ecologism is a new political ideology based on the position that the non-human world is worthy of moral consideration, and that this should be taken into account in social, economic, and political systems. 

You cant place man as the dominator and the creator. 

Crit//Essay Question

This morning we had a group crit where we presented our potential essay questions. At the moment I have two possible questions...

An exploration into the effects of Graphic Design on femininity and fashion or  Do fashion publications perpetuate traditional feminine ideals? 

It was agreed that the second question was better, so I'll run with that. 

I explained what I want to look at:
Evolution of Vogue (most influential fashion magazine) 
Advertisements within fashion magazines- influential in formulating, maintaining and altering how readers understand the construction of socially acceptable gender norms.
Cover models (they all look similar//glamorous) 
Look at the Visual Language (Type and Image) 

What I want to create:
essentially create a fashion publication
pick my favourite articles from Vogue
ethical design
Androgynous? 
Improved way of viewing fashion
collage/scan in/recycled paper. 

Gentlewoman

It was suggested that I look at a magazine called, 'Gentlewoman' that I've heard of before. Its a well designed magazine, similar to printed pages. I'm planning on buying a few back copies for primary research.

'The Gentlewoman celebrates modern women of style and purpose. Its fabulous biannual magazine offers a fresh and intelligent perspective on fashion that’s focused on personal style – the way women actually look, think and dress. Featuring ambitious journalism and photography of the highest quality, it showcases inspirational women through its distinctive combination of glamour, personality and warmth. These qualities are also at the heart of its website, thegentlewoman.com, a virtual place where real women, real events and real things are enjoyed.'

Pantone

It was also suggested that I look at Pantone Fashion Colours so I started looking at Pantone Spring 2015 colours, that I could use in my final publication which will make the overall publication more contextual. 

Spring 2015: En Plein Air

This season, cooler and softer colour choices with subtle warm tones follow a minimalistic en plein air theme, taking a cue from nature.

This season there is a move toward the cooler and softer side of the colour spectrum. An eclectic, ethereal mix of understated brights, pale pastels and nature-like neutrals take centre stage as designers draw from daydreams of simpler times. Remembrances of retro delights, folkloric and floral art, and the magical worlds of tropical landscapes restore a sense of well-being as we head into warmer months.

“Many feel compelled to be connected around the clock because we are afraid we’ll miss something important. There is a growing movement to step out and create ‘quiet zones’ to disconnect from technology and unwind, giving ourselves time to stop and be still. Color choices follow the same minimalistic, ‘en plein air’ theme, taking a cue from nature rather than being reinvented or mechanically manipulated. Soft, cool hues blend with subtle warm tones to create a soothing escape from the everyday hustle and bustle.”

Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director, Pantone Colour Institute®

I'm looking forward to eventually use this colour palette throughout my publication they are so natural and fresh and harmonious. They are not necessarily feminine or masculine as well.

Gender Advertisements, Goffman 1979

It was also suggested that I look at this book, Gender Advertisements, Goffman 1979. However it is slightly outdated so I am unsure how helpful it is but could give me some good contextual knowledge. 

Gender advertisements give the viewers a glimpse into a world laden with socially defined and constructed gender relations, displays, and roles. These images are crafted to mimic real life and many mistake the concepts of fantasy and reality in regards to advertising. Erving would would call it “Commercial Realism,when advertisers try to present the advertising world in ways which it could be real. Goffman argues that advertisements do not look strange to us, when they should. Advertisements take something that exists already in the world and they change it, forming a distorted reflection. “They emphasise some things and de-emphasise others,” it is a hyper ritualisation of the world, and we recognise, and even relate with some of the images.

Shortlist and Stylist Comparison

Stylist is the title of a free weekly magazine for women that is published in the United Kingdom which launched on 7 October 2009. Stylist is owned by independent publishing company Shortlist Media Ltd, which also owns Shortlist, a free weekly magazine title for men. ShortList is a free weekly magazine published in the United Kingdom, which launched on 20 September 2007. The magazine has the biggest circulation of any men's lifestyle magazine in Britain

Overall, I found the crit really helpful narrowing down what I want to research. I think I will need another tutorial with Richard to help with choosing some books for contextual reference. 

Do fashion publications perpetuate traditional feminine ideals? 

Possible Essay Title

From my tutorial with Richard, I explained that I wanted to base my essay on fashion editorial in particular and looking at improved ways of showing women fashion. Looking at the visual language.  I've come up with this potential essay title: 

An exploration into the effects of Graphic Design on consumerism and fashion (popular culture?) 

Possible books to look at: 
No Logo 

Thinking ahead, for the practical element of my COP I want to collect my favourite articles from Vogue and other fashion magazine and present it in a more improved way of viewing fashion...I could develop a grid perhaps, that works across all pages. 

I want a more ethical way of presenting women's fashion this could be through photo collage and scanning and using recycled paper stock. 

Lecture 08: Ethics - What is Good?

Ethics, sometimes known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that involves systematising, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct, often addressing disputes of moral diversity.

Plato and Aristotle use ethics in there philosophy. 

First Things First Manifesto - Ken Garland. Argued that visual communicators where wasting their talents working jobs within advertising/trivial jobs that do not benefit the world. Adbusters Manifesto, 2000 (anit-capitalist) endorsing a mental environment so saturated with commercial messages that it is changing the very way citizen-consumers speak, think, feel, respond and act. Reversal of priorities- in favour of more useful, lasting and democratic form

"We, the undersigned, are graphic designers, art directors and visual communicators who have been raised in a world in which the techniques and apparatus of advertising have persistently been presented to us as the most lucrative, effective and desirable use of our talents"
Adbusters promote political practice (culture jamming) using their skills as visual communicators promote political cause, such as 'buy nothing day'.

A meme is an idea that is central to every advert. Which is why meme warfare has become the geopolitical battle of our information age. Whoever has the memes has the power.

Victor Papanek - was a designer and educator who became a strong advocate of the socially and ecologically responsible design of products, tools, and community infrastructures.
'most things are designed not for the needs of people but for the needs of manufacturers to sell to people' (Papenek, 1983:46) 

Papanek Beer can automobile can bumper, 1971. Before the technology of bumpers, a giant american car company decided that they would keep their dangerous bumpers as replacing them would be too much. And so Papanek designed his own bumper for less then $50, and drove it into the senate building in his home town , he was put on trial , but the car company still denied the making of a new bumper saying it would add $500 onto each car unit.
how do we determine what is good? 

ethical theories

subjective relativism 
-there are no universal moral norms of right and wrong
-all persons decide right and wrong for themselves

cultural relativism
-the ethical theory that whats right or wrong depends on place and/or time

divine command theory
-good actions are aligned with the will of God
-bad actions are contrary to the will of God
-the holy book helps make the decisions

Kantianism (enlightened period) 

Kantianism is defined as a branch of philosophy that follows the works of Immanuel Kant who believed that rational beings have dignity and should be respected.the philosophy of Kant, who held that the content of knowledge comes a posteriori from sense perception, but that its form is determined by a priori categories of the mind: he also declared that God, freedom, and immortality, although they cannot be proved or disproved, are necessary postulates of a rational morality

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) a German philosopher. People's wills should be based on moral rules. Therefore its important that our actions are based on appropriate moral rules. To determine when a moral rule is appropriate Kant proposed two categorical imperatives, one way of thinking whether an action is moral or not

Two Formulations of the Categorical Imperative
Act only from moral rules that you can at the same time universalise - if you act on a moral rule that would cause problems if everyone followed it then your actions are not moral

Act so that you can always treat both yourself and other people as ends in themselves, and never as a means to an end - if you use people for your own benefit that is not moral.

If everyone makes mindless advertising, it is unethical.

Utilitarianism, or consequentialist ethics (John Stuart Mill) 

Principle of Utility (also known as the greatest happiness principle)
-an action is right to the extent that it increases the total happiness of the affected parties
-an action is wrong to the extent that is decreases the total happiness of the affected parties 
-happiness may have many definitions such as : advantage, benefit, good or pleasure. 

Rules are based on the principle of utility
-a rule is right to the extent that it increases the total happiness of the affected parties
-the greatest happiness principles is applied to moral rules 

similar to kantanism- both pertain to rules 
-but kantanism uses the categorial imperative to decide which rules to follow

Social contract theory 

Thomas Hobbes (1603-1679) and Jean Jacques Rousseau. An agreement between individuals held together by common interest. avoids society degenerating into a 'state of nature' or the 'war of all against all' (hobbes)
'morality consists in the set of rules, governing how people are to treat one another, that rational people will agree to accept, for their mutual benefit, on the condition that others follow these rules as well.'
we trade some of our liberty for a stable society.

Toolbox of moral/ethical theories

whether presented with problems that are easy or difficult to solve, the four workable ethical theories,
-kantianism
-act utilitarianism
rule utilitarianism 
-social contract theory
could provide us with possible solutions to many of the problems that are raised by the 'first things first' manifesto. 

Criteria for a workable ethical theory
-moral decisions and rules-based on logical reasoning
-treat everyone equally
-cultural netual deisgn 

social tithe

Lecture 07: Consumerism, Persuasion, Society, Brand, Culture

Aims of lecture

• analyse the rise of us consumerism
• discuss the links between consumerism and our unconscious desires
• ideas from Sigmund Freud and Edmund Bernays (his nephew)
• consumerism as social control (deliberate)

Naomi Klein - 'No Logo' 1999

No Logo's analysis's corporate and branded world.It tells a story of rebellion and self-determination in the face of our new branded world.

Ideas of Sigmund Freud I studied Psychology A level so I knew and understand the theories we discussed today involving psychoanalysis, and the hidden primitive sexual forces and animal instincts which need controlling need within our unconscious mind. 
Reading:
the interpretation of dreams,1899
civilisation and its discontents, 1930

Below, is the model of personality structure, which shows most of our inner most desire are within our unconscious and we do not realise this is happening

civilisation and its discontents, 1930

• fundamental tension between civilisation and the individual
• human instincts incompatible with the well being of community 
• the pleasure principle
• cannot realise full potential
• WW1 for freud represented/vindication his theory (repressed animal instincts/core human instincts)

Edward Bernays

press agent

employed by public information office (propaganda office) during ww1

post war - set up 'the council on public relations'

based on the ideas of freud

crystallising public opinion, 1923

propaganda,1928

taking human nature and finding a way for their instinctual desires to be met by buying things, creating a demand for consumer goods.

Launches his career working within a cigarette brand. During the1929 Easter Day Parade - lighting up torches of freedom- symbolic of female power, status and entitlement ( called them suffragettes) became incredibly popular for women to smoke.

1924

product placement

celebrity endorsements - celebrities are symbols of success/desired models, linking product with celeb would make you successful etc.

'more doctors smoke camels'

They paid doctors to write fictional pseudo-scientific reports 

Fordism

Henry Ford (1863-1947)

Transposes Taylorism to car factories of Detroit

Moving assembly line

Standard production models built as they move through the factory

Requires large investment, but increases productivity so much so that relatively high wages can be paid, allowing the workers to buy the product they produce. Creates affluence.

'oldsmobile' - 1909 (not bernays) masculinity, in control. irrational link between instinct and desire.

shift from a needs culture to a desire culture.

the hidden persudaers, vance packard, 1957

8 common techniques companies use to make people desire their products instead of rational level. On a irrational level

marketing hidden needs:

• selling emotional security
• selling reassurance of worth (having food in the fridge)
• selling ego-gratification 
• selling creative outlets 
• selling love objects
• selling sense of power (masculinity/car advert)
• selling a sense of roots
• selling a sense of immortality (selling life insurance/health products etc)

'a new elite is needed to manage the bewildered herd'

Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion, 1920. Political class has no idea how to manage its citizens, a new leader is needed

black tuesday 1929, the great depression.

`roosevelt and the 'new deal' (1933-36) soft socialism about the affairs of society. begin regualting markets and limit how much the business can make, increased taxation, re distributing money to poor and homeless. creating state control industries where the american gov . A project that created a fairer society.

1940 worlds fair - celebration of us what makes it unique and free in comparison to the soviet union (repressed society/limited consumer goods)

Conclusion

• consumerism is an idealogical project 
• we believe that through consumption our desires can be met 
• the consumer self
• the legacy of bernays/ps can be felt in all aspects of 21st century society.
• the conflicts between alternative models of social organisation continue to this day 
• to what extent are our lives 'free' under western consumerist system? 

Tutorial with Richard//

This morning I had a tutorial with Richard regarding my essay question/topic. Admittedly, I hadn't prepared any essay questions, but I know what I want to base my essay on. From last year, I really enjoyed writing my essay on how women are portrayed in advertising, 'sex sells', nudity, and photo shopped images etc.  

I want to do something similar to this...I explained that I wanted to base my essay on editorial, fashion editorial in particular and looking at improved ways of showing women fashion. Looking at the visual language. Also looking at the colours used , do they use pink and floral colour schemes which gender stereotypes. As well as the typography is it particular 'girly'. 

For my research I can look at the evolution of vogue or other fashion magazines. Vogue in particular as I have plenty of Vogue magazine as I have collected vogue since the age of 14. 

I simply google 'vogue evolution' and found some really interesting possible research topics. Above, Christiana Wong a student working on their senior projects in the computer science department, to explore the graphics. She found the plethora of photographs of female faces in Vogue offered Wong the opportunity to hone her computer science skills and contribute to the growing investigation into “faceism” and its role in depicting gender in the media.

While we may not recognise it, research has shown that we often assume characteristics such as intelligence, ambition, and attractiveness simply based on how a face is displayed in an image. To quantitate this idea, those studying the portrayal of women have created a “faceism index” — a measure of how faces are presented and how that connects with our subconscious assumptions.

Wong is interested in gender and body position in popular media, this could be a really interesting research/topic area. A subject’s pose also speaks to a reader’s subconscious — lying horizontally evokes associations with submissive behaviour, for instance, while upright angles display dominance. Historically, women tend to be pictured in more submissive roles than men.
Thinking ahead, for the practical element of my COP I want to collect my favourite articles from Vogue and other fashion mags and present it in a more improved way of viewing fashion...I could develop a grid perhaps, that works across all pages. This could be through photo collage. However, what I want to steer clear of is creating a hairy feminist magazine. 

Now I know what I want to do, I need to write an essay question.

Jacque Derrida//Pastiche - Fredric Jameson

Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher, born in French Algeria. Derrida is best known for developing a form of semiotic analysis known as deconstruction. He is one of the major figures associated with post-structuralism and postmodern philosophy.

Deconstruction

Jacques Derrida observed a tendency in western philosophy and critical theory to ‘create dualistic oppositions and install a hierarchy that unfortunately privileges one term of each dichotomy (presence before absence, speech before writing, and so on)’ (Reynolds IEP) Derrida created ‘deconstruction’ which is a mode of questioning these assumed hierarchies and structures.Like many theories and texts that evolved from Structuralism/Post-structuralism (Barthes, Baudrillard, Faucault, etc.) in the 1970s and 80s, Derrida’s thinking
was disseminated through Universities and art schools in Europe and the US.

‘Design, Writing, Research’  Lupton and Miller, 1996:

Ellen Lupton explores aspects and methods of deconstruction and how it had an impact on Graphic Design practice.

‘Deconstruction, like critical strategies based on Marxism, feminism, semiotics, and anthropology, focuses not on the themes and imagery of its objects but rather on the linguistic and institutional systems that frame their production.’

'Western culture [...] has been governed by such oppositions as reality/representation, inside/outside, original/copy, and mind/body. The intellectual achievements of the West [...] have valued on side of these pairs over the other.’

‘If writing is but a copy of a spoken language, typography is a mode of representation even farther removed from the primal source of meaning in the mind of the author.’

speech/writing – writing/typography – seeing/reading

‘Design and typography work at the edges of writing, determining the shape and style of letters, the spaces between them, and their placement on the page. Typography, from its position at the margins of communication, has moved away from speech.’



‘Hori’s typography challenges the traditional opposition between seeing and reading by treating the surface as both theoretical content and sensual form, as both text and texture. Rather than deliver information directly, Hori’s poster expects the reader to work to uncover its messages.’

Typography, which is seen as exterior or in opposition to the written text is actually embedded within it. Graphic marks other than the alphabet cannot be seen as ‘signs’ and are excluded in traditional semiotics. However, deconstruction shows us that typographic adjustments can impact greatly on the meaning of the written word.

‘Traditional literary and linguistic research overlooks such graphic forms, focusing instead on the Word as the centre of communication. According to Derrida, the functions of repetition, quotation, and fragmentation that characterise writing are conditions endemic to all human expression.’

‘Pastiche’ – Fredric Jameson

‘Jameson is highly critical of our current historical situation; indeed, he paints a rather isotopic picture of the present, which he associates, in particular, with a loss of our connection to history.

According to Jameson, postmodernity has transformed the historical past into a series
of emptied-out stylisation (what Jameson terms pastiche) that can then be commodified and consumed. The result is the threatened victory of capitalist thinking over all other forms of thought.’ (Felluga, Dino. Accessed 07/01/14)

'Pastiche is, like parody, the imitation of a peculiar or unique, idiosyncratic style, the wearing of a linguistic mask, speech in a dead language. But it is a neutral practice of such mimicry, without any of parody's ulterior motives, amputated of the satiric impulse, devoid of laughter.’ (Jameson, 1991)

‘the advanced capitalist countries today are now a field of stylistic and discursive heterogeneity without a norm.’ (Jameson, 1991)

‘Modernist styles become postmodernist codes’ (Jameson, 1991)

Examples of Pastiche

Stranger and Stranger 

Why Pastiche? Looking to the past. Emphasis/Reflecting on Victorian Etching, Typefaces etc. 

Keep Calm and... 

Why Pastiche? Used over and over again, thousands of examples.