Trip to Glasgow

This weekend I visited the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow, and although I have been there a number of times before I always look forward to seeing the amazing displays. The main attraction for me has to be the astoundingly beautiful Crucifixion by the infamous Salvador Dali. I have always been a great fan of Dali's and to see one of his paintings in the flesh is a pleasure. I have probably viewed the painting around 6 or 7 times now, but it never fails to impress me. I truly believe that it takes genuine talent to produce a painting which can cause even the most sceptical of non-religious people to feel really moved when looking at it. I personally do not hold any religious inclination yet I have to admit that there is something mesmerizing about this piece.

The Ultimate Edition

I have been lucky to recently receive the new Blackadder Remastered box set! The Ultimate Edition boasts all four series, the 'specials', interviews with the original cast and more. I was over the moon when I opened this gift; I have always loved Blackadder and was desperate for these dvds. Thanks Darling...

Exit Through the Gift Shop

My sister got me some fantastic gifts for my birthday this year, one of which being the Banksy directed short film 'Exit Through the Gift Shop'. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from the film but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is about a French shop owner named Thierry Guetta who becomes obsessed with filming street artists whilst claiming to be making a documentary, such as Shephard Fairey and Invader. He then makes it his ambition to find the infamous Banksy and film him at work.
The film basically concentrates on how this man got himself involved in the street art industry although he had no real talent of his own. Banksy describes it as , "Basically the story of how one man set out to film the un-filmable. And failed."
Well worth a watch!

Assignment 5

I would like to propose an investigation on Stress and how it can affect a sufferer in their day to day life, in order to increase awareness and acceptance of the problem and design something to help the sufferer cope with it.

“I'm so stressed” is a familiar term to all of us. We have probably all said those words at some point in our lives, whether we have actually felt stressed or not, yet what about those who actually are suffering?

Nowadays, so many people claim to be stressed that it is commonly perceived as 'normal' and not something to be taken particularly seriously. I do not agree with this.

I believe that stress is a massively underrated problem especially in the workplace, affecting thousands of men and women all over the world. It can destroy a persons life, whether they are the sufferer or someone close to them. It can cause mental and health problems. It can cause the sufferer to lose their job. All in all, it is a huge problem so I would like to give people the opportunity to understand what people with stress go through on a daily basis.

Personally, I would argue that in order to really understand a mental health problem like stress you must identify with someone who has suffered or is suffering from it. This is why I feel that observing an individual with high stress levels at their work or at their home and then interviewing them is appropriate. Of course, the subject would have to give their permission as would their workplace/family. This could be carried out by one person as it may be daunting for the subject to be observed by numerous people. The interview could also be conducted one-to-one. I also think that it would be helpful to attach a heart rate monitor to the subject. It is known that a persons heart rate increases when exposed to stressful situations, so having this device attached would provide an opportunity to examine what the subjects heart is put through when stress levels rise.

The way in which I would carry out the observation of the subject is relatively simple. Quietly watching for tell-tale signs of stress - such as fidgeting, twitching, changing facial expressions and sweating - and noting what caused the subject to become stressed. For example, if the subject is in the workplace and is handed a massive pile of paperwork to have completed in a short amount of time, what is their reaction? Do they immediately get on with the work, or do they panic? Are they shaking? Does their heart rate increase? If yes, by how much? Then, maybe a less stressful situation arises – a conversation with a friend. What is the subject behaving like now? Are they still getting stressed? Does their heart rate remain calm or does it fluctuate again?

By doing something as simple as observing the subjects reactions to different situations we can clearly note what causes them to become highly agitated and stressed. It may also be helpful to observe more than one subject. If multiple subjects were observed it would present an opportunity to compare and discuss the findings. This would provide a more solid basis for the results and give the observer the chance to see how differently people suffering from stress react when presented with similar situations.

I think it would also be beneficial to speak to a family member/workmate of the subjects. Doing this would provide insight into what it is like coping with someone who is highly stressed, and show how it can affect those close to the sufferer. A questionnaire could be fashioned for these people, with questions such as 'Do you find the sufferer hard to deal with?', 'Has it changed your relationship with the sufferer?' and 'How has it affected you personally?'.

Once the observation had taken place, the interview process could begin. Firstly, the subject would have to be totally calm for the interview to start. Then, by asking them questions such as 'What was the most stressful part of your day?' and 'What did you feel during that time?' a table of results could be created. Measuring their heart rate at this time would also be useful to see if they get stressed by simply remembering something which upset them before or not. The results from the observation could also be shared and their reaction to them noted. Do they even notice when they get stressed all the time? Did they realise that they have a nervous habit that reoccurs during stressful situations?

I would also share with the subject what their family member/workmate wrote on their questionnaire (with their permission only) and note whether it comes as a shock to the subject or not. It would be interesting to see whether the subject realised that their condition could become perturbing to others or if they thought that it was only themselves who was feeling affected by it. 
 

I feel that carrying out this research proposal could really benefit those suffering from stress and their loved ones as it would really show that stress is not something to be taken lightly. To show that even simple tasks in the workplace like placing a phone call can stress a sufferer out so much that their heart rate has increased dramatically and they can't stop panicking should also raise acceptance of the condition, and encourage people to be more understanding.

Overall, this would be an extremely essential piece of research to use in order to design something to support those who suffer with stress and show that they are not alone.

Summer Stuff

Since having a holiday with no work to do is non-existent at Uni (enjoy it while you can schoolies) we have been given some tasks to do over Summer.

• Read 5 books in relation to Design Studies
• Make 5 changes to your blog
• Contact 5 people whom you are interested in speaking to

So, here are my lists;

Books

1. Penguin by Design: A Cover Story 1935-2005 - Phil Baines. (Suggested to me by a friend, although it is not a hugely word-based book (haha) it has apparently got some fantastic images and describes how they were created, showing how design has progressed in Penguin Books over the years which I think would be very interesting.)
2. 100 Habits of Successful Graphic Designers - Josh Berger. (I may not be studying Graphics but I think it is important to learn about other areas of design as well as my own. Hopefully I will pick up some GOOD habits!)
3. The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell.
4. Snoop - Sam Gosling. (I know both The Tipping Point and Snoop were on or book list for last semester but I feel that if I were to read them again I may actually enjoy them... We'll see.)
5. Visual Communication: From Theory to Practice - Johnathan Baldwin & Lucienne Roberts. (Thought I'd throw that in to win Brownie points ha ha. Oh, and it's had a few good reviews!) 

Blog

1. Create a new background (far too many people have the same one as me).
2. Make a drop down menu with separate tabs for Design Studies, studio work etc.
3. Try and make a calender (I have seen a few calenders on people's blogs - find out how to get one).
4. Write a slightly more informative 'About Me'.
5. Get more followers!

People

1. Jemma Sykes, Textiles Graduate, RCA. (I will probably try to connect to her via email. I would love to speak to her and find out how she has gone about creating such amazing designs and how she got herself noticed.)
2. Joyce Young, Scottish Fashion Designer. (On her site you can contact her through email. I have actually met Joyce before, at a recent fashion show which I helped out at. I sadly didn't get enough time to speak to her properly, so I would like to get the opportunity to ask her some questions about her designs, how she began her business and ask if she could give me any advice.)
3. Lauren Currie/RedJotter, DOJ Graduate. (I would contact her through Twitter. She recently lectured us on her business and how she made herself known by using Twitter. I would love to speak to her more in depth about her achievements.)
4. 'Crystal Silver', creator of the shop 'Cissyface Vintage'. (Contact through email/facebook. I have mentioned Cissyface Vintage on my blog before and I am still in love with the products available. I think it's fantastic that this shop offers handmade, mostly recycled and totally unique accessories, so I am desperate to contact Crystal and ask her about her shop, where she got the idea for it and where she finds her recycled items!)
5. Steve Lazarides, compiled the book 'Outsiders'. (I would try to contact him over Twitter as I am awaiting approval to be his follower. Steve has some fantastic contacts and has written some really inspirational pieces about some artists whom I respect greatly. I would like to ask him how it is that he has gone about contacting these artists and whether he dabbles in art himself.)

Better get started on them then...

Whatever floats your boat I guess...

This is an interesting website featuring bad grammar and distasteful images, it's amazing what people will permanently ink onto their bodies. Imagine explaining some of these trashy tattoos to your grandchildren..!

http://ugliesttattoos.failblog.org/page/13/

Assignment 4

For Assignment 4 we have been asked to conduct some 'interviews' on a topic of our own choice. I chose to use the topic 'What object do people treasure most? Why?' as my basis for these interviews. I chose this because it was the one I found most interesting - why do we treasure certain things? It is strange how something could be crap to one person but mean the world to another. So, I started off making a mind map to see what possible answers I could get from this question.

I thought of the obvious answers; family heirlooms, gifts etc, but then when I properly thought about it I realised that a lot of people probably treasure things that they have bought with their own (hard earned!) money more than things which were bought for them. This is most likely because it gives you a sense of achievement - it feels good to be able to afford something yourself.
Anyway, to conduct my interviews I thought I'd take advantage of my flatmate having some of her friends from her course over (psychology) since it would be an easy way to interview people in a comfortable environment that I didn't know personally. I managed to catch them before they had drank too much and got some valuable answers to my questions.

Apart from one minor mishap (a clumsy interviewee spilling a drink on my notes) all went well.
The first girl that I spoke to took a while to take it seriously, but she got there in the end. At first she was stumped by the question, not knowing how to reply. Then I noticed that she had been fingering a necklace the whole time she thought. When asked about the necklace she lit up - it had been her mothers. She claimed to have received the necklace on her 18th birthday from her mother and been delighted with it as she had admired it on her mother before. She said that she always had it on and could never part with it for any amount of money. She then went on to say she'd swap it for a bottle of vodka but I assumed that was a joke..!
Interview number two was with Becky. She immediately stated that her most treasured item was a blanket which she made with her mother and sister when she was young. She still had the blanket and used it as a throw on her bed. Although it may not be worth anything she said that she could never part with it - it held too many happy memories for her.
Craig said that his most treasured item was his car. I immediately thought 'typical boy answer' but then he said that he had bought it himself. Most guys that I know have had their cars bought for them, so I was pleasantly surprised. Craig went on to say that he worked very hard until he was 19 and saved up £2000 to buy his car. Despite the fact that his friends were driving about in brand new cars and he was in a second hand one, he still felt proud because it was something that he had achieved by himself, he hadn't just accepted money from his parents like most others.
Leanne showed me a beautiful ring - white gold with a big fat diamond in the middle - and then said firmly;
'It is NOT an engagement ring! It's not even on that finger!', to which I hastily nodded and continued with the interview. She had received the ring from her boyfriend on their second anniversary (terrified that it was an engagement ring!) and hadn't taken it off since. When I asked her if she would ever be tempted to sell it she immediately declined, saying that it meant too much to her. Unless she got the right price on Ebay.
I then started to think I was losing their attention in favour of the bottles of wine, so I interviewed one last person and left them to it. Liam's favourite item was his Xbox. He had received it as a gift from his parents on Christmas and played it all the time. He said he would only sell it if a better console came out. I couldn't get anything more in depth from him so left it at that.
Although some of the answers could have been more helpful, I found the results interesting. It seemed that the girls were more sentimental than the boys, choosing objects which reminded them of someone special, whereas the boys were more interested in 'boys toys' but I suppose men don't often pass down jewellery or make quilts with their sons...
It made me think properly about my most treasured objects. At first I thought of a necklace which was given to me by my mother. It is a simple silver necklace with a little elephant pendant on it. Doesn't sound like much but it means the world to me and I barely take it off. I think knowing that my mother wore this necklace as a child makes it more valuable to me, and I think of my mum whenever I look at it. I also thought of a stuffed toy lamb I still have and have owned since I was a baby, imaginatively called 'Lamby'. I think most girls had a Lamby actually. Anyway I love this toy, it still has pride of place on my bed. Considering the fact that I am 20 this might seem a tad childish, but it means something to me.
Taking this into consideration I realised how difficult a question it is to answer, 'What is your most treasured possession?'. Most people will have more than one favourite object so it is hard to choose just one.

A Personal Achievement

I managed to make it up to the Glenashdale Falls on the Isle of Arran! No big feat you say? Well considering how upsettingly unfit I have become since starting University (too much... work) I think it's pretty impressive, backed up by the comment 'how the hell did you manage that', made by my lovely, supporting brother. Here's some proof.

Knit Samples for Fashion Forecasting

I have finally finished my sampling for my main project of this semester. After lots of swearing and throwing of yarns I think I've produced some successful pieces, hopefully my tutor will agree...

More books n' stuff part 2

It's my birthday tomorrow! Leaving your teens is a daunting prospect for everyone I'm sure, so that means my brother (if he reads this) can forgive me for opening my present, sent all the way from Australia, early. Stephen always spoils the family on their birthdays, but this year he has outdone himself. He sent me a book called 'Hi-Fructose Collected 2', a collectors edition of the acclaimed magazine. I immediately made a mental note to get a subscription to this mag. The artwork featured is incredible, from cartoon style computer animation to ridiculously intricate portraits. Most of the artists featured are interviewed as well which provides a great depth to the book. Definitely worth a look!

Assignment 3

For Assignment 3 we were told to go out with our 'comfort zones'. This involved going somewhere you wouldn't usually go, such as a football match or the casino, and observing the people who are there and possibly attend these places regularly. I decided to go to the casino. I have been there before but only at night time after maybe having a few too many drinks, so going during the day would be completely different (and much more sober!). During the day I would expect the casino to be full of middle aged men in suits drinking martinis, in fact I'll admit that I actually imagined it to be straight out of a James Bond movie. Believe me, I was thoroughly made fun of by some fellow Textiles students for that! This was a point that Johnathan has made before, about misled preconceptions. People always have their idea of the clientèle who would attend these places and more often than not they are wrong. I highly doubt that the Dundee casino would, by day, resemble a glamorous James Bond movie with women in designer dresses and men with more money that they know what to do with, but there you go. 
So, I went along to the casino at around 2 o'clock on a Wednesday with a friend so I didn't look too awkward. When I went in I immediately regretted what I was wearing. Not that everyone was very dressed up, but you could tell that people had made an effort to look nice, whereas I had bunged on a jumper and old trousers. However, no one seemed to care so my discomfort soon disappeared. We sat at the bar and I pulled out my camera ready to take some photos until the barman told me off - apparently it's illegal to take photos in a casino. When I thought about it I felt pretty stupid because I always knew that was the case and I hastily stuffed my camera back in my bag.
I began to 'stealthily observe' the people who were in the casino. I immediately noticed one massive difference between the day time casino and night time casino - during the day no one was drunk. My previous experiences in the casino are of dodging drunken people who are stumbling about, and mostly around my age. During the day however I was pretty certain I was the youngest person there. Most people seemed to be maybe in their thirties or older and they were certainly more sophisticated. There were a lot more men than there were women so I guessed that the casino is a popular spot for men to meet up for a drink. There were also a few couples eating their lunch and drinking coffee's.
There were also less people gambling than I expected. One table seemed to have more people at it than the others, predictably the poker. It was all middle aged men who were playing, all of them taking it very seriously. There were plenty of chips on the table, not that this meant much to me because I can't play poker, but my friend pointed out that there was an awful lot of money in play. We were not close enough to hear what was being said but now and again there would be a groan and someone would leave the table. I have to say that the idea of gambling has never appealed to me as I would probably be the one to lose all their money, but the people who I saw gambling that day were so absorbed in their game that they wouldn't even look up if spoken to.
There were bank machines dotted about the place, obviously because people need easy access to their money, but it also made me painfully aware of how dangerous a place like this could be. I'm sure plenty of people get themselves into real problems spending too much in the casino. I have been told stories before by friends of how they won money in the casino and got the 'bug' - they couldn't stop gambling because they wanted to win again. I remembered how my boyfriend had drunkenly phoned me from the casino once before, slurring about how he had won about £4000 after putting on a £200 bet with his friend. I was naturally over the moon (think how many pairs of shoes that would buy!) and told him to get straight back to his house instead of gambling more. He then sheepishly produced £500 the next day, admitting that he kept on gambling and lost the rest of it. Now £500 is still pretty good going considering that he was blind drunk and could hardly string a sentence together, but he still lost £3500. All because he got too confident and messed it up. Idiot! This may not have been a serious situation as he did not get himself into any financial difficulty and actually managed (somehow) to still make a profit, but it highlights the danger involved in gambling.
The people gambling at the casino looked to me like people who could afford to play about with their money, a lot more comfortably off than the likes of me! Although I did notice that there were tables where you could bet as little as 50p. That would be the table I'd stick to anyway! I guess though that the whole point in the casino is to spend money so I am not the sort of person that they aim to attract. Also, the odds of winning a decent amount of money aren't very high (the casino would be skint otherwise) so you're more likely to lose money rather than win it. I think what attracts people to the casino is the glamour associated with it - the idea of being able to throw money away without blinking has always been perceived as 'sexy' - and people like to give themselves an ego boost by being seen in these places. Look at all of the James Bond films (yes, James Bond again) they all seem to show James Bond in the casino at some point, playing poker and holding the winning cards, then flouncing off with the beautiful woman who was sitting at the table with him. Winning money is sexy! This also links back to the people who were in the casino as I mentioned before - mostly men. Maybe men think they will attract gorgeous women and become secret agents if they gamble, you never
know.

I can't say that I would be attending the casino during the day again as I felt that it was a completely different clientèle that it was aimed at. Not that I felt too uncomfortable, just I think to be there on a quiet day you're expected to either have a meal or gamble and since I did neither I felt slightly stupid.


http://www.gcasino.co.uk/dundee - website for the casino that I visited.

Disney

This post was actually written out about two weeks ago but I managed to just save it to my drafts instead of posting it, whoops...

I'll be honest - this lecture didn't do it for me. Not because of its delivery (Hamid, don't take offence!) but because of what I have to admit seemed to be a certain irrelevance to absolutely anything we do in Design studies. I assumed that the lecture would be about the art of Disney, its darker side and all that rubbish, but instead it was mostly about the actual company, how it was created and how it runs today. I have to admit that all the way through the lecture I was thinking 'Why would I care?'. Now I'm sure someone will have some sort of clever response to this, it was relevant on 'another level' or something, but I'm sorry, I'm studying Textile Design, not Business.

Anyway, the lecture wasn't all bad, Hamid did have some interesting facts to tell us about the Disney franchise. For example, Disney actually created a town called 'Celebration' in Florida. This town is straight out of a Disney film. There are certain rules that its inhabitants have to abide by, such as not painting their house or parking their car in their drive way. Why? Because that's not 'Disney' enough. Everything has to be perfect. Perfect houses, perfect gardens, perfect streets, perfect people. Sounds terrifying if you ask me. However, if this sounds like your kind of place, here's a site which you can visit to rent a property in Celebration. Crazy.

http://www.celebration-florida-celebration-usa.com/

Fashion Forecasting

Semester 2 has kicked off with a project called 'Fashion Forecasting'. It's pretty self explanatory - we have to basically look at the trends past or predicted from 2010/2012, and come up with our own take on them. My project, after a shaky start with many conflicting ideas, is based on 'underwater'. As it is still early days in the project, I have not yet started sampling. Instead I have been focusing on the drawing side, looking at colours, textures and underwater creatures (I have decided that the octopus is the single most disgusting.... thing? (I don't quite know what you'd class them as!) To look at, ever.). Anyway, I'll be updating this post regularly with comments as to how I'm getting on and more photos. Here's a couple from my sketchbook so far.

 Here's another update. I have been working on more drawing and collecting information whilst looking at composition and colour. I am now moving onto sample making which I am very excited about - that's if I can actually get into the knit room - and I am hoping to produce some exciting pieces. 

Really..?!

So, I was just having a snoop on the American Apparel website and came across these;

'Oh yeah, I could do with a pair of those'

Oh my...

I've been looking for some inspiration online in reference to knitwear designers and stumbled across a website dedicated to 'Jemma Sykes', an RCA graduate who has designed for the likes of Givenchy and Julien MacDonald. She has also had her designs displayed in the windows of Harrods and Selfridges London. These are some huge names to have your work associated with, so I looked at some of her work to see what all the fuss was about.

I can safely say that her work is deserved of all the critical acclaim and publicity it had received. This dress is called 'The Elizabeth' and was entirely hand-knitted (in 100% organic wool) by Jemma Sykes. Now that's impressive. It was made for the ethical fashion label 'Butcher Couture', and was displayed in Harrods until it was auctioned off at a breast cancer charity event.

Sykes' designs are very exciting as they are innovative and at times ridiculously intricate! I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for any updates in her career.

Assignment 2

Assignment 2 started off with us reading a chapter from Roland Barthes' (extremely difficult) 'The Rhetoric of the Image'. I have to admit, this was my worst nightmare. After reading the first paragraph I was feeling well and truly depressed and tired out; academic French to English translation is a tricky one to get your head around. However, it actually did get easier once I got into it. Basically, Barthes looks at the image I have attached below and gives it a 'semiotic analysis' (there is a link to a website that I used to determine exactly what semiotics are at the bottom of this post) whilst telling us what 'polysemy' is - when images can have more than one meaning. He thinks that by adding a slogan or word to an image you can give the images a much more precise and obvious meaning, also cancelling out any other possible meanings. Sooo, you could see a picture of say, a sandwich, and you might think 'snacks', but when a slogan is added to the image, you may discover that the picture of the sandwich is actually advertising a shop. Once I had worked this out, I kind of wished that Barthes had just written that in the first place instead of going out of his way to confuse the reader; but maybe that is why I am studying art and not English Lit...

Anyway, according to Barthes every single advertisement can be divided into three categories - 'The Linguistic Message' (this applies to the text), 'The Symbolic Message' (the representation) and 'The Literal Message' (what you actually see). 

Look at the previous image. What is the first thing that you associate it with? Italians? That is what most people would think when looking at it, apart from, according to Barthes, the Italians. This is because it is not using proper Italian words. Can't say that I noticed that, but then again I am not Italian! Anyway, portraying the pasta as an Italian make suggests that it will be authentic, fresh and handmade pasta, so people will be more likely to trust the food. By showing the pasta in the netted bag it gives the impression that the pasta has been bought from a fresh food grocers as opposed to a large chain super market, and generally smaller grocers are seen as having better, more fresh food. We all know what is being literally implied in the image though, the advertisers want you to buy their food.

So, taking all of that into account, we were asked to apply these idealisms to our own images. My group and I decided to make our own images simply from blobs of ink. We then showed them to people who were not art students and asked them what it was that they thought of when they first looked at the images. We then chose one ink blob image and started to add small features in order to see how easy it is to get everyone to think the same thing when looking at the image. Here are some examples of our ink blobs and people's reactions to them.

 Emily, Student, Aged 20 - Squashed frog, lobster with weird taily bit, backside of a giraffe, person.

 

A Student, Aged 19- A man fishing.

A Tutor, Aged 31 - A monster with antenna.

A Waitress Aged 21 - A fish.

A Doctor, Aged around 30 -  Urban landscape, factories, someone being hung, giant insect. 

Gary, Bar Staff, Aged 23 -  Guy with headphones on, gun.

A Doctor, Aged around 30 - Fox, leaves, autumn, fire, road kill.

Gary, Bar Staff, Aged 23 -  Guy with dreadlocks, leaves, trees in autumn map of Scotland.

 

Sam, Student, Aged 18 - Poodle.

Zak, School boy, Aged 13 - Mermaids.

Zara, School girl, Aged 6 - Hippo.

A Student, Aged 19- Owl.

A Student, Aged 19- A negative of Rolf Harris. 

A Shop Assistant, Aged 24 - A winking man.

I quite enjoyed this task as it was interesting to find out the weird and wonderful answers people were coming up with (my personal favourite was the Rolf Harris negative - what an imagination!) and comparing them to see any similarities. However, we needed one of our ink blobs to look enough like something to make most of the onlookers see the same thing. So, we chose the last image shown above, taking one of the answers as the thing we would try and make it look like - an owl. We edited the image just slightly, adding some gold ink around what should have been accepted as the eye area, and asked some people the same question - what do you see?

We had hit the jackpot! Absolutely everyone that we asked said that they saw an owl. Although we had already achieved what we set out to do, we edited the image yet again, this time adding some text. 

For anyone reading this blog tell me if you can see the owl, or anything else you might see!!!

http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/ - a useful website about semiotics.