Lecture Three - Globalisation, Sustainability and the Media.

Definitions of globalisation

• Socialist - The process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones. It can be described as a process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together. This process is a combination of economic, technological, sociocultural and political forces.
• Capitalist - The elimination of state-enforced restrictions on exchanges across borders and the increasingly integrated and complex global system of production and exchange that has emerged as a result.

Three problems with globalisation

1. Sovereignty - challenges to the idea of the nation state
2. Accountability - transnational forces and organisations: who controls them?
3. Identity - nation, group, community?

Global Village Thesis

• ‘As electrically contracted, the globe is no more than a village. Electric speed at bringing all social and political functions together in a sudden implosion has heightened human awareness of responsibility to an intense degree’
• The internet
• 'We live mythically and integrally... In the electric age ,when our central nervous system is technologically extended to involve in the whole of mankind and to incorporate the whole of mankind in us, we necessarily participate... in the consequences of our every action.'
• ‘Electric technology... would seem to render individualism obsolete and... corporate interdependence mandatory.’
• Centripetal forces - bringing the world together in uniform global society
• Centrifugal forces - tearing the world apart in tribal wars
• Cultural Imperialism - If the 'global village' is run with a certain set of values then it would not be so much an integrated community as an assimilated one.

Rigging the 'free market'

• Media conglomerates operate as oligopolies
• News corporations divide the world into 'territories' of descending 'market importance
• North America
• Western Europe, Japan, Australia
• Developing economies and regional producers
• The rest of the World
• US media powers can be thought of as a new form of imperialism
• Local cultures destroyed in this process and new forms of cultural dependency shaped, mirroring old school colonialism.
• Dominance of US driven commercial media forces US model of broadcasting onto the rest of world but also inculcates US style consumerism in societies that can ill afford it.

John's Task Two.

Task

Make a list of 3 of each of these.
My chosen areas of practice as of now.
My main strengths as of now.
My identified weaknesses as of now.
A set of main goals for this year.
Wishes. 

Chosen areas of practice as of now:

1. Illustration - I really enjoy creating illustrative images whether they're characters, diagrams etc. I enjoy seeing it all come together to create an image that the audience can recognise. At the moment my illustrations are all done on Illustrator, but I would like to experiment more with a hand drawn style.
2. Typography - I always like looking at type and the clever ways people work with it. My skills aren't up to what I would like yet, but I do have strong thoughts about what I do and don't like.
3. Packaging - We haven't had much of an opportunity to look into this area yet, but it really appeals to me. I like how it incorporates image, type and colour, whilst also applying it to a three dimensional form.

My main strengths as of now:

1. Programme knowledge - I feel very comfortable using a variety of programmes on the Adobe suite and I feel that this benefits my work. Although I am aware that there is still much I don't know and can learn to develop it further.
2. Illustration - I am really happy with how my illustration skills are developing, especially considering I couldn't even use Illustrator this time last year and because of this I am excited to see how it can progress.
3. Analysing work - I think I am quite good at analysing my own work and the work of others. This is helpful because it helps me to be able to recognise what I do and don't like which will hopefully bring on the designs of my own work.

My identified weaknesses as of now:

1. Lack of confidence - at the moment I don't have a huge amount of belief in my own capabilities which may be holding me back. I'd like to gain more confidence in myself and my skills.
2. Lack of studio knowledge - whenever we have to gather a selection of studios or designers that we like I find it really difficult to identify places off the top of my head. This will be a big hinderance when it comes to industrial experience and selecting places to visit as my knowledge about it is so limited.
3. Idea generation - as of now I tend to find it difficult to think of innovative ideas or I just settle on the first idea I come up with. I would like to get out of this habit and push myself to think of more interesting plans.

A set of main goals for this year:

1. Produce some portfolio worthy work - as of yet I don't feel I have anything of a high enough standard that I could take to around and show people. This year I really want to have some projects that I am really proud of and am happy to show to people in the industry.
2. Identify studios that I like - because this is one of my weaknesses I would really like to rectify it and improve my knowledge. Maybe I give up to easily when researching online, so I will have to think harder or maybe even ask my friends if they know anyone they could recommend.
3. Continue to improve skills - I would like to continue improving with my knowledge on programmes as I think this will benefit my work a lot.

Wishes:

1. Have some successful studio visits
2. Gain more confidence and self belief
3. Produce some work I'm really proud of

Lecture Two - Markets, Audience and Analysis.

Who are they?

What is marketing?

• "management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements, opportunities, profitability and success."

Marketing roles

• identify customer needs, develop new products
• develop pricing strategies
• promote products to a target market
• identify distribution networks
• add value to your product through customer benefits
• monitor the performance of the products

The four P's

• product - an item that satisfies what the customer wants, product/service
• price - amount customer pays or overall cost of product
• promotion - represents methods of communication that markets may use to provide information
• place - providing the product at a place or in a context that is convenient for a customer to access

• relationship between these can help analyse if something will succeed or fail

What is a creative entrepreneur?

• owner entrepreneur - designer, director, project manager, collaborator
• owner manager - creative with assistant, small studio with creatives, co-operative studio
• owner worker - freelance designer, partnership

What kind of creative are you?

• evolutionary or revolutionary
• manager or opportunist
• cautious or risk taker
• do you make calculated and informed decisions or to you react instantly when things are presented to you?

What is an idea?

• can happen at any time
• can occur to anybody
• can happen anywhere
• can be inspired by anything
• generally random
• seldom materialise
• rarely succeeds

What is an opportunity?

• the people are right
• the place is right
• the conditions are right
• the time is right

The wrong time

• Da Vinci - inventions before their useful time (helicopter, flying machine, machine gun, parachute)
• Why did they fail?
• politicians couldn't see any benefit
• economics were to fragmental
• society had no need
• technology to primitive
• PEST analysis

Things that can have positive and negative effects

• political factors
• environmental factors
• social factors
• technological factors

Where do opportunities come from?

• trends
• technological development
• political change
• economical boom and slump
• human need
• problems
• research

You think you've spotted an opportunity

• skills - technical, practical, conceptual, professional
• aptitudes - team work, collaboration, communication, project/people management
• predisposition - risk/cautious, evolution/revolution, manager/opportunist

Good opportunity or not?

• Look at your competitors
• how many are there?
• how well are they doing?
• what do they do well?
• what could they improve on?

Will anyone buy it?

Assessing the competition

• what are their strengths?
• what are their weaknesses?
• what opportunities have they taken?
• what threats do they face?

• SWOT analysis
• you can apply this analysis to yourself

Environments

• internal environment - your skills, your resources, your lifestyle. IN CONTROL.
• micro environment - your network, your competitors, your suppliers, your local community. HAVE IMPACT
• macro environment - economic, technology, social trends, politics, the environment, world market conditions. VIRTUALLY NO EFFECT.

Access the quality of an opportunity

• for me
• for the customer
• for the planet
• for the other share holders

John's Task One.

Task

• Identify five companies/studios which you consider particularly synergetic to you personally. Write a short paragraph why and reasons for each.

The Print Project

I have chosen this studio as they focus on letterpress which is a process that I am particularly interested in. I find the work they produce really aesthetically attractive as it appeals to the style that I like. It is also quite a local company that is based in Bradford.

Gemma Correll

I really like Gemma Correll's quirky illustrations, I think they are really fun and entertaining. I also like the sarcastic edge in her annotations as it suits my sense of humour. Her work has also been used in Urban Outfitters which is pretty cool!

 http://www.gemmacorrell.com/

Luke Bott

Again I really like the illustrative style of Luke Bott's work and how he applies this to other areas of Design, like logos/packaging etc. His choice of colour in how work also appeals to me as I like his use of tone and contrast.

http://lukebott.com/

Jessica Hische

I love Jessica Hische's gorgeous typographic design, I love the decorative and vintage style. The colours she chooses, especially in these examples really appeal to me, I really like the pinks and soft pastel shades. The only negative is that she lives in San Francisco, which is quite far away!

 http://jessicahische.is/

Aileen Cheng 

I have selected two web design images from Aileen Cheng but she also works in lots of other fields. In these examples particularly I really like how she incorporates pattern into the design in a subtle way and also works in the colours to compliment it. She also lives in California, but in LA.

 

 http://aileencheng.com/

• Identify the top choice and why you feel that they may have synergy with your practice now, or in the near future.
• Is your choice based on: location, direction of practice, the brand philosophy, client base?
• What if none of those is your main reason for choosing to follow this organization, what is it specifically? 

I think my top choice would be Jessica Hische as I feel she covers a large range of design areas whilst still keeping her style, as she can apply it to a range of things very successfully. Therefore my choice is definitely based on design practice as the look of her work is really something I aim for. Also, even though it would be easier if she was based in the UK the idea of travelling to another country is very exciting and appealing to me.

• WHO they are/who are you?
• WHY you are contacting them and why they should listen?
• WHAT do you want them to do next and what do you actually want?
• WHY should they come back to you?

Jessica Hische.

I am contacting her because her design aesthetic really appeals to me.

I would like her to get back to me, maybe send some work samples, answer any questions I may have.

She should get back to me because...

• Now you have identified initially these studios you feel synergy with. Please list 8 methods you could utilize to contact them. 

Telephone

Email

Post

Twitter