There isn't many days that go by that whilst I'm on the internet I won't check out one of my favourite site, notcot.org. My brother sent me a link to this a good while back and I love going on it to find out what new posts have been added. To put it simply it is a design and art blog. Everyday roughly ten or so new pictures are posted and once clicked on they take you to that particular site so you can have a better look at the building, painting, typography or whatever. This site is literally crammed full of fantastic ideas and precedents that I'm sure everyone could find useful. I have found myself looking at things and thinking to myself that I'd like to give that ago. Everything is covered, it is just a case of searching through the vast amount of pages until you find something that will catch your eye and trust me that doesn't take long. Warning, however, time can slip away very quick when on this site ha ha!
At the top of the sites page there is a little Polaroid with the word random on it. Give it a click and a random post is present to you. You can look at it, scroll let or right for something else that takes your fancy or hit random again. Things you come across can sometimes take your breath away or leave you green with envy! I would like to think I have a good eye for what I myself would consider good design and I feel that the majority of posts on this sites are of things that are good quality. It can sometimes be hard to stay on top what the rest of the world is up to not only in your own discipline but in the rest of the creative scene. notcot.org takes a selection of works from right across the globe which is fantastic. One of the great things I get out of the site is that it keeps me in the loop of some exciting builds that are taken place or have been completed. I previously studied architecture at DoJ for a good number of years and since started jewellery I've lost contact with a world I once held very dear to me. I urge you to take a look, I can pretty much guarantee you won't be disappointed!
On one of my many daily stops at the sites I came across a post about Japanese typography that had been designed with food symbols in them. I then remembered a lecture from JB right at the start of the year and he had mention a similar story about Chinese typography incorporating pictures into the words. As my memory recalls JB had been learning Chinese and he felt that people may get mistaken by these designs as, forgive me if I have this all wrong JB, but in Chinese there is one word for animal that you use every time you say the animals name. So if people saw the symbol for a monkey with a picture of a monkey then they might think that extra word/symbol used would refer only to the monkey. But in fact you would use that word/symbol if you wrote dog, for example.
I really like the Japanese typography that I came across. They are different and a bit of fun. I'm always interested in people taking existing objects, etc and putting a new spin on them. Looking at these, on the surface I don't know if they could be seen as confusing but then are the food symbols used to replace strokes or is it a simple case of symbol and image like you would find in a baby book? I have been wanting to learn Japanese for a while now and think I might start by looking at these and seeing if there might be similar problem to them as there was with the Chinese Manadgrams, as they were called. At the bottom of the Japanese typography they make reference to the Chinese version which turned out to be a nice surprise. I've added a couple of links if you are interested. Let me now what you think, would be interesting to hear another opinion.
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Assignment 4
For our last assignment in this section we had to choose a book and a journal from assignment 3 that we had found using the cross search system. We had to write about them and compare them and finally say what areas we would lack at to find out more information or to give point a balanced argument.
For the previous assignment I had started out searching for any books or journals that looked at eye movement research with respect to children’s television. After a fruitless searches I noticed that children’s advertising kept appearing. Having just watched a Czech Dream, a film about two students opening a fake supermarket, I was already interested in the power of advertising. For this assignment I have chosen to read chapter 7, Who’s Messing with My Mind? from the book Consumer Kids by Ed Mayo and Agnes Nairn and a journal called Children as Consumers: Advertising and Marketing by Sandra L. Calvert.
Chapter 7, Who’s Messing with My Mind looks at how marketing from television adverts and online media can effect young children both consciously and subconsciously. Mayo and Nairn begin by asking the question that if children know how adverts work could they, with the help of older people like parents, actually be able to stop themselves falling for coy business marketing? They use evidence from two books that say that yes this is possible. The first is Why TV is Good For Kids by Catherine Lumby and Duncan Fine and the second is It’s Not the Media by Karen Sternheimer. Both books argue that young children can defend themselves from what Mayo and Nairn describe as “profit-hungry business”. Lumby and Fine even take it a step further and suggest that with children being so young they do not remember adverts therefore they could not possibly be influenced.
Chapter 7 then continues this debate by looking at a report made by the American Psychological Association which disagrees with both books and make it very clear that unlike adults, young children lack a high level of cognitive skills. They argue that because of this “children are more vulnerable to advertising than adults.” and therefore, “they do not comprehend commercial messages in the same way as do mature audiences, and, hence are uniquely susceptible to advertising influence.”
This point of view is backed up as the work of development psychologist Jean Piaget is looked at. During the 1960s Piaget established that children’s cognitive skills increase through stages as they grow. As young children grow they, Piaget states, “develop the ability to see the world from the perspective of other people.”
Consumer Kids then delves into research carried out by researchers in consumer socialization that have carried on the work of Piaget and developed his theories. The chapter expands on their work and explains to the reader that children are very vulnerable and can be somewhat influenced by marketing.
Even though television is highly regulated the chapter explains that with expanding technology children are finding new ways to become exposed by adverts such as the internet. The internet is far from being anywhere near regulated as television is and adverts are only looked at on an advert to advert basis. There is not set standard for them and action towards them is not usually carried out until a complaint has been put forward. Such problematic marketing can be found in advergames like Kellogg’s Fruit Loops Toucan Sam game. Advergames are, according to Mayo and Nairn, “interactive computer games paid for by big brands which heavily feature their product.” In the fruit Loop game users have to feed a monster food to earn points. The food on offer is Fruit Loops and pieces of fruit. Sounds straight forward and fun enough but the gamers is awarded 10 points for every Fruit Loop eaten and % points for every piece of fruit. We then learn of and experiment which involved a group of children playing this game and another group that did not. After it all the children were asked what they thought was healthier, Fruit Loops or fruit, they all said fruit. But when both groups were offered both as a snack, over half the group that played the game choose the Fruit Loops compared to only a quarter of the group that had not. What they found after this experiment was that even though children do not think advergames changed their minds they had actually changed the kids behaviour.
The chapter goes on to show more example of this by telling us of other experiments that evolve product placement in movies and showing their effects on kids which showed similar results to the Fruit Loops test.
Nairn and Mayo take children’s advertising to another level and look at Cordelia Fines book A Mind of its Own. Fine has put together covering psychology, neuroscience and marketing research. What she found showed that the power of children’s advertising was so great that children would be effected emotionally by things that would stimulate them and they would not even realise it. Basically what this is saying is that it is not what you say or think it is how you associate it with things in your head. An example given here is that when young men saw a clip of Bruce Willis smoking none of their views had changed on smoking. But for those who looked up to him they made an association with smoking and how they saw themselves.
With such concerning evidence mounting up on the dangers of advertising the chapter looks at legislation and education. For legislation they have a brief look at several countries and find out what they have done. Sweden, for example, have banned adverts to under 12s but companies have found away around it by advertising on UK channels that broadcast in Sweden. The government try to protect their children but the companies want to make as much profit as they can.
For education they look at a few websites set up to educated children in understanding media. However what they found was to very different types of sites. Some had been sponsored by the advertising industry and set about painting a positive image of advertising. Whereas another site, operated by the Food Commission painted a picture of the industry that was that we should question everything about it and that it was dangerous.
The end of the chapter ends by revealing to us that the question that was first asked has evolved into something different which require more debating. This debate would be steered towards the effects of, as Nairn and Mayo say, “marketing which works on children’s emotions at an emotional level.” It suggest that the government needs to step in as they are they as a whole would be able to challenge the issues throughout the whole country. Nairn and Mayo end by putting forward the suggestion that the real issue is whether or not we can make sure, as they say, “children understand advertising messages,” but rather, “how the commercial world with its all embracing, wrap-around presence affects how children feel about themselves and others.”
The journal Children as Consumers: Advertising and Marketing looks at in more detail cognitive development in children and the effects on behaviour after being exposed to advertising such as how they interpret the adverts purpose and if they actually remember what they have just seen.
Just like the book Consumer Kids this journal looks at Jean Piagets theory of cognitive theory, but in slightly more detail and gives us examples of each stage so we can understand better. For example when children are between the ages of two and seven they are in the preoperational stage. At this stage children believe what they are viewing is, so during Christmas they really think Santa is coming to give presents.
The journal then continues to explain the work of Deborah John who created a model, using Piagets theories, of social consumerism. It also looks at the work of Patti Valkenburg and Joanne Cantor who, also using Piagets theories, created their own model of the stages of a child’s consumerism developments.
Calvert then briefly touches on media interaction such as online games. She talks about the positive side of them, like the learning as they play. These games create a conversation with the user but the type of conversation is dependant on that users age. Very young children might think they the character on screen is real whereas someone older can tell the difference between a fictional character and reality. These games evolve as the user plays along so that the messages getting received are tailored to that particular age group. This then allows advertisers the opportunity to bombard children with adverts to buy their brand.
Next we are told, as like the book, that many companies back online sites in which their product can be a part of it. It also goes on to say that the time in between seeing an internet advert and actually purchasing the product is significantly smaller than if viewed on television as they can be taken to an online shop straight away with a simple click. This is a real danger as Calvert believes that shortening in purchasing timescale will “have major implications for children,” because they, “are more vulnerable to commercial messages than adults are.”
Children as Consumers then proceeds to explain how a child understands marketing. This is broken down into 5 subheadings; attention, recognition and retention, comprehension of commercial intent, product requests and purchases and finally advertising exposure and children’s behaviour. Each of these are given a brief description of what they are and how they contribute to encourage children to buy products.
The author loos then at typical behaviour of a child after being exposed to adverts. What was found was the more exposure they had the more wanted and if they were denied this request by their parents the child was more likely to argue with them. Research also found that even if the children know that celebrities were used to make people buy things, if they were exposed to it enough through repeated viewing they would eventually still find themselves wanting it.
Calvert went on to look at research carried out by the National Academies panel that were looking at the link between adverts for food with obesity. She also looked at research from the American Psychological Association that are worried that adverts will turn children into being more materialistic. The problem so far is that younger and younger children are buying things that are usually aimed at people much older than them, like make-up for example.
The journal finishes off by looking at what parents could do to help children understand marketing. Researcher Leonard Reid found that there was 3 ways you could parent with regards to the television. These were co viewing, active mediation and restrictive mediation. Co viewing had little success whilst active and restrictive mediation had some success when it came to certain types of adverts. Reid found however that with restricted viewing there was a smaller chance that children would ask for something.
Both texts where very interesting to read and not knowing much about advertising and psychology I found them as a useful introduction to a new subject to me. Consumer Kids was full of sources and other books that not only supported the authors claims but also gave us a balanced view by hearing the other side of the argument. I appreciated the fact that Nairn and Mayo named the texts they used as I have and opportunity to further my reading on this some what controversial topic. My only slightly negative comment would be that they never had the opportunity to look at points in greater detail, but in all great fairness they only had a chapter to write what could easily become a whole book by itself.
The journal contained much of what I had read in the book and repeated itself by explaining Piagets theories three times, albeit with variations and improvements. Calvert gave us more examples when explaining the more complex ideas which did however help me understand the topic better. This paper was written purely from an American perspective and does not look at advertisement from around the world, which the book does. My biggest complaint about Children as Consumers is that the writer does not tell us anything about the people she talks about and at times we have to guess whether people are researchers. I do not know if she is using their names to help her assumptions or if it is actually their own research.
Next for me I plan to read Consumer Kids in its entirety as I found that single chapter really interesting and has shocked me that these companies can manipulate children at such a young age purely so they will buy the toys they make or the sweets they sell. I would also like to read a few of the book mention in Consumer Kids to get a wider understanding of this topic. This will however have to be put on hold until I can get through the mountain of books that has appeared on my desk recently!
Bibliography
Calvert, Sandra L. (2008). Children as Consumers: Advertising and Marketing. The Future of Children. 18 (1), p214-220.
Gladwell, Malcolm. (2010). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. New York: Abacus.
Mayo, Ed and Nairn, Agnes. (2009). Consumer Kids. London: Constable.
For the previous assignment I had started out searching for any books or journals that looked at eye movement research with respect to children’s television. After a fruitless searches I noticed that children’s advertising kept appearing. Having just watched a Czech Dream, a film about two students opening a fake supermarket, I was already interested in the power of advertising. For this assignment I have chosen to read chapter 7, Who’s Messing with My Mind? from the book Consumer Kids by Ed Mayo and Agnes Nairn and a journal called Children as Consumers: Advertising and Marketing by Sandra L. Calvert.
Chapter 7, Who’s Messing with My Mind looks at how marketing from television adverts and online media can effect young children both consciously and subconsciously. Mayo and Nairn begin by asking the question that if children know how adverts work could they, with the help of older people like parents, actually be able to stop themselves falling for coy business marketing? They use evidence from two books that say that yes this is possible. The first is Why TV is Good For Kids by Catherine Lumby and Duncan Fine and the second is It’s Not the Media by Karen Sternheimer. Both books argue that young children can defend themselves from what Mayo and Nairn describe as “profit-hungry business”. Lumby and Fine even take it a step further and suggest that with children being so young they do not remember adverts therefore they could not possibly be influenced.
Chapter 7 then continues this debate by looking at a report made by the American Psychological Association which disagrees with both books and make it very clear that unlike adults, young children lack a high level of cognitive skills. They argue that because of this “children are more vulnerable to advertising than adults.” and therefore, “they do not comprehend commercial messages in the same way as do mature audiences, and, hence are uniquely susceptible to advertising influence.”
This point of view is backed up as the work of development psychologist Jean Piaget is looked at. During the 1960s Piaget established that children’s cognitive skills increase through stages as they grow. As young children grow they, Piaget states, “develop the ability to see the world from the perspective of other people.”
Consumer Kids then delves into research carried out by researchers in consumer socialization that have carried on the work of Piaget and developed his theories. The chapter expands on their work and explains to the reader that children are very vulnerable and can be somewhat influenced by marketing.
Even though television is highly regulated the chapter explains that with expanding technology children are finding new ways to become exposed by adverts such as the internet. The internet is far from being anywhere near regulated as television is and adverts are only looked at on an advert to advert basis. There is not set standard for them and action towards them is not usually carried out until a complaint has been put forward. Such problematic marketing can be found in advergames like Kellogg’s Fruit Loops Toucan Sam game. Advergames are, according to Mayo and Nairn, “interactive computer games paid for by big brands which heavily feature their product.” In the fruit Loop game users have to feed a monster food to earn points. The food on offer is Fruit Loops and pieces of fruit. Sounds straight forward and fun enough but the gamers is awarded 10 points for every Fruit Loop eaten and % points for every piece of fruit. We then learn of and experiment which involved a group of children playing this game and another group that did not. After it all the children were asked what they thought was healthier, Fruit Loops or fruit, they all said fruit. But when both groups were offered both as a snack, over half the group that played the game choose the Fruit Loops compared to only a quarter of the group that had not. What they found after this experiment was that even though children do not think advergames changed their minds they had actually changed the kids behaviour.
The chapter goes on to show more example of this by telling us of other experiments that evolve product placement in movies and showing their effects on kids which showed similar results to the Fruit Loops test.
Nairn and Mayo take children’s advertising to another level and look at Cordelia Fines book A Mind of its Own. Fine has put together covering psychology, neuroscience and marketing research. What she found showed that the power of children’s advertising was so great that children would be effected emotionally by things that would stimulate them and they would not even realise it. Basically what this is saying is that it is not what you say or think it is how you associate it with things in your head. An example given here is that when young men saw a clip of Bruce Willis smoking none of their views had changed on smoking. But for those who looked up to him they made an association with smoking and how they saw themselves.
With such concerning evidence mounting up on the dangers of advertising the chapter looks at legislation and education. For legislation they have a brief look at several countries and find out what they have done. Sweden, for example, have banned adverts to under 12s but companies have found away around it by advertising on UK channels that broadcast in Sweden. The government try to protect their children but the companies want to make as much profit as they can.
For education they look at a few websites set up to educated children in understanding media. However what they found was to very different types of sites. Some had been sponsored by the advertising industry and set about painting a positive image of advertising. Whereas another site, operated by the Food Commission painted a picture of the industry that was that we should question everything about it and that it was dangerous.
The end of the chapter ends by revealing to us that the question that was first asked has evolved into something different which require more debating. This debate would be steered towards the effects of, as Nairn and Mayo say, “marketing which works on children’s emotions at an emotional level.” It suggest that the government needs to step in as they are they as a whole would be able to challenge the issues throughout the whole country. Nairn and Mayo end by putting forward the suggestion that the real issue is whether or not we can make sure, as they say, “children understand advertising messages,” but rather, “how the commercial world with its all embracing, wrap-around presence affects how children feel about themselves and others.”
The journal Children as Consumers: Advertising and Marketing looks at in more detail cognitive development in children and the effects on behaviour after being exposed to advertising such as how they interpret the adverts purpose and if they actually remember what they have just seen.
Just like the book Consumer Kids this journal looks at Jean Piagets theory of cognitive theory, but in slightly more detail and gives us examples of each stage so we can understand better. For example when children are between the ages of two and seven they are in the preoperational stage. At this stage children believe what they are viewing is, so during Christmas they really think Santa is coming to give presents.
The journal then continues to explain the work of Deborah John who created a model, using Piagets theories, of social consumerism. It also looks at the work of Patti Valkenburg and Joanne Cantor who, also using Piagets theories, created their own model of the stages of a child’s consumerism developments.
Calvert then briefly touches on media interaction such as online games. She talks about the positive side of them, like the learning as they play. These games create a conversation with the user but the type of conversation is dependant on that users age. Very young children might think they the character on screen is real whereas someone older can tell the difference between a fictional character and reality. These games evolve as the user plays along so that the messages getting received are tailored to that particular age group. This then allows advertisers the opportunity to bombard children with adverts to buy their brand.
Next we are told, as like the book, that many companies back online sites in which their product can be a part of it. It also goes on to say that the time in between seeing an internet advert and actually purchasing the product is significantly smaller than if viewed on television as they can be taken to an online shop straight away with a simple click. This is a real danger as Calvert believes that shortening in purchasing timescale will “have major implications for children,” because they, “are more vulnerable to commercial messages than adults are.”
Children as Consumers then proceeds to explain how a child understands marketing. This is broken down into 5 subheadings; attention, recognition and retention, comprehension of commercial intent, product requests and purchases and finally advertising exposure and children’s behaviour. Each of these are given a brief description of what they are and how they contribute to encourage children to buy products.
The author loos then at typical behaviour of a child after being exposed to adverts. What was found was the more exposure they had the more wanted and if they were denied this request by their parents the child was more likely to argue with them. Research also found that even if the children know that celebrities were used to make people buy things, if they were exposed to it enough through repeated viewing they would eventually still find themselves wanting it.
Calvert went on to look at research carried out by the National Academies panel that were looking at the link between adverts for food with obesity. She also looked at research from the American Psychological Association that are worried that adverts will turn children into being more materialistic. The problem so far is that younger and younger children are buying things that are usually aimed at people much older than them, like make-up for example.
The journal finishes off by looking at what parents could do to help children understand marketing. Researcher Leonard Reid found that there was 3 ways you could parent with regards to the television. These were co viewing, active mediation and restrictive mediation. Co viewing had little success whilst active and restrictive mediation had some success when it came to certain types of adverts. Reid found however that with restricted viewing there was a smaller chance that children would ask for something.
Both texts where very interesting to read and not knowing much about advertising and psychology I found them as a useful introduction to a new subject to me. Consumer Kids was full of sources and other books that not only supported the authors claims but also gave us a balanced view by hearing the other side of the argument. I appreciated the fact that Nairn and Mayo named the texts they used as I have and opportunity to further my reading on this some what controversial topic. My only slightly negative comment would be that they never had the opportunity to look at points in greater detail, but in all great fairness they only had a chapter to write what could easily become a whole book by itself.
The journal contained much of what I had read in the book and repeated itself by explaining Piagets theories three times, albeit with variations and improvements. Calvert gave us more examples when explaining the more complex ideas which did however help me understand the topic better. This paper was written purely from an American perspective and does not look at advertisement from around the world, which the book does. My biggest complaint about Children as Consumers is that the writer does not tell us anything about the people she talks about and at times we have to guess whether people are researchers. I do not know if she is using their names to help her assumptions or if it is actually their own research.
Next for me I plan to read Consumer Kids in its entirety as I found that single chapter really interesting and has shocked me that these companies can manipulate children at such a young age purely so they will buy the toys they make or the sweets they sell. I would also like to read a few of the book mention in Consumer Kids to get a wider understanding of this topic. This will however have to be put on hold until I can get through the mountain of books that has appeared on my desk recently!
Bibliography
Calvert, Sandra L. (2008). Children as Consumers: Advertising and Marketing. The Future of Children. 18 (1), p214-220.
Gladwell, Malcolm. (2010). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. New York: Abacus.
Mayo, Ed and Nairn, Agnes. (2009). Consumer Kids. London: Constable.
Assignment 3
For assignment 3 we were asked to look for 5 journals for jewellery and another 5 for general design that are available to us in our own library at Duncan of Jordanston (DoJ). We were also asked to compile a list of websites that were for jewellery design and another list of useful website that could aid us in our studies.
Jewellery Journals
Craft Arts International Review
Metalsmith
Goldsmith’s Review
MJSA
Lapidary Jewellery
Design Journals
ICON
International Journal of Design
New Design
Cabinet
The Design Journal
Jewellery Websites
www.klimto2.net
www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk
www.craftscotland.org
www.dazzle-exhibitions.com
www.new-designers.com
Design and other Useful Websites
www.newscientist.com
www.notcot.com
www.guardian.com
www.designcouncil.org.uk
www.iconeye.com
This assignment also introduced us to the library's cross search system that allows us to be quite specific when we require journals or books for essay and seminars. It also allows us to cover a wide range of subjects, like medicine for example, that might be involved with our own discipline. We have had a few lectures recently that by people who are say jewellers by trade and are working with medical care or hospitals to help improve peoples quality of life.
To get us into the hang of using the system our lecturer, Jonathan Baldwin (JB), asked us to search out journals and books that would be connected to a topic that we were interested in from the chapter we picked in assignment 1. We would then use the cross search system to find the material we require. After we had completed this we were then required to put the list into a bibliography in the Harvard system used in the university.
Bibliography
Calvert, Sandra L. (2008). Children as Consumers: Advertising and Marketing. The Future of Children. 18 (1), p214-220.
Gladwell, Malcolm. (2010). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. New York: Abacus.
Kilbourne, Jean (2000). Can’t Buy me Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel. New York. Touchstone.
Lindstrom, Martin (2003). Brand Child. London. Kogan Page.
Mayo, Ed and Nairn, Agnes. (2009). Consumer Kids. London: Constable.
Pieters, Rik and Wedel, Michel (2008). Visual Marketing. New York. Lawernce Erlbaum Associates.
Schor, Juliet B (2005) Born to Buy. New York. Scribner.
Jewellery Journals
Craft Arts International Review
Metalsmith
Goldsmith’s Review
MJSA
Lapidary Jewellery
Design Journals
ICON
International Journal of Design
New Design
Cabinet
The Design Journal
Jewellery Websites
www.klimto2.net
www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk
www.craftscotland.org
www.dazzle-exhibitions.com
www.new-designers.com
Design and other Useful Websites
www.newscientist.com
www.notcot.com
www.guardian.com
www.designcouncil.org.uk
www.iconeye.com
This assignment also introduced us to the library's cross search system that allows us to be quite specific when we require journals or books for essay and seminars. It also allows us to cover a wide range of subjects, like medicine for example, that might be involved with our own discipline. We have had a few lectures recently that by people who are say jewellers by trade and are working with medical care or hospitals to help improve peoples quality of life.
To get us into the hang of using the system our lecturer, Jonathan Baldwin (JB), asked us to search out journals and books that would be connected to a topic that we were interested in from the chapter we picked in assignment 1. We would then use the cross search system to find the material we require. After we had completed this we were then required to put the list into a bibliography in the Harvard system used in the university.
Bibliography
Calvert, Sandra L. (2008). Children as Consumers: Advertising and Marketing. The Future of Children. 18 (1), p214-220.
Journal looking at the effects that advertising has on the behaviour of children. It looks at both television and online marketing schemes and looks closely at new stealth advertising techniques that the author feels that children and to some extent adults are venerable to.
Gladwell, Malcolm. (2010). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. New York: Abacus.
Book that we have been reading throughout first semester. Looks at the Malcolm Gladwell’s research into the ‘tipping point’. A moment when a situation or idea tips and spreads like a disease.
Kilbourne, Jean (2000). Can’t Buy me Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel. New York. Touchstone.
Book that looks into the world of advertising and marketing. It gives us an insight into how much businesses know about human weakness and how they use this knowledge to make them profits.
Lindstrom, Martin (2003). Brand Child. London. Kogan Page.
This book looks at how children identify with brands and what their relationship with them is. It gives the reader useful tips and advise on how to create a brand children will go for. This book is the opposite of the other material as it gives the reader advice on how to sell to children. Interesting book as it is like seeing the argument from the opposite point of view.
Mayo, Ed and Nairn, Agnes. (2009). Consumer Kids. London: Constable.
This book looks at the techniques used in the marketing industry. Looks into television advertising and the increasing amount of child orientated adverts that are appearing on the internet. The book looks deeper into the psychology of advertising and what effect this has on children. Very good book, filled with plenty of sources and opportunities to further your reading into this topic.
Pieters, Rik and Wedel, Michel (2008). Visual Marketing. New York. Lawernce Erlbaum Associates.
Book that looks at visual marketing and where it is headed to in the future.
Schor, Juliet B (2005) Born to Buy. New York. Scribner.
This books looks into the research carried out by Juliet Schor on how children are bombarded with a mass amount of adverts and marketing that they are turning into materialistic children. The book then goes into looking at what effect this will have on these children as the grow.
I originally started looking at eye movement research with respect to children's television but then changed to looking at children and advertising after I struggled to get any material that was specific to what I was looking for.
Assignment 2
For our second assignment we were asked to get together with other people from our seminar groups who had chosen to do mind map the same chapter as ourselves (The Stickiness Factor in my case) . Once we were all together we had to brainstorm all the ways in which the things we had produced for our Stickiness Factor mind maps would relate to our own discipline (jewellery and metalsmith design).
I have never really been a huge fan of group work in the past but this was really fun and we got to work with people we perhaps never had talked to as much previously. It seemed to be as much about team building and working as a group as it was to come up with our conclusions. Once we had finished sticking our thoughts on post-it notes and covering the wall we then created a new mind map from this exercise.
kirtsy and me
cat and sam
brainstorming
post it notes are so handy
mind map on design and stickness factor
I have never really been a huge fan of group work in the past but this was really fun and we got to work with people we perhaps never had talked to as much previously. It seemed to be as much about team building and working as a group as it was to come up with our conclusions. Once we had finished sticking our thoughts on post-it notes and covering the wall we then created a new mind map from this exercise.
kirtsy and me
cat and sam
brainstorming
post it notes are so handy
mind map on design and stickness factorAssignment 1
For the first semester of design studies we have been asked to read Malcolm Gladwell's book The Tipping Point. It looks at the research he carried out into the ‘tipping point’. A moment when a situation or idea tips and spreads like a disease.
For the first assignment we have been asked to mind map the whole book and pick a chapter of our choice to mind map in more detail. I have chosen to do the chapter on the Stickiness Factor.The final thing we were asked to do was to create a bibliography of the sources used within ourchosen chapter and produce them in the Harvard method of referencing.
mind map of tipping point
mind map of stickness factor chapter
Bibliography
Anderson, D and Lorch, E (1983). Look at Television: Action or Reaction? Children’s Understanding of Television: Research on Attention and Comprehension. New York. Academic Press. Page 100
Flagg, B (1982) Formative Evaluation of Sesame Street Using Eye Movement Photography. Experimental Research in Televised Instruction. Montreal, Canada. Concordie Records Vol 5
Markman, E (1989) Categorization and Naming in Children. Cambridge. Page 115
Nelson, K (1989) Narratives From the Crib. Cambridge: Harvard. Page 118
Palmer, E (1972) Formative Research in Educational Television Production: The Experience of CTW Quality in Instructional Television. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii 165-187 Page 102
For the first assignment we have been asked to mind map the whole book and pick a chapter of our choice to mind map in more detail. I have chosen to do the chapter on the Stickiness Factor.The final thing we were asked to do was to create a bibliography of the sources used within ourchosen chapter and produce them in the Harvard method of referencing.
mind map of tipping point
mind map of stickness factor chapterAnderson, D and Lorch, E (1983). Look at Television: Action or Reaction? Children’s Understanding of Television: Research on Attention and Comprehension. New York. Academic Press. Page 100
Tests carried out to see what would take children’s
attention away from watching television
and what could keep it.
attention away from watching television
and what could keep it.
Flagg, B (1982) Formative Evaluation of Sesame Street Using Eye Movement Photography. Experimental Research in Televised Instruction. Montreal, Canada. Concordie Records Vol 5
Tests that would work out if children were absorbing
the information given to them. It proved however that
they were more interested in the Muppet Oscar the Grouch.
the information given to them. It proved however that
they were more interested in the Muppet Oscar the Grouch.
Markman, E (1989) Categorization and Naming in Children. Cambridge. Page 115
Explains that children as they learn associate a word
with the object (e.g. elephant is and elephant)
but get easily confused when extra words are used
to describe it (e.g. an elephant can be described as big).
with the object (e.g. elephant is and elephant)
but get easily confused when extra words are used
to describe it (e.g. an elephant can be described as big).
Nelson, K (1989) Narratives From the Crib. Cambridge: Harvard. Page 118
Project that followed a pre-schooler called Emily and the
recordings her parents made of her talking in her sleep.
What the results found was that Emily was having significantly
more advanced conversations with herself that with her parents.
recordings her parents made of her talking in her sleep.
What the results found was that Emily was having significantly
more advanced conversations with herself that with her parents.
Palmer, E (1972) Formative Research in Educational Television Production: The Experience of CTW Quality in Instructional Television. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii 165-187 Page 102
Test called the Distracter that would show whether what was
being shown on television was actually being viewed by the
people watching it or a series of slides playing next to it.
being shown on television was actually being viewed by the
people watching it or a series of slides playing next to it.
Friday, 26 November 2010
Christmas Spirit: Why We Buy
Just come from an interesting lecture from Jonathan about shopping and to some it up a little bit it was getting us to look more at the reasons we buy. To begin with we all had to think of a toy that we most remember from Christmas, mine being a bright red tractor and trailer, and how much we thought it would cost in today's money. After several show of hands we concluded that they would be in the more expensive range of toys. Jonathan then asked us what present we held dearest, mine was a Dundee FC pillow my grandparents gave me which still sits on my bed! We again had to think about the price. This time however after a few sheepish show of hands we found that these presents tended to be at the lower end of the price range. Interesting as it shows that it does not have to be something super expensive that can touch people (think I shall re-work my Christmas list for the family ha ha).
The lecture group was showing a video of children from about 8 to 12 and their attitudes to shopping as regards to clothing and appearance. We all laughed and cringed at what they had to say, forgetting that we were all just as bad...some probably still the same! What really got to me and at times made me angry was that these children feel they need the clothes they wear just so they fit in and do not get bullied. Rather than just want the clothes because they think they are cool these children are doing it out of survival from the pressures from the playground. True children can be so cruel, we have all been on one side or the other at one time, but surely we as parents, guardians, teachers, older siblings and even role models have a duty to teach these children that its OK to look different. One thing that open my eyes was the excuses the parents gave for their children to be like this, which I have to say shocked and at time upset me a little.
Watching the documentary I could totally relate to what they were saying, going back, not to long ago, to when I was at school. Thinking about it I still do it now and again, buying things I would not have thought of buying because they are in fashion. Take for example the Barbour diamond puff jackets that are usually seen worn buy farmers are now spotted everywhere from babies to teenagers to junkies. I will be the first to put my hand up and say I would never be caught dead in one years ago yet the other day I found myself keen on buying one. Why? Was it because everyone else is? Is it because now that somebody had the confidence to pull one on with jeans that now I find them acceptable? I am going to explore the ideas in this post in a bit more detail once I have gathered my thoughts.
The lecture group was showing a video of children from about 8 to 12 and their attitudes to shopping as regards to clothing and appearance. We all laughed and cringed at what they had to say, forgetting that we were all just as bad...some probably still the same! What really got to me and at times made me angry was that these children feel they need the clothes they wear just so they fit in and do not get bullied. Rather than just want the clothes because they think they are cool these children are doing it out of survival from the pressures from the playground. True children can be so cruel, we have all been on one side or the other at one time, but surely we as parents, guardians, teachers, older siblings and even role models have a duty to teach these children that its OK to look different. One thing that open my eyes was the excuses the parents gave for their children to be like this, which I have to say shocked and at time upset me a little.
Watching the documentary I could totally relate to what they were saying, going back, not to long ago, to when I was at school. Thinking about it I still do it now and again, buying things I would not have thought of buying because they are in fashion. Take for example the Barbour diamond puff jackets that are usually seen worn buy farmers are now spotted everywhere from babies to teenagers to junkies. I will be the first to put my hand up and say I would never be caught dead in one years ago yet the other day I found myself keen on buying one. Why? Was it because everyone else is? Is it because now that somebody had the confidence to pull one on with jeans that now I find them acceptable? I am going to explore the ideas in this post in a bit more detail once I have gathered my thoughts.
Friday, 5 November 2010
Making Things Make Sense
I have just come back from this weeks lecture that was taken by the head of the Masters course at DoJ, Hazel White. White is a jeweller who studied at DoJ so I had a feeling that I could get some of my questions answered by being there. Like all the lectures this year is was not going to be a boring slide show of past work but rather a vehicle to inspire us, make us ask question about what we are being told and also make us look ourselves and our work.
We were given a brief insight into her past whilst at the Royal College of Art, one piece which she herself said asked the question of people behaviour once seeing the piece and how they would interact with it. I have only been studying jewellery since the September and ever since Jonathan asked us the question about what our designs do to make a difference to others (ill try elaborate this later when i make a bigger post!) I have had a real conflict about where I, as a jewellery designer, draw the line between making beautiful pieces for simple vanity and decoration or to conjure up something that will have a lasting effect on someones life no matter how small that could be. Jonathan!!!! I have lost countless hours of sleep because of this!
White spoke about several projects that she had been involved with such as a necklace that through colour recognition software would allow the wearer to access videos online. She also showed us a necklace and ring that emitted light that you could use to create a unique piece of jewellery online which would become the pieces "second life" almost. The piece live in the real world but also lives in another reality. Can not say that I was very impressed by this for what I was showing. The problem I had with this, and I have just spent a good bit of time having a discussion with my friend from graphics who was at the lecture about this, was that technology exists out there already to access videos and photographs online so why would you require and additional object to allow you to do this??? I could not get my head round this project at all.
For my next blog I will expand on the next few projects which I found really spoke to me and partly answered my question of where I draw the line on vanity and helping others (see earlier). White was involved with a projects that gave a group of people a pack with nine charms in it that they could make there own bracket or key ring from. They were given a book to write their thoughts and what the thought about each charm. This was really interesting and also a little bit heart felt at the same time. Another project she did was the Hamefarer box. This was for people of Shetland that could keep up to date with there family and friends who had left home and lived/worked else where. More for the older generation who did not need to understand how a computer works or what Flikr was, it enabled them to see photographs from their loved ones. Hazel White also showed us a couple of simple diagrams about baby monitors and tracking devices that we can buy and asked us if they caused more harm for the parent and pondered if another subtle object, say a necklace, that would warn them that their child is in need of assistance.
White answered a question about actually making a piece,asked as she had used an already made locket to make the light emitting necklace, and said that it was only bought because it meant she could move the project on within a matter of days instead of taking a month to make the necklace. This was understandable but she made the point that anybody could do this, where as trained people with a specialism, jeweller in this case, could only have made a good quality necklace. Again this was fair enough but when she talked about the specialism becoming a hobby instead of an actual job (it did not come out quite like this but it is how I'm interpreting it) it through up another question when I was leaving the hall that does Hazel White still make pretty pieces of jewellery for friends, family and clients or is she exclusive to making and researching pieces that also offer more to people? This again comes back to where you draw the line. If she just makes pieces to help others (to put it so crudely) does she not still make simple jewellery and if she does then surely that can be seen as a hobby??
After writing this I am beginning to think that that might not be such a bad thing and that we can all do both. I am studying jewellery because I like to make things and I have a slight obsession with miniature objects. My own passion for it has grown since studying it but inside there is a conflict burning away. Can I feed both fires with my work or will I have to pick on road to travel down? I guess time and my own exploration will tell.
We were given a brief insight into her past whilst at the Royal College of Art, one piece which she herself said asked the question of people behaviour once seeing the piece and how they would interact with it. I have only been studying jewellery since the September and ever since Jonathan asked us the question about what our designs do to make a difference to others (ill try elaborate this later when i make a bigger post!) I have had a real conflict about where I, as a jewellery designer, draw the line between making beautiful pieces for simple vanity and decoration or to conjure up something that will have a lasting effect on someones life no matter how small that could be. Jonathan!!!! I have lost countless hours of sleep because of this!
White spoke about several projects that she had been involved with such as a necklace that through colour recognition software would allow the wearer to access videos online. She also showed us a necklace and ring that emitted light that you could use to create a unique piece of jewellery online which would become the pieces "second life" almost. The piece live in the real world but also lives in another reality. Can not say that I was very impressed by this for what I was showing. The problem I had with this, and I have just spent a good bit of time having a discussion with my friend from graphics who was at the lecture about this, was that technology exists out there already to access videos and photographs online so why would you require and additional object to allow you to do this??? I could not get my head round this project at all.
For my next blog I will expand on the next few projects which I found really spoke to me and partly answered my question of where I draw the line on vanity and helping others (see earlier). White was involved with a projects that gave a group of people a pack with nine charms in it that they could make there own bracket or key ring from. They were given a book to write their thoughts and what the thought about each charm. This was really interesting and also a little bit heart felt at the same time. Another project she did was the Hamefarer box. This was for people of Shetland that could keep up to date with there family and friends who had left home and lived/worked else where. More for the older generation who did not need to understand how a computer works or what Flikr was, it enabled them to see photographs from their loved ones. Hazel White also showed us a couple of simple diagrams about baby monitors and tracking devices that we can buy and asked us if they caused more harm for the parent and pondered if another subtle object, say a necklace, that would warn them that their child is in need of assistance.
White answered a question about actually making a piece,asked as she had used an already made locket to make the light emitting necklace, and said that it was only bought because it meant she could move the project on within a matter of days instead of taking a month to make the necklace. This was understandable but she made the point that anybody could do this, where as trained people with a specialism, jeweller in this case, could only have made a good quality necklace. Again this was fair enough but when she talked about the specialism becoming a hobby instead of an actual job (it did not come out quite like this but it is how I'm interpreting it) it through up another question when I was leaving the hall that does Hazel White still make pretty pieces of jewellery for friends, family and clients or is she exclusive to making and researching pieces that also offer more to people? This again comes back to where you draw the line. If she just makes pieces to help others (to put it so crudely) does she not still make simple jewellery and if she does then surely that can be seen as a hobby??
After writing this I am beginning to think that that might not be such a bad thing and that we can all do both. I am studying jewellery because I like to make things and I have a slight obsession with miniature objects. My own passion for it has grown since studying it but inside there is a conflict burning away. Can I feed both fires with my work or will I have to pick on road to travel down? I guess time and my own exploration will tell.
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