Something More- Live Brief

Interesting points made by Something More studio during introduction talk:

• Never stop questioning what you are doing
• Collaborate with people better than you
• Interrupt normal
• Helping hearts project- mentioned the importance of brand guidelines

The live brief:

Present to them a very compelling story about a very ordinary word...presenting is important in getting your ideas and thoughts across successfully as a designer. The aim is to tell a good story with our word in under 5 minutes.

Group: Me, Will, Jake, Beth

Word: Beige

Starting the live brief:

Our first thoughts when receiving the word 'beige' was that it was boring and lifeless. So our aim for the presentation is to make the word beige...seem less beige, in a humorous way. 

We aim to do this through stating all of the good things in life involving beige such as food, fashion and nature and everyday activities involving beige, making the audience realise how underestimated the colour beige is and that we should appreciate it more. Our aim is to change everyones opinions of it.

Beige foods that are loved by us all:

• Hummus
• Chicken
• Crisps
• Pita
• Waffles
• Bagels
• Bread
• Croissants
• Scampi
• Rice

Activities involving beige:

• Watching paint dry
• Applying concealer to your dark circles in the morning
• Adding too much milk to your cup of tea

After brainstorming some ideas, we made a rough plan for the presentation and the order of things that we want to go through:

1. Original definition of beige from urban dictionary (humorous version)

2. Common mistakes (shown through a colour wheel showing how beige is seen as the wrong colours)

3. Beige foods that we can all agree, are amazing

4. Fun/humorous activities involving beige (which we will document ourselves doing in videos for the presentation)

5. Beige in the wild (photographs of people wearing beige in town)

6. Different ways to wear it (photoshoot of us each wearing a different item of beige clothing, which we will also wear at the presentation)

7. Beige in nature (animals)

8. Last slide...the new definition of the word beige: appreciative and thankful for the colour, creating contrast with the first slide which is the original definition of beige (describing it as boring and dull)

Designing a Logo for Season Yorkshire/Inspiration

I have been commissioned by a local spice company called Season Yorkshire to design a logo for the company, which was networked through a family friend. Season Yorkshire provide hand blended, authentic spices as well as a sell out cook book. The website: https://seasonyorkshire.bigcartel.com/products

Additionally, Arooj (one of the two managers of Season Yorkshire) has a background in photography which means that I could possibly have the opportunity to collaborate with her in the future which would be great.

In the email that Arooj sent, she provided me with some examples and inspiration of how she'd like it to look and details/layout to consider. She also sent me through the current Season Yorkshire branding and other spice kit competition that they are up against.

Current branding:

Current Logo

Inspiration:

Competition:

When discussing with her further design ideas for the logo, in terms of details to incorporate, aesthetic, sizing and text, these were some points that were mentioned:

• Play around with the sizing of the 'Yorkshire' in 'Season Yorkshire'.
• I also mentioned that I thought the current colour palette worked well as it is similar colours to the actual spices and whether she'd like me to use colour within the logo or keep it monochrome- she mentioned to play around with whatever I feel looks appropriate which was great to have this freedom
• She mentioned that she wants a hint of Pakistani/Middle eastern culture within the logo somewhere, as that is where the spice recipes and cook book are based on, but an overall modern aesthetic.
• The inspiration she sent focus on Sans Serif typefaces- which is appropriate as it is current and modern.

Arooj also sent me through a print that she had created herself which she would like incorporated into the logo somewhere:

This project is due to last around 3 weeks which is appropriate for a logo design which will be achievable if the communication runs smoothly. I also have other project priorities which I want to get started on when term starts (as well as COP research)

Ideas for Self Lead Briefs

Notes from welcome talk and things to consider when designing:

• Make work based on genuine concerns and problems! things i'm passionate about
• Don't constrain the briefs you write to graphic design problem solving exercises
• Make a difference to the real world!
• Modern understanding
• Don't stick to the familiar, make something innovative

Initial ideas and mind maps for briefs:

1. Project about pandas- making sure they don't become endangered again and the importance of them in the world, as I feel very passionately about them (my favourite animal)

2. The importance of children playing outside and away from their phones OR... the importance of  us adults still doing childhood activities and things we used to enjoy as a child as self care methods. This is something we need as adults when life is too stressful. App? Design for screen? Nostalgic childhood aesthetic

3. Tackling the inequality towards women- the pressure society puts on women that we have to depend on a man/get married in order to have value and be secure and successful in life. The pro single ladies project? Research could include surveys where men and women are asked the same questions regarding this topic...recording the differences between results.

4. Similar to idea 3...feminism topic about the judgement women receive from society regarding body count and sex, and how men don't get judged the same way, why is this???

5. Bratz dolls- passion project, big part of my childhood growing up. A look book...collaboration with a fashion student and make physical tiny clothes similar to the ones in the look book.

6. Period poverty- the fact that women shouldn't have to pay for pads and tampons as it is a natural thing that happens to us, goes against our human rights. 

Top 3 favourite ideas in rough brief templates (ideas 1,2 and 3)

Culture and Colour Research

It is important that I research into colour and culture, particularly when considering my pratical work and linking that back to my essay, as in different cultures, different colours often represent different things.

Colour carries deep meaning within every culture, so colour is an extremely important design detail to consider when creating work.

Examples:

Red: represents danger, love and passion in western culture. In India it symbolises purity. In China, a sign of good luck. But in west Africa, red is the colour of mourning and death

Purple: in Thailand it is the colour of mourning, but in the west it is associated with wealth, luxury and loyalty

https://study.com/academy/lesson/color-meanings-in-different-cultures.html :

When taking about a specific colour in my essay, use Red as a main example:

• Symbolism of colour often stems from religious, spiritual, historical or social events. e.g. valentines day is associated with the colour red to represent love. Which is similar to Indian/Pakistani culture as the bride wears red on her wedding day. However…in Nigerian and African culture it represents suffering and sacrifice

This article is good for more colour and culture examples:
https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2012/06/color-and-cultural-design-considerations/- 

Green

Article Research 2- Globalisation: Globalisation effects on design/Culture and Globalisation

Globalisation:

Globalisation= world trade

• It’s heavily based from technology suck as mobiles phones, airplanes and the internet, all about communication. 

• Making it easier to exchange information and goods more easily More affordable products are available for more people- however, not only does an exchange of products take place, but an exchange of services, knowledge, cultural goods and languages takes place... everything is shared.

• All of these link together So globalisation does and will have a huge impact on design and culture and the future of it... 

Impacts of globalisation on local culture: 

Good- Allows businesses in less industrialised countries to become part of international production, so it’s good for poorer cultures basically

Bad- Growing caps between the rich and poor between cultures... leads to cultural deterioration

Articles focused on:

1. https://www.designsociety.org/publication/19040/GLOBALIZATION+AND+CROSS-CULTURAL+PRODUCT+DESIGN

2. https://www.beautypackaging.com/contents/view_experts-opinion/2010-05-11/the-impact-of-globalization-on-design-and-des/

3. http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN011299.pdf

1. Globalisation and cross-cultural product design:

• ‘Globalisation also confronts companies to decide between ‘global’ or ‘local’ featured design of products.’

-^ An effect of globalisation is that the design of products can lose its cultural aesthetic and authentic design as it now has to be designed to work globally instead of it just being local how it used to be (due to the growth of globalisation)

Figure 1:

• ‘It is striking that nowadays companies realize the importance of flexible and adaptive design according to local markets’ (relating to the figure 1)

• ‘A company’s failure to acknowledged cultural diversity often limits its product’s marketability’ (relating to figure 1)

The points above suggest that in today’s society in order for a company/brand to do well globally, they need to acknowledge cultural diversity so that the product is appropriate for everyone. The company’s image/the design of the needs to take this into consideration fully as this is the first thing the consumer sees.

Case study from this article:

‘Rice cooker: A medium sized domestic appliances company set out a graduation assignment because they encountered culturally different markets. The challenge was to develop a Western style rice cooker, which had to suit to the Asian market. The idea behind the design was that Asian people prefer European style appliances; for them it is a sign for high quality. ‘

2. The Impact of Globalization on Design, and Design’s Impact on Globalization (in a nutshell):

• ‘The goal is to identify the common denominators; the function and form, the desired emotional attachment to an object that link consuming humanity, despite cultural differences, around the planet.’ – This quote could be used towards the end of the essay, within the conclusion perhaps??

• ‘There has been a shift in the designer’s clientele; they are not just local.’ 

^ Clientele means ‘collective of clients’ basically, so designers now have to think of clients from other cultures due to the growth of globalisation. Maybe this suggests that designers that work for clients all over the globe do better than designers that just do work for local clients…

3. A balance of globalization with cultural diversity in civil society: Challenges to education in the new millennium

• ‘The globalization process urges men and women of the future to be more critical of, and adaptive to, economic and social transformations while maintaining national and local cultural heritage. They must be prepared for multi-cultural interaction, values changes, cosmopolitan way of life, yet struggling to maintain their own ideals and identity’

^ This quote will be useful for and relevant when discussing the loss of cultural identity and the further disadvantages/effects that globalisation will have on culture.

Ted Talks Research

It is important that I use different medias to gather research from other than reading (books and articles) so I have gathered research from Ted Talks which focus on Cultural Identity and Globalisation.

TED Talks:

1. The modern maze of cultural identity | Mashaal Hijazi 

-The alliteration of her identity after 9/11- she saw her mum change from a Muslim hijabi to a non hijabi, as the culture in America at that time became less tolerant of this (a physical/appearance design choice).

-This point links to design within appearance and how it is different in eastern and western cultures. ‘If someone would think of the ideal American, hardly anyone would think of an Indian person, a Chinese woman, heaven forbid a man of Arab descent, no one would think of these minorities unless they themselves were one of the minorities’

-During childhood in America, she had to adapt herself and her identity so that everyone else felt comfortable, so that she could fit into the norms of that culture.

-But then she noticed adaptions in her identity when she’d visit Pakistan- She’d be treated like a celebrity She even went as far as pronouncing ‘Pakistan’ wrong (by saying it the way white Americans would pronounce it) to try and hide it as much as possible- even the design of the way a word is said can be different depending on the what if more appropriate for that culture?

2. The myth of globalisation | Peter Alfandary 

-Peter is a first generation born in the UK, educated in London for 13 years, a lot of his childhood in Italy and 30 years as an international lawyer. Always been fascinated by cultural differences. 

-After his first experience in NY he came to realise that the English talk ‘in a code that no one understands’ the sentences are longer, more complicated but mostly more polite and anxious 

-Mentions that often at work he’d clock in a couple of minutes early incase the password didn’t work...but in some cultures time is more of a guideline, the world won’t end if a meeting starts 20 minutes late..