OUGD501 - COP practical work Inspiration and ideas - Russian Constructivism

I am really inspired by all of the symbols out there that represent advertising and consumerism. The barcode being my favourite so far, I am really enjoying experimenting with different images to achieve an effective body of practical work. 

However I wanted some more inspiration, since I am using strong and bold colours in my work which is something I don't normally opt for, I have always been a bigger fan of sticking to black and white on a finished piece of work.

I thought back to a brief that I had done a few years ago in college, the brief was all about Russian Constructivism and using that style to create my own art in the same style.

I remember Russian Constructivism designs being all about order and a capitalist feeling as well as the use of strong, bold colours.

So I decided to do a little research on the design style to get a little more inspiration on how best to use the bold colours that I plan on incorporating int my work.

I found a website that displays some of the most well known pieces of Russian constructivism, since I have already worked on it in the past I still had a good idea of the style and the formation of shapes and text. However I wanted to take another look and refresh my mind on the style.

I really love the use of shapes in this style of design. It is hard to believe that such simplistic designs were created so many years ago, although it does make sense since russian constructivism was used as propaganda. The use of bold colours, like perfect red's and yellow's, which is prominent in most of the designs really creates a sort of authoritative feeling to the work. 

The structure is what I like about the style most though. It works so well with the bold colours and it's something I think I could incorporate into my own wrk even if only slightly.

Below is the website I found these pieces on and more

http://www.csun.edu/~pjd77408/DrD/Art461/LecturesAll/Lectures/lecture07/Constructivism.html

OUGD501 - COP practical work colour ideas

I recently came across a website which advertises beauty new and different beauty products, This website was interesting because it focused on products that are created with strong, bold highlighter style colours. 

The products on this site were really interesting and eye catching and it gave me a lot of inspiration to use the same style of colour in my practical designs for cop. 

Since I always usually work in black, I really want to experiment with some colour in my work, the neon colours I have come across could make my work very eye catching and effective.

Below is a snapshot of the website.

http://www.happyhomebird.com/2012/02/neon.html

I can;t wait to experiment with these colours, and create something really colourful and aesthetically pleasing.

OUGD501 - COP practical work design Ideas

I took my idea of altering the bar code image into experimentation on photoshop, when I was playing around with the image of the bar code, I ended up in creating a new brush to use for my designs.

The bar code began to look very effective when used in a repetition style.

I feel that the bar code is very iconic, which is why I want to experiment with the design.

So I repeated the style over an over until I got an appealing pattern.

I want to use this pattern to create my posters with the idea I had of applying it to other images that are connected with advertising and consumerism. Hoping to then create a series of posters which have some sort of message about advertising and consumerism that could possibly have an effect on how people view the environment around them.

OUGD501 - COP practical work Ideas

After carrying out some research on various images that communicated actions that are connected with consumerism, it then became easier to begin sketching a couple of ideas out that could possibly communicate a message along side the essay.

Simplistic designs that get a message across as soon as they are examined are my favourite, so I want to apply what I already know and what i've seen in the research towards a possible poster campaign.

I really found these two images interesting because of the simplistic designs, yet the message was so strong in each.

These images seem to give the message that people constantly live within the consumerists lifestyle, what is good about these images is that it portrays two people that are interacting with perfect symbol of consumerism.

I want to incorporate the same symbol within my own practical work. My idea is so use the lines that are used to make up the image of a bar code and alter them to create a new image above the barcode. 

Below are a few sketches to give myself a visual idea.

It doesn't look like the best design right now but the main idea is to make a series of images where two images can connect through the fact that each image is a symbol of consumerism. The idea that each image is connected to consumeristic lifestyle because each image is connected to the barcode.

I consider the bar code as a very strong symbol of consumerism and the very point and reason of advertising.

I really want to experiment with the symbol and see if my sketches could create effective designs that communicate a message. 

OUGD501 - Turn it in essay feedback

I recently received some feedback for my draft essay on advertising. The feedback I got was quite detailed and a little mixed. To start of I was told that the overall idea of advertising and how it has an effect was a good one. However I was told that my draft essay was quite confusing. As I had made a lot of points in my essay but seemed to have squashed them all together which made an essay that did make a lot of sense to me but from the readers perspective it wasn't as understood. 

Which then made it pointless for me to explain as I wanted to create an essay that followed easily from point to point. I was told that my essay lacked structure and specific points as to what I was researching and what point the research yet to be found would make when it came to the conclusion.
The main points that I was taking away from the feedback were that I had yet to find a specific subject to write about which was probably why my draft essay did not make much sense. Also there the reader did not see any specific area in the essay concentrated on the author(s) that I was writing about.

I then moved onto explaining that I had become mixed up in various points that I had the intention of discussing in my essay however I did understand that my essay lacked structure, so It was very useful when I got points of direction into the best style and structure for my essay.
I was told that after the brief it would be best to create 4 or more paragraphs, each dedicated to the author that I will work on and the research that goes along with each author, then moving on to the next author with quotes and so on. After the main part of the essay I can then conclude the overall point and meaning of my research.

Hearing this definitely helped me put together a small plan in my head about where I would be going with my final idea. The feedback has told me that I definitely need to rethink the subject that I am writing about and hopefully find a specific point within the subject to write about.
I am then also hoping that the practical work will then become a little easier to plan and research.

OUGD501 - COP practical work research

Since my essay was based on how advertising has a negative and positive impact on human behaviour, how media effects different societies with influential images and messages. 

I want my practical work to reflect with what I have written in my essay, that will be pieces of work. Posters or large digital designs possibly that project and image and a different message which links certain behaviour to media and advertising.

Firstly I will carry out some research into art work that deals with advertising, media and behaviour. I came across someones pinterest website that displayed a lot of images that projected negative messages about consumerism. I really liked how these images linked society and advertising together so I thought it would only be right to include them in my research.

This piece is useful for my research because it shows the image of a male consuming goods, not only goods but also objects and elements that people come across everyday life. I feel that the piece depicts what a person goes through every single day and it shows how much we are actually consuming. By the style and red colour use in the piece and it seems that the piece is giving a negative image towards consumerism.

This image is interesting because it gets a message across in s simple way, the message in this piece seems to be that something i being taken away from the bar code which represents a product or object which is part of consumerism. I am not sure whether the image is positive or negative, but it is good at representing how people process the goods that they consume.

I really love this piece, It's black and white simple with a message. It displays the words that describe the raw process of consumerism. Because of the words that have been used in this piece, it represents consumerism as something that is possibly negative. 

I would really like to create something like this for my own practical work, since in my past work I have enjoyed creating poster campaigns using a small amount of text, hoping to achieve a strong message.

I really like how these images create a message very simply, by combining the idea of society and consumerism based images.

https://uk.pinterest.com/prislila/culture-jamming/

I then came across a few other images which dealt with social issues through advertising. The images match closely to what I wanted to communicate through my essay.

I liked this image because it relates to feminism and freedom to speak. I like how the creator has cleverly used google suggestions over the models mouth to form a message.

I always feel strongly about pollution to the planet and waste of materials, so this image definitely speaks to me as it is portraying an image by linking a weapon used to kill and pollution together to form a negative message about pollution.

I thought these images would be useful for research because it links to identity, which loosely connects to my essay. This is because consumerism links to how people are able to identify themselves to others.

I liked this image because it speaks about waste and how this connects with economy. It asks the viewer of the piece to take into mind people who have less than them, when it comes to waste. I think this is a very effective way to project a message about the amount of food waste people produce.

http://pelfind.net/photo/122626p2429623/40-provocative-social-issue-ads-that-carry-a-very-powerful-message

Each images has a powerful message that links to social behaviour, the advertising acts as a medium between who ever wants to express such a message and society who are effected by the same issues. These images help me a lot when thinking about how I can express my essay through design.