BEN FARR _ 259382 BA (HONS) ILLUSTRATION OUIL501: STUDIO BRIEF 3
COP3 - RESEARCH PROPOSAL
PROPOSED RESEARCH QUESTION:
What is Good? - To what extent does Social Responsibility impact on the role and function of Illustration?
INTRODUCTARY STATEMENT: What is Good? - To what extent does Social Responsibility impact on the role and function of Illustration? During Context of Practice this year, I have been researching and examining gender roles in advertising and specifically sports advertising or advertising and branding involving the use of sports people. I’ve been focusing on the underrepresentation of female athletes and the sexualisation and pressure put on female athletes to have to appear beautiful in order to get sponsorship. This has made me consider the social impacts of sport and advertising. Also thinking about what advertisers’ social responsibility is, and how advertising and branding can impact on society and alter societies’ views. Investigating these effects and responding to it visually has made me contemplate the messages in my own work. In my visual journal I’ve tried to challenge some gender stereotypes. I have had to think about the most effective and evocative ways to make an impact with my work to draw attention to the issues I’m trying to communicate. Coming from a fine art course before switching to illustration, conceptual work and making more thoughtful work with a message has always been part of my practice. I’ve primarily explored this in the COP modules, making potentially more commercial work in studio practice. My illustration practice usually focuses on people. Thinking about the symbolism and what my work is communicating has needed more reflection this year. This is something I want to place more emphasis on in the future. Advertising and branding is a career path I’ve thought about going into after graduation. So I think it would be interesting to further investigate the impact of advertising and consider the moral obligations of advertisers, designers and illustrators.
CONTEXTUAL IMAGES:
telegraph.co.uk. (2006). [image] available on: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3653291/Getting-cross-about-blasphemy.html [accessed May 3rd 2017] huffingtonpost.co.uk(2014). [image] available on: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/06/09/nike-world-cup-advert_n_5475667.html [accessed May 3rd 2017] wtatennis.com [image] available on: http://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/3238161/title/gallery-more-strong-is-beautiful [accessed May 3rd 2017] [image] available on: http://www.hardbodynews.com/2014/07/31/will-want-armour/ [accessed May 3rd 2017] (2008) [image] available on: http://argwus.blogspot.co.uk/2008/03/k-swiss-keep-it-pure.html [accessed May 3rd 2017]
RELEVANT BOOKS:
CORTESE, Anthony. (2008). Provocateur: Images of Women and Minorities in Advertising. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc. Maryland, USA. BERGER, John. (1972). Ways of seeing. London: Penguin. DYER, Richard. and MCDONALD, Paul. (1998). Stars. Palgrave Macmillan. Basingstoke, UK MULVEY, Laura. (1975) 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema', in Braudy, L and Cohen, M. eds. (1999) 'Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings. Oxford University Press. New York PACKARD, Vance. (1957). The Hidden Persuaders. Penguin Books.
WEBSITES:
The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/culture [accessed May 3rd 2017] HANAN, Ali, (2016) Five facts that show how the advertising industry fails women [Internet] Available from < https://www.theguardian.com/women-inleadership/2016/feb/03/how-advertisingindustry-fails-women [27/01/2017] NATIONAL LOTTERY UK, (2015) This Girl Can. [Internet] Available from < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= jsP0W7-tEOc [28/01/2017]
Adweek. www.adweek.com [accessed May 3rd 2017] RICHARDS, Katie, (2015) Why Brands Are Finally Choosing More Female Athletes for Big Endorsement Deals - Women are no longer sitting on the side-lines. [Internet] Available from < http://www.adweek.com/news/advertisingbranding/why-brands-are-finally-choosing-more-female-athletes-big-endorsementdeals-167007 [07/01/2017]
QUOTES: ‘According to the principles of the ruling ideology and the psychical structures that back it up, the male figure cannot bear the burden of sexual objectification.’ (Mulvey, 1975) ‘sex images have long been cherished by ad men purely as eye stoppers’ (Packard, 1957) ‘Advertising images provide culturally sanctioned ideal types of masculinity and femininity. Advertisers targeting women consumers subscribe to very limited notions of what constitutes femininity e.g. dependency, concern with superficial beauty’ (Cortese, 2008) In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness.’ (Mulvey, 1975) ‘a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female’ (Mulvey, 1975) ‘Formal preoccupations reflect the psychical obsessions of the society which produced it’ (Mulvey, 1975)
CASE STUDIES:
Mike McQuade. Available from: http://mikemcquade.com [accessed May 3rd 2017]
Eleanor Davis. Available from: http://doing-fine.com/?cat=17 [accessed May 3rd 2017]
Dave Merrell. Available from: http://www.davemerrell.com/#/usopen/ [accessed May 3rd 2017]
CASE STUDIES:
Dave Foldavri. Available from: https://www.instagram.com/davefoldvari/?hl=en [accessed May 3rd 2017] WTA campaign: Strong is beautiful. Available from: http://www.wtatennis.com/tags/strongbeautiful [accessed May 3rd 2017]
REFLECTIVE PRACTICE:
REFLECTIVE PRACTICE: