Study Task 1 - Century of The Self

Top 10 most important points raised in Adam Curtis’s documentary ‘Century of the Self’ ;

- The Corporations and Government uses Freud’s theory to control mass crowd. 

- Edward Bernay’s. First person to take Freud’s ideas and manipulate the masses. Showing American corporations that they could link American goods to human desires and sales. 

- At the end of the 19th Century, America was industrialized. Bernay’s turned to his uncles psychoanalysis theories. He wanted to make money by manipulating the unconscious. He played on the humans irrational emotions. 

- Governments starting to use this to make it more serious and political. The power of controlling people’s instincts is ceased upon by the government.

- The American industry was afraid of over production. Will people have enough goods to just stop buying?

- Creating a false need for desirable objects to generate profit from the masses. The crisis of overproduction, producing too many goods. So making people believe they need these products that they have spare from production to keep the profit going.

- The American government created a system about tapping into peoples desires and tricked into buying these things to make a better life when actually it didn’t. The system creates wealth for the powers but not for the public.

- Democracy through consumerism. We believe that we are free because we can purchase different things such as a car, porn, clothing but that is a trick that has been laid down by PR. It’s like a drug that keeps us docile even though our lives are actually pretty shit. We are creating wealth for those in power but think that our needs are getting what we want which makes us temporarily happy.

- Bernays created many techniques of mass production which we live with today. Such as linking products with famous film stars and also product placement. He dressed stars in clothes and jewellery linked to his companies so that the masses would have a desire to  be like their idols. 

Relate these points to a critical analysis of one image from the mass media which, in particular, focuses on the nature of consumerism, desire and the unconscious ; 

I chose to look at this Dolce & Gabbana perfume advertisment from the last few years to show how all these points raised in 'The Century of the Self' can be applied to a very modern day context. 

The main point linking this to the documentry is techniques orginally used by Bernays to manipulate the masses based on Freud's theories. In this case, the use of a celebrity makes the masses have a strong desire to be like their idol. This is something that Bernays did, linking celebrities to all of his companies for this exact reason.

Another point is that the advert and product itself makes us believe that we are free because we can purchase it if we want to, but again as mentioned in the documentry, this is a trick that has been laid down by PR. It’s like a drug that keeps us docile even though our lives are actually pretty bad. We are creating wealth for those in power but think that our needs are getting what we want which makes us temporarily happy.

The ad is also very sexual and linking the perfume to sexual activity. This again relates to our desires and animalistic sexual drive which is uncontrollable according to Freud's dream experiments.  It will make both men want to buy it for their partner and women want to buy it to satisfy their desire for sex, even thought hat isn't the case, it's jut perfume.

Seminar One - Study Task One

List the Ten most important points raised in Adam Curtis’s documentary ‘Century of the self’.

Relate these points to a critical analysis of one image from the mass media which, in particular, focuses on the nature of consumerism, desire and the unconscious. The advert can be something from now or could be a TV show etc. 

Think about the False needs, our actual desires, our instincts and Freud’s notion of the unconscious. You can use cigarette advertising if you wish...

10 Important Points Raised


1. Edward Bernays. First person to take Freud’s ideas and manipulate the masses. Showing American corporations that they could link American goods to human desires and sales. At the end of the 19th Century, America was industrialized. Bernay’s turned to his uncles psychoanalysis theories. He wanted to make money by manipulating the unconscious. He played on the humans irrational emotions.

2. His most dramatic experiment was to persuade women to smoke. At the time there was a taboo about women smoking in public being frowned upon, so the company asked Bernay’s to find a way about breaking it. Bernays was told by a PA that the cigarette was a symbol of the penis. He said that women could have their own penis by smoking, symbolically.

3. The women of an event protested by lighting ‘their torches of freedom’ being a cigarette. Bernay’s knew that the press would be there, so he promoted this phrase to encourage women to smoke. They could have FREEDOM! The women are ‘HOLDING UP THE TORCH’. This was all over the world by the next day.

4. From this Bernays found that by linking products to people feelings and desires, this could increase the sales. Products could become a massive statement that somebody makes. The idea of an emotional connection with a product.

5. The corporations realised that they had to change how Americans thought about products. They must shift American from a needs to a desire culture. Create a new mentality that a man’s desires should overshadow his needs. The man at the centre of this change was Bernays. He created many techniques of mass production which we live with today. Such as linking products with famous film stars and also product placement. He dressed stars in clothes and jewellery linked to his companies so that the masses would have a desire to  be like their idols.

6. In the 1920’s,  a new idea of how to run democracy was in place.  The government would make people happy and docile to create a feel good factor which will not alter the circumstances but peoples outlooks on it. Bernay’s wanted to maintain the power over the masses by altering the publics physiological state even though their lives where the same.

7. Saatchi & Saatchi's campaign for cigarettes in the late 80's  focussed on two hidden human impulses … EROS and THANATOS which is… EROS – pro create, to have children, to be free, to live a full life and THANATOS – the desire to kill, self destruction, mess everything up. Drug addictions and the rock and roll lifestyle are physiological connected to this. We know something is wrong but our ‘death’ instinct is taking over.

8. Other Key Freudian Concepts are... Oral Fixation (nipple substitute), Vagina Denata and Penis Envy.

9. 

Critical Analysis of the Got Milk? Campaign 

I chose to focus on the got milk? campaign of adverts which was created by Goodby Silverstein and Partners in October 1993 and has spanned across 19 years in America,  proving to be one of the most successful and influential campaigns in American history. After looking into various different adverts of the 70's, 80's and 90's this particular campaign is the one that stood out the most to me to have Freudian concepts hidden away within it. After analysing the image on a deeper level, I can also start to unpick some of Bernays' concepts that have been used throughout the campaign successfully. 

The most obvious element within this advert is the milk on the top lip and the smashing bottle. There is obvious levels of desire and satisfaction when linking the milk to the mouth of an attractive female star.  This also directly relates to the 'Oral Fixation' that refers back to our feelings and experiences as children. There is a direct reference to the bond with our mother and in Freudian's terms, when we drink milk, we satisfy our sexual desire for our mother as well as mimicking the nipple. The glass of milk becomes the nipple substitute. 

When we start to look at the campaign on a more basic level, we see that the milk is representing a moustache and this is shown on both female and male stars used in the campaign. When trying to relate this back to Freudian terms, we see that the moustache could be seen as Penis Envy from the women used in the campaign. The moustache, in a way, represents the penis, the phallic of power, which women desperately desire. I also think that the 'milk moustache' can relate to Bernays' idea of women having power and independence by drinking milk. This time, instead of using cigarettes as the penis, the milk becomes the penis. On a more sexual level, the milk could be seen as semen around the womens lips which relates back to use of oral fixation and sex to help sell the product on both conscious and unconscious levels. 

When looking further into Bernays' ideologies about manipulating the masses, we can see that the most basic idea of using famous icons to sell the product is one of the reasons that the campaign is so popular. By linking the simple drink of milk into celebrity culture, this can raise the profile of milk. 

When reviewing the advert, it is clearly obvious that there are a number of different Freudian theories at work as well as concepts created by Bernays',  probably more than I can pick see and pick out myself. It is clear that the product is being linked to our feeling and desires as a child and through this creating an emotional connection between us and the advert which is key to it's consistent success in America. 

OUGD504 Design Production - Study Task 1 - What Is Design For Print?

Identify a minimum of 5 examples of the effective/creative use of print in the following areas of design...

Branding & Identity

Oat Creative

Oat Creative are a design studio that I came across while searching for branding. They consistently deliver strong branding and identity for various different companies, mainly bars and restaurants. I particularly was drawn to the branding for a Boston based Restaurant called 'Saloon'. It's interesting how the use of stock and items placed with the design can build up the brand and identity of a business and really make it what it is. The addition of the round glasses, cigar, matches and wooden clipboard suggests a real element of class and sophistication when placed with the design. The logo fits well with the theme and the use of simple type and layout to form the classy looking menu's really work at setting the scene and making the whole brand come to life. Below are some images of various other branding and identity work by the same company, Oat Creative.

Hobo & Sailor

Hobo & Sailor are a brand that I became familiar with last year through seeing their work across a few blogs and design sites. I really like the whole idea behind their brand. They are primarily a street-wear company but go about branding their products a little bit different than the standard. Like the work for the Saloon Bar above, they use objects to help promote and brand the products, making the identity feel like much more of a lifestyle than something you just buy to wear. The cub scout approach with the pine cones, wood and penknife really relates to the target audience and this in my opinion, is what makes the brand so popular and saleable. The typeface used in the logo is contemporary and also is balanced well with the illustrations used. The print used in this brand works really well with the textured stocks created a natural backdrop which fits with the theme. The print onto the fabric bag/sack also works really well for similar reasons.  

Higher

Higher is a branding and design agency with main office based in Slovakia, and several more offices across Europe. They work with much more corporate branding and this shows with the quality of the brands. I particularly loved the branding work they did for company Renhand. Renhand is Moscow engineering group. The main activity is providing services in the field of engineering systems of residental and industrial facilities. The corporate branding is seamless, sleek and professional. I really like the simpleness of the coloured logo, bringing an element of colour into the brand without overcrowding it. The subtle alteration of the Typeface really works with the logo and relates back to the business ethos and strategies. As for the printed materials, The logo transfers well when use with the black typeface on a white backdrop. As Renhand is a corporate business. Their logo would need to stand out when printed and placed in different areas. the brand transfers well on letterheads and business cards as well as clothing products which is important. 

Five Thousand Fingers

Design Company Five Thousand fingers created branding and identity for Dodge & Burn. Dodge & Burn is an online boutique selling products based on the fetishized camera. I was originally Drawn to this design just form the logo alone. I think the whole brand is built around the logo and it's good when a brand can be relied on and recognised just from the logo. It's a really well thought out and developed piece of custom type which as you can see works across a number of different printed processes including clothing designs, labels, business cards, etc.

Martin Stousland

Trigger Oslo is a PR company focusing on engaging communication. Martin Stousland developed the identity to create a range of personal signatures within the same visual language and color palette. The colors and design emphasizes an agency that focus on a more welcoming approach, inviting customers for a good conversation and a nice atmosphere rather than the cynical and corporate identities that colors the rest of the industry. I particularly like the colour palette used thought the branding of this company. The orange and blue work really well with the cardboard backdrop of the boxes. This makes the brand really pop against the backdrop and works across the full range of products, all the way to the pencils, stamps and badges.

  

AKU

AKU is a design collective based in Estonia. i came across the branding for the Tallinn Music Week 2012 which was created by them and was really impressed. The yearly showcase festival's identity uses a few set elements (logo, typeface) and tries to interpret them in different ways. In 2012, big cardboard boxes became important identity carriers – they were seen on stage, marking venues around town and even worn by some visitors. I particularly like the use of the neon green colour against very plain backgrounds. It really makes the full branding of the company stand out from anything else that might be surrounding it. Again, the mix of bright colour with the cardboard too provides a perfect background and the two tones and textures compliment each other perfectly.




Ebaq

Ebaq is a design agency based in Poland who are behind the branding for basketball website 'Probasket'. I really like how the design transfers from web to print based items seamlessly to help the brand become more identifiable and work in all formats. The simple colour scheme of orange and black along with the well thought out and well crafted logo works really well. 




Clothing Brands

I found some items of my own clothing to look further in branding primarily. Fred Perry is an iconic brand that is recognisable simply from the laurel wreath logo. The brand is defined by this and the logo it is something that takes the price of a regular £10 polo shirt up to £60. I looked at the placement of the logo on labels, the right hand breast of most garments and right up to the little segments like the zip on a jacket and the inside washing instruction labels.

I then looked at a more independent brand within 'Who?'. This is a brand that is still fairly highly priced at around £30 a t-shirt but it is much more small scale than the big brands, originating in Leeds and selling in small boutiques across the UK. Again, they use the logo made up of custom type on most of their labels inside and outside of the garments to make their brand recognisable. I thought that the 'Not Made In China' was a really clever and nice touch to make you feel that you are helping a local business out inside of buying into the corporate industries.

Finally, I looked at Wrangler. I had a vintage Wrangler denim jacket and this made me realise how the brand has not really changed over the years. The logo is iconic, which is the type made from a rope. and this is shown throughout the garments. On labels inside and outside of the jacket as well as engraved into the buttons.








Packaging & Promotion

Inbal Lapidot

Recent Israeli graphic design graduate Lapidot created packaging for a fictional salad dressing called 'TUNK'. She says, "While planning the branding, my target audience were people who know what good taste is all about. I tried to to compare the dipping of that juice to a Polish family tradition that keeps on going from one generation to another. I wanted to convey tradition and values yet also keep the brand highly sophisticated and modern. I decided to use black and white, deep gray and magenta photos of European ladies. Accompanying the final product were posters, a matching napkin and tableware." I particularly like the bright pink of the liquid that is picked up in the colour scheme of the packaging as well as the use of historic imagery which you wouldn't normally expect to see on such a product. 

Martyna Wedzika

An interest packaging concept from Polish designer Wedzika. Her idea was to package a finest range of round vegetables in cardboard tubes to contain freshness and stop them from getting beaten. Really nice idea which shows the colour co-ordinated vegetables to work in a packaging set. As for the design, it's not my favourite piece, but top marks for creativeness and originality on this one. 

Stranger Creative

www.behance.net/strangerandstranger

Stranger creative are a New York based design agency that focus mainly on design for packaging. I was blown away the first time I saw the Stranger & Stranger Spirit Bottle packaging and it's not surprising why when you see the craft and design that has gone into it. Here is how they explain their christmas project..."Every year we create a limited edition product to mark Christmas and celebrate success with the people who support usto make it happen. After last year’s Absinthe, we went a bit ‘moonshine’ butmore 'snake oil' and lo-fi (we think). Enormous fun was had writing all the adsfor the bag as well as about 500 words on the bottle alone. Our favorites are'for reliable fire lighting and sterilising of wounds'."I particularly like the idea of screen-printing over the vintage style advertisements and wrapping he bottle in the paper and the box just adds a sense of sophistication and luxury to the packaging. 

Studio Cuculic

www.studio-cuculic.hr

Studio Cuculic is a studio for graphic design and visual communications. They are mostly involved in the projects for commercial market (visual identities, packaging, advertising). What caught my eye was the Collection of labels created for Blackbird Winery. The main character is a blackbird, stealing the letters from the wine names. The type has been foiled onto each bottle label again adding the element of touch to the visual experience as well as making the wine appear more sophisticated, expensive and luxurious. And RoandCoridials.

Personal Vinyls 

I had a look at a couple of interesting vinyls that was in my collection. I'm very into music packaging anyway and have luckily had the chance to design a CD cover for a band called Arkham Karvers, who are signed to Tiny Teeth Records and also a vinyl packaging for Brazillian band CSS as part of Talenthouse's Secret 7".

The first one I looked at was WU LYF's LP, LYF. This uses a really nice embossed and foiling technique on the front to help make the branding of the band stand out and give the vinyl a much more luxurious feel.

I also looked at Caribou's LP, Odessa and this also uses an interesting print technique of spot varnishing on the front cover. You can't really tell from the images I took but the patterns on the inside have been spot varnished over with patterns in the opposite direction giving the packaging a really nice finish and something that feels good to hold and touch as well as the crazy designs of the packaging.

Publishing & Editorial 

Mads Thorsoe

www.behance.net/madsthorsoe

Recent Graduate Student Designer based in Copenhagen Denmark created 'Geiger Magazine' as part of his degree show. Really well thought out and put together piece of editorial design. I like the way he introduces experimental styles over a very structured, simple grid format. This is something that works really well. Placement and connection between type and image also work really well in this publication. 

  

Folsh Studio

folchstudio.com

Barcelona based design studio 'Folsh' specialise in editorial work. I came across this really nice booklet for 'I Saloni Worldwide Moscow'. I'm not sure what the purpose of the booklet is but i really like the simple layout and especially the front cover. The cover is split diagonally with one side representing old and one new, hence the serif and sans-serif typefaces. The old side is also represented by using gold foiling on black where are the more contemporary half uses silver foiling on a red backdrop. This really works well as a final product and makes the book look interesting and certainly something that I would want to pick up. 

TGIF

Design agency TGIF have created the Amnesty International Hong Kong Annual Report 2010 into a file folder. Different cases and activities were grouped and sent to the donators. Not only showing reports in this folder, also giving out the message about protect human righwant to pick up. I like the consistent theme running through the full publication. The yellow, black and white are really strong colours and work well to promote such a passionate cause. The photographic imagery also works well throughout the publication with the boxes of text dropped on top of this. Finally, the thing that I am impressed with the most is the format. I like the fact that it comes in an infopack with different sized inserts, posters and pages making it realistically look like a report for all the right reasons. 

Mateo Pelo

2010.csmgraphicdesign.com

Italian Designer Pelo created an invite and catalogue design for newly established space Kingsland Road Studio. I really like the layout of this editorial work and how you fold out the large sheet from the glossy package that you get given. There is also an element of suspense where you can cleverly only see your name on your invitation before you take off the red packaging to reveal the event.

Two Times Elliot

www.2xelliott.co.uk

One of my favourite design agencys at the moment, Two Times Elliot is the boss of contemporary publications. They have a massive portfolio and never fails to impress. I particularly like the way they uses risograph printers and different formats such as newsprint. They also uses really nice experimental layouts and a mix of bold typography with grid like image placement.

 

Ivan Khmelevsky

www.ivankhmelevsky.com

I appreciate this publication put together by Russian designer Khmelevsky. He uses a variety of different print processes as well as stocks and materials and even experiments with teh binding of the book to make this interesting publication which demonstrates really what you can do with a bit of imagination and different stocks and techniques. 

Shoppinghour Magazine

www.shoppinghourmagazine.com

Shopping hour is one of my favourite magazine that comes out quarterly. It is pretty cheap to buy but has one of the nicest contemporary layouts I have seen printed. It's also got a unique binding down the middle which is pressed and stitched. The layout is consistent throughout but doesn't get repetitive or boring due to different colour schemes and background textures used throughout to give it a really nice feel. 

Personal Collection of Various Newspapers

I have collected various different newspapers over the last few years and have a constantly growing library. My favourite has got to be the Vedette Gazette. This is a newspaper brought out by beer-makers vedette and is printed in a risograph style, using experimental layouts and the colour palette of red and green. I also collect music and fashion newspapers The Stool Pigeon, Loud & Quiet and Crack Magazine which all use quite experimental and contemporary layouts which work well at such a large scale. 

Personal Collection of Various Magazines

Some of my favourite free magazines that I have picked up over the years include 'Vibrations' which is a Leeds based music magazine designed by previous LCA graduates Catalogue, who specialise in screen print, branding and risograph style publications. Another magazine that had a really nice layout was The PlayStation Access Magazine. This uses bold colours with bold typography and images on a large scale, with info-graphics chucked in to create a very contemporary and fun-looking final publication. I am also a fan of editorial work for fashion. I have collected the pigeons and peacocks fashion based magazine which uses really simple layouts with important placement of photography with small text for use of captions. Also the Bench Self-Made lookbook which I picked up this week uses a similar layout. Focussing on the fashion based images and giving a really simple but proffesional looking publication. 

Information & Way-finding

Travis Barteux

www.tbarto.com

Designer/Art Director Barteux has created a visual center, space planning, environmental graphics & wayfinding for the World Basketball Festival created by Nike. The festival is a celebration of the international sport and culture that blend together to define the game.

Lucia Pigliopochi

www.behance.net/luciapigliapochi

Swiss Designer Lucia Pigliopochi has created the Corporate wayfinding and signage system for shopping malls in Spain (Sevilla and La Coruña). The modular and bilingual system is based on an existing visual identity, consisting of triangles strips and a corporate color for each center, we have worked a solution that highlights the information on a black background for optimum visualization, relegating colors to a second level on bevels and sign sides. The triangle is enhanced as the main element and transferred to all sign typologies. The project includes the space analysis, the flow plan realization, the needed assessment, the graphic design, the industrial development of the pieces and the implementation direction.





Alex Peemoeller

www.axelpeemoeller.com

This innovative signage was created by Axel Peemoeller for the Eureka Tower Carpark in Melbourne, Australia. The letters are distorted but can be read perfectly when read at the right position. The work won several international design awards. I particularly like the innovativeness of this work and how something like this, thinking outside the box can really work for the right cause, in this case, making it clear where to go on the car park. The signs are also beautiful pieces of artwork in their own right.

Cartlidge Levene

cartlidgelevene.co.uk

Cartlidge Levene is a London based design studio acclaimed for its intelligent, creative and beautifully crafted design. Founded in 1987, their portfolio spans over twenty years and includes award-winning work for a wide range of clients such as the Barbican Centre, Guardian News and Media, Selfridges & Co, Tate Modern and the Victoria & Albert Museum.Wayfinding and signage is an important area of expertise for their studio. They have created successful wayfinding schemes for major museums, galleries, schools and sporting arenas and have worked with some of the world’s leading architects to achieve integrated solutions.

GF Smith 

www.gfsmith.com

"GFSmith's Beauty in the Making event is, in itself, an example of perfection in process. While the finished result exudes a sense of effortlessness, behind this we can detect meticulous design, craft and arrangement." Gerard Ivall. I loved this exhibition form GFSmith as it uses their speciality of paper to create the signage and arrangement of the whole exhibition. The folded paper which looks to have been    laser cut to create the different categories and also the stacks of coloured paper on creates really makes the exhibition stand out from others and gives us a new innovative take on way finding and space arrangement.