Name:
Natalie Dyson
E-mail:
nd89059@students.leeds-art.ac.uk
SUBJECTS OF CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH ALREADY UNDERTAKEN
Level 4:
Modernism
Level 5:
Panopticism and surveillance theory post 9/11
AIM AND/OR OBJECTIVE OF YOUR PROPOSED C.O.P.3 PROJECT I aim to investigate how 1980s technology and ideas have influenced and impacted todays design, showing how this was the decade that made us who we are today. I aim to explore if there would be a need for some of the types of design today, such as app and digital design, without the technological inventions/advances made throughout the 1980s. I aim to use the film Back to the Future Part 2 as an example where the same ideas and products of today are shown in their predictions but designed differently. How has 1980s ideas been translated into todays design? Has the perceptions of design changed since then? How have 1980s technological ideas and inventions influenced today’s graphic design and digital platforms?
What research needs to be undertaken into the general and specific contexts of your practice? I will need to research what influenced technology and design within the 1980s? What socially impacted design and ideas in the 1980s? Who were the key thinkers and designers in 1980s technology and design? What factors can influence design in general? What predictions about today’s technology were made with Back to the Future part 2? I aim to focus on key designers and thinkers of the time, such as Steve Jobs and the developments with Apple technology, as this is something that I can link back to what is seen and used today in todays design. It also links back to the predictions of tablet media from Back to the Future part 2. Would app design be needed now if forward thinking and advances in computers weren’t made within the 1980s? Or would it have been much later in its development process without the thinkers and influences of the 1980s? (This is an example of connections and the type of research I want to investigate further with this module)
What approach(es) will you take and what processes, methods, materials and tools are to be involved in research into your practice? For the research side I will take the Hermeneutic approach, start to look at the variety of perspectives on 1980s thinking and how these are applied to individual examples of design back then and how this is reflected/changed today and its effect of the types of design today. Along with this I plan to use a systematic approach to carrying out the investigation and researching. Along with various data collection through surveys and peoples verbal opinions through interviews. I am looking at the social impact of technology from the 1980s on todays design so I need to use this approach of looking at how my research has impacted the audience and graphic design. For the practical side I will have a reflective practice in which I investigate and experiment with the application of 1980s graphic design techniques to media formats of today. What are the limitations of processes back then and how far has this advanced in graphic design today? What are the preferred media formats of today?
In my own practice next year I am hoping to focus on digital platforms within graphic design and the production/techniques of this, so feel that this direction with the module would be appropriate as it focuses around the impact of technological advances on today’s graphic design.
What preparation or investigations do you need to undertake for your creative practice to take place? I will need to prepare by watching Back to the Future part 2 and other various documentaries I already have recorded on the 1980s from the National Geographic channel, both generally as a decade and on technology specifically. I will need to consider how this technology affected design. I will need to investigate into several case studies of technology and designers from the 1980s. I will need to investigate similarities of predictions made within the film to what is reality now. How has the perceived design changed and what has influenced this? I will need to investigate the different design processes used by designers of the 1980s and consider how these can be appropriately and practically applied to my practical solution.
What research do you need to undertake regarding who your creativity is for? My research project is for those who could remember the 1980s and looking for a nostalgic view of how that decade still affects them now. What age is this audience most likely to be now? What tone of voice was used in the 1980s? How has this changed? What design trends were there in the 1980s? I am going to look at National Geographic channel’s existing TV series on ‘80s: the decade that made us’ and who is their audience for this and in what way do they show similar information to my content to that audience already?
Primary Sources of Information 1.
Description Location
2.
Description Location
3.
Description
Location
Interviews with those from the 1980s Local area. Also family, friends and work colleagues. Survey Internet based and distributed through social networking and related contextual forums. O b s e rv a t i o n o f 1 9 8 0 s t e c h n o l o g y . Observation of how they have socially impacted today’s technology developments and design. A n t iq u e st o re s a n d e ld e rly f a mily’s possessions.
Secondary Sources of Information
1.
h ttp ://ch a n n e l.n a tio n a lg e o g ra p h ic.co m/ channel/the-80s-the-decade-that-made-us/ (web)
2.
Back to the Future part 2 (film)
3.
80’s: The decade that made us (TV documentary)
4.
PIE books, (2010). ‘Hello! UK Graphics: Graphic Design in the UK Since the 1980s’ (book)
5.
Stewart, G, (2013). ‘Bang!: A History of Britain in the 1980s’ (book)
6.
Browne, R & Stoddart, S, (2006). ‘The 1980s - American Popular Culture Through History’ (book)
Perceived problems or difficulties: Some of the books above I will need to purchase or source from libraries outside of Leeds. I have no first hand experience of the 1980s therefore I am going to rely on the research of others. Unlikely to be able to interview designers from the 1980s and those who invented the technology. At this stage the topic may need to be narrowed down further with specific case studies which are yet unknown. Or narrowed down to a specific country either American or British 1980s. Limitations of 1980s design and the limitations of this being translated onto today’s design formats. I will need to develop my digital application skills as, at the moment, they are limited and I wouldn’t feel confident at producing a high quality final resolution.