Constellation – PDP

PDP

It had been a difficult and rather stressful first five weeks of the second term of my second year in university, regarding the challenges I had overcame in my field trip to Marrakech in Morocco. While experiencing my trip to Morocco, I had thought long and hard about what I wanted to research for my dissertation, and what exactly I had to put into my dissertation proposal. The end of the year was slowly creeping up on me, almost haunting me at the dread of writing a ten-thousand word dissertation in my third year. 

What had interested me in my recent study group was the topic of gender stereotyping, and what defines beauty and monstrosity. I had looked back on the references I had made in my critical essay, and in particular looking at social opinions on beauty compared to monstrosity, in my study group with Cath Davies. And then I looked at a TV show, named Adventure Time, that I had always been interested in for it’s animated quality combined with miraculous imagination, and general issues that had been explored and catered to children and young adults. This combination of topics and styles make for an extremely intriguing topic to research for my dissertation. Adventure Time is an animated children’s TV series commonly shown on Cartoon Network. Set in the Land of Ooo, the main heroes, Finn the human and Jake the dog, take the opportunity to experience an adventure in each episode which involves a range of Princesses and villains, either ending in happiness or disaster. What I find most admirable about this TV series is the range of different issues that are presented to children, almost preparing them to think with more of an open mind towards real-world issues. One particular issue that takes charge over every episode is gender stereotyping. In several episodes the role of the hero has swapped gender to focus on the princesses being the hero of the story for once, and even the villain being the hero. And through this heroism, features that portray beauty or monstrosity shine through the personalities and appearances of these characters. For example, the character Lumpy Space Princess is portrayed as a hideous and spoilt princess through both her personality, appearance and even her name. However, I thought her title as Lumpy Space Princess challenged the frequent stereotypes of princesses we often see in fully animated Disney feature films. As for the main hero of Adventure Time, Finn the Human, he becomes quite attentive, emotional, and sensitive about certain events that become a part of his life in the series. In several episodes he is seen crying, again challenging the stereotype of the hero or the male classes as being insensitive.

Along with thinking about a topic to explore for my dissertation, I had also started a new project as part of the Subject module. The project was titled ‘Who’s the Designer?’, questioning how we would be able to persuade, empathise, and make our opinions more prevalent in society through the power of graphic design. As the first small project of that module, I decided to explore the topic of War, and instead of looking at the issue of war locally, I came up with the decision to think of War in a non-direct way. The more important question that had such an impact on gender stereotyping, relating to my idea for my dissertation, was ‘Are we at war with our bodies?’. This raised the question for all genders, addressing significant issues with how people of different ages look at their bodies, and most importantly how we treat them. It raised the case of ‘Mind vs. Body’. Thinking of an outcome that would connect with the body was difficult. I first explored what designs of posters I could use, which could then be applied to many other possible deliverables. I looked at how t-shirts had such an impact on society and people’s minds, and then I considered putting the poster design on the t-shirt to instigate the question as a means of spreading a message for the client, as well as putting the design on a badge which could be stitched onto denim, or pinned onto a piece of clothing or accessory. Along with creating the t-shirts I made a search of inspiration into slogan t-shirts, and then thought of what significance graphic design had on fashion, and vice versa. Slogan t-shirts had made a significant comeback in the world of high couture fashion, each slogan t-shirt designed to spread a hauntingly reflective message of a very significant and present issue of the modern world. How have t-shirts developed? How could persuasive messages become more memorable when placed on a t-shirt? How has both written and visual language been developed and translated onto a t-shirt? What makes a t-shirt so wearable? How are memories created by placing something on a t-shirt and wearing it? These were all questions I wanted to investigate further into, and so I made the decision to change my topic for my dissertation to look at the history of the t-shirt and what impact the t-shirt had on society.

This transition to a different topic to focus on for my dissertation was extremely important. By investigating further into what I wanted to explore in my practice, I would then develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of how persuasion can be used across different deliverables. This meant that the subject module was informing what I would research in constellation, and vice versa. T-shirts were also a piece of fashion I was extremely interested in. How simplicity could personify a message and make a message memorable, and in some cases a persuasive and effective form of communication design. Although I might have been neglecting what I had learnt in my term one study group, Goddesses and Monsters, I could still use valuable theories to inform what I would analyse in my subject as well as my dissertation.

​The balance of beauty and monstrosity

With a swift start to level 5 regarding all three modules (subject, constellation, and field), studying Goddesses and Monsters, as part of the study group I decided to join for constellation, has introduced me to a new and deeper way of thinking about how I apply theory to my practice and what impact the work I design and create may have on people’s lifestyles. By gaining further knowledge to what I had learned from my constellation study groups last year, it has prepared me to think more carefully about what I want to concentrate on for my dissertation research proposal this year in preparation for my dissertation to write in my third and final year at CSAD.

Recently I completed a branding project titled ‘On Display’ as part of the subject module where I was required to create a brand identity for an exhibition I was to comprise. It was difficult to apply theory I had been given from Goddesses and Monsters to this project. I created the identity for an exhibition themed on Brutalist Architecture in London. Instead of creating a logo that could connotate glamour, I instead included connotations of construction and the monstrosity of brutalist architecture and ‘raw concrete’. I used these connotations in interesting ways in my project by transforming the image of brutalist architecture into something more delightful and pleasing to look at. By using the minimalist form of construction lines and by being influenced by Lego, I created a logo that was both beautiful, disguising the monstrous nature of brutalist architecture. This was shown through the design of the poster, wayfinding, signage, and most importantly the animated adaptation of the logo. This project was important in helping me understand how architecture could be perceived as beautiful or monstrous. It allowed me to transform something I wasn’t particularly fond of into something I really liked the design of by incorporating different styles into one identity that worked stunningly across all the visuals I had designed, and certainly the possibility for more. This combination of styles was supported perfectly by what I had learned last year in the constellation module as part of the ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ study group, regarding bricolage by mixing styles from different era’s together.

I now needed to take on my project for Field. The project I chose for the first term of Field was titled ‘Circle Line‘. We were required to create an experimental documentary that documented all the senses and features of nature and the surrounding landscape of Cardiff, which included a trip to Pontypridd on the train and a visit to Bethesda Chapel in Ton Pentre. Circle Line represented the journey of going to these places on the train. Instead of looking at the beauty of human beings we were looking at the beauty of the landscape and the possible pollution and monstrosity that humans have bestowed upon nature. When visiting Bethesda Chapel we were struck upon the mishmash and chaos of the objects that had been thrown to waste within the chapel. As much as it was interesting it triggered a multitude of uncomfortable thoughts concerning what lay beneath the historical items, whether it was old posters, prints, photographs, cards, broken instruments, tools, and so much more. Many of these old pieces of junk had been put back to use. a craftsman who found junk in the chapel had repurposed their use to create sculptures of animals. For example, an elephant had been made out of bicycle chains, dustbin covers for the ears and various other pieces of junk. It reminded me of what I had studied last year in Smells Like Teen Spirit, with finding new meanings and uses in objects. The benefit of producing an experimental documentary would allow me to look beyond making things so obvious to the human eye, which is what I was used to as part of my practice in most cases. The ability to create new ways of seeing things would allow me to expand my mind. By allowing abstract art and design to come together through photography, video, and sound I could see how beauty and monstrosity could mix or become neither.

For my critical essay, I have explored how photography and paintings have changed our perception of beauty and perfection over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries and what we should deem as reliable and as true to human nature form. I decided to relate to photography because of how graphic design deals with such vast amounts of photography and film. As a hobby of mine, I feel it was suitable to discuss how my practice can change people’s lifestyles for better or for worse as technology is developing to manipulate images better than ever before or made possible. It is up to designers like myself to change the face of brands or even create new faces and new ways of seeing things.

Trailing back to Goddesses and Monsters, we learnt about where the idea of beauty and perfection has stemmed from. Primarily, the beauty of ‘ivory skin’ and traditional glamour has been derived from the tale of Pygmalion and his ivory woman. Along with further concepts and understanding of glamour, this has helped me write my critical essay. With the help of understanding how to analyse an image with concepts and theories from a range of academics, it has helped me prepare my thoughts for writing a critical and thoughtful dissertation proposal which I shall be starting to write next term. Being educated through the use of theory has taught me how to analyse and criticise my own work linking it to theories which have been made concerning glamour and the grotesque. These new theories will in future be applied to my work before analysing what I could have improved in my work. It will assist me in being critical of other people’s work. I hope I will also be able to give a new balance to beauty and monstrosity by combining the two to create a new deeper meaning in my work.