OUGD601: Target Audience/Tone of Voice

For a well-synthesised outcome it is important for me to consider who the target audience and tone of voice to use for my exhibition.

Target Audience  

 My target audience would be young creatives between the ages of 16-25 and beyond. My practical outcomes would have to appeal to both men and women, because they are going to become the future of the creative industries. Thus, it is important to be more aware acknowledge and to be more aware of women in design. The exhibition idea reinforces my dissertation conclusion points by illustrating the importance equal balance, and about how both men and women need to be part of the conversation to close disparity in graphic design. 

Tone of Voice

The TOV used it is what it is, matter-of-fact, clear and basically just focused on what exhibition attenders want to read and find-out.

OUGD601: Exhibition Identity/Research

I have decided to do some research into exhibition design. Besides from solely looking at women/feminism related exhibition design, I also thought that It would be a good idea to look at general branding and exhibition identity work that has an interesting approach and range of different creative outputs. As I don't want the main focus of my exhibition identity to be focused on women-in-design, as it draws attention to the disparity between male and female graphic designers. So I have spent some time going through some exhibition branding and identity books I own as well as searching on Studio websites and online content.

Exhibition/Identity design

I started to go through some online websites that has some current exhibition and identity branding work that is contemporary, fresh and modern. Most of the work I am looking at doesn't necessary have a link to exhibition identity, but is purely for inspirational purposes.

#YESALLWOMEN

Brand Identity and supporting press material for #YESALLWOMEN, an immersive experience fusing art and activism held at the Dillettante in Downtown Los Angeles.

I thought I would look an example of feminism design, I feel its very in your face #YESALLWOMEN it would not appeal at men as much as it would appeal for women. 

Asa Yu

Asa Yu is an up and coming Taiwanese artist who create sculptures with recycled materials like aluminium cans, beer bottles, bottle caps, and paper clay. We created the branding identity for his debut show in Beijing China. The visual materials will extend to his future exhibitions in Shanghai and Shenzhen. His works have been deemed by art critics to be a critique on consumerism and materialism. In his own words: "I hope to remind people that Art & Design is to everyday lives than most people think and to juxtapose the contradictory values behind mass consumption and waste.

Really beautifully done, I like the typographic elements and their cutout mask. Simple but very elegant. 

Alan Turing Exhibition

A branding and campaign exercise for a 3 part exhibition showing the life and legacy of Alan Turing (he was the pioneer of computer science and a master of cracking codes and cyphers during World War 2). 

Really conceptual design - I like the element of coding in the tickets. 

The Welfare State

'The Welfare State' is an exhibition with works by eight contemporary artists of different generations and visual materials from four Flemish archives, organised by M HKA. The exhibition is both explicitly and implicitly socio-political, and raises topics of relevance to the current situation in the world.

Good idea to mock things up 

Really simple branding but works really well! I also really like the idea of creating a pocket book-like publication which could serve as a guide to the exhibition, featuring essays on the participating designers and gender within design. 

Las Palabras

I really like the well-thought out layout and typography used, the limited colour scheme I love, however at first I didn't like it at all! The presentation is great. 

OUGD601: Written Brief/Museum Identity

For COP3 Practical I have decided to set myself a brief, to help synthesis my written work and my practical work. As well as making sure I fulfill the criteria I have set myself to keep on target. 

Brief Create an event identity for an exhibition of your choice and produce a well-synthesised concept and range of designed promotional materials, think whether its appropriate and why it's done in a certain way. Research into your topic matter, and have the exhibition identity ready to pitch.

Background/Considerations Research into existing Museum Identity (primary/secondary)   Consider target audience and tone of voice.  Consider different promotional materials (leaflets, web-presence)

Mandatory Requirements Relevant Blog posts to support the development of the brief  Photographed Outcomes  Minimum of 3 Design Boards

Deliverables Logo  Range of designed products  Leaflets

COP Practical Crit

I presented my ideas in a group crit which was really helpful with a number of very in depth discussions. Due to the nature of my dissertation topic, I am struggling with what to produce for a final outcome. I presented my two ideas. 

Book: 

Interesting idea but also the most obvious solution to the problem. It's a broad concept, and hard to include all women designers! However, it seems pretty clear as most of the images and essays I have collected and found already, and the next step would be only to experiment with the layouts and image, as well as thinking about a front cover. However, everyone did agree with me, creating a 'women in design' book only draws attention to the problem at hand and a risk that the book would serve to reinforce the ‘differences’ and disparity that exists in design. I also believe that the only audience for the book would be woman, when men need to be part of the conversation to.

Exhibition:  

The exhibition idea they liked the best, I need to do some research into exhibition design and come up with a well-synthesised concept to the exhibition. This idea I think I will take forward. 

Shine Theory

During my skype call with Margot she spoke about her journalist friend, Ann Friedman who came up with the 'Shine Theory' … "I don't shine if you don't shine" I decided to do some further research and found the article really insightful and true! and really relevant for my dissertation. The whole basis of the theory is that as women we see often see other women as our primary competition. It can be war - but what we have to realise is at the heart of it, its a war against ourselves. When women hate on other women we perceive to be "better" than we are, we're really just pointing out what we think we lack within ourselves. The practice behind Shine Theory is that hopefully everybody should be doing it. I would say Shine Theory is directly correlated with Feminism and Sisterhood. Not only does it reinforce the importance of women supporting one another, it reminds us that somebody else’s success does not diminish our achievements. The article goes...

Shine Theory 

When you meet a woman who is intimidatingly witty, stylish, beautiful, and professionally accomplished, befriend her. Surrounding yourself with the best people doesn’t make you look worse by comparison. It makes you better.

I’m not immune to that icky feeling you can get in the pit of your stomach when you meet a woman who seems so together. But I confess that I was always pretty good at quashing it. Still, I didn’t actively seek out powerful women as friends until many years into my career. “I don’t shine if you don’t shine” is a lesson I learned from my best friend Amina.

Approaching and befriending women who I identify as smart and powerful (sometimes actively pursuing them, as with any other crush) has been a major revelation of my adult life. First, there’s the associative property of awesomeness: People know you by the company you keep. I like knowing that my friends are so professionally supportive that when they get a promotion, it’s like a boost for my résumé, too, because we share a network and don’t compete for contacts. Also, it’s just plain tough out there — for all the aforementioned reasons about the economy and the dating scene and body-image pressures. I want the strongest, happiest, smartest women in my corner, pushing me to negotiate for more money, telling me to drop men who make me feel bad about myself, and responding to my outfit selfies from a place of love and stylishness, not competition and body-snarking.

True confidence is infectious. In my experience, if a woman seems confident but mostly has the effect of making others feel bad about themselves, you can rest assured she’s faking it. The most toxic female relationships of my life have been with women who were deeply unhappy with their lives, and frequently compared them to mine. Contrary to deep-seated theories of female competition, I don’t think that competition made either of us any better or happier.

Whereas with male peers we can use sexism or other factors to explain why they’ve found success in ways we haven’t, other women present a more direct comparison. Powerful women have long held the belief, if only at a subconscious level, that there are a limited number of spaces for them at the top. Have you ever seen a campaign ticket or a boardroom that’s more than 50 percent female? There’s a deep-seated belief that there can be only one — or two, or three at max. I’ve confessed that I’ve occasionally enjoyed being the token woman in the room.

This isn’t just something that afflicts insecure sorority girls. Feminists, ostensibly united by their shared desire to advance gender equality, should be those who are most supportive of their peers’ successes. But as long as there’s been a women’s movement, there’s been a tendency to tear down its most prominent figures. In a 1976 essay on “trashing” among feminists, Jo Freeman quotes her fellow feminist Anselma Dell'Olio as saying that "Achievement or accomplishment of any kind would seem to be the worst crime ... You are immediately labeled a thrill-seeking opportunist, a ruthless mercenary, out to make her fame and fortune over the dead bodies of selfless sisters who have buried their abilities and sacrificed their ambitions for the greater glory of Feminism."

But in reality, we’ve all been both of the women in this scenario, the idealizer and the idealized, often simultaneously. Foregoing the internal ranking system in favor of being your best self and helping your girlfriends do the same was a revelation to me.

Skype Interview: Margot Harrington

Yesterday, I had a Skype discussion with Designer Margot Harrington of Pitch Design Union based in Chicago about the role of women in graphic design. We spoke for over an hour and it was really insightful listening to what she had to say from a professional in the field. 

Does starting a family cause some women to leave their career? 

This is industry wide problem this is not specific to design - Women tend to drop out the work place a lot because if you don’t have a supportive family leave, and don’t have a way to integrate your child into your work and if you are making less money than your husband why would keep working for less money ? It’s a huge shift in someone’s life.  Families have to make really tough choices, so many cases it’s the women being the caregiver,  it may seem like a choice but it is not a choice.  Women are seen as the main caregiver, its more expected to for them to take time of to look after family member. Its definitely more expected of women

on the glass ceiling? Its more of a glass cliff. You can go go go but then its then you’re off.

example of this ... Melissa Mare, CEO of Yahoo

Is Graphic Design a Boys Club?

There are parts of it design which are boys club (like typography) but men have dominated every bit of culture right now. It’s not there fault but they have only ever existed in a world that gives them this extra level of confidence and support. Its more enabling for them than it is for anybody else. I believe this is why more males raise their hand more in class and perhaps question their decisions less than women. For example, in critiques males will present a project which is “not great” and have 100% confidence in presenting. They live in an isolated bubble where it doesn’t challenge them in the same way as it challenges women.

However, there are parts of design which are female dominated, for example the wedding industry has pretty much only women graphic designers – because its traditional feminine pursuits. For women who want to do graphic design which isn’t specific to women , for example type industry , you going to have to work hard to prove yourself. To an extent web design is also male dominated.

Women attract women more than they attract men.

 It’s a difficult position being the only type of person on a team, regardless of whether you’re a female a person of colour, any distinction that makes you different from the status quo. If there isn’t gender balance in an office or diversity it’s difficult to be in the people who don’t fit that rule so the more balance the better for everyone. All parties will improve because of this, its not just improving the situation for women, also means men will have more choices to. Anyone else who helps improve balance

Men need to be involved in the conversation. A lot of men think this is a women’s issue, this is not just a women’s issue, this is a people issue, it’s a humans rights issue.

There is generation baggage surrounding the word feminism.

Do you think it difficult for women to find their place within the design community?

                               

If you are within the minority it will be difficult for you. There’s ways of finding your way through, with more awareness, opening your eyes, asking for help when you need it. Having good allies, women and businesses to look up to, having support is absolutely critical. Ann Friedman - Shine Theory

Do you think women are less inclined to self promote, and more acceptable for a career change?

Absolutely, speaking up for a salary raise , . Men and Women are given no’s at the same rate but men re-apply and re-commit more than women do. Men are traditionally seen more as go-getters and pursuers and getting enough  ‘no's’ they have build a thicker skin.

On my practical outcome... 

It’s tricky. You really targeting men than you are women . What they would respond and appeal to them and get them involved? Women will already come. You cannot solve the problem in one project. How is the best way to be fair and gender neutral, and work under those guidelines. How to speak generally about the subject with outlining the specifics – its really delicate. People have their priorities and some people just don’t care about the subject.

Resolving your research project

Academic Conventions are like an institutional framework for your work.They structure and standardise and they aspire to academic honesty. At this level you are expected to be able to:

• Demonstrate a critical knowledge of practice
• Apply theory to practice
• Analyse relevant material
• Evaluate theory and evidence within the context of study
• Reflect – critiquing and critically reflecting on your learning and using this to improve practice.

...Deep Learning Approach

• Independent engagement with material
• Critical and thoughtful about idea and information 
• Relates ideas to own previous experience and knowledge 
• Sees the big picture 
• Relates evidence to conclusions
• Examines logic of arguments
• Interested in wider reading and thinking
• Ongoing preparation and refelection

Academic writing is formal and follows some standard conventions. Each academic discipline has its own specialist vocabulary which you will be expected to learn and use in your own writing.The substance of academic writing must be based on solid evidence and logical analysis, and presented as a concise, accurate argument. Academic writing can allow you to present your argument and analysis accurately and concisely.

Don'ts

• Don’t use unnecessary words or waffle. Get straight to the point. Make every word count, aim for precision.
• If there is any uncertainty about a particular point, use cautious language (such as ‘may’, ‘might’, ‘could’, ‘potentially’).
• Unless you are a confident writer, it is best to avoid over- long sentences and to aim for a mixture of long and short sentences for variation and rhythm. 
• Avoid repeating the same words
• Avoid abbreviations and contractions
• Avoid slang words and phrases 
• Avoid conversational terms
• Avoid vague terms

First person sentences use the pronouns ‘I’ and ‘we’. For example:

Consideration has been given to...

The suggestion here is that...
It has been observed...

Preliminaries

Title / Acknowledgements / Contents / List pf Illustrations

Introduction- The abstract / Statement of the problem / Methodological approach

Main body- Review of the literature / logically developed argument /Chapters / results of investigation / Case Study

Conclusion- Discussion and conclusion / Summary of conclusions

Extras – Bibliography / Appendices