Peter Norris: Geopolitical Futures

Population Density

Malthus – poor/wealthy

• flash points – middle east
• crimea – Russia
• China

• disruptions
• terrorisms
• poverty
• pace of change
• lack of education

Market movements

Technology

Look at how the world changes in different countries: prime example is looking at a UK central world map compared to an Australia central map.

Wealth population of the world is spread out, unfortunately it is not equal. We are, the UK, the 5th most wealthiest country in the world due to our resources, and due to other countries and there location lacking in them.

Understanding where we are and that other people don’t have what we have, this is also why there are problems in the world.

Dissertation Preparation // Week One

In this lecture, Spencer covered what we will be discussing in the next 4 weeks: dissertations.

We will be taking an idea and will explore it in ways that will be a case study approach by referencing other designers. We will need to contextualise the essay. Current dissertation count is 6,000 words but it may go up.

1. Dissertation
2. Technical study – Detailed investigation of a process/technique – ground study in more objective and a lot more contextualising of what you’re doing, engage with the topic – that is report based. The hardest part is trying to work with the material.
3. Major Project: addresses the thematics of the dissertation through the process/technique/technology of the technical study.

We will need a strong submission and become an expert in your chosen area. All of these things are about focus and getting the scope of something right.

We looked at some animation questions which they explored and were looked into and then we also looked at a similar idea with Graphic Design.

Graphic Design

Graphic Design as urban design, analysing graphic objects in urban environments

Rebranding vs reimaging

30 years of agitprop: the representation of “extreme” politics in punk and post-punk music graphics in the

Desire for the handmade: An investigation into the resurgence of printing methods

The use of shock in advertising

Start googling for dissertation topics and to see what other people are looking at, make sure it connects to your interests otherwise passion in the dissertation would be minimal and noticeable. Ask friends and family what you are interested by in order to get an outside perspective.

scholar.google.co.uk – this is a part of Google that is for educational purposes. It is more focused on books and periodicals, primarily useful for the “Cited by…” These are papers that are focused on that area. Looking for the stuff with the highest citation counts because that will give a broader help for what I need my dissertation.

ethos.bl.uk – useful research resources (thesis examples)

citationmachine.net – Using the reference system we use at Uni.

Paraphrase people’s ideas rather than using block quotation (if you are echoing someone’s ideas then you need to reference them – ensure you credit when referencing people’s ideas.)

White Noise: Media Power and Mass Communication

1. Earliest TV memory?
Pingu & Teletubbies
2. Favourite childhood TV programme?
Teletubbies
3. First toy or game you bought after seeing it on TV?
Tamagotchi
4. First programme, film or ad that frightened you?
Harry Potter
5. First programme or film to make you cry?
Bambi
6. What did you all watch as a family?
Stars In Their Eyes
7. What were you allowed to stay up late to watch?
My mum used to let me watch Shameless in bed as long as my dad didn’t find out!
8. Who controlled the TV schedule or remote?
Mum
9. How old were you when you got your first TV in your room?
10

Exploring how media has had an impact on us today.

• Radio History: Listening Communities
• Introduced BBC as an independent organisation which is why we have the license fee so nobody else controlled it.
• Wireless became the new phenomena, 90% could listen to radio.
• Less than 70 years ago TV was barely at the experimental stage, 3/4 families owned a set, 8 million were sold in 1936, not fully tuned to the excitement of the medium, someone tapped into the system to make people believe aliens were coming to the USA, he wanted to up his listening figures so he adapted a station to make it sound like it was happening. He was then sued and taken to court. The video below was the one we watched in the lecture.

 

TV History

• 1925 – first TV broadcast – 1936 television happened.
• It grew overnight but had less of an audience because they appeared in miniature versions, first transmission only covered 40 miles from the base.
• September 1st 1939 the war happened so they shut down the TV in case the enemy took over the transmission of the signals.
• Broadcasting over different languages

The Power of TV

• Gulf war 1990 – watched it “live”
• We became de-sensitised
• TV TRENDS: average person watches 4 hours of TV a day
• Average child watches more TV than any other activity
• Top moments of 2013: Wimbledon, New Year firework display, launch of I’m a Celebrity, Britain’s Got Talent

 

Selling Yourself: Placements

5 Rules of Employability

1. Know what you want for the future
2. know your capabilities
3. know your employer and customers
4. reach for high performance standards
5. take action

Employer Expectations

1. nurture creativity
2. collaboration
3. technology
4. experience
5. usability

Do’s and Don’t’s for your Resume

• Don’t use ‘i’ it’s implied throughout
• Don’t include a photograph
• Don’t list references or say “available on request”
• Don’t list personal data like gender
• Don’t include full address of previous employers

What to include

• personal details
• personal profile – optional
• education
• work experience
• interests
• skills

Top 10 Technical Tips

1. list technical abilities
2. list qualifications in order of relevance
3. quantity experience and results achieved
4. begin sentences with action verbs
5. advertise yourself, highlight strengths
6. be concise, one page limit
7. leave out irrelevant, needless items
8. get critiques and opinions objectively
9. proof read
10. plain text format for email and photocopy

CV Formats

• interactive
• design
• scan
• plain text

Design & Emotion

Emotional engagement and meaningful communication.

We are moving from an era of mass production to one of mass innovation.

• Co-design
• Co-production
• Co-services

“Attention to detail…show the love”

“Know your audience…their SOCIAL DNA”

“Adopt the VOICE”

“Always be curious”

The Reflexive Cycle

Awareness (Self, Society, Design and Business)

Research (Ethics, Aesthetics and Branding)

Stakeholders (All Collaborator Input)

Connection (Deeper Meaning)

Reflection (Emotional Defining and Building)

Intuition (Social Confidence and Reflexivity)

 

Insight and the Eureka Moment

Disruption – when we blink, the brain blinks too so it breaks the thought process to allow new ones to form

Improvisation

“The creative force of humankind that allows the progress of the world to advance”

Dr Alison Rowley: How Do We Think About Modernism?

What is modernism? When was modernism? What are the relations between historical modernity and the set of aesthetics…

Lumiere (creators of cinema)

Lowry and the painting of modern life

Karl Marx – Manifesto of the Communist Party 1848

Georg Simmel – The metropolis and Mental Life, 1902-3

The Universal Exhibition of 1867, Edouard Manet

Haussmanistion of Paris between 1853 and 1870

Gustave Caillebotte, Rue de Paris, Temps De Pluie 1877

”    ” Le Pont de l’Europe 1876

Mary Cassat – Five o’ Clock Tea 1880

A Bar at the Folies-Bergere 1882 by Edouard Manet