1. It's often better to have a question rather than a statement for your you title.
4. How do you want to approach your theories?
5. Primary research - what are your methods and why?
Do not do primary research on existing researching you can find online in books.
6. You should have a clear idea of what you want to produce! Remember you are a graphic designer so should always be relating to it.
7. Resources you have used can reflect your time management
8. Summer - complex theorises or philosophers - list 5 books you aim to read/ explore
9. START PLANNING NOW.
Don't intend to tackle a question you know NOTHING about!
Theoretical approaches:
See Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An introduction by John Storey for
an accessible overview of key theories and ideas used in the study of visual
culture.
MEDIA STUDIES / AUDIENCE STUDIES
CULTURAL STUDIES
POPULAR CULTURE
CELEBRITY STUDIES
POSTSTRUCTURALISM
GENDER STUDIES / FEMINISM / MASCULINITIES
SOCIOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOANALYSIS
Marxist Criticism
You can use a Marxist critical framework to explore how certain aspects of
mass communication (e.g. graphic design, branding, advertising, etc.) are
constructed in such a way that enables power and social organisation
under capitalism.
Frederic Jameson – “Postmodernism or, the
cultural logic of late capitalism”
Stuart Hall – “Encoding / Decoding” in “Media
and cultural studies: key works”
Richard J. Lane – “Jean Baudrillard”
Psychology and psychoanalysis
Further reading:
Cathrine Jansson-Boyd – “Consumer psychology”
Ward & Zarate – “Introducing psychoanalysis”
Elizabeth Grosz – “Jacques Lacan: A feminist
introduction”
Semiotics, structuralism and poststructuralism:
Feminism:
How are women represented within mass communication?
How are women represented within mass produce of design?
Interesting theories...
Social identities being performed differently
Relating to social classes
Example case study:
Images:
YOUR PROPOSAL:
Focus on a specific field of graphic design (e.g. branding,
typography, interface design, etc.).
Focus on a specific contextual issue within this field (consumer
choice, memorability, well-being, etc.).
Be critical but ensure that your discussion provides ample
opportunities for practice.
Have a clear, albeit tentative, idea about what you are going to
produce.
Make sure that this project is achievable and has some sort of
benefit to your design practice. Aim to have a portfolio-worthy
outcome by the end even if it is very experimental.
You will submit your proposal to us using Google drive by the end of
next week’s session.
Your proposal will act as a catalyst for your initial reading and
research over the summer.
It is essential that you use the summer period to familiarise yourself
with any theories, concepts or ideas that you want to discuss in
your essay otherwise you will be starting the module with a significant deficit.
