STUDIO TASK 3 - POLITICS ,SOCIETY, CULTURE + HISTORY

A manifesto is a public declaration of principles, policies, or intentions, especially of a political nature.

We were asked to look at Eye magazines "First things first" manifesto recreated in 2000. The manifesto was really insightful due to the fact it showed how design has become so comercialised and that designers are wasting their talents on corporate goods.

http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/first-things-first-manifesto-2000

"designers then apply their skill and imagination to sell dog biscuits, designer coffee, diamonds, detergents, hair gel, cigarettes, credit cards, sneakers, butt toners, light beer and heavy-duty recreational vehicles. Commercial work has always paid the bills, but many graphic designers have now let it become, in large measure, what graphic designers do."

In 1964, 22 visual communicators signed the original call for our skills to be put to worthwhile use. With the explosive growth of global commercial culture, their message has only grown more urgent.

Thirty-three visual communicators renew the 1964 call for a change of priorities, renewing their manifesto in expectation that no more decades will pass before it is taken to heart.

I also looked at Bruce Mau's Incomplete Manifesto for Growth, it was first written in 1998 and outlined Bruce's, beliefs and motivations about design. reading this manifesto was really inspiring in how he made sense of what designers think and go through e.g the process over outcome.

http://www.brucemaudesign.com/4817/112450/work/incomplete-manifesto-for-growth

"Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child). "
Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.

His outlook on design and the factors faced are both insightful and reassuring.

In our session we were given four words to explore:

POLITICS , SOCIETY, CULTURE & HISTORY. 

We paired up and had to divide A3 piece of paper into 8 sections. We then made a list of 20 words (10 each ) of what we initially associated the word with.

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POLITICS

SOCIETY

CULTURE

HISTORY

We then organised the words we collated into two separate categories of positive and negative.

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POLITICS

SOCIETY

CULTURE

HISTORY

For the last task we delved deeper into our words and wrote both 5 positive statements and 5 negative statements for each categories to show balance. We exchanged these idea's between our partners separately not showing them what we wrote to see if we came up with the same conclusions.

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POLITICS

SOCIETY

CULTURE

HISTORY

As a class we found it easier that generate negative statements over the positive statements possibly due to our own experiences of these categories.

We then reffered back to our own experiences and inrelation to our blogs where we fitted in within these categories.

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Using the lists, statements and points of discussion introduced in the studio workshop as a starting point, write 4 short statements that summarise your individual positioning / opinions in relation to the following contexts:

You should aim to write a clear statement (50 - 100 words) that explains what you believe and why in response to each of the four words. The statements should be positive rather than negative affirmations. If you don't like something or are against a certain viewpoint, you should aim to communicate the positive response to it as discussed in the session.

POLITICS: 

Politics is a very controversial subject matter. Such as political parties cutting funds for positive projects like elderly homes and the rise in pay for education which has left many students not wanting to invest in their futures. However their have been many positive highlights such as the election of the first black president Obama in 2010. This has shown the growth in society and push against racial segregation that was prominent for many decades.

SOCIETY: 

My personal view on society is positive; England has become increasingly multicultural and welcoming to all ethnic backgrounds which have enabled society to engage with different heritages. However there is also a corrupt side to society in regards to crime and murder many young people have been involved in knife and gun crime and people as young as 11 have fallen victim to this.

CULTURE: 

Culture is something that inspires us all as individuals through art, music, entertainment and even backgrounds.  It can determine how we feel, think or act depending on the experiences we have had or where we have grown up from which makes everyone unique. Culture is something that people can connect and be a part of in order to make movements in society such as dance or environment culture. These movements take hold of people’s interests and abilities. The negative connotations associated with culture could be related to drug and gang culture. 

HISTORY:

History is something that defines people, everyone has a past. I think that history can be positive in the fact that you can reflect on situations and look at things that help you grow as an individual. However there are also many negative connotations that come with this word that remind us of wars, mass killings and injustice.