AD HOMINEM Writing a Project Semester 1, Brief 1.
The Brief
Avoid being trapped in purely text-based research. Remember that the emphasis is on exploring visual material informed and translated by your research that will inform and inspire. Research a topic and build a body of visual research materials that will inform your own brief. Consider topics that you will enjoy or be motivated by. Engage in research that will generate new insights into a particular topic or area, going beyond easily accessible or well-trodden sources of information. Generate primary research (your own sketches, prototypes, tests, dummies, experiments, etc.)
Deliverables
Objectives of Writing A Project
• PDF or PPT • Should reflect process of editing and selection / reframing of original idea / if process has altered original idea at all and in what ways. • Include plenty of visual material that places your proposal in context.
• The proposed brief should help you address what you might need in terms of technicality, facilities, budget and time management. • A written brief. • Outline the main focus of the project, its aims and why the interest in this particular topic. • Any specific questions in relation to the topic? • Which other designers/artists are working in this field? • Inspirations / artist references. • What do you need to know to get going, and how will you start and attain the information? • How will you approach developing your ideas? • What will help / hinder you? • What technical skills and software knowledge will you need to acquire to pursue your idea?
WRITING THE BRIEF.
IDEA CENTRED.
WHAT ARE THE WAYS TO UNDERSTAND A PROBLEM EVERY BRIEF IS MEANT TO ADDRESS THE DESIGN PROBLEM.
TARGET AUDIENCE. WHO IS IT FOR? WHY THEM? WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THESE PEOPLE? WHERE DO WE TALK TO THEM? HOW DO WE TALK TO THEM?
THE BIG IDEA! WHAT SHOULD WE KNOW? WHAT SHOULD THEY KNOW? WHAT ARE THE THEMES? HOW WILL WE CHALLENGE THE AUDIENCE? HOW DO WE CONVINCE? COMMUNICATE.
Stumbling . It was a normal day, when I was trawling the online streets of reddit looking for the US election day news, right after Trump won. Curious to find out how they felt, by the power of serendipity I stumbled upon a philosophical debate, questioning the idea of ad hominem. In this thread of endless debate, I also crossed upon the idea of the “echo chamber effect�.
Pencilling . .
MIDDLE GROUND
Department: BA (Honours) Communication Design Session: Level:
2016-17 1-3
Project Title: Ad Hominem
The Brief Ad Hominem, when “an argument or reaction is directed against a person rather than the position that they are maintaining.” The phenomena of ad hominem is especially prevalent in debate, when argument centers around the opposition’s personality instead of being objective and focusing on the actual work or idea to be done or being proposed. The nature of this cultural debate is also known as “post-truth” politics, when the parties involved debate through appeal to emotion rather than being logically objective and ignoring factual rebuttals. With this lack of objectivity and a growing culture of misinformation is also exacerbated by the echo chamber effect. Information, ideas, or beliefs are amplified or reinforced by transmission and repetition inside an "enclosed" system. Again, not dissimilar to the post-truth phenomena is the echo chamber’s effects. Different or competing views are censored, disallowed, or otherwise underrepresented. This ignorance of objective information is becoming increasingly pervasive across the millennial generation, with social media being more and more accessible, acting as platforms for not only excessive but also unfiltered and excessive channels of both information, and misinformation. With the ever-growing range of platforms for information communication, future generations are poised to be more educated and well-informed than ever. However, the current trend of how people are collecting and circulating information in a passive manner and jumping to a bias is a cause for concern, rather than inciting initiative for introspection for more insight and perspective. This project requires you to tackle this trend of misinformation as a research project. Explore and research the topic of ad hominem in-depth, how it has become prevalent in current times, and what can be done to address this issue. You can approach it from a cultural, sociological, scientific, political or other viewpoint. The final work should ultimately address ad hominem as an issue of concern and provoke thought and need for curiosity and perspective within the audience. It could be something as simple as addressing day to day issues, or on the scale of addressing a large-scale demographic of society all at once. A few simple questions one can start with is to ask; How does one view others? What forms and affects opinion, and how do we avoid subjectivity and focus on objectivity? How much of a role does personal emotion play in colouring our perspectives? How do we provoke thought in the human mind? Exploring these questions and more could help direct you to provoking intrigue for insight and one’s need for self-awareness. How does ad hominem play a part in our daily lives and work, and how will it affect us in the future, for better or worse?