COP: AUDIENCES

An Introduction to Research Methods in Graphic Design, by Ian Noble & Russel Bestley:

Chapter 6: Audience and Message:

§  Within communication, we not only think about our role as communicators but also about the viewers who construct a meaning from what we communicate – the active audience.

§  This empowers the audience and individuals. Can be problematic, as what the client and designer want to communicate can sometimes not be recognised.

§  Problematic relationship with client, as they may have an idea of what they want to be communicated, how and to who. The designer must educate the client, and the primary concern of the designer is to communicate with the target audience.

§  Not just about collecting images for inspiration but having a method for how the designer is going to use these images - Audience-centric focus.

§  “Process school” design work and how it is coded (what means is it presented through, eg magazine) and how is it decoded by the audience: Passive approach – what the designer means will be interpreted exactly by the audience.

§  “Semiotic school” borrows its practise from linguistics. Anything that represents something in one context can be interpreted differently in another.  

§  Brand loyalty: Understanding of specific type of audience is important so that the audience has it incorporated into their everyday life and identity

An introduction to Information Design, by Kathryn Coates & Andy Ellison:

Chapter 2: Information Design for Specific audiences

§  User experience is important way of seeing how usable things are, particularly the functionality.

§  Messages within design can feed into toxic ideologies and concepts – it’s important to consider semiotics of design to ensure messages are positive and non-assumptive

VISUAL (TEXTUAL) ANALYSIS

-explores how images may be interpreted by specific people

-concerned with visual “grammar” of the image and how it can relate or influence its interpretation

-Nothing can be done with a text, or a piece of graphic design, until the context concerning it is understood or acknowledged

-Three levels of context to understand:

              1. The rest of the text

2. The genre of the text: Genres are like codes that producers and audiences use to communicate to each other

              3. The wider public context in which the text is circulated

SEMIOTICS:

§  Semiotics is great way of looking at communication: how meaning is constructed through languages (spoken, visual, written and so on)

§  It reduces communication to “sign systems”

§  Representation occurs between the encoding (communicator) and the decoding (audience) of the text

§  Sign = signifier (the word, an image etc.) This works by being contextually specific, as meanings are socially constructed and subject to change

https://gdblogs.shu.ac.uk/b2003536/wp-content/uploads/sites/346/2014/10/Saussure.jpg

Considerations:

-Age

-Sex/Gender – traits, roles, expectations, femininity, masculinity, non-binary

-Race/ethnicity – ethnic practises, culture, religion

-Class – socio-economic, money issues, social resources, class cultures

-Occupation – blue collar, white collar, students, professionals, work vs leisure

-Geography – global, regional, communities, locale, place

TASK: Textual Analysis of Editorial and Publishing Work:

LEFT ALONE ZINE

 

-          About a journey – text is on a path. Could be tracing of an island, or path of a ferry. First image could be where the ferry left from, or the first destination, and last picture the end destination. The designer does not want the viewer to understand and immediately know these things and so does not make it clear, forcing the viewer to actively think and interpret their own opinions and ideas about it.

-          Writing can be recognised as making the shape of a shoe to present a journey.

-          This helps the pages become interactive, and suitable for an audience made up of art and design fanatics and professionals who enjoy looking at designs and want to be able to question the meaning of the work

-          The page numbers are universal: because they are situated at the bottoms of the pages, the viewer will assume the numbers present where in the zine the pages are.

-          The meanings of the photos are subjective, but the content in this case is objective. Additionally, the relationship between the images and text are subjective.

Modernism and Post modernism

Modernism was a movement that was shaped by huge technological changes in Western society, occurring in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. A pinnacle point was the invention of the steam engine, which had a catalyst effect on all elements of Western society: These new technologies drove the economy and so those who owned them became a new ruling class, undermining the power of the monarchy. The working people also gained power also through for example trade unions, and secularisation occurred.  Mass manufacturing and consumption drove society towards a philosophy concerning belief not in people, but in machines and objects. In art, designers and artists moved towards new ways of creating and different perspectives; they embraced science and progress and believed embedding these into cultural works would improve the world. Through experimentation and expression, they rejected tradition. Graphic designers saw ornamental design as a crime, stating the most important element as functionality. Post world war 2, modernism was no longer about expressionism and experimentation, but about change and order, driven by the peoples’ desire for an end to chaos and something new.

 

-          Uses a grid system

-          Colour-blocking, no gradient

-          Minimalistic typeface

-          More about function than form

-          Abstract illustration

Modernism came to an end as people became cynical of the values the movement presented. They felt rationality, functionality and order was no longer helping society to progress as it might have done at the start. Modernism had also been giving a large voice to fascists who had a large involvement in the Brutalist and Futurism movements.

Post Modernism appeared under the philosophy of “Anything Goes”. As Graphic Designer Paula Scher comments, it was “not about creating order but about creating spirit”. Post modernism was characterised by a release from constrain and an absences of thinking things must be designed and created with a political and social sense. Designers believed there are no absolutes in art and started to question functionality. Elements of post modernism include historicity, as some argue it is made up of appropriating ideas from other cultures and traditions to commodify them. The increase in visual communication also drove hyperreality, in which Jean Baudrillard argues people were being surrounded by so many images at once that once they were presented with a new one, they would only understand it through referencing to other images and information. 

-          Chaotic

-          Follows a loose grid system

-          Bright colours

-          Expressive

-          Does not place function as predominant element

-          Mixed media

HELVETICA Movie

Helvetica became a popular typeface used worldwide because of its clear, clean-cut modern and legible qualities. Following the 50s, designers wanted to rebuild a new world that was more open; to produce design that was accessible to everyone. It is a neutral typeface and therefore can be used in infinite ways and for infinite purposes. As Jonathon Hoeflar comments, it allows open interpretation and it can say both nothing and everything. Companies using this typeface are made to appear “accountable”, “accessible” and “transparent” (Leslie Savan), which pulls people in and makes them feel comfortable. At the same time, I do agree with Erik Spierkermann’s point, that “types are brands”, and therefore with such a neutral typeface the brand’s personality and character is reduced and the company therefore becomes less memorable. I feel that typography is a craft that should be utilised. The role of the designer is to play around, manipulate and develop. Type on a poster vs type made for an underground system for example are both created with different means in mind. One must draw the attention of passer-bys, while the other should remain simple, non-distracting and clear as to help inform people quickly.

ERIK SPIEKERMANN

I love the variety of typefaces used by Erik Spikermann in his pieces of work. These designs have more character and personality because the typefaces have been carefully thought through and created to provoke particular emotions. Helvetica would not produce such a strong reaction as it creates a feeling of contained and functional. For these reasons I also like the work of design studio Europa founded by Mia Frostner and Robert Sollis. Their project on the relationship between public spaces and people involved a typeface that uses waves and portrays constant movement, an emphasis on the flow of people alongside traffic.

Importance of context in Graphic Design:

Context of Practise is:

- historical place of the design

- what the design is used for

- audience it’s meant for

- social, political and cultural situation that each target audience live in

The context briefing emphasised the importance of understanding that the purpose of Graphic Design is not only to make things appear aesthetically pleasing, but that it is also a means of involving yourself in communicating a message about important events, ideas or elements in life that you are intrigued or have something to say about. For example, Emmet Mcbain’s poster called ‘Black is Beautiful’ produced in 1968 was one of the first in advertising to stand and make the point that black people are a unique target audience in their own right and should not be ignored or grouped with white people. The poster has a strong voice because of its strong design with the reiterations and bold font, a large contrast to various pieces of work I viewed which were based on skeuomorphism, a new definition and outdated graphic design tool I learnt about today. This opposition towards skeuomorphism was also mentioned under Massimo Vignelli in that he believes type should not be expressive at all, while some people will “write ‘dog’ [and think] it should bark.” These two examples helped me understand that there are to an extent, wrong ways and right ways of working, in that some particular methods no longer pull in an audience or undermine the strength of communication as the social, cultural, political and technological contemporary situations change over time.

MODULAR TYPOGRAPHY

systems divided into smaller parts

Design Approach

Interesting that some modular types place emphasis on the system from which they were designed, such as the circular typeface, while others erase the evidence of how it is structured. I feel the typefaces that maintain their systems as part of the type’s composition are the most engaging as it not only shows an aesthetically pleasing type, but also the process from which it was created from. This makes the viewer appreciate the type far more. Between the 2D and the 3D types, I also feel the extra dimension in latter brings another layer to the type and therefore also makes it more interactive and intriguing for someone to play with. This also helps the viewer understand the type face more, as they create it themselves with the system the designer has produced.

It might be handy to play around with different graph papers, such as hexagonal paper, logarithmic paper or 3D graph paper as a way of introducing myself to how I can produce type through these. From there could experiment with making these into a 3D system? 

Many of the modular types I have seen rely on the use of lines and simple positive space, inverting this idea and focussing more on negative space in this project may make it harder and therefore an interesting challenge. I think negative space also enables the typeface to be of a more bold and distinct quality, which makes it a louder outcome – a style I really like.