C8H10N4O2

C8H10N4O2

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C8H10N4O2 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission from the artist Peter Saunders. If you seek permission to reproduce any part of this publication, please contact the artist directly — design@petesaunders.com. Digital files and hi-resolution images may be available to you on request.

All content Š 2010

Typeset in Gotham and Archer, designed by Hoefler & Frere-Jones Printed on Monza Satin 350gsm (cover) and Monza Satin 130gsm (text) [55% recycled, FSC mixed sources certified, EMS and ECF] Printed in a limited edition of 75 copies.

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C8H10N4O2 is the molecular formula for caffeine. Ask any

designer and they will tell you how big of a role caffeine plays in their lives. Whether it is the early morning wake up, a meeting with clients, or the extra push to get you through the night and meet a big deadline, caffeine in all of its forms plays an integral part in what we do.

This book chronicles the highs and lows of possibly the most important formative year in my design career thus far: the final year of my Masters degree.

At the beginning of every project, we start with a concept; an idea in its infancy. As we research, we experiment, we talk and try new things, our concept develops and turns into something more substantial — a proper resolution. The idea behind this book is to provide greater insight into the development of a project and the development of a designer at a personal level.

To this end, it is meant to provide an honest and potentially harsh appraisal of one’s work and self. Like most projects, this book is split into parts: concept/research, experimentation and resolution. There is always an overlap between these parts, but a good design project will always touch upon them.

There is a lot of general misunderstanding about what designers do and how much effort is put into any given project.

I hope that this book will provide more of an insight into our craft and hopefully enhance the understanding and appreciation of the final outcomes.

At the very least, it will be a reflection of the work I have done and where I was at this point in my design career, hopefully standing the test of time as a book on my personal coffee table.

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CONCEPT + RESEARCH When Pete approached me to write this entry, he presented me with four topics to respond to: (1) concept; (2) research; (3) experimentation; (4) resolution. I was instantly drawn to discuss concept and research, because of a recent realisation that these two stages are interdependent on each other.

It was during a discussion between a close colleague and I that this realisation was made. We had devised a simple Q&A document in the want to compare and share our habits as individuals and creatives. As an example, we would posit: Q: How do you deal with designers block?

A: My ritual entails the brewing of copious amounts of tea and then, in between intermediate breaks to the mens room, look hopelessly to FFFFOUND® for a miraculous conception of an idea.

On a side note, I’m delighted to revisit my responses, as I began to realise that some rituals, like drinking copious amounts of tea and the subsequent relieving of my bladder, was an actualisation of the remedy I was seeking for the mental problem I was experiencing — paging Dr Freud.

My awareness of the correlation between concept and research was a result of the varied response to the question ‘what environment and/or triggers help you form ideas?’ Unlike our previous answers, which had been similar in greater or lesser degrees, our responses to this question were polar opposites.

For instance, I likened my approach to that of an antennae, receiving information from various sources: music, design, illustration, cinema, text, etc. Therefore, in most cases my concepts stem as a result of research.

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However, my colleague’s approach was completely different.

They removed themselves from influences and distractions and would formulate their ideas through exploration and experimentation. Therefore, they would formulate a concept and use research to inform it.

We began to debate the validity of each other’s approaches by listing the pros and cons. However, we both arrived at the same conclusion: that our arguments were flawed because concept and research is just like the chicken and the egg!

Ultimately, both approaches were valid — a concept can act as a catalyst for research; research can also be a catalyst in the imagining of a concept.

Since this realisation, I’ve begun to consider the catalyst behind the work of other artists/designers. Were they influenced by ideas, images or text they had come across, or did they remove themselves from influences and use research to inform their concept? It’s an interesting angle in which to consider another creative’s work. Either way, as a result of this realisation I’ve come to recognise that my most well-executed and received projects were those where I considered the importance of concept and research in a balanced amount. A good concept is like strong foundations for a house, while research brings depth and context to a project. Expending energy and time on one and not the other will lead to poor execution.

Ultimately, in good design you cannot separate the two.

TOM FITZGERALD www.floatingworld.com.au

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The first week of my project sees me sitting on the other side of the world. I have spent the last four months in Jackson Hole, Wyoming working as a ski instructor, filming, designing and thoroughly enjoying my winter. As I return to my studio and start attending my classes, the reality of the project sets in: I have reading to do. And a lot of it.

The overall idea for my project is to look at the advertising and promotion of pharmaceutical products, most notably, anti-depressants. Last year, I took a broad look at the idea of ethics in design (leaving the notion of ‘design’ open-ended).

This year, I want to take a pragmatic look at the idea of ethics in what is generally regarded as an unethical industry and where designers — in this case, those who create the advertisements — fit into the grand scheme of things. There is also an expectation that this year long project will have formed a body of work able to be included in an end of year exhibition of graduating students.

Up to this point, my work has been predominantly print based (books, magazines, communication plans etc) which is not really conducive to an exhibition environment. Because of this, I am looking to use video and installation as the mediums for my final outcomes. I have to be conscious of the fact that my work will be displayed alongside painters, sculptors and photographers, but also conscious of the fact that by the medium alone, I am likely to be in the minority. I’ve also found that I really enjoy working with these mediums, but most of the work I have done thus far has been experimental or purely for fun. How they translate to a practical and considered outcome remains to be seen.

One of the major parts of this book is to make sure that I keep my print based skills alive and developing, while I play around with other ways of presenting information. I still consider myself a print based designer, so it seems counterproductive to spend an entire year neglecting the largest skill set I have.

As an aside, I am pretty stoked to be asked by AGDA to answer some questions for their next issue of AGENDA. Hopefully I don’t end up sounding like too much of an ass…

WEEK ONE

WEEK ONE

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P L AY

WORK

( T H E S E A R E N O T M U T U A L LY E X C L U S I V E )

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One of the major commitments I have for the year is to attend a weekly session with all the Masters candidates. I think there are maybe one or two people working in Graphic Design. Everyone else is doing some branch of Fine Arts — painting, sculpture, printmaking or photography.

This difference is important, because every week it becomes more apparent to me: artists are not the same as designers. I find these sessions interesting because I love to see what is going on around me. Some of the work that comes out is fascinating and I have even purchased work from fellow students. Because so many of them are in the same area, often the sessions disintegrate into arguments over artistic semantics: which paints are superior, why a certain technique is better than another and general artistic faux pas’. All of this just turns into tiresome and banal white noise.

I have never, ever considered myself an artist, at least, in the sense of fine art. I just can’t speak the same language. I can see and interpret what it is people are talking about, but only superficially.

Besides, it became clear to me throughout my undergraduate studies that 95% of my fellow students don’t pay any credence to designers.

My degree is in Visual Communication. Yes, we deal with the same decisions that any other artist makes, but our end goal is to take a piece of information and present it in the most visually interesting, relevant and considered way we know. We too deal with the abstract, with postmodernism, with a clashing of different styles and with all the other issues that artists face.

Design can definitely be artistic and art can be well designed. Design can evoke the same sensations that art aims for. The difference is that for someone like myself, who lacks all artistic sensibilities, design as Visual Communication provides an outlet and a new way to analyse, interpret and present a body of information that would otherwise be stuck in the realm of industryspecific publications, inaccessible to anyone without relevant knowledge. Design allows a certain freedom of expression, often with the goal of general accessibility. I think this function and importance is too often overlooked.

WEEK TWO

WEEK TWO

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AG DA INTERVIEW

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Dear Peter, We’re looking to interview some members for the next issue of AGENDA, our quarterly newsletter and you have been selected from the Find a Designer Directory on the AGDA web site.

There will be a series of about 17 questions based around the topic ‘Design Currency’. We would love for you to participate and the interview questions are featured below.

I would like to apologise as I neglected to mention that as part of the interview, we would also like to feature a maximum of three images to accompany your replies. Are there any you would like to supply us with?

These images can be a self-portrait or some of your best works, it’s entirely up to you.

1. How do you keep yourself up to date within the design world?

I try to check regularly and read through a few design related blogs and forums. Some often link to a bunch of things I never would have seen otherwise. There are also a few designers that I pay particular interest to, and try to keep track of their new work. I try to read as many magazines as possible, but it’s more difficult than online blogs, since so much of my time is spent researching and designing on the computer.

2. Do design events, magazines, web sites, business networks help you in your work and in what way?

I tend to find that the more I read or look at works or attend meetings and exhibitions, the more I am influenced in one way or another. Sometimes work I see that I don’t like influences me more than work I do like. Events like AGIdeas are definitely the best thing I’ve been a part of in the last four or so years. There is just so much exposure to so many world class designers, ideas and having the chance to talk to not only them but your peer group — it is probably the best boost of inspiration, often when it is needed most.

3. Do you have any mentors to whom you refer?

Are you able to tell us how this relationship impacts on you as a designer?

I’ve had a couple of teachers throughout my undergrad and postgrad studies that I get along really well with. I respect them as designers, but also I am able to talk through my ideas with them and gain some valuable feedback. I find that I get so caught up with specific details of projects that they often lose their core concept. It helps to talk through this process with someone more experienced and they often help me get back on the track I originally intended. I am also in constant contact with a couple of designers in America.

Speaking to them reminds me that I am often a little insular and stuck in my own world and due to the current state of the design world, I should be thinking a little more globally. For some reason, trying to think globally tends to ground me a little more, but I don’t know which recessive gene causes that.

4. Can you name your favourite web sites/ magazines that are must haves for you?

Explain why?

I tend to spend more time on Swissmiss than anywhere else. I don’t really know how that came about, but the site seems to link to so many aspects of design (resources, tools, quotes, photography or just generally awesome industrial design). Flicking through these collections of so many different things tends to allow me to relax for a few minutes and see what else is out there.

5. What about technology, do you currently use the latest and greatest available? What are some advantages/disadvantages of this?

I try to be as aware as possible of what the latest and greatest technology available is, but I don’t have enough money to spend on it. For example, a phone I use for four months of the year still has a killer MIDI ringtone.

I think it is really important to be aware of what is going on around you, so you can make sure

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that the design work you’re doing (especially if it is based online) does not fall by the wayside or is replaced by the new “best” thing. As far as advantages go, I really enjoy learning new things, so I can constantly immerse myself in new design tools or ways of presenting media.

Of course, the disadvantage of this is that you can never really take a breath and just enjoy some of the work you’ve created thus far.

6. How do you maintain a strong connection with your professional and social networks?

Do you feel it is important to do so?

As much as I hate to admit that sites like Facebook have started to control our lives, I have to give them kudos for being amazing networking tools. It is so much easier to contact people who may be able to give you some assistance, to freely advertise work that you’re showing and to keep up to date with what others around you are doing. These sites have just become essential marketing tools, so it is vital to keep up to date with them. Except Twitter.

Twitter breeds stupidity.

7. How have your client relationships evolved over the past 5 years?

My client relationships have evolved from none to…some. I’m still pretty new to the game, so I’m learning as I go. Definitely in the last couple of years, I’ve learned to become more confident in my abilities as a designer and I feel they’re reflected in how I interact with my clients. For example, it is no longer just a matter of me putting together what they think they want to see, but being actively involved in the process to create more interesting and hopefully successful outcomes.

8. What do you do to keep your ideas fresh?

Any hobbies or passions outside the studio?

I ski. I work every winter (our summer) in America as a ski instructor. I like to shoot video and make movies, I love to listen to music. I enjoy writing, I try to read as much as possible, take photos, explore new countries and make new friends.

9. Have you ever found yourself wanting to pursue another business avenue as a result of something you have learned through your work as a designer?

Although I work mostly with print, I really love the idea of video work. Working with audio and visual creates so much more of an overall sensation to me. I find that if I’m filming something I am passionate about, I really get into the project and it becomes more personal and (hopefully) better. Some of my happiest days have been spent in the middle of nowhere filming my mates ski down ridiculously steep slopes.

10. As you grow and develop as a creative person, do you find that things become easier?

Or are some aspects still a challenge?

I’ve never really found the creative process very easy, so I think if it is too good to be true, it probably is. The technical side of things always becomes easier, as you become more accustomed to the programs you use but working out what you want to make and why is still a difficult process.

11. How do you manage office resources so that you get the most out of them with minimum impact on the environment?

I try to either store or recycle all the paper products that I use. Most of my work is done on my laptop though, so the whole thing is relatively paperless. The one thing I am mostly conscious of is natural lights — I like to have windows open as often as possible.

12. How do you sustain a motivated and cohesive team?

I think it’s important to know from the outset what we’re trying to get out of a project and why. When people start to forget, it’s good to remind them. Beer and bribery also works (not necessarily in that order).

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13. How do you adapt to growing trends in design, if those trends don’t really tie in with your own design processes?

16. Think back to your last project; what were some of the things that influenced your ideas and process?

I find that I don’t really have a set design process. Sometimes things happen, sometimes they don’t. Trends are good because they provide obvious new things to try out. If they seem to fit with how you work, you keep them. If they don’t, you block your ears and close your eyes and wait for the next trend to hit. It doesn’t take long.

This was one of my first projects creating a legitimate corporate identity for a new business.

I had to be really studious in looking at competitor’s identities; what worked and what didn’t; what I liked and what I didn’t. It was really the things that I didn’t like with what I saw that lead me to the outcome I created. I also spent most of the day time skiing, so I could look at the project with fresh eyes every day. I wish that could be every day…

17. What new and useful lessons did you draw from this project?

14. What influenced you to become a designer? Did any stem from perhaps childhood experiences and do these come through in your ideas?

I was always intrigued by the things I saw around me. Throughout school, I was really good at maths and science, but was never excited by the prospect of making either of those into a career. Since “recess” wasn’t a valid option for further education, I explored what was possible on a computer and how to design posters, web sites and animations. Then, as I traveled around the world, I started to see what was really possible through these mediums and that made me more excited to try and learn new things and get to that level. People seem to be improving at a much faster rate than me though, so it’s probably going to be an endless task.

15. What sort of changes can you see happening in the design industry over the next 5 years?

The main change I have seen recently is that the big name designers (the Stephan Sagmeisters and David Carsons of the world) aren’t where people look to for ideas. I think that it is now the people that blog about design that really dictate the latest ideas and trends. They bring together so many different people and designs that viewers are inundated with ideas, concepts and inspiration.

I can only see this increasing in the next 5 years and beyond. Hopefully, too, people will realise that everything “Carbon Offset” is pretty much just a scam.

For the first time (outside of University), I was given pretty much free reign of a design identity. It was a pleasant surprise to find that the rationale I included clearly explained all of my ideas to someone who was not designorientated and actually sold the project as a whole. I used to view them as a bit of an afterthought, but now I know they are pretty much vital in explaining something to a person who doesn’t necessarily see a design for what it is. Just made me realise that although I can see my own ideas clearly, a little bit of a write up goes a long way in selling the concept. It’s also a nice feeling when someone really likes your ideas. (article conducted January, 2010; published April, 2010)

AG DA I N T E RV I E W

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As the semester kicks into full gear and I start my writing and research, it is becoming all the more apparent that I have to start giving some serious consideration to what direction I would like this project to take. I have some ideas in the works: I am researching scripting/programming for installations, getting ethics clearance to interview members of the public about their antidepressant usage and generally getting things underway.

I am left wondering what it is I want to show from this research; how I want my work to take shape.

Is it enough to merely present the cold hard facts under the assumption that my audience is informed enough to reach the conclusion I want?

Or should I be using my research to inform some kind of work that evokes an emotional connection or response from those viewing it? Ideally, this is what I would like to achieve, but it harks back to my previous point about designers vs. artists.

It would not be very difficult for me to compile a series of statistics and general information and present it in a way more visually appealing than a series of charts and graphs. I feel there is more to this project than just that, so I have to try and think like an artist. Often when I get stuck for inspiration or things aren’t happening how I want them to, I will drop everything, put my iPod on and go for a walk. I found that I did a lot of good work while away because I spent most days skiing.

When I returned to work, things in my head were more clear and I could direct whatever creative energies I had more effectively. I tried to take this method home with me and aim for the same level of success. There is no doubting the fact that my surroundings are beautiful, so to spend all my time without appreciating them seems to do them a great disservice. So I go for a walk and spend the time thinking about how different types of artists would interpret the world around them. Would a sculptor view an empty area in the park as an opportunity for public art? How would someone use a video camera to create a different view of what they see? Where would a photographer stand to get the best angle or shot? Considering these viewpoints helps me analyse things around me in new ways and hopefully I can apply the same methods to my own project.

WEEK THREE

WEEK THREE

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University is a very different entity from the institution it was not even a decade ago. The constant budget cuts, lack of scholarships and diminished social scene means that the overall focus has shifted from that of a socially interactive educational environment to one almost solely ‘dedicated’ to granting students their piece of paper. One could be forgiven for assuming that if the focus of the institution had become that of solely education — geared towards getting people the knowledge they need to complete their degrees — that other major aspects of students’ lives (such as income) would garner greater assistance. As with anything money related, the opposite is true.

It seemed that a decade ago, students focused on their studies and social livesand jobs sometimes found a way around this. Now, students try to find time to complete their studies around their job schedule. There is no denying that studying a Masters degree is a full time work load. Although the contact hours are surprisingly few, the expectations for practical output, combined with the research and theoretical writing mean that the weekly workload far exceeds that of a full time job. And this is a full time job that we are paying to undertake. To recuperate some of these fees and also try to fund projects (printing, promotion, development etc), it is mandatory to work, since scholarships are nonexistent.

I have spent most of the last week in meetings.

On the side of my studies, I work for four different clients (not including other unpaid projects) undertaking a variety of design jobs. Sometimes this only involves the odd work here or there, other times it involves working on numerous jobs for multiple clients. Currently, my to-do list is at 12, which seems pretty small. These tasks range from finishing an essay to a complete corporate identity overhaul and trying to find the funding for an exhibition catalogue that has never been created before. All of these tasks are varied, difficult and time consuming. At the end of the day, that is part of being a (hopefully) successful graphic designer.

Ultimately, I’d like to be a creative director and lead a design team. If I am to do this in the real world, I have to get as much experience as possible while I still have the relative safety net of University — one thing that, as yet, hasn’t been removed.

WEEK FOUR

WEEK FOUR

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I should preface this entry with an explanation of why none of the entries thus far have been particularly pertinent to my project. The simple reason is that I have done no practical work. All of my time has been dedicated to theory and reading, as well as client work. It would be a stretch to say I was anything but completely freaked out by the realisation that at week five, I have essentially completed nothing. Not surprisingly, my to-do list is still getting longer… Still, at least there is paid work to concentrate on…

I view graphic design as a service industry.

I’ve worked numerous hospitality and customer service jobs and the general feel of the work is very similar. The language is different — instead of referring to those we work with as “customers”, we call them “clients” and there is more opportunity to develop long-lasting relationships — but the fundamentals are the same. We are still reliant on another company or person to provide our pay cheque and this only comes about from doing a job that meets the expectations of those signing that cheque. Entry level graphic design is very much like bussing tables or cleaning dishes. You put your head down and get on with the work, knowing that while it is repetitive and menial, it is still important to the overall success of the team. As you progress up the food chain, your responsibilities grow.

You become more involved in the workings of the group and instead of being just a cog, you have the chance and (hopefully) ability to dictate how all the cogs work together. When it comes to freelance design, this changes. You do all the menial work, but you also have to look at the big picture.

You have to appease your client — without them, you have no job. Freelance design is not salary based, but its success is based on long-lasting, successful designer/client relationships. These relationships will grow in number as word of mouth is by far the best advertising (and conversely, the fastest way to ruin your reputation). So when you have a project with a client, you sit down, work out what they want and go about getting it done. When problems arise, you speak to them honestly about it until the project is complete and you are both happy. Picking up a finished product that both parties are happy with is the single best feeling in this job. And, most importantly, it is great to put a tick in the W column.

WEEK FIVE

WEEK FIVE

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1962 and nothing has changed

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SIR, — I have been receiving increasing numbers of outsize postcards exhibiting the art of the professional advertiser and entreating me with various eye-catching devices to prescribe this or that remedy. Particular examples include a child with agonized expression having two sharp-pointed pain symbols jabbing its ear — you can infer that nothing less than “auralgicin” will do. Another proclaims the benefits, of “ bellergal” for premenstrual tension and menopausal symptoms (female staff of the G.P.O. please note and ask your doctor for a prescription).

This time the picture is quite charming, just a nice smiling lady, obviously thankful for the blessings of bellergal therapy.

As well as the postcards, there are now increasing numbers of envelopes bearing on the outside the names and uses of drugs, often in huge lettering which dwarfs the typescript of my name and address.

This kind of advertising is surely distasteful and can hardly add to the reputation of the industry, or indeed to that of the medical profession. For me and my partners these firms have over-reached themselves and we are requesting those concerned to remove our names from their mailing lists. — I am, etc., Selby, Yorks. A. B. WHARTON. (Correspondence from British Medical Journal, March 17, 1962 pp. 803)

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One of my greatest fears for this project (and my design career in general) is that all the work I create will be mediocre. There is so much design in every day life that it almost becomes background noise.

You don’t notice it. And the problem is that 99% of the design around you is mediocre. Design students spend their time studying good design because it influences them in one way or another. This is very important. Part of finding your voice as a designer is discovering your influences and working through projects to try and instill your own voice into the work you create. Smart designers study bad design because by knowing and identifying the mistakes, you can attempt to remedy them. So I honestly fear creating mediocre work more than I fear creating bad work; at least bad work evokes a reaction. It might be one of disdain, but at least it affects the viewer enough to form some kind of opinion, one way or another. Mediocre design just falls by the wayside. Mediocre work doesn’t always start out that way — a great concept can be destroyed by design laziness: bad typesetting, poor image quality/usage, a lack of pre-press skills. All of these things detract from the success of a concept, but not enough to make it a bad design — just enough for it to be viewed and shrugged off. Without a good concept from the outset though, it feels like you’re already shooting blanks. Really good execution of a poor concept will definitely increase the chances of success for the project, but if you’re not given the opportunity to excel from the outset, it feels like you’re just doing the rounds. Doing the rounds pays the bills in many cases, but in the case of this project, it just won’t cut it. I have all year to develop and refine a concept and a series of outcomes and if the result of that was sheer mediocrity, I don’t think I could forgive myself for wasting such an opportunity. As I stare at the back end of week six, my concept has barely left the ground. I’m reading, researching and writing, but not really creating a viable plan for concept development. My work plan has definitely been designed to knock the essays out as quickly as possible so I can spend the rest of the time on practical outcomes, but the fact of the matter remains: something needs to be done and soon. I had to force myself to just do something that could pave the way to a viable outcome. So I asked: “To me, depression is…”

WEEK SIX

WEEK SIX

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I was overwhelmed by the quality of responses that I got from just sending a request out to all of my friends to complete a statement. The only thing I am kind of despondent about was the quantity of responses I got from my initial request. I figure if about five people respond per hundred you ask, you’re not doing too badly. Of course, one can always hope that the number would increase if you were dealing with friends. I guess not…

Importantly though, getting at least something done started the cogs in my head turning and I came up with another idea that could be a viable concept.

I recently got a new camera lens that is attached on a ball and socket joint. This means that the lens can be shifted and tilted to alter the focal point of the shot, allowing for random (and sometimes controlled) distortions and blurring throughout the photo. It is a really intriguing effect and exceedingly powerful if you can handle the camera controls correctly. The lens also has aperture filters such as a pinhole or zone plate effect that further alters the outcome of the photograph. The learning curve for this lens is remarkably steep, but it feels good to be really conscious of what my aperture and shutter speed are doing. I haven’t had the need for proper manual camera control since my first year of undergraduate studies when I took black and white photography. Somehow, dictating what the camera can do creates more personal photos and I feel a greater connection to the work than just simply pointing and shooting. I like that. The wonderful thing about this lens is that it seems to create foggy, dream-like photographs when handled correctly.

My concept now is to get access to the prescriptions area of a chemist and try to replicate these dreamlike photographs, when the subject matter is rows upon rows of prescription medication. Numerous people I spoke to about their antidepressant usage mentioned that it tended to put a sort of fog over their lives and numb everything. I hope to try and recreate that feeling through photography.

I want to photograph the subject organically (i.e. no alterations in Photoshop) because I think it would be an interesting way to shoot the least organic side of modern medicine. By creating beautiful, dream-like photos of these drugs and somehow presenting them alongside all the known side effects of antidepressants, could end up with an interesting balance of visual information.

WEEK SEVEN

WEEK SEVEN

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I found out over the weekend that one of my undergraduate teachers had passed away after a long fight with cancer. Even though I knew she had been sick for a while, it still shook me up a bit; I thought that she was winning the fight. It isn’t very often that you find a teacher willing to go out of her way to help you progress as a student, but this is exactly what she managed to do and in a subject (art theory) that I never viewed fondly. Without her assistance and guidance, I never would have ended up staying on to study a Masters degree. So I have her to thank for that.

What I have found, though, is that our University has rallied around to show support. Timetables have been shifted and classes postponed so as many people as possible can attend her funeral.

It really struck me how much of a community develops at our school. This show of support is not just from the teachers and support staff, it is also from the students she taught who were affected by her positive influence. A lot of people (especially designers) do not pay enough credence to community, especially in the case of informationsharing and collaboration. This does a massive disservice to the industry as a whole. Perhaps we need to start focusing on community and take the example of one committed, dedicated, approachable person and the effect that she had on those around her. Perhaps, if we all interacted with each other in such a way, the design community would start making the positive changes that so many have been calling out for.

WEEK EIGHT

WEEK EIGHT

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“

Ona was my first teacher here at TSA and had a great impact on me and my first impressions of this place as a student.

She was warm, generous and energetic; an engaging and encouraging teacher.

We have purchased a book for students, staff and alumni to record their thoughts and memories of Ona, as a tribute to her and a memento for her family and members of her religious order. The book is on a table outside the library on level 1.

You are invited to write in it directly, or to stick in anything you wish — photos, artworks, writing. Be as creative and colourful as you like‌the book will be in place for several weeks. If it fills up we will buy another one!

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The problem with making to-do lists is that you’re constantly reminded of how much work you have to do. They’re a great tool for organisation and pretty much essential to any designer — or anyone who has to juggle a bunch of projects — but every to-do list has a couple of bogey items. Bogey items are the ones that you have to really force yourself to sit down and do. They’re tiring, time consuming and always stick out like a sore thumb when you’re trying to work out what to complete in the day. In my particular case, the theory assignments I have to write are definitely the bogey items. It’s all well and good sitting down and working on a bunch of different design projects, but it definitely requires some other part of your brain to be able to organise, articulate and present an argument over a few thousand words. Yesterday, I sucked it up, sat down and wrote. And wrote and wrote. I had all my research done; it was just a matter of putting it all together. After eight hours it was finally done — all thirteen pages. The moment you finish an essay with a strong concluding statement and at your word limit is one of the greatest feelings in any student’s (and professional’s) career. There is still a lot of editing to do, but just the simple fact that you have your thoughts on paper suddenly means the project is no longer as daunting. More importantly though, your to-do list suddenly takes on a whole new light. It looks smaller, easier and much less stressful.

Sometimes, when a project is stuck at a certain point, it becomes important to just get ideas out on paper. They could be sketches, lists, concepts, whatever. Processing thoughts internally and into something tangible will often put the project back on track — sometimes one better than previously.

I ran through that process with my project and put it onto a path that I was happy with. More importantly, I was able to articulate it in such a way that even my supervisor was happy with my concept. The last couple of weeks has seen my project progress from a series of dead ends into something legitimate. Also, printing a bunch of forms for people to fill out has definitely seen the number of responses to my question increase, allowing that side of things to work itself out. Now, I just want to be able to sleep more than three hours a night and move away from the brink of insanity, except I think that is where I do my best work…

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The Research Essay will outline the key ideas underlying your project…the aim of this assignment is to provide a clear articulation of what your work is about, incorporating a knowledge of the relevant theoretical literature which relates to your concerns.

This essay is comprised of two main parts. First, extensive research into the field of pharmaceutical advertising has been conducted to gain a general understanding of the process that products go through, from initial testing to official approval for sale, advertising and marketing to consumers and medical practitioners. This formal research is used to identify discrepancies in this process: where pharmaceutical companies have influenced regulatory bodies in gaining approval and where, by independent research, beneficial claims made to potential customers through advertising and marketing have since been proven as false or misleading. Once these discrepancies have been identified, this project will discuss the position of the graphic designer or visual communicator and the role they can play in communicating these discrepancies to the wider public. This project explores the proposition that graphic designers, as an interface between the corporation and the consumer, an educator of the general public and an ethical reference point in the corporate world, particularly the pharmaceutical industry — an industry with a dubious ethical history — have the means, ability and social responsibility to be aware of the potential side-effects and social ramifications of the products they are advertising.

To do this, key texts have been identified that help define the role of the visual communicator within the greater industries of advertising and marketing. By identifying the information most relevant to the health of consumers, the possibility to communicate it in an engaging and evocative way, with a goal of educating the wider community about the ills and shortcoming of the pharmaceutical industry will be explored.

The influence of corporations has become allpervasive, “like the Church, the Monarchy and the Communist Party in other times and places,

the corporation is today’s dominant institution” (The Corporation, 2003). Since the industrial revolution of the 18th century, western civilisation witnessed the ever-accelerating growth of the corporation. Corporations were granted the ability to sue and be sued, hold assets in their own name, hire agents, sign contracts and make by-laws that govern their own internal affairs.

The extent of the powers corporations secured see them as an entity with a legal personality separate from its members, but one that “has grown so big, they have superseded government” (The Corporation, 2003 and Klein, 2000:xxi).

During the 1990s, a change occurred in how products were advertised, with companies shifting their mentality to sell brands and lifestyles, not just individual products. Nike harnessed the power of selling a brand and an associated lifestyle and created a model of moving factories offshore while contracting smaller companies to fill stock requirements (investing the freed capital in advertising) — now known as the Nike Model (Klein, 2000:198). WalMart, Microsoft and Levi Strauss incorporated this model with overwhelming success. This mode of advertising is now recognised, with historian and social critic Christopher Lasch stating, “advertising serves not so much to advertise products as to promote consumption as a way of life” (Lasch. 1979:135). The value of advertising and marketing is such that it grew almost exponential since its inception in the mid-1800s, with global advertising spending reported at US$435 billion in 2000 (Klein, 2000:8) and projected to be as much as US$2 trillion by 2011 (PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2007).

Companies like Nike and McDonalds generate yearly revenues close to US$20 billion. However, selling a lifestyle to promote a product is not the only successful strategy employed. On the other side of the corporate spectrum are the pharmaceutical giants. Most people would not recognise the logos of Merck, GlaxoSmithKlein (GSK) or Pfizer, but almost everybody would use a variety of their products. Company income

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statements have indicated that in 2009, GSK had yearly revenue of US$45.8 billion and Pfizer had yearly revenue of US$50 billion (Wikinvest, 2010a and 2010b). 2009 sales and prescriptions data from IMS Health showed that the top 15 pharmaceutical companies generated US$300.3 billion dollars revenue in the United States alone (IMS, 2009). These companies do not follow the Nike Model, as they are not selling a lifestyle associated with a brand. Pharmaceutical giants sell products that play to our fears and our desires for a quick fix and sell solutions to problems they themselves have often invented.

This can be done with little or no concern for the side effects and contraindications to their therapeutic use. Former Republican Senator Robert Monks described this corporate practice, “whether you obey the law or not is a matter of whether it’s cost effective. If the chance of getting caught and the penalties are less than it costs to comply, people think of it as just a business decision” (The Corporation, 2003).

The result of these business decisions has seen pharmaceutical giants such as Merck, GSK and Roche being fined more than $600 million for anti-trust violations and false advertising (The Corporation, 2003; Medicines Australia, 2006) in the past decade. To pharmaceutical giants, it is merely a business expense.

In 1981, the pharmaceutical industry began to petition the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow direct-to-consumer advertising. By 1985, they succeeded, arguing that “the public should not be denied access to the ‘knowledge’ that would be provided by such marketing” (Abramson, 2004:150). Originally, guidelines for direct-toconsumer advertising were strict and every single advertisement had to list all of the side effects of the promoted drug. Similarly, original advertising did not include which conditions the drugs were designed to treat; drugs were only advertised by name. The FDA changed their position in 1997, allowing advertisements to list conditions that a drug was designed to treat and only requiring major side effects to be

listed. This loosening of promotional guidelines saw a boom in pharmaceutical advertising. One of the first major drugs to see great success from increased advertising was Claritin (Loratadine — an antihistamine drug used to treat allergies).

The drug was promoted in the USA with an advertising budget greater than that of Budweiser beer or Coca-Cola. The results were immediately apparent; sales grew from US1.4 billion in 1997 to $2.6 billion in 2000 (Abramson, 2004:152). Later studies revealed that the FDA approved dosage of 10mg was only 11% more effective than a placebo, at a cost to the consumer of more than $2.10 per day. The same study found that a dosage in the range of 40mg would have positive effects, but would also cause drowsiness. However, one of the major selling points of the drug was the claim that Claritin did not have this side effect (Ibid).

In the mid-1990s, GlaxoSmithKline approached the New York public relations firm, Cohn and Wolfe with a product they had been developing known as Paxil (Paroxetine), designed to treat depression. Their product had been released in 1993, but was less commonly prescribed than Prozac (released by Eli Lilly in 1987) or Zoloft (released by Pfizer in 1992). Zoloft had the marketing advantage of touting itself “as a milder alternative to Prozac” (Lane, 2007:117). As well as missing the first big marketing window for selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors, Paroxetine also had a dubious development history, with withdrawal symptoms and dependency issues discovered even in the 1970s.

Most importantly, clinical trials had shown that Paroxetine was clearly less effective than other antidepressants — so much so that GSK had originally considered shelving it (Lane, 2007:118).

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) was rewritten and published in 1994, released as the DSM-IV. One of the major additions to this version was that of Social Anxiety Disorder. In the year before Paroxetine received FDA approval to treat Social Anxiety Disorder, GSK worked closely with Cohn and Wolfe to present clinical data in its favour. GSK

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carefully worded all phrases that could suggest overly negative side effects, heavily promoted any clinical results that showed positive results and pushed the notion of ‘flexibility and control’ (Lane, 2007:120). The major marketing strategy of GSK was to include this new disorder on their label to try and reinforce its position as “first choice antidepressant for depression and depression with anxiety” (Lane, 2007:121). The FDA approved a licence to treat Social Anxiety Disorder in March 1999 and GSK worked with Cohn and Wolfe to place Paroxetine at the forefront of the pharmaceutical world. They promoted the drug as the only selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor, launching Paxil CR (for ‘controlled release’), able to “target the brain’s receptor cells far more intelligently than either Prozac or Zoloft” (Lane, 2007:121).

Clinical data indicated that this claim was unfounded (ibid). The expanded pharmaceutical market for anxiety disorders suggested that up to 90 million adults in North America and Europe could be affected by the same disorders that Paroxetine was designed to treat (Lane, 2007:120).

Cohn and Wolfe were so skilled at pitching and altering heath care products that they were able to market Paroxetine as an anxiolytic but also as a remedy for acute shyness, panic, premenstrual dysphoric, obsessive compulsive disorders and major depression. This spectrum of problems seemed to undermine the notion that Paxil CR was a selective drug. Although it could be seen that GSK entered the market later than they would have liked — antidepressant prescriptions tripled between 1990 and 2000, with those aged 15 – 24 increasing tenfold (Moynihan & Cassels, 2005:32) — the efforts of Cohn and Wolfe were such that almost out of nowhere, Paroxetine was the leading antidepressant, outselling both Prozac and Zoloft and generating over $1 billion in sales annually (Moynihan & Cassels, 2005:131–135).

In 2004, a case was bought against GSK for fraud. The then New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer stated that GSK had concealed data about the dangers of Paroxetine and withheld information from the FDA. This information had been known since 2002, when a clinical trial

studying the same figures that had been presented to the FDA concluded “Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft and other SSRIs showed negligible improvement over placebos (sugar pills)” (Lane, 2007:118). Somehow, the way in which the data was presented to the FDA by Cohn and Wolfe saw GSK granted the licence they were seeking. Other reports showed increased levels of suicidal thinking and suicide attempts amongst children under eighteen: “overall, ‘suicide related events’ occurred almost four times more often in patients taking Paxil than in those taking a sugar pill” (Bass, 2008:221). GSK responded to these allegations with “a one-page note saying that it had ‘acted responsibly’ and that ‘all paediatric studies have been made available… to regulatory agencies worldwide” (Marshall, 2004:1576). The case was settled out of court for only $2.5 million dollars, a pittance compared to the income it had generated.

Cases like those levelled against GSK are becoming more common. Advertising, marketing and public relations promote products as cures for problems even before regulatory bodies have properly identified and approved them.

Graphic designer Saul Bass said in 1990, “if a promise is made that can’t be fulfilled, it’s worse than making no promise at all. Whatever the manipulative power of design, the fact is that if you aren’t basically accurate in what you say about products and companies, you will fail…”

(Heller & Finamore, 1997:74). Pharmaceutical advertising has managed to go completely against this mode of thought. A study by the Dartmouth Medical School found that only 13% of pharmaceutical advertising used clinical data to promote the benefits of specific drugs, the other 87% relied on vague statements (Abramson, 2004:154). The same study also concluded that 27% noted the causes or risk factors of the diseases, 9% sought to clarify myths or misconceptions, less than 30% acknowledged other treatments and 40% medicalised ordinary life issues. No advertisements mentioned costs. The revenue generated by these companies means that advertising, although vague in content, is

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completely attuned to its market. The use of psychologists, pharmacologists and celebrity endorsements means that the public can only react favourably to promotional campaigns, simply because they are bombarded with positive responses from presumably reputable sources. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case as the “public can no longer blindly trust that its vaunted medical journals and world-class medical experts put the interests of patients first” (Abramson, 2004:149).

perception that there is a need for products that will somehow enhance our lives. Pharmaceutical advertising expenditure has increased from US$843 million in 1997, to US$2.5 billion in 2000 and to over US$25 billion in 2007 (Lane, 2007:112) and the revenue generated by pharmaceutical companies has been steadily increasing every year (IMS Health, 2009).

This project uses the pharmaceutical industry as an example of why designers have a social responsibility to communicate educational Sitting in between the corporation and the messages to the wider public. For most of its consumer is the designer. It is the designer’s industry’s history, designers were seen as the job to take the relevant information and “tailor purveyor of whatever message they were paid to the image/text and layout to suit [the recipient]” relay. Only recently has the role of the graphic (Barnard, 2005:21). Graphic designers work as designer come under closer scrutiny with a communicators, promoting a certain message growing number of people viewing graphic to their audience. It is becoming more and more designers, or visual communicators, as people, apparent that the message presented to the “with profound responsibilities to shape society” public by the pharmaceutical companies is not in the growing field of conscientious design a clear or even honest one. It is a collection of (Eskilson, 2007:420). This privileged position half-truths and tailored information designed should not be taken lightly, as only with a radical to put the most positive spin on a collection of shift in the way designers view themselves and sometimes neutral and negative findings. As the their work will any kind of change transpire. communicator of these messages, the designer Graphic designers now have so many platforms has a responsibility to be informed about the at their disposal to communicate their message. products they are ultimately promoting through It is possible to overlay conflicting information their work. If an advertising campaign for a and devise methods for the viewer to differentiate company like Nike or Wal-Mart blatantly refuted between them. Something as simple as red the well-known fact that they used offshore and blue viewing screens can be utilised to labour to make their products, the campaign communicate the discrepancy between how — would be immediately denounced. If a car in the case of this project — a pharmaceutical company claimed that their airbags saved lives company promotes its products, versus their 100% of the time (and then listed all the instances often harmful reality, allowing the viewer to where airbags may not save lives), the campaign engage with and connect to, the information. would never be approved. Yet advertising Visual communicators can create environments campaigns for pharmaceuticals that do not that mimic the feelings of those taking certain present a factual or even truthful representation pharmaceuticals, allowing viewers to feel and of what their products do to consumers mostly experience the side effects without having to pay go unregulated. The simple fact is that “if for expensive medications and risk severe and prescription drugs are so good, why do they need harmful withdrawal symptoms. It is possible to to be pushed so hard? Wouldn’t the world beat create highly engaging and visually intriguing a path to the door of a company that produced, environments that act not as a didactic mode of say, a cure for cancer?” (Angell, 2005:133). What information delivery, but as a tool for education pharmaceutical companies produce is a public and further knowledge, digestible to a wider

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audience. Devising methods of communication that are both aesthetically considered and highly evocative is the main aim of this project, but one that is only a part of a much wider problem.

The pharmaceutical industry generates their profits from the business of consumers’ health.

The structure of the design industry dictates that once a contract has been accepted, the designer has an obligation to communicate their client’s message. Design firms (like the worldwide network, Ethical Design Collective) have already started refusing contracts to market certain products and work for certain companies. Perhaps it is possible for designers to make a positive contribution in combating unethical corporate practices. There is a serious discrepancy between the public perception and the reality of the pharmaceutical industry and those in a position to communicate these messages can enact some kind of change by wading through all the misinformation and discovering the truth, especially when it comes to the well-being of others. Designers, as the middlemen between the corporation and consumer, have the ability, the opportunity and the responsibility to contribute to this third party buffer.

Abramson, J., 2004. Overdo$ed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine. New York: HarperCollins.

Angell, M (2005). The Truth About Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to do about it. New York: Random House.

Barnard, M., 2005. Graphic Design as Communication. Routledge: London and New York.

Bass, A., 2008. Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower and a Best Selling Antidepressant on Trial. North Carolina: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

Eskilson, S., 2007. Graphic Design: A New History. Laurence King Publishing: London.

Heller, S & Finamore, M (1997). Design Culture: An Anthology of Writing From the AIGA Journal of Graphic Design. New York: Allworth Press.

Klein, N., 2000. No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. New York: Knopf Publishing.

IMS Health, 2009. 2009 U.S. Sales and Prescription Information, accessed 19/4/2010. <http://www.imshealth.com/deployedfiles/ imshealth/Global/Content/StaticFile/Top_Line_Data/Top%20 Corps%20by%20U.S.Sales.pdf> Lane, C., 2007. Shyness: How Normal Behaviour Became a Sickness. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.

Lasch, C., 1979. The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an age of Diminishing Expectations. New York: Norton.

Marshall, E (2004). ‘Buried Data can be Hazardous to a Company’s Health’ in Science Vol. 304, 11 June pp. 1575 – 1578.

Medicines Australia (2006). ‘Medicines Australia Code of Conduct: Breaches’ in Australian Prescriber Vol. 29, Number 1, February pp. 16 – 17.

Moynihan, R. & Cassels, A., 2005. Selling Sickness: How Drug Companies are Turning us all into Patients. Crows Next Allen & Unwin.

Peckolick1, A., 1985. Herb Lubalin: Art Director, Graphic Design and Typographer. American Showcase Inc: New York.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2007. $2 Trillion in Global Entertainment & Media Spending by 2011, accessed 19/4/2010, <http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/2-trillion-in-globalentertainment-media-spending-by-2011-763/> The Corporation, 2003 (DVD). New York: Big Picture Media.

Wikinvest, 2010a. GlaxoSmithKlein (GSK). Accessed 19/4/2010. <http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/GlaxoSmithKline_%28GSK%29/ Data/Income_Statement> Wikinvest, 2010b. Pfizer (PFE). Accessed 19/4/2010. <http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Pfizer_%28PFE%29/ Data/Income_Statement>

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I spent the last week in Melbourne attending the agIdeas conference. This was my fourth year going and my third year being part of the interstate committee. Every year, the conference throws up something new for me to try and digest. In 2008, agIdeas quite literally changed my entire life and the course it was going to take. At that point, I was completely disillusioned with my design career (and the complete lack of success it was having).

After a talk by Richard Seymour, that saw some 2500 people stunned by an awe-inspiring display, I had my faith completely restored in the design world. After that, I worked harder than I ever had before, attained the results I knew I was capable of and invested my time and efforts in projects that I knew could be highly successful.

This year, I didn’t get to see too many speakers, as I was busy behind the scenes, but I saw enough of the actual conference to reiterate my feelings from last year: if I am to be successful, I will have to work harder on more varied projects and hopefully find something that really stands out from the crowd. I also have to work on things I believe in. I set myself the goal last year to be a speaker at agIdeas within fifteen years. It’s now a year closer and I doubt I am any closer to being on that stage. Where I go next is something I am really unsure about. Most years, agIdeas offers up more questions than answers and this year is no different. The questions that I have been posed are the most difficult yet. The end of this year sees a massive change in my design career as my schooling is all but over (unless I choose to do a PhD). So in some cases, the next decisions are the most important — where do I want to go, what do I want to do, who do I want to work with? I don’t feel that I am the sort of person who can sit in the one place or office for too long.

I need to be doing lots of different things, trying to run the line between sanity and mental destruction.

So over the next few weeks, hopefully I will start to answer the questions I have asked myself.

As this was my last year on the committee, I feel genuinely sad that I will no longer be a part of it.

The work is tiring, physically demanding (I spent large portions of the day moving nearly 15 tonnes of books) and you run yourself ragged. However, it is all worth it. It takes a certain type of person to do that job and I think those people will be the most successful in their careers. I’d hope (and like to think) that I am in that category.

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Photos by Katie Darbyshire (top, opposite) and Monika Batchelor (bottom).

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WEEK ELEVEN

The week following something like agIdeas is always an interesting one. Trying to process all the information that was thrown at you and thinking about how best to run with all the new ideas you have is an art in itself. Attending all my postgraduate courses has made me see how stressed everybody around me is — particularly those in the honours group, where the reality of having to pump out 10,000 words in the space of about six weeks really hits home. I’m not feeling that same stress though and I think that is actually stressing me out. In undergrad, we always had critique sessions, so it was easy to gauge where you were in relation to the rest of the class. In postgrad (especially since I am really the only person in my field) you’re left to your own devices and it is hard to put your progress into any real context. It also became apparent this week that my supervisor is going on leave next semester, meaning that I have to find a new supervisor leading up to my final exhibition. That news kind of threw a spanner in the works. I do have someone in mind and he is very, very good when it comes to installation work, so it could be a blessing in disguise. It also means I need to step my work rate up so that I can come to him with a viable work plan and a reasoned set of outcomes. Hopefully then, we’ll be able to see where best to go next. What I have realised, though, is that I think I’ve moved a little too far from my initial concept. I want to move back into print work since the whole year is looking at advertising. I’m still progressing with my video idea and would like to incorporate that somehow, but I’m also going to shift my attention back to the print world. The idea I have now is to present two sides of the pharmaceutical argument — what companies wanted you to see and the reality of their products. I’m trying to find a way to overlay these opposing ideas together and present the viewer with the means to differentiate between the two elements. One obvious way of doing this is to create red and blue viewing screens, print works in the same two colours and use the screens to block one colour. I think that has the potential to work on a large scale and also involves participation with the viewer — something I am really pushing for. Hopefully, this will develop at its own pace and will provide something interesting.

In the meantime, it looks like I have to sit down and write another 2500 odd words. Once I see the back of that, my outlook is much, much brighter.

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WEEK T W E LV E

I had to give my final talk to the honours group today and I cannot be thankful enough that the whole debacle is over. I was always keen on doing honours, as I really value higher education. It seemed like a natural progression for me since I am the only one in my family without a PhD. That motivation aside, I enjoy being able to investigate a project at length, since the workplace rarely gives you that opportunity. In discussing my options last year, I was basically sat down and told that it wasn’t worth my time doing honours study because I would be the only graphic designer and that I wouldn’t fit into any of the groups. I figured that was probably a valid concern, but thought it was the job of the coordinator to try and convince a successful student to continue, not to stop. So I set about doing honours study as an accompaniment to my Masters work. I guess I was naïve to think that the lack of support and inclusion designers had been given in undergrad would be any different in postgrad. I have given two talks now and each have been well received. People have been attentive, have asked some valid questions and appreciated the work shown and the method of delivery. Both times, I have found the feedback completely lack lustre. I’m still being told to investigate ‘designers’ that we looked at in second year and that really have no relevance to my studies. They are the obvious names that artists who know nothing about design suggest to designers. It would be like suggesting to an Impressionist painter to check out Kandinsky — superficially related, but really not useful in the grand scheme of things. So whenever this happens, it really makes me question why I am even bothering with this year. I like the project that I am doing and am happy spending the year working on it, but the whole process of only presenting my work to artists just gets tiresome.

The work is viewed in completely different ways, so it constantly reaffirms the feeling that whatever I am doing is not a valid practice, as it isn’t art.

I could handle this if I could then go and catch up with a bunch of other designers and go through our projects together. This doesn’t happen because I am the only designer in the Honours group and only one of two in the Masters group. I get great support from my supervisor, but it doesn’t feel like enough. I almost think that maybe this is why I’m not stressed about not producing a huge deal of work. At the moment, it feels like what’s the point?

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One of the major points of this book was to allow myself to reflect honestly on my own progress and hopefully work through some of the issues I encounter during the design process (which mimics life in so many ways). I think I have been more reserved than I should have, but having said that, I could not be more proud of the development and the response to this book thus far.

This past week has been the most challenging week of my studies this year. It has seen me feeling as good as I’ve felt about any work I’ve done and more shattered than at any point in my postgraduate studies. It has gone from a massive high to anger, frustration, being completely lost and feeling as though I could easily give up everything that I had done thus far and walk away.

I had to give a talk to the rest of the Masters students. This is always a challenging task because of the reasons I have touched on before — presenting work as a designer to a bunch of artists is a difficult process but I have found the reception of my work beyond what I could have asked for. And this presentation was no different. I stood in front of the class and went through everything I had learned, what I had studied, what my concepts were and tried to illustrate where I saw my project going.

It was a long session and it ended up becoming a discussion about all the frustrating parts of being a designer in a fine art institute. After an hour an a half, I left feeling as though they understood my position, supported it and more importantly, understood, appreciated and liked the work that I was doing. Winning over an audience like that when all you have to present is who you are and what you do, fills you with a sense of pride and self-affirmation. It is those moments and feelings that we have to hold onto, because in a subjective industry, they are few and far between.

The very next day, I received feedback from a talk I had given the week before in the Honours group.

My scores were all over the board, including some in the distinction/high distinction area and some in the fail area. I was confused because I thought I gave a well informed, clearly articulated talk. Apparently, I was mistaken. The major points of contention I have is that I was given a fail because my talk ran over time by a couple of minutes. I was unaware of the timing issues, as the person in charge did not give me adequate warning — I was given a 30 second warning, when the class standard was 3–4 minutes.

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Subsequently, I was marked down for this oversight.

Also, I was given a low mark for discussion, despite there being ten minutes of questions from teachers and students. Because the knowledge base of my assessors does not extend to designers, they could offer no pertinent advice. Suffice to say, I currently feel as though I am being maligned by members of the staff because of my field of study. This is an issue that I dealt with in third year and it is clearly an issue now. The problem to me is not that my mark is low — I’ve had some of those — but that due to whatever shortcomings and hang-ups these teachers have, they are essentially jeapordising my academic future. I have never shied away from the fact that I view further academic study highly and have spoken at length with my supervisor about the possibility of doing a PhD. To be able to achieve that goal, I would have to maintain my high marks.

It feels like trying to do that, in the way the course is currently structured, is impossible. There is too much red-tape, too much internal politics, too much bullshit to wade through that there doesn’t honestly seem like there is an end in sight. It is tiring and I am at the edge of what I can handle.

I look at the day that I had today, where I spent a vast majority of it helping other students. I was a mentor, a tutor, someone to turn to for advice. I did that out of my own time, because I believe in it and I believe in the potential of the system that it is based around. When I look at my own situation and I see that I am not being granted the same courtesy by those in the official, appointed and paid position to do so, it makes me question why I bother. The last thing I want to do is feel and appear victimised.

That is a cop out. There is a serious issue that, if left unaddressed, will undermine the future success of an institute that I have been heavily involved with in the past five years. I have no doubt that in a few months time, I will look back on this situation and laugh because it seemed so big, so important at that time, like so many times in the past. If I didn’t take these situations to heart and approach them seriously; if I didn’t stick up for what I believed in; then I would have never, ever have ended up in a position to laugh at myself in retrospect. Fighting these battles can only last so long and we can only exert so much energy before it becomes fruitless.

Each battle becomes more time consuming and tiring that you start to even second guess yourself as to whether or not it’s worth it. Then your fight disappears. And what then?

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The aim of this essay is to contextualise your project with reference to selected works of artists and/ or designers. For your contextual essay, you will attentively describe, discuss and analyse key works in some detail, demonstrating clearly how they relate to your project. This assignment takes the form of an essay in which you should demonstrate how each of the works relate to a coherent line of inquiry.

The aim of this project is to use the methods and tactics utilised by the pharmaceutical industry in their multi-million dollar promotional campaigns and incorporate the aesthetic sensibilities of subversive communication and guerrilla advertising. This will result in the creation of works that engage, inform and educate the general public about the discrepancy between the money-driven ethos of the pharmaceutical industry and the potential harmful side effects of certain products, while remaining within the distinguishable visual format that the industry has developed. The first part of this essay dissects pharmaceutical advertising, paying particular attention to the misuse of information in the promotion of products and how the designers of such advertising potentially increase harm to consumers by endorsing the use of false claims and statistics. The second part analyses the form of subversive campaigns by designers to promote messages that try to enact positive social change or commentary in the wider community and how they successfully incorporate the aesthetics of the field they are subverting and critiquing. Extensive research of the art and design community has identified many designers who seek to subvert the wider corporate culture.

What is currently lacking is a similar approach to communicate a more balanced view of the pharmaceutical industry by informing the wider public about the contraindications and possible harmful side effects of certain products that are so heavily marketed.

Advertising and marketing of pharmaceutical products is an extremely competitive, but lucrative field. In the past decade, expenditure

for pharmaceutical advertising has grown from US$843 million in 1997 to over US$25 billion in 2007 (Lane, 2007:112). In addition, pharmaceutical companies invest millions of dollars in hosting ‘information’ seminars, buying expensive equipment for clinical practitioners — equipment that provides favourable results for their products — and trying to influence those with the ability to prescribe medication so they can administer the most financially beneficial treatment. Since the middle of the 20th Century, pharmaceutical advertising has become increasingly targeted and researched, yet there is still very little regulation about what can and cannot be advertised and the level of transparency required. Although numerous designers and artists increasingly question and investigate counter-culture and use corporations and their identities as the basis of works, pharmaceutical companies are often left alone, despite generating more revenue than the most iconic and supposedly successful corporations. Artistic responses to these companies and dissection of their advertising (especially framing it with relevant pharmacological information) appear to be few and far between.

Pharmaceutical advertising, as it is seen today, would have been very different without the influence of Herb Lubalin (1918–1981). Best known for his work as a typographer and layout designer, Lubalin is also often described as having a massive influence in the direction of pharmaceutical advertising (Castagnoli, 2001). From 1946–1964, Lubalin worked at the advertising firm, Sudley & Hennessey. It was here that he took the aesthetics of layout design and strong typographic skills and applied them to the advertising of pharmaceutical products.

One of the most iconic advertisements is Lubalin’s work for Vistaril (Hydroxyzine), a drug marketed by Pfizer to treat anxiety and tension (Figure 1). The most striking element to the advertisement is the face of the old woman — tired, worn out and anxious, gripping tightly to her dog for comfort. This is compounded by the written description “her only comfort in life is her dog…Crowds distress her… She grows agitated

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when her pension check is late” and then goes on to describe how Vistaril would help her with this anxiety. Lower down is another well-typeset text column describing, in greater detail, what Vistaril is and how it works. The column of text is handled so precisely that it could only have been crafted by someone with strong typographic and layout sensibilities — as this was created before digital typesetting was commonplace. Finally, the advertisement includes the major tagline “No other tranquilizer is as precise, as uncomplicated as Vistaril”. Despite the advertisement being made in the late 1950s, it would not look out of place in a magazine now. A lot of pharmaceutical advertising is standardised: a large, relatable photo, a well-crafted tagline and justified text box with the small print. The only major difference between Lubalin’s advertisement and those seen today is in the content of the small print.

Lubalin’s advertisement used the smaller print to drive home the positive aspects of the drugs as, at that point, there were no major regulations from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about having to list known side effects and contraindications. Advertising now would include the same text box (probably even in the same place) but would also be required to list the major side effects. The advertisement’s design hierarchy (as is still seen today) presents this information as the least important, resulting in it being mostly ignored. Interestingly, Vistaril is still for sale by Pfizer but is now mostly marketed as an antihistamine for the treatment of itches, allergies, nausea and insomnia.

In 1995, Merck launched their treatment, alendronate sodium, for postmenopausal osteoporosis, with the proprietary name Fosamax.

Their drug was designed to tap into a market with an estimated value of US$10 billion annually (Moynihan & Cassels, 2005:144). A major part of their marketing scheme was to provide doctors with machines that would measure bone density, with the goal of ensuring a diagnosis for which Fosamax would be prescribed. Their print advertising was also extremely well thought out and visually intriguing. One example, a magazine

advertisement, showed two large structural pillars, adorned with the slogan, “When it comes to helping rebuild normal bone, the evidence for FOSAMAX holds up” (Figure 2). The visual implications are immediately apparent: the pillars illustrate our bones, as the supporting structure of our body.

The pillar on the left is seen to be crumbling and disintegrating, while the pillar on the right appears solid. The placement of the tagline is also well considered: the mention of Fosamax is placed over the solid pillar; the concept of rebuilding is placed over the crumbling pillar. The small print includes the section: “FOSAMAX is the only product shown to reduce the risk of fracture at the hip and wrist and further fracture of the spine by as much as 50%”. This sub-information was directed at doctors — including the final line “by choosing FOSAMAX to help rebuild healthy bones, you’ll be helping your patients to rebuild healthy, independent lives” — and practitioners who were in a position to prescribe Fosamax to those at risk for postmenopausal osteoporosis.

The style of the advertisement follows the visual style created by Lubalin: a strong central image, a considered tagline and a well typeset text column further promoting the positive effects of the drug.

The visual metaphors that can be drawn between the pillars and the effects of osteoporosis on the body are very strong, apparent and relatable.

This advertisement shows the progression of advertising in starting to incorporate easily digestible visuals to illustrate the complicated pharmacological make-up of advertised drugs.

Since its release, numerous studies have shown that Fosamax does not live up to the claims. Even though Americans alone spent US$1.7 billion on the drug annually (Moynihan & Cassels, 2005:141), clinical data suggested that “81 women with osteoporosis have to take Fosamax for 4.2 years, at a cost of more than $300 thousand to prevent one hip fracture” (Abramson, 2004:214). Despite this information suggesting that Fosamax is an expensive and unsuccessful drug, designers and artists have seemingly chosen to leave this subject matter alone and the ills of the drug are buried in amongst medical journals and books.

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In 1999, GlaxoSmithKlein (GSK) was granted a have resulted in this drug being prescribed less licence by the FDA, allowing their antidepressant and the number of consumers being affected by Paroxetine (Aropax in Australia, Paxil in side effects, withdrawal symptoms and suicidal America) to be marketed as treating Social tendencies being significantly lower. Beyond Anxiety Disorder. This relatively new disease simply refusing the contract to market drugs like became a pharmaceutical giant and due to Paxil CR, designers can take a more pro-active the marketing and advertising of Paroxetine, role in informing the public about some of the it quickly became the highest selling costly side effects of prescription medications, antidepressant (outselling both Prozac and through the use of subversive tactics that are Zoloft). Their advertising campaign was not often successful educational tools. as clever as other drugs and contained fewer subtle visual metaphors, but its success came In 2003, an online directory, cabnumbers.com in weight of numbers. Their advertising (Figure approached M&C Saatchi to help promote 3) promoted paroxetine as treating both anxiety their community service in London. Due to an and depression, which separated it from other increase in rapes, assaults and robberies from leading antidepressants that only treated one people running illegal minicabs, cabnumbers. or the other. Their marketing tagline, “…so why com wanted to provide a service whereby treat just half the problem?” is also illustrated by users could text their postcode to a central ripping the central figure in half. The ripping is directory, which would return the number of also designed to suggest what it may feel like licensed minicab firms operating in the area. to be depressed — a sense of one’s self being The company had very little start up money and ripped apart — and also the clear statistic that for less than £500, M&C Saatchi were able to up to 90% of people have the same problem distribute 20,000 business cards (Figure 4). The (clinical data showed that this statement was cards beautifully mimicked the design of local unfounded). The image is highly relatable on a minicab companies, but were renamed “Riskpersonal level and works in a similar way to the a-Rape Taxis”, “Seedy Cars”, “Left-4-Dead Car Fosamax advertisements. GSK attempted to get Services” and others. Included on the cards were as much exposure to their product as possible frightening statistics about the growing number and took out massive advertising space. In one of rapes, sexual assaults and robberies in illegal Australian issue of Current Therapeutics (Issue 41, March 2000), four full colour pages were taxis every month. The design was finished with dedicated to Aropax. In America, where direct-to- the line “for your nearest licensed minicab, text consumer advertising is legal, the effects of the ‘taxi’ followed by your pick-up postcode” and the marketing campaign were even more profound operating number. Although this campaign is and GSK were successful in “pushing social not related to the pharmaceutical industry, it anxiety disorder so aggressively that the public is a stunning example of how a campaign can learned to think about mental health and unease incorporate the aesthetics of the field they are in entirely new ways” (Lane, 2007:106). Since its critiquing to promote a positive social service. rise in 2000, GSK has been sued for fraud after The cards, left in phone boxes, restaurants and information surfaced that they had withheld bars were, on first glance, just like any other cab information from the FDA and that paroxetine card, but the information they included provided was both habit forming and has severe withdrawal an extremely important role in reducing the symptoms (Tonks, 2002). The advertisements increasing criminal activity. Since its launch that GSK released included a lot of fraudulent in 2003, cabnumbers.com has provided an information. If the designers in the position to invaluable social function and has grown as communicate the so-called positive aspects a licensed taxi service finder in Great Britain, of these products had refused to do so, it may United States and Australia.

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In early 2008, a series of bus shelter advertisements started appearing around the city of Toronto. They promoted a supposedly new drug called Obay and included catch phrases such as “my son used to have his own hopes and aspirations. Now he has mine. Thanks, Obay!” (Figure 5), “when Amy started thinking for herself, we had to nip it in the bud with Obay” (Figure 6) and “My son had ideas of his own. Obay put a stop to that”. All of the advertisements featured elements that made them appear to be standardised pharmaceutical advertising: a large, stock image of someone happy (supposedly as a result of taking the drug), an overblown catch phrase or marketing hook and a picture of the logo or drug name. The Obay advertisements also included packaging, adorned with its own slogan, “if they can’t see it your way, it’s time for Obay”.

The language used on all of the advertisements appears, on first glance, to be very tongue-incheek, but the production value and similarities to existing advertising made people question the validity of the campaign and sought to find the truth. A phone number also appeared on radio advertising (1800-YOU-OBAY) and it received hundreds of phone calls, but the recorded voice did little to shed light on the creator of the advertisement. Bloggers and news reporters started discussing the campaign and it was featured in the New York Times and all through Facebook and Flickr. Some writers investigated the Church of Scientology (who had apparently tried to pull similar stunts in the past), as well as the artist behind Obay — The Commodiphile’s Online Marketplace. Both of these lead to dead ends. Feedback from the campaign suggested that 90% of people who saw the advertisements believed that (whether true or not), it was an “insidious idea”, raising questions about the motivations of the remaining 10% (Prickett, 2008).

Eventually, the advertisements were covered with yellow and black statements reading, “Luckily, Obay isn’t real…Sure you want what’s best for your kids, but when it comes to post-secondary education, pushing them to do what you want isn’t right”. It was revealed that Colleges Ontario, an advocacy organisation representing twenty-

four colleges across the province, had teamed up with communications agency, Smith, Roberts and Co. to promote colleges as a viable option over Universities for post-secondary education.

The idea was very simple: promoting the notion that children should be able to choose their own educational paths. The campaign was one of the best illustrations of subversive advertising, designed to mimic the pharmaceutical industry.

The whole campaign managed to take the concept of pharmaceutical advertising and completely twist it, delivering a brand new message to serve their own means. It is unfortunate that a campaign with such a strong visual sense was not used as a way to educate the wider public about the shortcomings of the pharmaceutical industry, but it does illustrate its potential in the field. There is no reason why artists and designers could not create something similar; engaging the public in an entertaining way, teaching them about the potential harm and dangers in becoming a society reliant on quickfix medications.

In the past sixty years, pharmaceutical advertising has become much more adept at illustrating complex physiological disorders with easily digestible, visually attractive imagery. Designers are now collaborating with doctors, psychologists and people in marketing to create the most successful campaigns they can, targeting both medical practitioners and members of the public. As yet, there has not been a “systematic review of the consumer advertising” (Lacasse, 2005) of these pharmaceuticals and their marketing claims, however unrealistic, seem to go on unmediated. While there is a growing number of artists and designers that spend their time presenting corporate iconography (famous logos or slogans) disparagingly, little thought is given to the effects of pharmaceuticals on consumers. The heavy-handed tactics used by pharmaceutical giants to promote their products seem ripe for social commentary and artistic response, but seemingly no one has risen to the challenge. The perception of designers is

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evolving and they are often viewed as those with the means and ability to enact social change.

It seems strange that an industry that spends so much of its time and resources mocking and appropriating consumerist icons does not put their creative energies into informing the general public about the massive health risks that many of these drugs entail. The aim of this project is to assimilate design methods of both the pharmaceutical industry and artistic countercultures and create works that engage, inform and educate the wider public about an industry that often puts its bottom line in front of the health of its customers. Graphic designers form part of an industry now commonly known as visual communication. Although work exists that tries to educate the public about the misuse of alcohol, tobacco and illegal substances, there seems to be very little done in the way of communicating the often dangerous realities of the pharmaceutical industry.

Abramson, J., 2004. Overdo$ed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine. New York: HarperCollins.

Castagnoli, W., 2001. The industry turns out to honor Medical Advertising Hall of Fame 2001 inductees, accessed 7/5/2010, <http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/marketingadvertising-overview/10621639-1.html> Lacasse, J., 2005. ‘Consumer Advertising of Psychiatric Medications Biases the Public Against Nonpharmacological Treatment’ in Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, Volume 7, Number 3, Fall/Winter 2005.

Lane, C., 2007. Shyness: How Normal Behaviour Became a Sickness. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.

Moynihan, R. & Cassels, A., 2005. Selling Sickness: How Drug Companies are Turning us all into Patients. Crows Nest Allen & Unwin.

Prickett, S., 2008 ‘Obay Phase Two Revealed’ in The Torontoist Online accessed March 12, 2010 <http://torontoist.com/2008/02/obay_phase_two.php> Tonks, A., 2002 ‘Withdrawal from Paroxetine can be severe, warns FDA’ in British Medical Journal number 324 February 2002, pp. 260. Accessed 13/5/2010 <http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7332/260>

Figure 1:

Designer: Herb Lubalin Title: The Site of Action is the Seat

of Anxiety Date: Produced between 1949 and 1964

(exact date unknown) Dimensions: Variable Medium: Printed magazine advertisements Source: Peckolick, A., 1985. Herb Lubalin:

Art Director, Graphic Design and

Typographer. American Showcase

Inc: New York. (pp. 138–139).

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Figure 2:

Figure 3:

Designer: Unknown Title: “Fosamax: Good to the Bone” Date: 1995 Dimensions: Variable Medium: Printed magazine advertisements Source: New England Journal of Medicine,

Nov 23, 1995

Designer: Sergio Martin & Tom Spicer

(M&C Saatchi) Title: “Cab Cards (cabnumbers.com)” Date: 2003 Dimensions: Standard business card Medium: Printed business cards Source: Lucas, G. & Dorrian, M., 2006.

Guerilla Advertising. Laurence

King Publishing: London.

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Figure 4:

Figure 5:

Designer: Unknown Title: “Aropax: New Approval. Now

for the treatment of Social

Anxiety Disorder” Date: 2000 Dimensions: Variable Medium: Printed magazine advertisements Source: Current Therapeutics

(Issue 41, March 2000).

Image provided by Peter Mansfield,

owner of Healthy Skepticism

<http://www.healthyskepticism.org>

Designer: Ontario Colleges and

Smith, Roberts & Co. Title: “Obay” Date: 2008 Dimensions: Variable Medium: Bus shelter advertisements Source: Topping, D. ‘Obay Unveiled’ in

The Torontoist Online

http://torontoist.com/2008/02/

obay.php

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Finally, our semester has come to an end. This was our final week of official classes and another exceptionally tiring, draining and emotional week.

I sat down with the coordinator of Honours and discussed the issues that I had. It took a while, but I left feeling better about my situation and how it was going to be handled. I think it was appreciated that I was able to clearly articulate what I thought the problem was and how it came about, as opposed to coming in with a bunch of exaggerated statements about personal attacks. We concluded with a reasonable plan for the rest of the semester and submitting my final papers, but I still cannot help feeling that I’m going to end up being screwed over by the system.

I’ve been working with a variety of people on a number of different projects and at the end of so many meetings and shouting matches, I am still so surprised when people let their egos get in the way of what’s best for a project. This can come in all shapes and sizes, from passive-aggressive responses to playing the victim and making you look like you’re in the wrong, to a flat out refusal to listen to reason. This childlike behaviour is frustrating and really achieves nothing, but it occurs time and time again. Sometimes I think I am invincible and that no amount of stress or work or attachment to projects can get the best of me. It’s when you put yourself in those situations that you fall the furthest. And it’s really disheartening to go out and do what you feel is best for your work, for your projects and mostly for your peers, to be told that you’re wrong and doing it another way, according to someone else’s methods, is not only better, but how something is going to go, no questions asked. Unfortunately, all the situations I’ve put myself in where there is the potential for this to happen, have all caved at the same time. And it has gotten the best of me. I lost my objectivity and became overly emotional in my response. It’s at that point, no matter what you’re doing, that you lose your ability to fight for what you think is right. So at the end of my classes, with no more contact hours for the semester, I feel like things are in the balance. I am tired and drained and need to try and find time to take a step back from what’s going on and hopefully approach it again with fresh ideas and motivation. I am not yet willing to stop fighting for what I believe in, but I clearly have to change my methods.

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EXPERIMENTATION I have an ambivalent relationship with graphic design.

I absolutely believe that it can be a powerful form of communication, which can be used to educate, interrogate, reveal, promote and inspire. I also think that too often graphic design is seduced and corrupted by the culture and language of advertising. We all know that advertising has its own set of codes and catch phrases. In the world of advertising you have to be clear, confident and capable. Failure, confusion and getting lost are not good things.

“We provide solutions for your advertising problems.”

We all like solutions. We like the security of knowing that there is an answer to the question, even before its been asked. We like to know that we can travel along worn paths so we don’t get lost. Why should we engage in a process of exploration and experimentation and abandon this path if the solution is just around the corner? We don’t have time to wait while you look for a new response when we already know the answer.

But what if there were no ‘solutions’, just an infinite number of responses and reactions to the information provided?

What if the only way forward was to experiment, to find new forms of communication and to embrace the possibility of failure? Rather than thinking about a linear approach of beginning with a problem, then working through systematic steps to reach a final ‘solution’; we could think about a

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process of experimentation, which looked more like a web, intersections and junctions, connections without ends. To embrace experimentation is to embrace the possibility of getting lost along the way. It’s scary as hell. If you’re willing to experiment, you risk everything. You could get lost and you could fail and if you’re lucky you might fail magnificently.

JAMES NEWITT www.jnewitt.com

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It is a strange feeling, writing this entry. I am about to pick up a prototype of my book from the printers, as I have to show something for assessment in about two weeks. The last few days have been hectic, trying to balance my Masters work, getting my papers in on time, as well as meeting paid and volunteer design obligations.

I have worked every day for a month now and still have two more weeks before I can afford a three day break. It is pretty hellish, but I also love this time of year because all the hard work, study, research and experimentation starts to turn into fully realised, presentable concepts.

The response to my book thus far has been beyond overwhelming. It genuinely fills me with pride that people take an interest in my work and seem to care about the project as a whole. It validates what I’ve been doing. Designers are especially fickle beings and we require occasional validation to remind us why we spend countless hours on projects, so we are willing to spend countless more. In between dealing with all of the internal politics of the University, I was granted access to a pharmacy and was able to snap a variety of photos. I wasn’t sure how they would look, but a lot of them are really usable and I have started developing the video side of my project. I’ll only be presenting a shortened version for my assessment, as the work is nowhere near polished enough to be considered finished. It does show promise and I am reasonably happy with it. The printed side of my project is also developing and overlaying information in print and differentiating between the two with my coloured glasses has also been a rousing success. That whole concept needs to be developed further, so it can be utilised properly in an exhibition environment, but that is what I will be discussing with my new supervisor next week. There is promise though and that is what I am most happy about.

Next week, I am meeting with the Head of the School to discuss my academic situation. My conversation with our Honours coordinator left feeling pretty happy with my situation, but it has since gone downhill, to the point where I can no longer be mad at the situation, it’s just laughable.

Hopefully next week will provide some true answers, but I still cannot even fathom the whole episode enough to properly articulate it.

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Most of the last week has been spent stressing about the meeting I had had today with our Head of School to discuss the issues I encountered with how my work was being “assessed”. By now, I saw no other option than to take it to the top. I had three major problems that I wanted to clear up: 1) Why was I marked as failing part of a presentation that went over time, when the time keeper forgot to give me an adequate time warning? Similarly, how can other students, receiving adequate warning, but going further over the time limit than me, be awarded credits and higher on the same criteria?

2) Why was I given back my graded paper with no in-text feedback/annotation nor a criteria assessment and told that I should expect the same result as my talk because they were exactly the same, despite the two being significantly different (identifiable even in the introduction)?

3) Why was I asked for said paper back for reassessment, be given lower marks on my criteria sheet than before but given a higher grade overall?

This last point is of particular concern in my mind.

It is still baffling to me that the same set of information can be marked at a high distinction by one assessor and given a credit by another assessor of the same course. That is a difference of two full grades. How can I be sure that other papers (including those submitted by other students) haven’t been assessed in the same way — that there can be a discrepancy of two full grades between the criteria assessments that make up our overall score and, in many ways, dictate our academic future?

Despite losing hours and hours of sleep through stress, I sat down once again and went over my case piece-by-piece, to illustrate where the problems were both in the grand scheme of things and directly relating to me. I was pleased to discover that the Head of the School seemed to agree with my assessment of the situation, believed that there were numerous questions that required answers and would do his best to follow up on all the issues raised. At the end of the day, I cannot complain if my grades remain the same — there were issues with the papers and presentations I gave and I have recognised them. I just want, not unreasonably, my work to be assessed fairly. The subjective views of individuals unrelated to my development as a designer should not ruin my chances of academic success.

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I had my mid-year assessment this week. Most of the time leading up to it was spent printing final posters/back-up materials and installing the work in our studio. When I actually compiled the work together as a cohesive set, there is an impressive amount. I have two strong concepts that show relatively good outcomes and an obvious indicator of what I am trying to achieve. I have printed works that I am really happy with. Finally, I have all the paid and volunteer work that I have done over the semester, ranging from corporate identities to fully produced publications. If I look back over previous years, the volume of work I have done this semester is huge in comparison; but more importantly, there is a really good variety and a nice mix between conceptual development and work that has been professionally finished.

I should probably be elated with the situation that I am currently in. Due to the on-going nature of this reassessment process for my theory papers, the feeling is bittersweet.

I discovered today that, despite being granted a reassessment for my initial papers, the same assessors marked my final papers and gave me sub-standard grades. I am not sure if those papers will be included in the remarking process. If they are not, I will be lodging another formal request for reassessment citing a pretty clear pattern of breaching protocol, stemming from the history of assessment of my work. I have all the paperwork to back me up. I have all the incidents of protocol being broken and showing that what has happened thus far has been wrong, but the process is so time consuming, so sapping of energy that, into week four or five of this ongoing debacle, I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to find much more energy to continue.

My semesterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work is finished and although I only have three days off, the next couple of weeks will be spent immersed in other projects, ones that I am either running or collaborating on as part of a larger group. The wonderful thing about studying at a University (some do still remain) is that you are still afforded the luxury of being able to work in an experimental/educational environment but also in a professional practice environment.

Finding the balance between the two is difficult, but it is always a nice feeling to be able to work on new things, then come back to your major project with fresh eyes.

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The week or two following a major submission deadline is always an odd one. You bust your ass for weeks on end to get to some kind of final point and then you’re left wondering what to do next. I decided that I had to take two steps back from my project because, with everything that has happened over the first semester, I needed to be sure that I directed myself in the best possible way towards a solid outcome; one that I will be happy with.

During the week, I spent time working on other projects. I even went for a major job interview.

The job would have been extremely challenging, extremely stressful and with just enough reward to make it worth it. The pay was better (or at least more consistent) than anything else I’ve had before and it was a job that I would love to be able to do in the future. Ultimately, I had to turn the opportunity down. It was an extremely difficult decision, but by taking the job I would have had to drop all my other commitments and possibly also postpone my Masters project.

For much longer than just a second, I seriously considered doing just that. With all the crap that I’ve dealt with thus far, in so many ways it made sense to take this job and see it through to a level that I know I’m capable of. I tried to kid myself into thinking that I could somehow manage a full time work load with a full time study load. I’ve sustained a similar scenario for weeks on end, but this commitment was greater than that — it would take up every single day until the moment I leave at the end of the year. Looking that far ahead, I knew I couldn’t take it on. I can actually thank this very book for helping me make the decision.

I sat down and read through everything that I’d done and recounted all the trials and tribulations and in the end it turned out to be a pretty easy decision. I made a commitment to myself to try and see this project through to the end, to create a body of work that I am truly happy with and by taking this job, I would have ended up bailing out half way. As I turned a year older on the weekend and became, allegedly, a year wiser, I have to start realising the value in seeing projects (especially personal ones) through to the very end. As it turned out, the very next day, I was approached with a new job opportunity that is much more up my alley and much more in my time frame.

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I spent most of the last week in Melbourne, meeting up with a couple of people and doing my best to have some semblance of a break from work. Even something as simple as leaving my laptop at home suddenly disconnected me from the world enough to be able to relax. It was wonderful. Melbourne is also the sort of city that reminds me why I got into design in the first place — it’s full of culture, of amazing visual treats, of fast-paced happenings that make it an exciting living environment. As I get a bit further into my design career, it starts to become more and more apparent that sort of environment would suit me as a person. There are advantages and disadvantages to growing up in an isolated place like Hobart. It is pretty easy to slip in between the cracks and become an ordinary, average designer/artist and someone who just does their work because they don’t know much better, won’t get much exposure or influence anyone. This is enough for a lot of people and a lot of others forget that they once wanted something more.

Then there are the others that understand their situation and work really hard to be noticed and to make an impression on a national and international scale. That extra work pays off in the long run because you’re never left taking anything for granted.

The notion of the “back in my day” scenario looms large in the background so you work to try and stay one step ahead of the curve. I think that general mentality is often widely appreciated, so it’s something I try and maintain where possible.

Despite a great break, I was also keen to get back into work because those few days of disconnection meant that I had to invest a bit of time getting everything up to scratch. Unfortunately, when your “to-do” list is at least a full page long, getting everything back up to scratch takes a significant amount of time and thought.

One of the major reasons I went to Melbourne was to meet up with Jarrod, the advertising manager from Desktop magazine. They expressed some interest in this book and in the writing that I have been doing and asked if I wanted to contribute to their blog and online presence. That’s the sort of thing that I would love to do, so I was taken aback and also appreciative of the offer and I cannot wait to add it to my “to-do” list and make the most of it.

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WEEK TWENTY

I was given my mid-year practical feedback this week and I was unpleasantly surprised by my results. My scores were much lower than I was both hoping for and expecting. That’s not to say they were low — they were still pretty decent, but just not at the level I was aiming for, especially in this stage of my project. Some of the feedback was extremely valid and I need to take it on board. Some seemed to have ignored particular parts of my project that I had outlined.

It has made me rethink, again, where I want my project to go. I only have one semester left, so it is time to hone all of my research down to one succinct and well rounded body of work. My little book, “To Me, Depression Is…” was unanimously the most successful piece, so I have to include that at the end of the year. I still think that my poster campaign, using red/blue screens to differentiate between the information is really successful and I will be pushing that through to the end. There is a third element that I think my project needs. Originally, it was the video, but that was the least successful (by quite a margin) and definitely did not achieve what it set out to do.

I think, because it left a lot of its message open to interpretation, it didn’t really sit properly with the rest of the work. What I have found over time is that my most successful work comes when I try to communicate a conversation. I read some time ago that “good creative work feels like a conversation between two people…” and I think this is something that I need to focus on more heavily with my final work. There are much, much more interesting and informed people in the world than me, especially around subjects like the ones I am studying. It has always been my belief that visual communicators have the skills and intelligence to take complicated information and present it in a way that makes it readily understood by a wider audience.

Sometimes I need to remind myself of that, instead of getting lost in a world of strange concepts and poorly executed outcomes. I also need to remind myself that just because something is literal, doesn’t make it unsuccessful or didactic. Nor does it mean that it cannot be an aesthetically pleasing, successful piece of communication. I guess that trying to work out what I want to say is the goal of this semester.

WEEK TWENTY

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WEEK TWENTY ONE

Classes resumed this week and suddenly everything has time constraints placed upon it; everything becomes much more real. After trying to remain positive, but still feeling pretty dejected with myself last week, I sat down and started to map out what I wanted to achieve this semester and how I was going to do it. I started by writing out some questions to send to practicing clinicians that I thought would garner interesting responses from all parts of the world. Already, responses have come from around the world and I managed to have a long chat with a clinician in New Zealand who was particularly interested in what I was doing. Sometimes, being able to talk to someone outside of the School of Art in real terms about my project and not feeling like I have to dumb it down to appease people who were seemingly unwilling to try and understand my project, is a real relief. It legitimises my work, helps me articulate my thoughts and remind me why I am investing so much time in this.

One of the major positive notes of the break was being asked to give lectures to undergraduate Visual Communication students. Over the course of the semester, I have to give eight lectures or presentations: four to first years, one to second, one to third and two to postgrad. It’s a really nice feeling to be asked (and also incredibly daunting) and it suggests that I could actually be regarded as someone who is switched on (or there really isn’t anybody left). I sat down and starting planning out my first two. I’ve found that giving presentations about my own work is relatively easy — it’s personal, so once you can work out how to connect to the audience, it becomes more like a conversation than a lecture.

Trying to actually teach someone about the world of visual communication is a whole new beast. I understand things in my own way, but can I clearly articulate them to a wider audience?

Especially a group of impressionable first year students, most of whom probably have A.D.D. I remember what I was like in first year, so I think if I can give a presentation that would have interested me all those years ago, then I will be close to the mark. As I keep trying to remind myself, our job as designers is to connect to an audience, so it should be the goal of a lecture about the world of design to do the same.

WEEK TWENTY ONE

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WEEK TWENTY TWO

The beginning of this week started really badly — I was unhappy with what I was doing, I was sick of my project and wasn’t seeing any of the results that I had hoped for. Some things weren’t working and others had just stalled. I had hit a brick wall at high speed. My Masters project has always been a lot of work, but it has also been a lot of fun. It was the entertaining side to the design world, whereas the paid work that I was doing was the real life I-need-to-do-this-to-eat kind of work.

It had its moments, but mostly it just served its purpose. After launching a magazine on Friday night that I was heavily involved with, it dawned on me that the paid work I was doing was the most fun; and that my Masters project had become the chore.

It’s very hard to maintain motivation for something when the work feels like just that — work. And work that you’re paying to undertake, not getting paid to do. I had to take a few moments to compose myself and work out how I could get out of what was simply a designer’s rut. I made some phone calls and talked to the right people, working out the feasibility of the coloured viewing panels I was hoping to install in my final exhibition. After meeting with a couple of people and looking through samples of Perspex, I happily discovered that not only was what I wanted to do relatively easy to manufacturer (if a little expensive), it also worked just as well as I had hoped.

Another major point of the week was giving my first proper lecture to first year Visual Communication students. There were about seventy of them and it was an extremely daunting task. Although they’re new to the game and relatively easy to impress, some are already bored and skeptical of the education process, extremely quick to pass judgment and likely to switch off entirely. I came prepared with a bunch of slides, a couple of notes and most importantly, a core message that I wanted to get across to the students. I wanted to impress on them a few things that I thought about the world of design — what I had learned since I was in their shoes. It really was only five years ago and the path to where I am now has been anything but smooth, so I tried to impart a little wisdom that would have made my life a little easier all those years ago. It’s always hard to gauge the response of a group of students, but I was pretty proud of the fact that after it was all said and done, some came up and told me how good it was. And I could never ask for better feedback than that.

WEEK TWENTY TWO

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WEEK TWENTY THREE

I’ve started getting more responses from clinicians around the world and what they’re sending me is extremely interesting. The views tend to be quite polarised: one group firmly agrees with what I am talking about and thinks that designers can and should have a huge function in public education and others completely dismiss the idea saying that the onus falls entirely on the practitioner to do what they think is right by their patient. I think that view is more interesting because it seems to completely ignore the value of visual communication and relegate the whole industry as pointless advertising. While I wholeheartedly disagree with this point of view, it is one that I am completely familiar with and I’m constantly working to address and alleviate it. When someone contacts me and says that they are fascinated with the project and my analysis of the issue, it gives me the extra little boost to get me through all the days and weeks where my project seems to be becoming pointless. Late last week, I was approached by an organising member of a symposium called “Mental Health: Are we on the right track?” that is held in New Zealand at the end of September. He had read some of my writing and seen some of my work and asked if I would like to submit an abstract, with the possibility of presenting a half hour talk. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity. This was an audience so far removed from whom I was used to, but were on a level that I feel extremely comfortable talking to. I wouldn’t have to cover what I’m doing in strangely worded art-speak, I can speak as I am used to: as someone with a heavy background in maths and science. As I started writing, I realised that it was more important to focus on my original ideas, the things I was studying that eventually got me into my Masters degree. That is the most important information; the crux of what I wanted to do. My project is now so different from where it once was. This is not to say I am unhappy with most of my work, but just that it has changed and developed so much since I started, that it has definitely lost some of its core message. This is partly my fault: coming into this without a clear indication of my core message was a mistake. It is also a symptom of where I study and its tendency to pigeonhole work into clearly defined areas of the arts. I’m crossing my fingers, hoping this will be my chance to break away from that.

WEEK TWENTY THREE

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Since the loosening of promotional guidelines in 1997, pharmaceutical products such as Claritin, Fosamax and Aropax/Paxil have become massive financial successes, assisted by well planned and executed marketing strategies.

A major component of these strategies is their print and online advertising. The use of vague but carefully worded statements nullify the impact of potential side effects and negative aspects of products. Conversely, by presenting potential customers with positive messages, reinforced by personal and well-crafted imagery, pharmaceutical companies strive to place their products at the forefront of the consumersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; mind.

Although direct-to-consumer advertising is only legal in New Zealand and the United States, the advent of the Internet facilitates general access to a litany of one-sided marketing and advertising material. Advertisers are responsible for representing a client and selling their products, but when the information presented is false or misleading, it can result in serious harm to consumers. There is an ever-growing awareness within our industry that graphic designers have a social responsibility to be aware of the products they are promoting and their role as educators of the general public, however this view is not often shared by professionals in other industries. This talk will dissect not only successful advertising by showing examples of well-crafted imagery, but also discuss the role of graphic design in presenting a more balanced argument to a wider audience and how designers can collaborate with other professionals to better educate the general public by removing the stigma associated with complicated and industry-specific information.

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WEEK TWENTY FOUR

This week has been exceptionally busy and, as always seems to be the case, most of the work is being generated by projects outside of my Masters.

Lecturing and tutoring students, running design groups and working as an advisor takes so much time and for very little remuneration.

The reason for taking on so many extra projects and working in so many facets of the school and department is not for financial gain. The reason is that I feel that what I’m doing is the right thing.

If I can engage and enthuse at least one student in what they are doing and have them benefit from the time I’m spending with them, I would call that a win. And it is starting to happen now; the students I work with are getting more and more invested in the projects we are working on. It is so fantastic to see and be a part of and I am proud of the fact that I can have a positive influence on somebody else’s work and their design career. What I want to get across to these students is that the more they put into what they’re doing, the more they get out of it.

Design is not an industry where things just happen.

You have to be proactive, seek out the jobs you want and dedicate the time to them. So many students leave our undergraduate program with a bunch of skills and concepts but absolutely no idea about how to apply them in the real world. A major part of what we do is being able to sell our ideas and ourselves and if we cannot successfully do that within the confines of a University, the real world is going to be a huge reality check. And the unfortunate reality is that a lot of the people in this system are so unprepared for the real world that they ultimately quit the industry, or end up working an entry-level design position without the care or desire to move up the ladder. It is an unfortunate symptom of our education process. What is even more unfortunate is that there is a distinct lack of support for those students who do take the initiative and do show that they are willing to take on the extra responsibility.

There is obviously a lot of red tape to cut through, but like every system, it is possible to work with the restrictions in place, if you have the time and inclination to do so. I wish more people in a position to have a positive influence on those around them would be aware of their responsibility and actually act upon it instead of focusing solely on what they stand to gain. Sometimes it isn’t about doing what is best for you, it’s about doing what is right.

WEEK TWENTY FOUR

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WEEK TWENTY FIVE

It would be fair to say that this week has been the perfect representation of my year as a whole: times of pure adulation and affirmation of my project and my work in general, balanced almost perfectly with times of rejection and dismissal.

To cover the negatives first: the abstract I submitted to the New Zealand symposium was not accepted. I didn’t have very high hopes for it in the first place, so the decision didn’t come as any surprise. It was more a matter of me holding onto the glimmer of hope that it would be accepted and what I could do with such an opportunity.

The second and most important negative this week is that after about three months, my official reassessment has come up a bust and despite everything, I basically now have no shot at a first class overall score. It is hugely disappointing that after all the meetings, all the conversations, all the hard work I put in, all the stress and sleepless nights, I’ve basically been thrown back to where I was. I now have no further leg to stand on, I just have to accept that what I do and how I write does not fall in line with the expectations of where I am studying.

I guess that is my fault, for not tailoring my work and writing style in accordance with local requirements.

On the other hand, there are positives from this week.

While my writing and work may not be appreciated by this particular part of the institution, there is a great deal of support from other departments. My desire to continue on to do a PhD has not completely disappeared and I have been told that even with a second class score, I have the full support and backing of academic staff and potential supervisors to be granted a position. While it is good to get that confirmation, it is also very good to know that this offer doesn’t come with a time constraint and I can make use of it when I decide the time is right to continue further study. The second positive came from an unexpected source. At the beginning of the year, I wrote out a list of companies I would most like to work for. The CEO of number one on that list, POC (a Swedish based manufacturer of snow and motocross safety equipment and the industry leader for print design) made contact with me to tell me how much he liked my work and to discuss the possibility of future work/collaboration. This is not the sort of feedback that comes through very often and makes it pretty easy to ignore all the other petty nonsense that plagues this environment.

WEEK TWENTY FIVE

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WEEK TWENTY SIX

I would probably classify this week as the most difficult of the whole year. After being thrilled with the progress of some of the students I was working with, I had all my hard work thrown back in my face by someone allegedly more senior to me.

It’s really disappointing, but this sort of thing is also a huge part of any industry. I stepped out of my assigned role because I thought it was in the best interests of how the project was going to be run from that moment forward. Sometimes it is a matter of swallowing your pride, however difficult that may be and doing what is easiest for the majority, even if it goes against what you want and what you think is best. Again, it comes down to the amount of fight in the person and after endless battles and road blocks, that fight is all but over. Unless I’m given some indication that all the work I’m trying to take on is going to be in some way beneficial, I don’t really see much point in continuing, at least not for the time being. The negative effect it is having on my own work cannot be ignored and it’s time to really try to focus on getting everything back up to scratch.

Part of that was sitting down and working on the third element of my project. It is definitely the most difficult to frame (in terms of how it relates to the rest of my work) so I had to articulate that before I invested too much time in its practical development.

I decided to create a clear line of progression from corporation to consumer. In this particular case it went Corporation ­— Clinician — Consumer, with the graphic designer sitting at the intersection between corporation and clinician. With this in mind, I decided to take the views of three different parties involved in the process: the designer, the clinician and the public (or objective outsider).

The most fascinating factor so far is that a majority of clinicians, especially in Australian, do not believe that designers have any role to play in educating consumers; that we are essentially no more than glorified advertisers. This is countered by a growing number of designers who recognise their ability and obligation to educate the general public, especially through their work with other industry professionals. It is an interesting argument, that I hope can be turned into a wellstructured narrative. Hopefully out of all the setbacks will come galvanisation, so that I can feel like all the time I have invested in this project hasn’t been completely worthless.

WEEK TWENTY SIX

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WEEK TWENTY SEVEN

After finally laying to rest all the crap of the last couple of weeks, I wanted to focus entirely on my own project. Part of that was finally being able to sit down with my supervisor and the current head of studio and have a discussion about the reasons behind what I was making and how I saw the project coming together.

Since my project has evolved so much over the year, it was also a good opportunity to be able to articulate exactly what it I was doing at that point in time, instead of discussing its continually evolving nature. It helped frame the project in my mind and gave more of an indication of how to approach my final exegesis — which is ultimately my final chance to improve my theory marks.

Fortunately, both my supervisor and head of studio were happy with my project. They both commented that it had taken a much better direction than the initial concept, that the outcomes were researched, sophisticated and showed critical thought and most importantly, that the general scope of the project was much more succinct, directed and easy to explain.

Of course, there is still an absolute ton of refinement to be done in all aspects of the work, but they also gave me advice as to what worked, what didn’t and what might advance my project.

It seems as though I am generally on the right track, but I need to give more consideration to final exhibition of the work. Since my knowledge base does not extend very far into the world of exhibition, I need all the help I can get. What works in my head doesn’t necessarily work in the real world, or more likely, there is a much more successful means of delivering the message.

Part of the leap between where my work is at right now and where it will end up is the massive change of context when work is put into a real world environment (be it exhibition or otherwise).

Something that works on a page or in a small space such as a studio could lose all meaning when it is displayed in a giant exhibition space.

That change of context is what I have to be most conscious of in the next few weeks and making the right choices will probably be the difference between something good and something great.

It’s important to remember that there are people around me who can help and I need to take all the advice I can get.

WEEK TWENTY SEVEN

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WEEK TWENTY EIGHT

Although this week was technically our ‘mid semester break’, for anyone who cares about their work, this is just the time to try and catch up on everything that you have fallen behind on as the semester has gone on. Which, for me, is quite a lot. Since my project is at a point where I am essentially waiting on other people to be able to progress, I had to shift my attention elsewhere and trying to keep up to date with other things.

This week, that meant writing. Since, in the final three weeks of semester, I have to give seven presentations and lectures. It was vital that I got that up to scratch so that when supplies and people become available to me, I’m not lumbered with other work and I can attack my project head on. Being asked to give a lecture is definitely a humbling experience and initially, the pay cheque is quite flattering. When you actually consider the number of hours that is required to put together an hour long presentation, it suddenly doesn’t seem like such a lucrative offer. On average, I put in about ten hours per lecture, which equates to less than half of my freelance hourly rate. If the whole point of me doing this was monetary gain, that would not be enough incentive. However, that would be a terrible way of approaching the task.

What I most enjoy about giving lectures is that they give me an opportunity to put my thoughts on paper; to actually be able to educate and inform a number of students about all the things I’ve learned over my short career. When I gave my second lecture, I was really disappointed by my effort. I felt that my delivery was poor, structure was lacking, which made the message weak.

It really threw me, because I try to take pride in my work. Thinking back to all the lectures I have attended over the years, the majority were really lacklustre. This confuses me because I cannot understand if the lecturer really believes they are providing worthwhile knowledge, or if there is a point where the lecturer simply doesn’t care anymore? Or maybe I’m just kidding myself in thinking that I have some valuable knowledge to get across. Still, to atone for my past performance, I knuckled down and tried to create lectures that, I hope, are well structured and contain a bit of a message. Whether or not I can engage the students enough to pay attention ultimately comes down to my delivery.

WEEK TWENTY EIGHT

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WEEK TWENTY NINE

I’ve had to spend another week trying to keep in contact with the company responsible for finding me some coloured Perspex; and another week not getting anything delivered to me. It’s been about a month though and is incredibly frustrating. I hate it when I don’t have control over the progress of projects, especially when it is only my work, rather than a collaborative process. After sitting down for my third meeting in two weeks to discuss my project, I was again given the thumbs up and told I was on the right track. Part of the feedback I was given last week was to investigate different methods of information delivery, instead of just the Perspex screens. One suggestion was coloured lighting, that I could rig up on a timer and create the effect I wanted in a more controlled environment.

Originally I had shied away from this idea because it felt a little heavy handed in its delivery. After some contemplation, it occurred to me that a lighting set up would be successful if it was handled correctly. After creating my lights and just testing the concept, it became apparent pretty quickly that the effect I wanted to get just wasn’t as successful or sophisticated as I had hoped for.

It was interesting/entertaining to experiment with a new means of delivery, but I can now put that idea to rest and focus on other methods. Which also means going back to waiting on other people for things to happen.

The potential downside to having a meeting with someone to discuss creative work is that they have their own ideas of what works and what doesn’t; but offer you a new perspective on things. This can be great and can solidify ideas in your head. It can also be frustrating because every single person has a different view on how things should be illustrated, or in this case, exhibited. Three people have given me three different ideas, so now it’s just a matter of trying to work out which one I like the most (or if there is an option D that I can discover along the way). Ultimately, it comes down to trying to decide who your audience is and who you want to appease.

In reality, as everything I am doing is going to be assessed, I need to keep the wants and suggestions of my assessors in mind. One of the most difficult things for me is to keep reminding myself that, at the end of the day, this is my project and I’m the one who needs to be happy with it.

WEEK TWENTY NINE

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For most of the year, I have been working as the design editor of our University’s student magazine, Togatus. Although the publication has 80+ years of history behind it, it’s really only in the last couple of years become a legitimate publication, edited and designed by students and professionally printed. One of the reasons I was asked to come on board was to clean up the design, to simplify it and to create a visual style that enhanced the quality of writing, rather than detract or distract from it. The project was definitely a labour of love — basically no pay, many hours and constantly trying to address and fix mistakes. I found that the design students made mistakes because they had simply not been taught the skills required to put together a publication to a professional standard, so part of my role also became teaching and mentoring, trying to leave the group with a positive learning experience.

Over the course of my involvement with the magazine, there was an increase in exposure, unprecedented recognition from Universities around the country — it even won both design and national student services awards. Every single person who had input in the finished product — the editor, subeditors, designers, writers and photographers — should all be proud of their involvement with the publication. The most pleasing aspect to me is that the general student body look forward to the release of the next issue and the generation of discussion around the different campuses. It promotes student involvement and interaction, when such things are at an all-time low and Universities in general.

Togatus has a name that is becoming synonymous with quality and has allowed those who have worked on it to add to their portfolios and increase their employment prospects.

Signing off on the proofs of my final issue was a bittersweet feeling. It is far and away the best looking issue I have seen and the quality of writing matches suit. I’m proud of my own involvement and how much the publication has improved, but I walk away genuinely feeling that I will miss it. I don’t think that the magazine is ‘there yet’, but I think it is very close. I know that the issue where everything is bang-on-perfect is very close, but it will not be one I am involved with. I always try to keep my focus on what’s ahead, but sometimes I get attached to a project enough to miss it when it’s finished. Tog was one of those projects.

WEEK THIRTY

WEEK THIRTY

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For the first time this semester, I had the opportunity to stand in front of my fellow Honours students and present the work I have been doing thus far. Since two of the three elements of my overall project are set in stone, I used the presentation as an opportunity to articulate the concepts in a succinct way, in the hopes of developing it into my artist statement.

My presentation was well received. The feedback I got was relevant and useful. Some of the ideas to further develop the work were extremely interesting but out of the realms of possibility (for example, turning my coloured screens into a mock bus stop, to create a real-world environment for my advertisements to exist in).

The main goal was to present the third element of my project and get some useful feedback. I asked the students to read the 36 pieces of information from the three different viewpoints and tick or mark the ones that resonated most with them.

Since the group is a pretty good reflection of my general audience at my final exhibition, I used them as market research to, hopefully, cut the number of pieces down. Like I hoped, the work was cut in half and with a little editing on my part, became three groups of six. One group discussed the role of design from an outsiders perspective; another discussed the role of designers from within our industry; and the last discussed the prevalence of pharmaceutical promotions and the issues surrounding that. Structurally, it made a lot more sense, as there are three clear lines of thought that run at parallel but work in harmony to create a strong overall discussion about the influence (or lack thereof) that design can have in a morally questionable corporate sector.

The final and best piece of feedback came from a thought on how best to present the three views.

One of my fellow students suggested creating a fake prescription pad and including the views as part of the design. This made sense and I have decided to do just that: create fake prescription pads, using my own identity as the prescribing doctor and attaching the three sets of views in ways that draw connotations to both the medical profession and the field of visual communication.

This feels like the last piece of the puzzle falling into place, so now the final goal is to investigate the most relevant methods of information delivery.

WEEK THIRTY ONE

WEEK THIRTY ONE

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After feeling the final piece of my Masters puzzle fall into place last week, it now becomes a matter of compiling all the required elements and sending them to the right people for production.

There are eight separate parts that need to be created and compiled. At the end of this week, I have two finished, with the rest in various stages of production. For the first time in quite a while, I am back to being genuinely excited and positive about my project and its potential outcomes.

All the information I am trying to present to the viewer exists and it is relevant and informative.

All the practical work I am doing finally has an overall end point that I can aim for and one that I know can — and should — look as good and be as successful as I originally intended.

Getting into the absolute final stages of any project is always a very tense and stressful time. The ‘shoulds’ and ‘coulds’ become either ‘can’ or ‘can not’. We have to make final decisions to include or exclude elements and develop a body of work that will be an accurate reflection of the amount of effort that has been invested over the course of the year. The most important decisions come when trying to decide which work best represents the intended message; which work will resonate most with the viewer and leave them with a lasting impression. Being able to edit yourself and your own work is a very important skill, especially with something so personal. What you find interesting, many others will not, so it is important to be aware of the discrepancy and try to address it.

Throughout this project, I saw my posters as being the quintessential element of this aim. I think that the work around it has developed into something engaging and interesting in its own right, but the two colour posters and coloured panels just sat at a higher level in my mind. The last ten weeks have been spent in a state of disarray, constantly trying to track down the right Perspex and coming home empty handed. Finally, I got the call I had been waiting for, collected the samples and managed to test and identify the right colours. The result is beyond what I could have hoped for and has created something that reflects — for probably the first time in my career — exactly what I had envisioned in my head. The finished screens are getting closer by the day and when that is all said and done, it will feel like the biggest achievement thus far.

WEEK THIRTY T WO

WEEK THIRTY TWO

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The last week has seen my project continue to progress in leaps and bounds. Not even three weeks ago, I had no idea where my project was going or if I’d even be able to finish what I wanted. Once the prescription pads were suggested and I managed to wrap my head around the concept, things took off. Fast forward and it feels as though my final work is about two weeks ahead of schedule. Trying to keep up with how quickly everything has developed has been a mission in of itself, but as each element is produced, my work gets closer and closer to a finished point. Of the eight elements, I now have six completely finished, with only the prescription pads and this book requiring any more work. During the week, my coloured screens were finished, ink stamps were manufactured, final essay is close to completion and final posters have been printed.

Just seeing all the little bits and pieces taking shape breeds the motivation to continue.

Not surprisingly, I still have a huge laundry list of things to do, mainly for projects outside of my studies. One of my major goals leading into the final weeks was to try and maintain a balance between the work I did for myself and the work I did for others. I didn’t want to be selfish and close off the rest of the world, but I didn’t want to neglect my project at a critical time. Keeping up with client work at the same time as my Masters project going has resulted in my sleeping pattern fall back into bad habits: generally sleeping no more than four hours a night and working up to eighteen hours a day. In the past, those days have been done more out of necessity than out of enjoyment (due to inefficient work practices), but that is not currently the case.

Every hour I spend on my project gets everything one step closer to being completely finished and that incentive is a huge motivator. The time spent working is now more out of desire and enjoyment than necessity, so the hours pass quickly, the days start early and end late, but they finish with feelings of pride and contentment. There is a level of energy that I feel when things are going right; a feeling that I have only ever experienced through the work I do as a designer. It is the ultimate pay off for all the “have-to” hours. As things draw ever closer to being finished, it has started to dawn on me that my five year tenure as a University student is about to come to an end. There is definitely a time and place for proper reflection, but I cannot afford that time yet.

WEEK THIRTY THREE

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It is a very surreal feeling sitting here knowing that I do not have any more classes to attend. Although there are still four weeks until our final exhibition, everything is starting to feel as though it is winding down. I still have that massive laundry list of things to do, but somehow, am not daunted by the tasks at hand. If I stop and think about my abilities and attitude when I first stepped through the Art School doors and compare them to who I am now, the change is remarkable. I started with little to no understanding of what constituted visual communication, I had some (minimal) technical experience, especially when it came to professional practice. I hated the work I was doing.

Through my time here, I have been involved with award winning publications, led design teams through highly regarded projects, been a lecturer, tutor and mentor, built a solid base of clients, made friends and learned to speak and think in a new way. I have been frustrated and inspired and learned to push myself to the absolute limits of my capabilities. Every year, I wanted to do better than the last. I wanted to learn more, become more involved in my surroundings, take on more responsibilities and try to enjoy more success.

That mentality will not change when I cross the threshold of this institute for the last time. It is now an inherent part of my psyche. I don’t ever want to stop learning about my craft and trying to improve my work and my place in this industry.

It is a little sad starting to pack my studio up. I have worked here for the last two years and most of my ideas and successful projects were conceived within these walls. I’ve spent more time at this desk than anywhere else and it has basically become my home (short of sleeping here). Going through the cupboards and trying to work out what to keep and what to throw away was a difficult enough task in of itself. Every piece of work has a story behind it and it’s quite difficult to part with all those different stories; all those little elements that make up my history and background as a designer.

It would be easy to get too far ahead of myself and start thinking long into the future. Goal number one is still to submit the best body of work and strive for the greatest result I can manage. Then I can allow myself the opportunity to sleep, to reflect and to ask, “what now…?”

Yet, I won’t be in any hurry to answer that question.

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RESOLUTION Interestingly, when asked to write a short piece on resolution, it became very difficult to resolve. There are so many possible perspectives on this topic. It’s the proverbial can of worms and so, all I can do is attempt to grab hold of a few worms and hold them up to the arbitrary lens of my own perspective.

Pragmatically speaking, I would suggest that resolution occurs when there are no longer any issues with something. Easier said than done. One person’s solution is another’s problem.

Even the meaning of the word resolution is fraught; on the one hand indicating a firm decision, on the other hand indicating change or conversion.

Resolution must be one of the most intangible elements of art and design. It has an almost mystical, or mythic quality — that moment when something is finished, complete… just right.

And it seems that it is not a fixed thing. The ground upon which resolution sits is constantly shifting. It could be that the context of a work changes, an idea becomes redundant, an experiment becomes a routine, a device or product becomes obsolete.

Something complete today may be incomplete tomorrow.

If we applied the idea of ‘resolution’ to something as arbitrary as say, a modern hybrid car, we could draw an analogy, for better or for worse. Let’s assume that the aim of developing this car was to create fuel efficiency, reduce pollution and offer a new product to a saturated market. We could see that the project is successful, that the aims have been met. It is resolved.

Yet still I am not so sure. What happens when another car is developed that supersedes our original aims? Obsolescence.

What happens if we attempt to drive our car across the sea?

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It fails… or with some modification of the original vehicle we may achieve partial ‘success’. What happens if the car is donated to a pre-industrialised tribe? Its original design aims no longer apply.

What happens if the fuel and electricity that run the car become unaffordable? Redundancy.

Maybe resolution in art and design is something like this; a fixed point on one of myriad strands running on an endless continuum.

Within my own practice, it has often occurred that catastrophic failure can lead to unexpectedly resolved works. When things go wrong and fall apart, sometimes the pieces that remain are far more interesting than what was originally intended.

Broadly speaking, the resolution of any one work of art or design is generally not satisfying in a lasting way. Each one could be viewed as a stepping stone, a small point on that larger continuum, accumulating behind and manifesting beyond, coalescing into that thing that is the artist or the designer… an unresolved enigma that ends with a tombstone: one more arbitrarily fixed point on an endless continuum.

JAMIN www.jamin.com.au

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RESEARCH PA P E R

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The aim of my Masters project is to investigate the following questions: • Can subversive design tactics be used as a platform for public education about the potential harm of pharmaceutical products?

• As a link between the corporation and consumer, do designers have a responsibility to be aware of the products they are endorsing?

The motivation behind this study came from the realisation that there is a complete absence of subversive communication and guerrilla advertising directed at a sector of the corporate world that invests over US$25 billion a year in marketing and advertising (Lane, 2007:112) and whose companies generate more than twice as much in annual revenue as corporate icons such as Nike and McDonalds (Businessweek, 2010a and 2010b).

A major concern of my project was to clearly articulate and present complicated pieces of medical information in an aesthetically pleasing and understandable way. The writings informing this theoretical debate predominantly came from medical journals and books. These sources discussed the life cycle of antidepressants — most notably those designed to treat Social Anxiety Disorder — from their creation within the pharmaceutical fraternity, their aggressive marketing strategies, financial successes and finally the negative side-effects associated with the products. The main sources of secondary research were the books “Shyness: How Normal Behaviour Became a Sickness” (Lane, 2007) for the analysis of the massive rise and fall of Paroxetine (sold as Paxil or Aropax) and “Selling Sickness: How Drug Companies are Turning us all into Patients” (Moynihan & Cassels, 2005) for illustrating the increase of antidepressant prescriptions, including products such as Aropax and Zoloft.

This theoretical research concluded that statements made by pharmaceutical companies about their products were clearly at odds with the findings of independent clinical trials and that there were many cases of consumers being harmed due to side-effects and contraindications that were not explicitly stated.

The key to my primary research was the discussion of the potential obligations designers have to educate themselves about their work, their clients and the products they are promoting. This was done through direct communication with practicing clinicians, established designers and members of the public with a vested interest in the general field of pharmaceutical promotions.

My discussions with clinicians were informed by knowledge gained from studies of medical journals and books and were documented in order to establish a clear line of argument about the role designers could play in public education — their function as seen from an outsiders’ perspective.

The questions posed to established designers were informed by theoretical writings about concepts such as ‘conscientious design’ (Eskilson, 2007:420) and the idea of graphic designers as communicators of socially significant messages (Barnard, 2005:21). The aim was to illustrate the views designers have about their own industry and their potential positive influence on the wider public. The results of my primary research showed that there were two clearly different lines of thought: Outsiders generally condemned graphic designers as glorified ad makers or visual guns for hire, while designers themselves understood and appreciated their potential to have a positive influence on society, despite a distinct lack of support from other industry professionals. A third set of information obtained from my primary research discussed and critiqued the prevalence of marketing by pharmaceutical companies to medical professionals, serving as a practical illustration of the positive and negative effects that works of graphic design could exert.

My visual research concentrated on the analysis of existing pharmaceutical advertising to identify key visual strategies and marketing techniques.

A thorough audit of relevant advertising provided me with a style guide to use in my own works. The history of pharmaceutical advertising is relatively short (first seen as a marketing aid in the 1940s) and stems from the work of designer Herb Lubalin. The visual style crafted by Lubalin is still incorporated in modern day advertising.

Most developments occurred through the increased sophistication of the crafted imagery

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and the regulatory requirements placed upon the information made available to consumers. My work had to be a reflection of those developments, in addition to investigating the tools and tactics employed by artists and designers who relied heavily on subversiveness in their work. My research identified two key campaigns: The advertising agency M&C Saatchi and their campaign against illegal minicabs (Figure 1) and the work of communications agency, Smith, Roberts and Co. in their promotional work for Colleges Ontario (Figure 2). Despite the difference in subject matter, the most defining feature of these campaigns was their similarity in visual style in relation to the work they were subverting. It was thus a key aim of my own work to create visual legitimacy by maintaining these similarities to pharmaceutical advertising. Being conscious of using appropriate imagery, relevant text and sourcing real company and product logos allowed me to create works that appeared, on face value, to be real pieces of pharmaceutical advertising, despite the information presented portraying a very different picture.

The second component of my visual research was to investigate the peripheral pieces of visual communication found in the workplaces of practicing clinicians. This included stationary such as notepads, prescription pads, product labels, business cards and information stamps.

The overall aim was to create works that took the appropriate visual strategies and crafted them to give the appearance of legitimate creations. These were then combined with the results of the theoretical research to provide key pieces of information that would resonate with the viewer and create an informative and educational experience, memorable beyond its aesthetic qualities.

The main focus of my practical work was to be informative and educational and I wanted to avoid being overt or didactic in the delivery of my message. I intended to create a self-guided discovery by providing the viewer with the information and means required to arrive at my intended message without explicitly spelling it out. The success of this approach relies on the ability of my work to engage the viewer for longer than a perfunctory glance and create a lasting connection. Since the field of visual

communication grants us a huge variety of platforms with which to present our message, it was important to investigate and experiment with a wide variety of mediums. My initial experiments revolved around installation and video work and although they were relatively successful from an aesthetic point of view, they quickly became heavy-handed and unsophisticated, therefore failing as works of visual communication.

The first successful outcome came as a direct result of my primary research, by asking a variety of people to define depression. Depression seemed like an appropriate target to gather responses and create a work that could serve as an educational tool for a large number of people, as studies concluded that up to 30% of the Australian community suffers some kind of mental health disorder (Moynihan & Cassels, 28:2005). The responses that I gathered clearly indicated that there is no common thread or consistency of definition. To reflect this, I compiled the responses into a publication. I chose a small size (148mm x 105mm), as I wanted the book to be an intimate object, forcing the viewer to pick up, touch and connect to the pages. The typographic and colour choices were designed to be simple yet elegant, giving each response an equal voice. The overall goal of the book was to illustrate that, despite the social awareness of depression, it is not a clearcut or easily definable disorder, but is highly individual. With annual sales for antidepressants reaching billions of dollars (Moynihan & Cassels, 2005:131â&#x20AC;&#x201C;135), there is a clear inclination for practicing clinicians to routinely place patients on a course of antidepressants. This small book was also designed to show that this may not always be the best course of action.

My second outcome was designed to create a conversation about the role of designers in educating the public, compiling the views of those within and those outside our industry. I spoke directly to practicing clinicians from Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and the United States to gauge what role, in their opinion, designers could play. I also spoke to practicing designers about their views on the function of visual communication within the sphere of public education. My approach was to use paraphernalia related to the pharmaceutical industry (prescription pads, information labels) that were

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adapted to reveal outcomes of the conversations that I had. Although I had compiled a lot of information, I structured my responses in a way that created a narrative both within the relevant groups but also contributed to the overall conversation. Again, it was important to remain relatively neutral, so the differentiation focused on the platform of information delivery rather than the aesthetic treatment of type and colour. The work is successful as stand alone objects, however, the defining factor is that the information presented creates an interesting and relevant conversation and analysis of the discrepancy in the view of the role designers can play. If all the design choices and aesthetic treatments were removed, the core message still exists and still contributes to a hugely important discussion that does not occur often enough.

My third and final outcome explored methods of displaying two conflicting pieces of information and creating a means for the viewer to differentiate between them. I created a series of posters that were designed to look like ordinary pharmaceutical advertising: they included real facts, figures and marketing script used by companies during the promotion of their products and they followed the style guide that I had developed through my research. As a counter to that, I overlaid information from independent sources that had been made publicly available at or before the time of marketing.

Since posters are an inherently disconnected medium â&#x20AC;&#x201D; their message is very straightforward and interactions with the viewer are minimal â&#x20AC;&#x201D; I wanted to create something that forced the viewers to physically move in order to observe the whole story. Through a series of experiments I established that the best means of delivery was to create two colour posters: the pharmaceutical advertisement in magenta and the conflicting information in cyan. By providing the viewer with coloured Perspex panels, it was possible to block one set of information at a time. Getting the balance of colours was difficult and required a lot of experimentation to avoid inconsistent or lacklustre work. The resulting posters and viewing experience became an engaging means of information delivery. I wanted the work to remain relatively neutral but provide enough relevant information for the viewer to arrive at my intended message. The work is aesthetically

engaging but also presents complicated information in an honest and digestible way, respecting the viewerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intelligence.

My study has identified an area of the design industry that so far has not been subjected to any level of self-critique or dissemination. It has shown that subversive design tactics can be used successfully as tools for public education.

A study into what role ethics play within our industry and articulating an irrefutable conclusion is difficult because ethical decisions facing graphic designers are not definable or quantifiable. Ethical values are an extremely personal set of beliefs that are influenced by internal and external sources, as well as time and circumstance. An ongoing discussion within the design industry and with other industry leaders is essential in trying to regulate the work that we create. The work that I have presented contributes to this discussion but only within the confines of a gallery space. The means with which I have presented the information uncovered during my research are inherently successful within their controlled context. However, the true gauge of successful visual communication is how it is integrated throughout the wider community, in all situations and to a much bigger audience.

Designers are often intelligent and conscientious individuals and, if allowed the opportunity, can make a positive contribution to the world around them. To achieve this more resolutely, the next stage of development would be to address this wider context and to adapt my work into a variety of locations.

Barnard, M., 2005. Graphic Design as Communication.

Routledge: London and New York.

Eskilson, S., 2007. Graphic Design: A New History.

Laurence King Publishing: London.

Lane, C., 2007. Shyness: How Normal Behaviour Became a Sickness. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.

Moynihan, R. & Cassels, A., 2005. Selling Sickness: How Drug Companies are Turning us all into Patients. Crows Nest Allen & Unwin.

Businessweek, 2010a. GlaxoSmithKlein (GSK).

Accessed 19/4/2010. <http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/ GlaxoSmithKline_%28GSK%29/Data/Income_Statement> Businessweek, 2010b. Pfizer (PFE). Accessed 19/4/2010. <http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Pfizer_%28PFE%29/Data/ Income_Statement>

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THE FINAL WORD It is difficult to reflect on everything that has occurred over the course of this project. It has caused the entire gamut of emotions; left me feeling tired and broken but also elated and proud. If I compare my concepts at the beginning of the year to where my project finished, my final outcomes almost feel like a different project altogether. There have been obvious crossroads in this whole process and I hope that I chose the right path. There are definitely things I wanted to communicate that I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t; but also enough new knowledge discovered and learned, both about myself and my project, that it is not too hard to look back on the whole experience as a positive one. Most importantly, throughout the evolution of my work, I have managed to stay true to my original intentions.

The basis of my project from the outset was to investigate how our industry views ethics â&#x20AC;&#x201D; asking such questions as if there is a place for ethics in design and how much (if any) ability do we have to dictate our own ethical code. My understanding of my own set of ethics is constantly evolving and I still cannot say with any conclusive certainty that I know what they are. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve started to learn whom I would and would not work for, but I can also recognise that this will change with time and circumstance.

The most fascinating and frustrating aspect of ethics is that they are not set in stone. Our ethical decisions are based on our internal and external experiences, as well as our heritage, culture and beliefs. They are an ever-changing set of standards that we apply to our lives and our profession should not be excluded from that process. Like any skill or knowledge set, we have to continually revisit and refine it. We have to improve it, not forget it.

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Outside of our industry, there are many people who appreciate the aesthetic qualities of design. However, people who truly understand the importance and potential impact of good design are few and far between. The majority think that we are just overpaid ad designers; visual guns for hire. This industry will only start to get the recognition it deserves when we realise, as a whole, that the people we should choose to work with are those with the most interesting thing to say, not those with the biggest pay cheque.

The one thing that I have confirmed over the last couple of years is that there are a growing number of extremely intelligent, talented and conscientious young designers.

They not only see the value of considered design, but also the importance of visual communication in educating those around them. These individuals will be the ones that help shape what and how society views itself in the future; they will dictate the visual language of our generation. Whether or not I end up being part of that group still remains to be seen. All I know is that I am still genuinely excited to be part of this industry. What I plan to do next, I could not say with any real conviction. As I once read, â&#x20AC;&#x153;everybody has unique life experiences that give them a special outlook on the worldâ&#x20AC;Ś and the more personal you can make your work, the more people it will touchâ&#x20AC;? (Jimm Lasser). With a feeling that I can only describe as wistful happiness, I can put this experience to rest and start working on the next one.

Pete Saunders www.petesaunders.com

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The production of this book required: 27 edits 373 caffeinated beverages 509 printed pages 761 photos 28,222 words Uncountable support and feedback Many, many thanks.

A special thanks to the following people for helping make my years work a reality: Editing: Ally Gibson Jessica Lyndon Photography: Rose Hastie (http://www.rosiehastie.com) Writing: Tom Fitzgerald (http://www.floatingworld.com.au) James Newitt (http://www.jnewitt.com) Jamin (http:.//www.jamin.com.au) Construction/Installation: CJ Liaubon Thanks to the following people for helping the production of this book: Josh Atkinson, Mark Barnett, Nate Campbell, Miles Chapin, Stephen Colman, Jaimie Denil, James Fagg, Miriam Gora, Sam Gregory, Katie Hepper, Jacky Ho, Hannah Keen, Adrian Koolhof, Rachel Manchester, Jenny Mills, Lauren Mills, Phoebe Nicholas, Lizzi Nicoll, Cara ODonnell, Sheila Regan, Amanda Roden, Ben & Allyson Rogers, Robert Rule, Krystyna Saunders, Charlie Thomson, Geoff Tuck, Matt Ward, UTAS School of Philosophy and of course, my parents for giving me support and advice when dealing with the incessant bureaucracy of academia.