Design Research: Are we becoming faceless?

ARE WE BECOMING

FACELESS?

A research on the current trend of using too much social media, how it affects our social interactions and what could be the possible solution.

by Revathi Gopalakrishnan

Are we becoming faceless?

A research on the current trend of using too much social media, how it affects our social interactions and what could be the possible solution.

by Revathi Gopalakrishnan

Š Revathi Gopalakrishnan, 2015

Introduction What is the face? Defining the question.

The face is defined as “the front part of a person’s head from the forehead to the chin, or the corresponding part in an animal.”

This is a very simple and literal answer to this question. The face can be the face of a company, the different sides to a person, Facebook, emoticons, a surface, a verb, etc.

Face as a verb

What gives it away?

Using the face to tell if someone is lying

Facial Recognition Systems Saving Face (Dignity)

Surface

Art of Lying Perfect Symetry

Face of a Company

Facial Features

THE FACE

How does a face age with time?

Expressions Social Media

Portraits of Presidents in Buildings

How do they differ?

How does it affect other people?

Plastic Surgery

BEING FACELESS

Losing Identity Does the face make us human?

Why is it important?

Changing Appearances

Vanity Quest for Perfection Losing Identity

Fig 1: Mind Map

In this age of technology when more and more people are content with spending most of their time on the Internet, I question what is the value of face? By not interacting enough with others, are we inhibiting our expressions and emotions?

Are we becoming faceless?

Having expressions help us connect to other people and alter the way we feel about something. This is essentially a human thing because only the human face is capable of making more than thousands of expressions. By not being face to face with someone we lose this connection. And since we only connect with written words over the Internet, it leads to a lot of miscommunication. It is also very easy to lie to others and fake our emotions.

Why is this issue important?

Human beings are a social species. It is our natural intuition to interact and connect with others. Nowadays, we are too reliant on social media to connect with each other. We almost prefer not to be face to face with others. Is this inhibiting our ability to forge connections with people? How will this affect our future?

Are we heading to a future where everyone is just a name on the Internet? If yes, what is the solution? Are people willing to change? This is a very important social issue and by doing this research we would be able to understand how much this will impact our future.

Research Plan Target Audience: The target audience for this project will be teenagers and young adults.

Demographics:

The age group of 15-28 year olds are selected as the target audience. Males and Females are equally targeted. As this group consists of people who are studying as well as working, their income level must be taken into consideration.

Psychographics: This group falls into Generation Y/

Millennials who are characterized by the increased use of media communication, and digital technologies. This was the first generation to grow up with computers in the homes so they are very familiar with the usage of social media.

Fig 2: Secondary Research

Literature Review: This will be the starting point of my research. By reviewing existing articles and publications that relate to social media usage, we can understand how the use of social media has changed our behaviour when compared to the behaviour of our ancestors. By doing this comparison we can get an idea of the current trends in social media usage and be able to make calculated predictions about the future.

Fig 3: Primary Research

Questionnaire: By conducting surveys and questionnaires we will be able to get first hand information about the opinion of the intended target audience, on whether they think social media is inhibiting our ability to connect with others. The questionnaire can be used to understand if they are actually aware of the effects of not being face to face. We can use this information to support our future trend prediction.

Observational Research: Observing people’s behavior and their attitudes will give us a good insight into how many people use social media when they’re out. Do they only use social media when they are alone or do they use it even when they are in a group? We can observe if people interact face to face more or if they prefer to be with their phones and other devices. By doing observational studies we can collect a lot of useful information that will help us understand if we are becoming faceless.

Research Findings & Hypothesis Literature Review

The articles I reviewed are titled “Is Facebook making us lonely?” from The Atlantic Magazine and “Is Social Media Sabotaging Real Communication?” from Forbes Magazine.

Findings

Fig 4: Literature Review Mapping

Analysis It becomes clear that Social Media is an ersatz for real communication and a substitute cannot replace the original.

Our ancestors were less lonely and had more confidants than people belonging to Generation Y. Even though we are all more accessible than before we are all much lonelier. A connection does not necessarily create a bond.

Hypothesis To create meaningful relationships, face-to-face communication is essential. Although people are connected to others through social media, most of these connections are superficial which leads to increased loneliness. This creates a paradox where the more connected we are the more lonelier we become.

Questionnaire The questionnaire (See Appendix 1) was taken by a total of 68 people, out of which 94.1% were from the targeted demographics.

Findings

To be connected To make new friends

Reasons for using Social Media

Popularity To be updated

<100

>5 hrs

19.1%

100-300

<1 hrs

14.9%

Time Spent on Social Media 39.7% every day29.4%

No. of friends in Facebook

46.3% >500

2-5 hrs

1-2 hrs

Fig 5: Questionnaire Findings

300-500

Hard to Asses Emotions

Do not trust online friends

Yes No

Face to Face communication

0

20

40

60

80

100

62.7% Said they havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t made any real friends through Facebook

55.2% Said they are not always truthful while on Social Media

Fig 6: Questionnaire Findings

No. of times you meet friends in a week

None Once Twice Thrice > Thrice

0

10

20

30

40

63.9% Have missed out on events because they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t check FB

62.5%

61.1%

Feel that Facebook is not a good representation of personalities

Would feel outdated without Facebook

Fig 7: Questionnaire Findings

50

Analysis People use Facebook to stay connected and although people have many friends, only a small percent are considered to be confidants. They spend most of their time on social media instead of meeting up in real life. Majority of the people do not trust someone they have met online and prefer to have face-toface conversations, as it is easier to assess emotions. People also admitted to misrepresenting themselves on Facebook.

Hypothesis These results reinforce the fact that face-to-face communication is essential in creating meaningful relationships. People prefer face-to-face communication over web communication, but spend less time in actual society which makes them lonely.

People also misrepresent themselves, which makes it difficult to create lasting bonds.

Observational Research I conducted Observational Research focusing on physical signs (the product they were using) and expressive movement (facial expressions). Observation was done in places such as library, bus stops, and a cafĂŠ. Recording devices used were camera and written notes. (See Appendix 2)

Findings Whether people were by themselves or in a group, they were constantly checking their phones. This lead to a break in conversations. I observed a range of emotions on people who were communicating face-to-face, while most of the people who were on their phones had blank expressions and were disconnected from everything that was happening around them.

Analysis When people are face-to-face they tend to be more expressive and seem happier than those people who use their phones.

Technology has become a barrier for real communication and is inhibiting our expressions and emotions.

Hypothesis Using social media makes us disconnected with the people and the world around us. People are withdrawn and are isolated even when they are surrounded by a group of people.

Final Hypothesis

Literature Review

Questionnaire

Observational Research

Apparent Truth Face-to-face communication is essential for creating meaningful relationships because our expressions help create lasting bonds.

Even though we are connected to a large number of people, we isolate ourselves from actual society, which results in increased loneliness.

Fig 8: Apparent Truth Diagram

Research Analysis

From the research findings, it is safe to say that social media has become an integral part of our cultural skeleton. With the advent of mobile technology, it has become the norm for people to be on Facebook or Twitter throughout the day. People who do not have Facebook or Twitter tend to feel outdated. This could be because of the fact that social media is constantly being updated with new information, however mundane it is.

People might just be bored of whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s happening around them in real life and tend to turn to social media for entertainment.

Although people spend an average of 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 7 hours on social media everyday, they prefer face-to-face communication to web communication. This shows that people have the potential to change their behaviour. And although they understand that faceto-face communication is essential, they clearly need motivation to change.

Creative Proposal Overview of the Project

The main theme of this project is to make people choose

engagement over distraction.

Social Media is more or less a personal experience. Each person uses social media in different ways. But through this campaign, we can draw people out and make them realize that it can become part of a group experience.

Objective Goal of the project is to bring people together.

The idea is to create a real life treasure hunt that requires participants to collaborate and co-operate with each other to be successful. Because the success of this event is based on participant interaction, the promotional designs will have to raise awareness of the problem and at the same time promote the event. Tools will be created that will make network building easy and fun. Existing social media platforms can be utilized to ensure maximum reach for the campaign.

Current Industry Trends One of the major trends in Graphic Design today is the use of minimalism. Some of the other trends are the use of white space, simple objects, bright and bold colours, handwritten typography and simple packaging. The target audience is drawn towards authentic and novelty items. They prefer easy to use and hassle free packaging and respond more to designs that are fun and vibrant.

Fig 10: Vibrant Colours

Fig 9: Simple Shapes

Fig 12: Handwritten Typography

Fig 11: Patterns

Fig 13: Simple packaging

Competitor Analysis The competitor for this project has been identified as The Sundown Marathon. It is a new race experience – where the marathon is run in the night. More than 10,000 men and women have signed up for “Singapore’s Toughest Race”. Despite the fact that it is a relatively new race in Singapore, this response shows that events like this have the potential to become a success.

Fig 14: Sundown Marathon Website

Fig 15: T-shirts Design

Fig 16: Sticker Design

Fig 18: Poster

Fig 17: Poster

Scope of Work

Fig 19: Volunteer Card

Treasure hunts are fun, dynamic and inclusive, i.e. everyone gets involved. Therefore this would be the ideal real-life game to get people to engage. Various groups are divided based on colours upon registering online for the hunt.

Each group is given a treasure hunt booklet containing various tasks like challenges, clues and tips to find the treasure.

The group has to work together to select the challenges and finish the hunt. Fun things like word quizzes, riddles, and photographing objects are included to keep everyone involved.

A treasure hunt app is also created which helps the groups to track each other’s progress. This makes the game more competitive and the groups stay motivated to finish the hunt.

Design Outcome Creating collaterals for the treasure hunt which includes •

• • •

•

• •

Treasure hunt entry pack containing treasure map, colour coded stationary and booklet with details about the hunt and why it’s done.

Various clues on postcard style cards.

The treasure, which is a goody bag filled with various prizes.

Treasure Hunt App which has all the important information regarding the event and which tracks progress.

A website should be created as online presence is important and participants will have to register for the event online. The website ties all the elements together.

Branding for the entire event.

A campaign that includes collaterals like posters, postcards and banners.

Design References: Buzz Bee A Part Of It

Fig 20: Poster

Fig 21: Venue

Fig 22: Treasure Hunt Clue

Fig 23: Treasure Hunt Challenge

Fig 24: Treasure Hunt Challenge

Fig 25: Website & Collaterals

Fig 26: Packaging

Fig 27: App

Colour Reference

Fig 28: Colour Reference

Tone of Voice The personality of the campaign should be fun, friendly and engaging. The design must be lively and exciting and the message must be simple and accessible. The mood of the entire design must be happy as this projects the underlying message of the whole project. A typeface like Light Up The World can be used, as this provides the perfect tone of voice for the project.

Conclusion The main message I aim to spread across this project is for people to choose engagement over distraction. If you are more engaged with the people around you, you are more likely to create lasting bonds with them.

Bibliography

‘Face’. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary. <http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/face> Cleese, John. ‘The Human Face’. Online Documentary. YouTube.

Created 2001. Accessed 9 Aug 2015. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrl70jhS0DE> O’Grady, Jenn and O’Grady, Ken. A Designer’s Research Manual. Gloucester, Massachusetts: Rockport Publishers, Inc., 2006.

‘Primary research’. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Last revised 30 June 2012. Accessed 12 August, 2012. <http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_research> ‘Secondary Research’. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.

Last revised 26 June 2015. Accessed 12 August 2015. <http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_research> ‘Examples of Demographic Segmentation’. Houston Chronicle.

Accessed 7 October 2015. <http://smallbusiness.chron.com/ examples-demographic-segmentation-12367.html> ‘Generation Y’. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Last revised 9th September 2015. Accessed 2 September, 2015. < http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Y> ‘Baby Boomer’. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Last revised 6th September 2015. Accessed 2 September, 2015. < http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomer> Marche, Stephen. ‘Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?’ The Atlantic Magazine. Accessed 25th August. 2015. < http://www. theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/is-facebook-makingus-lonely/308930/>

Tardanico, Susan. ‘Is Social Media Sabotaging Real Communication?’ Forbes Magazine. Accessed 25th August.

2015. < http://www.forbes.com/sites/susantardanico/2012/04/30/ is-social-media-sabotaging-real-communication/> Kellehear, Allan. ‘Simple Observation’. The Unobtrusive Researcher. Allen & Unwin Pty LTD, 1993 Bell, Judith. Doing Your Research Project - A guide for first-time researchers in education and social science. Buckingham: Open University Press, 1999.

‘Discover the top 20 graphic design trends for 2012’. Creative Bloq. Last Revised 25th June, 2012. Accessed 29th September, 2015. <http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/graphicdesign-trends-2012-612327> ‘Sundown Marathon’. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Last revised 27th September 2015. Accessed 29th September, 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundown_Marathon> O’Flaherty, Kane. ‘Buzz – Bee Part Of It’. Behance. <http://www. behance.net/gallery/Buzz-Bee-Part-Of-It/947329> ‘How to define your brand’s tone of voice’. ABC Copywriting.

Last revised 31 August 2012. Accessed 7 October, 2015. <http:// www.abccopywriting.com/blog/2010/08/31/tone-of-voicebrand/>

Appendix 1: Survey Part I

Survey Part II

Appendix 2:

Some of the images recorded during Observational Research