OUGD501 - Study Task 05 - Planning & Structuring an Essay

Now I will use the ideas that I already have to plan and structure my essay.

My research question
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‘How does does advertising subconsciously connect with society?’


The academic sources which I will use to reference.
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Undressing the Ad (Reading culture in advertising) - Katherine Toland Frith
Advertising as Communication - Gillian Dyer
Advertising and New Media - Christina Spurgeon
The Advertising Handbook - Helen Powell, Jonathan Hardy, Sarah Hawkin, Iain Mercury

I also plan to review past essay papers that have touched on my subject of research.



Graphic design that I plan to analyse
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Graphic design by freelance illustrator Oliver Raw

Various popular and unpopular advertisements

The structure and placement of advertising

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My Essay Plan 
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Introduction 

What is my essay about and exactly what points do I want to cover?
Why do I want to do this?
My hypothesis


Paragraph 01
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What is advertising?
Where did it come from/start?
How is it used?


Paragraph 02
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How advertising fit's into society
What is the connection between society and advertising?


Paragraph 03
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How does the pressure of advertising effect societies behaviour?

Leading on from that, does the connection and pressure of advertising have a positive or negative effect?


Paragraph 04
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After arguing positives and negatives, how does advertising find it's way into every day life and the functioning of society.

Why is advertising so important to the functioning of society?


Conclusion
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How does the power and effectiveness of advertising effect society?


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For this essay I plan to be heavily connect to the genuine opinion of society, balancing this with my own thoughts so that the support will really help me to create a true, informative piece of writing.

OUGD501 - Study Task 04 - Establishing requirements of my practical investigation

For this task I will research and understand what the requirements will be for my practical investigation. I will take into account the practice and research needed for my chosen topic and question.

Technique

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The techniques that advertising uses to make an effect on society.

Avante Garde

This is where advertising suggests that who ever uses the product that is being advertised will somehow be 'ahead of time', the right advertising encourages the viewer to be the first person to have something (the product).

Facts and Figures

The facts of the product that the public will find 'attractive' are portrayed to make the product seem superior to any other

Weasel Words

These are words that the advertiser uses to make false positive meanings to enhance the image of the brand or product to the public

Magic Ingredients 

A lame that there is a 'new' and 'special' aspect about the product that is being advertised to the public that can somehow enhance the buyers satisfaction.

Patriotism 

This is where the advert claims that purchasing the product will show love for their own country, the advert will emphasise the fact that the product holds a prouder meaning.

Diversion 

This is a clever way advertisement plays with societies minds, by making the positives of whatever is being advertised therefore masking any negative aspects our outcomes.

Transfer

using the publics lifestyle to make the product seem more adaptable

Plain Folks

where the advert targets a certain type of society e.g. the average working family with a product that is portrayed to 'suit' them.

Snob Appeal

Where the advert will try to put the consumer in the mid set that buying the advertised product will somehow make them part of a certain 'elite group' different from any other.

Bribery 

This is basically something which enhances societies pleasure to be greedy

Testimonial

A person of  certain importance is used to encourage the viewer to pay more attention to the advert and therefore consider being part of what ever is being advertised.

Simple solutions

The product offers a quick simple solution to 'happiness'

Card stacking 

The brand will use advertising to feed the public only the positives whilst ignoring the negatives.

Bandwagon

Advertising will be used to make the consumer want to be part of the 'crowd' and to become part of the 'winning team', The advertising proves to make the public un happy with their current situation. 

http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib/english/media_literacy/advertising_techniques.htm

Content

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What content does advertising come with?

Advertising is how brands connect with the public

Advertising literally gives all that is positives about the brand/product that it is working for and pushes it in the face of society waiting for a desired reaction.

Advertising holds the content of the brand, therefore advertising will come with communication options such as contact information.

It also gives the public the image of the brand and the look of the product.

Adverts will also hold a positive message along side an image which has the mission to give the public a lingering impression in their mind

Advertising is also partially responsible for the reputation of a brand and also the reputation that advertisement leaves in the consumers mind. 

Advertising also holds the content of colour and form of what ever brand it portrays.

Communication

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How Advertising connects with society 

Advertising today is literally everywhere, advertising plays such a big part in the world of media because it surrounds us in society and our daily lives. We are at the point now where we see advertising as something which is constantly always in the background yet something we still notice.

I see advertising being part of our society in two ways, the first is obvious advertising such as flyers, posters, billboards, ad screens, televisions breaks, then there is less obvious advertising which is presented to us sneakily though the media which we as individuals incorporate into daily life. An example can be youtube, spotify, individual websites which we take for granted are supported by the placement of advertising.

However we connect and see ads all depends on how well the ad's connect with us personally, such as brand reputation meaning if the product that the advertisement is showing is something well known or trusted, alters our choice whether or not to be pulled in by it. Also there is the overall look of the ad, ad's can be simplistic or busy with image text and colour which has the ability to have an effect on the mind.

Ads are so diverse and adaptable that they can be presented to us either physically or digitally, either are very good at playing with our emotions and having an effect on our lifestyle.

Next I will explore the methods I will use to discuss and respond to my research question

Research/Analysis

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I plan to carry out research on my chosen topic by using physical texts which argue and discuss the power and effect of how advertising effects society and how it plays a part in the publics daily life. I will also use more up to date resources such as blogs and the opinions that others from different societies have on advertising; their views and opinions.

I also plan to research some presentations and talks which deal with the connection between advertising and society.

I will also work closer to home and take upon my own opinion on my subject of choice and that of who I personally know. 

I will then analyse my findings and use them to back up my research.

Exploration/Evaluation

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After taking into account my own findings and personal opinion I will explore the effect that advertising has on society, how effects different societies.. whether this has a positive effect or negative effect. After all this hopefully I will have an answer I am looking for which will allow me to successfully create design work which can communicate my findings.

Testing

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This will require me to test my findings after I have collected the sufficient research.

Now I will answer a few questions which will clarify my plan for research and findings.

OUGD501 - Study Task 03 - Establishing A Research Question

For this task I will explore the possibilities for my research question, then I will move on to explore the products and elements that I will need to take into account to create my written and practical response.

Suggested research question

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I would like to focus this module on advertising and how advertising has a positive or negative effect on what ever recipient I decide to choose.

Branching off on the different aspects of advertising and what type of effect the power of advertising or branding has.

A possible research question could be 

(How does advertising have a negative effect on society?)

or maybe 

(How does the power and effectiveness of advertising effect all different societies of people as a whole?)
or
(How does the power and effectiveness of advertising effect society?)

Related module resources

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Academic sources available to my topic

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Undressing the Ad (Reading culture in advertising) - Katherine Toland Frith
Advertising as Communication - Gillian Dyer
Advertising and New Media - Christina Spurgeon
The Advertising Handbook - Helen Powell, Jonathan Hardy, Sarah Hawkin, Iain Mercury

How Could The Research Question Be Investigated Through Practice?

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I have two ideas so far that I could create which may effectively present my research question as a design.

The first could possibly be taking a well known piece of advertising and getting opinions and reactions from it's true form, then comparing that to the my own redesigned form and seeing how changing the visual look of advertising effects that person.. there wanting for the product or brand that is being advertised.

My second idea is much more illustrative, I could create several pieces of art work by getting a random selection of people to write comments. Then by taking images of the actual comments and using them to change and defuse a piece of advertising, to show what the true image or defaced image does an individuals mind. 

Peer Feedback

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OUGD501 - Study Task 01: Design & Authorship

I have been given the task to write a 500 word analysis on the work of a graphic designer. At the same time by comparing it to the Barthes text and similar text's by using quotes that fit in with my analysis.

Below is my completed analysis

As graphic designers it is our mission to treat the world with our own vision with that mixed in with the vision of people who don’t see the world of design in the same way as we do.

We take what is around us in the world, what we see and what we know and use that to help create designs and images that constantly change the world and how people see things. Design and image is a very strong tool that can be used to promote a message and have an effect on the state of our minds.

Similar to what ‘Barthes’ says in his book, how the idea of an author being seen by the reader as someone who represents the modern age/figure, how the idea of a current more relevant author can come across as a fountain of knowledge that the reader will want to listen to “The author is a modern figure, a product of our society in so far as, emerging from the Middle Ages with English empiricism..”, (barthes. R, 1968, 142-143).

When you look at the work of a graphic designer, whether successful or not, it is more likely that it is the design/art that makes the mind work and it is us that will begin to think because it has triggered something within us. From that point very little attention is given to the creator of the work except from acknowledgment, similar to barthes text on how It is the language and literature itself that the author creates, that speaks and has power, not the actual person creating the work. “For him, for us too it is language which speaks, not the author; to write is, through prerequisite impersonality, to reach that point where only language acts,’performs’ and not ‘me’, (barthes. R, 1968, 143).

We as creators of work are seen as the before product of the product we are creating, in a way that we are acknowledged that the work we created was that of the designers, yet the space in between the designer and the work that has been created is where little thought is given. The designer is the starting point for all work which is then consumed visually and mentally by the reader, yet it will only ever be the story of the work that is taken in, not the story of the designer. Similar to what is in Barthes text where the “the author is never more than the instance writing, just as/is nothing other than the instance saying/: language knows a ‘subject’ not a ‘person’ ” (barthes. R, 1968, 145).

The main point of this comparison between design practice and using Barthes text is that the designer to their work can strongly be related to the an author and their work. The idea of an author could be linked to anything that creates ‘something’, the creator which makes a statement by making the decision to catch the world’s attention, “The meaning of the word ‘author’ has shifted significantly through history and has been the subject of intense scrutiny over the last 40 years. The earliest definitions are not associated with writing per se, but rather denote ‘the person who originates or gives existence to anything", (http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/the-designer-as-author). This helps to give the idea again that the author is always the beginning of what is created, the product of what will make some sort of difference or message.

However going back to the idea of Bathes text ‘The death of an Author’ meaning the author or creator does not hold the same power as that of the work they produce. The author's story is not of importance to the reader but mostly what the reader is reading.

OUGD501 - Barthes, R. 'The Death of the Author' - Personal understanding

Barthes, R. (1968) 'The Death of the Author', Fontana, London

Was given to me as a task to read and understand

Below is my personal understanding of this chapter of his book

Barthes talks about the ‘author’ as someone who represents the modern age/figure how the idea that a current author may come across as the fountain of today’s knowledge. He explains how an author's work and literature describes the author himself, how the literature paints the image of the authors self and being..

It is the language and literature itself that the author creates that speaks and has power, not the actual person creating the work.

Barthes then goes on to talk about how the modern example of text is read in such a way that the author in the work is completely absent. There is no thought of the person who creates but instead the thought is only places on the figure and image that the work or words is creating.

The author or creator of literature is seen as the before product of the work or text which is the after product and it can be represented by putting this idea against the idea of that a father tends to his child, the child being the product of the father..

The last few pages of the chapter then goes on to say that a writer can not create something truly original but instead mixes together knowledge and text that has already been created, by taking bit’s of what has been and still is and molding it into the author's own image.

The birth of a reader is that which costs the death of an author.

So I read this chapter written by barthes to understand that the the reader of a literature shows their appreciation to the story behind the text and only that.. the mind of the reader will not think highly of the writer as they do for the literature, because it is the literature that is the product of interest, which creates this space of emptiness between the author and the literature, this space is responsible for the absence of the authors ‘being’ and existence in any text.

OUGD401 - Brief Practical Response

After some research on different advertisements and noticing how brands and products are presented in such a way, how the image can be distorted and changed to best suit the consumerists eye, working alongside colour and presentation.

For my practical response, I will take a brand which has been advertised in the most simplistic, not so appealing manor, an advert which presents the brand/product for exactly what it is. I will take the branded product and re create the advertisement to make the product seem much more appealing than what it would be in reality. After creating the advertisement I will present it to family and friends and ask them of their opinion, then finally ask 'would you buy this?' and 'do you think you would enjoy the product?'

I will then have a good evaluation for my response.

For my first practical piece, the brand I have decided to re create is 'ASDA Smart Price', branded products.

 

I am choosing this brand because the design of the logo seems to be the design of all products and packaging. In the sense that there is not much going on as an advertisement product for the brand. The brand is really expressing exactly what the consumer is going to get. Also meaning that there is not real subconscious connection with the consumer when it comes to this brand, which links to my essay when talking about how the brand connects subconsciously and consciously with the consumer. ASDA samrt price branded products obviouslt make the consumer consciously aware of what they are going to get.

For my re design I plan to take and ASDA smart price product image and then redesign the logo which will then follow on to the redesign of the image. At the same time taking what i learnt from my research, by enhancing the imagery on the product packaging to seem more attractive and changing the typeface and font and arrangement of text. I hope to achieve something a little more appealing as a branded product.

Below is the product i have chosen to work with:

First I began working on the product, The original product came across exactly how it was, quite simplistic and inexpensive looking. 

Below is my redesign:

I wanted to keep the design similar to the original product to keep some truth about the reality of the actual product. When redesigning I started with the logo, using ASDA's original name design but then changing the phrase 'smart price' to 'your price', just to give a more personalized looking product that the consumer can relate to, which will attract instantly. Changing the typeface from the modernistic style to 'MV Boli', which is a much more illustrative font with a lot more personality then to finish I applied an attractive old style border around the logo elements to enhance it's image and importance.

The product redesign then came easy, i continued with the same typeface but rearranged as i went along to give a more persoanlized structure to the product. Then to finish I replaced the simplistic boring image of chocolate in the original design and used something much more apprapriate to the product type. Chocolate in the shape of a heart instantly makes the product more appealing than the original.

When I had finished the redesign, i showed it to different people and asked them what they thought and if they would buy the product. The response was all positive, Everyone recognised the brand of chocolate but then gave me positive comments about the design of the 'low price chocolate'. It was easy to see how the new design was instantly subconsciously connecting with their eyes. to them it was an attractive product that they would consider buying

The product definitely gained more positive feedback than the original. Which proved by making small changes to a design, the overall image can be significantly enhanced.

Below is the finished advert for my redesign.

For my second practical piece, I used the idea of the first and decided to redesign a product which originally is costly and comes across as a high quality product based on how the product is imaged and advertised.

I planned to break down the image to something simplistic and dull but keep the name of the brand, then by taking the re design and seeing what feedback I received just to see how simplifying the image of a high quality brand does effect the connection between the product and the consumer.

I will decided to work with lindlt original swiss chocolate bar image. The product comes across as high quality chocolate and is definitely more costly than the product in my first practical piece.

Below is my redesign for the product

 When redesigning the product it was difficult to keep in mind that the re image had to be of less quality than the original as it is quite easy to enhance an image but not as easy to degrade one.

I first started with removing the elements of the packaging which made the product seem high quality, the sections of the image which connected best with the consumer eye. So the gold colour and the italic style text had to go, which i then replaced with a less personalized typeface 'LAO UI', which for this type of product is not the most attractive font to use, however does have some importance/formality. Then I moved on to minimalise the branding of the packaging by removing all of the 'lindlt' brand apart from one piece. 

Finally by taking away borders which gave quite a royal theme to the packaging and replacing it with the royal blue colour which I kept on the image.

I then took my redesign to a few friends and asked them what they thought and if they would buy the product. The response was not as good as it was for the original packaging. Most commented on how the redesign now looks more like a 'cheap alternative' rather than something high quality.

It was easy to see how their reactions instantly rejected the redesign to some degree, because of the degrading work, the product now has a lower quality image than the quality of the actual product.

Below is my the advertisement redesign:

I looked my first and second final redesigns, as advertisements I reviewed what exactly element had the most effect when it came to creating the connection between the brand and the consumer. What part of the design on an ad made the most impact when involved with consumers. Personally imagery is most important, then text and then colour, then following on would be the shape, size, mass of the product. 

So for my final practical piece I decided to take the same idea and alter an the advertising packaging of a product to see the effect it has on the connection with a consumer. However for my final piece I wanted to connect with a different section which is in my essay, where the brand organizes and uses the correct imagery and advertising to connect with a certain type of audience/consumer.

I had the idea of re designing another popular product but advertising it in a way that attracts more of a certain type of consumer.

Below is the product I worked with:

For my third piece I wanted to take attention away from the product and create advertising/imagery and text that would gain more attention. This way I can see how exactly certain elements in advertising can connect subconsciously and attract a certain type of consumer.

For this product I am going to degrade the amount of text on the packaging to put more emphasis on the imagery, then by taking the product and arranging it in such a way along side a playful/appropriate background I can create an advertisement which I can then share with friends and family of different ages to see what response the add gets.

Below is my finished ad:

I sent copies of the image to some of my family, and got back their opinions

Older members did not seem too keen on the product after they had looked at the advertisement, they said that it looked 'too sweet' or 'wouldn't really eat it', however younger members liked the advertisement because of it's more playful setting and theme, and incised them to want the product.

So the advertisement seemed to make more of a connection with a younger generation rather than that of older people. 

From my work and ability to share it with other people I have learnt more about the connection that branding and advertisement has between a consumer. What exactly is forming either conscious or subconscious bonds. 

OUGD401 - Subject Question Research

How does advertisement alter the quality of brands?

I will carry out research that gives me a better idea of my subject question, research to also back up my hypothesis. I want to find out and show how advertisements are used in such a way that the brands they are advertising could possibly be misleading in some way.

Below are some ads that show brands/products compared to the reality:

The ad clearly makes the product look much more larger than it is in reality.

Presentation of food being advertised to seem much more attractive than it would be in real life.

http://www.oddee.com/item_97929.aspx

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/07/28/airbrushed.advertisements.ban/

Cosmetics play a large part in false advertising

http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/837149/

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20599288_4,00.html

This just gives an example of how certain types of brands such as food, entertainment, cosmetics can be enhanced or have the image altered by the power of advertisements.

This research is to prove a misleading connection between brands and the consumer self, linking to the given question for consumerism for this brief. 

I feel that this subject will be a good project for me to respond with practical work and designs.