End of Module Evaluation - Practical Investigation

Knowing that I would have to produce a body of practical work along side my essay, I made sure from the start that I had chosen a topic that would genuinely interest me as this would make engaging with the module a lot easier and more enjoyable. To do this I brainstormed the areas of design I a interested in as well as some general topics that interest me outside of Graphic Design. One topic that stood out for me was culture, by this I mean the differing design cultures around the world such as Japanese and European. Once I had chosen this as an area of investigation, the next task was to then come up with a sort of 'thread' that I could use as an example that runs through a number of different design cultures. At first I had the idea to chose an international brand such as clothing or produce, but through further research I came across the idea to look at the Olympic Games. This topic suited my aims perfectly and allowed me to explore different design cultures existing throughout the 1900s. To then turn this topic into a discussion I began to look into the appropriateness of each individual branding campaign of the modern day Olympic Games. This decision was informed by that fact that one major issue with designing for an international audience is it being received differently by people of different beliefs and cultures and so this issue is demonstrated clearly using examples of Olympic branding. Through extensive research and a genuine interest in the topic, I was very pleased with the final draft and is a definite improvement from my CoP investigation last year. This is due to the amount of research and readings I undertook before starting the essay. This meant that I had a good understanding of relevant topics and issues and made writing the essay easier and more informed.

As the essay focused on branding and identity of the Modern Day Olympic Games, it was an easy decision for me to choose to produce my own Olympic branding as a practical response. Once I had chosen an Olympic event to brand, the next step was to further link it to the essay by focusing on the appropriateness of my own designs. I first started to design posters that would ideally be seen as an appropriate means to advertise the host nations culture through design. However due to feedback, although the designs themselves were appropriate, the issue with them was with practicality. In response to this, I then shifted the focus onto how I could apply the campaign in a more appropriate way. Evaluating the practical side of the project, I think that I achieved what I set out to do how ever there were some set backs that could have been avoided from the start. Taking on the branding of an Olympic Games is a huge task and so from the start I knew I couldn't produce a whole campaign in the time I had. This means that although I am happy with everything produced, I have only covered a few aspects of a full campaign and so feels half finished. In the future, I will make sure that if I am undertaking something as big as this that I make sure to make my aims more specific and to focus on only a few aspects as apposed to the whole thing.

I will definitely be further exploring design cultures around the world for my CoP 3 investigations over the summer and into final year as it is something I am genuinely interested in and can see myself producing even stronger work next year. I will make sure I chose a suitable topic to write about and then learn from mistakes made this year during my practical and improve on them.

CoP 3 Proposal Presentation

Olympic Cigarettes

Inappropriate Olympic branding

Generally, the olympic games is thought of as a celebration of life, health and sport and yet one of the most successful product promotions related to the games is cigarettes. The Olympic Games, including the logo and its five interlocking rings, have been one of the powerful brands in the history of marketing. After all, what company or organisation would not want to be affiliated with words like world peace, excellence, doing your best, camaraderie, teamwork, fair play. But it really wasn’t until the 1980s when the International Olympic Committee began taking control of its brand. Michael Payne wrote how cigarettes, game shows and hygiene products for example were being marketed via the Olympic brand, which created tension in the IOC as it was felt such products did not appropriately represent Olympic values. One of the more remarkable examples Payne cites is from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics...

"The tension between the Olympic values and commercial interests is long standing. One of the most successful licensed Olympic products ever produced, for example, was “Olympias”, a brand of cigarette. Produced from a mixture of Turkish and Greek tobacco, it was designed to generate funds to support the organization of the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Olympias generated over $1 million in revenues for the Organizing Committee."

Payne went on to provide another example in 1964, a clever promotion using the Olympic brand to further increase the spread of cigarette consumption.

"The marriage between cigarettes and the Olympics was a popular promotional theme at the 1964 Games. A popular Japanese cigarette brand, “Peace”, ran a promotion where each package was sold with a numbered premium ticket. This entitled anyone drawing a winning ticket to claim a prize of a further 365 packs. Even back in the 1960s, marketers realized that the Olympic rings could draw consumers’ attention to a product. Every packet of “Peace” cigarettes, carried the Olympic emblem."

Below is a chart showing smoking prevalence among Japanese men and women. Look at the mid 1960s and you can see leaps in consumption between 1963 and 1965. In fact, it appears that smoking reached its highest rates, almost Olympian heights, around those times. And now the Japanese are paying for it as mortality rates due to lung cancer have peaked in the past 20 years. Fortunately, smoking consumption among women has stayed flat over the decades, and thus so has their risk to lung cancer.

Similarly with the Nazi Olympic Games 1936, olympic cards were released within packs of cigarettes and sold all over Germany. Thus promoting the use of cigarettes and inappropriately building a bridge between smoking and the Olympic Games.

CoP Practical Research

Appropriation of Design

Appropriation within design has 2 meanings, both are relevant to designers and both need careful consideration...

These meanings are:

1. the use of pre-existing objects/images within design or art with 'marginal amounts of transformation applies to them'. This act also adds new context to existing work.

2. The use of a product by its users in a way not intended by the designer.

Definition 1 explained...

The appropriation of pre-existing objects and images has been used extensively in modern art and design. Pablo Picasso used objects which were not previously art, such as newspaper clippings. These works placed the objects in new contexts without transforming the original concept.

Marcel Duchamp took the process further with his concept of “ready-made” which used objects produced by industry for ordinary use and transposed them into art through the use of “presentation and selection”. This wasn’t without controversy and one of his most famous works – a urinal placed on a pedestal was rejected by an exhibition panel because it was considered plagiarism.

Andy Warhol took the Campbell’s Soup images to create some of his most famous works...

Photographers, fashion designers, installation artists, etc. have all used appropriation of this kind and in more recent years so have web designers.

This form of appropriation is not without its risks...

Copyright

There are real concerns regarding the copyright of work when it is appropriated. Andy Warhol, for example, who was one of the most famous artistic appropriators found himself on the receiving end of much litigation with respect to his appropriations. He lost a case when photographers objected to silk screen reproductions of their work produced by Warhol but won a case against Campbell’s Soup despite having clearly reproduced their image.

Cultural Appropriation

More recently, there have been concerns raised about “cultural appropriation” in which designs incorporate items from other cultures. While, this may seem innocuous on the surface – it often gives rise to allegations of racism if the handling of such material is not seen to be sensitive.

When Charles Caleb Colton said; “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” he didn’t mean go ahead and appropriate someone else’s culture in the wrong way.

The star Beyonce has been accused of cultural appropriation by appearing in a Bollywood costume in a music video; some allege that she has been careless in her treatment of India’s cultural heritage. 

J K Rowling, the Harry Potter author, has recently been drawn into allegations of cultural appropriation by her handling of North American indigenous culture in her “History of Magic”. 

Also this year, the fashion brand H&M has found itself criticised for cultural appropriation of Jewish prayer scarves in a scarf sold by the company.

The key to avoiding cultural appropriation seems to be straightforward; ask members of the community you are appropriating from if they find it offensive or not. However, it is probably worth noting that in today’s ever-connected world – there’s always someone looking to take offence no matter your intentions. Cultural appropriation should be best handled sensitively at all times.

I found a powerpoint presentation that further explained appropriation. This presentation highlighted the differences between appropriation in art & design.

Art - Appropriation is over

Design - Appropriation is covert

e.g. these two examples above. The Andy Warhol on the left is overtly referring to the campbell's soup can design. Whereas the propaganda poster on the right is references a poster design that may not be recognised by some of its viewers.

Homage:

"special honour or respect shown publicly"