Lecture 7 Consumerism: Persuasion, Society, Brand and Culture

Aims:

Analyse the rise of consumerism

• Sigman Freud
• Edmund Bernays

Adam Curtis - Century of Self (2007)

Sigman Freud - (1856 - 1939)

• New theory of human nature 
• Pyschoanalysis
• Hidden primitive sexual forces and animal instincts which need controlling.
• The interpretation of dreams (1899)
• The Unconscious (1915)
• The ego and the ID (1923)

1930

• Fundamental tension between civilisation and the individual

Edward Bernays (1891 - 1995)

• Press Agent
• Employed by public information during WW1
• Post-war set up 'The Council on Public Relations'.
• Birth of PR
• Based on ideas of Freud (his uncle)

Bernays is employed by the cigarette companies to promote smoking to women

1920

• Product placement
• Celebrity endorsements
• The use of pseudo-scientific reports.

Doctors would advise smoking to their patients

Fordism

• Henry Ford (1863 - 1947)

Vance Packard - The Hidden Persuaders

Marketing has hidden needs:

• selling emotional security
• selling reassurance of worth
• selling ego-gratification
• selling creative outlets
• selling love objects
• selling a sense of power
• selling a sense of roots 
• selling immortality

Russian Revolution - 1917

"Peace, land, bread" - John J Vail

• A history of the Russian revolution

October 24 1929 - 'Black Tuesday' caused by mass overproduction

Rousevelt and the 'New Deal' 1933

• he tackled capitalist companies and put restraints on the markets.
• consumerism os an ideological project
• we believe that through consumerism our desires can be met
• the consumer self
• the legacy of Bernays / PR can be felt in all aspects of 21st century.

The conflicts between alternative models of social organisation continues to this day.

To what extent are our lives 'free' under western consumerist system?

Study Task 8 - Outcome and Evaluation

As a result of the project, I have been able to explore and experiment, both contextually and visually during stages of the module. From reseaching the contextual backgrounds and visual examples of the subjects, it was possible to gather a wider understanding of how to create a design of my own.

By getting an understanding of the ways that the media communicates to people, it was easier to start gathering ideas that could help with the process of the initial design stage. As a result of the initial ideas stage, I was able to get feedback from peers on which idea should be pursued.

By the prototype stage, it was possible to narrow down the design process to three different options. Either, as a womens magazine, men’s magazine or an alternative which would cater for both sexes.

After recieving feedback again, it was possible to choose 1 idea to be used as the final development. From the feedback, I was able to see what layout, colour scheme and typeface would work best in the design for the cover of a magazine.

As a result, the magazine that I had produced was inspired by the mens magazines in terms of layout. However, it was also able to communicate positive ideas about how the audience should be addressed and the ways in which subject matters should be approached.

Overall, I feel that my final design was able to show the intentions of the project. However there were several stages along the way that were disgarded as a result of peer feedback and analysis.

Study Task 7 - Development 3

After the second development piece, I began recreating the design with a different approach. The approach was to use a men’s magazine as the main inspiration. In this case, GQ was the primary source of inspiration because it used limited colours and kept a simple layout that always used an image as the centre piece.

Since the last piece, I had also change the serif font to sans serif, to make the design look less sophisticated and more aligned in the layout. I had also took the advice from peers, to keep the colour scheme stereotypical, as this was more about trying to identify areas of the magazines that are targeted to certain people. For example, the men’s stories are in blue and the women’s stories are in pink.

By getting rid of the background layout, there would be more definition on the image placed in the centre and the text surrounding it. This also helps the reader to be drawn to the text easier and without being distracted by the contrasting colours behind them.

While taking inspiration from magazines like Heat, it is clear that the subheadings and content advertised on this cover is more positive in their intentions. For example, instead of using a title like ‘are you beach body ready?’, which opinionates a certain body type, the title used was ‘workouts and diet plans for all sizes’. This way the magazine is able to attract audiences of different body types in a positive way. 

Overall, I think that this development is the best as it uses the best design and was the most well recieved by peers.

Study Task 7 - Development 2

The next development piece was the alternative to the first development as it takes most of its inspiration from the men’s magazines. However, it also tries to include the styles found in womens magazines. This included the colour scheme of the background, as well as the layout of the background shapes.

In terms of the typeface used, the title uses Bodoni 72 as I wanted to play around with a sans-serif font. However, I felt that by using sans serif the text looked too formal for the context that the design intends. 

I also attempted to use colours that were stereotypically used for men and women and placed them in opposite areas. For example, where the image of the couple is positioned, the text around is corresponding with their genders.

After showing this piece to peers, the main concern with the design was that the background colours and the text did not suit the design context. They suggested that using a layout from either the women’s or men’s magazine would have worked better. 

Therefore, the final idea will be to produce a similar design over the layout of the men’s magazine. The next design will also try to focus more on the text layout as well as what imagery should be included, if any.

Study Task 7 - Development 1

The first development piece consisted of the first idea to make a mock design of a gossip magazine. To start this design off, I began by gathering feedback from peers on how to further exaggerate a design cover that uses this style. Some suggested that by exaggerating the colours used in the design, it would show similarities between the cover and existing magazines.

As you can see there is a consistent use of Futura throughout the cover, as the use of a sans serif font was best for this design. This cover also attempts to vary the colours of the text used in different areas, so that certain areas have more relevance over others. For example, By showing the title in yellow it was possible to make it stand out among the rest of the cover.

This cover also attempts to centre an image of an average size female model. This can relate to the men’s magazines that use a central image, as it is the most stand-out among the images. Other images are also included in smaller areas to highlight certain content included within the magazine. This can relate to several gossip magazines that also use this technique, however it isn’t as frequent as the idea was to limit the amount of content on the page. 

This development still felt as though it was too focused on the gossip magazine style and therefore could exclude men as a potential audience. The next step would be to attempt the methods again but with more influence taken from men’s magazines. This way the resulting cover may appeal to a larger audience.

The title Egalite is in reference to the word equality in French. I felt that this would be appropriate for a magazine that attempts to break stereotypical boundaries.

Study Task 6 - Prototype 3

The last prototype, was an alternative to the previous two design ideas. It combines elements of each to form a cover that can use a series of different design ideas in one. 

The layout for this design shows the title similar to the one found on the second prototype as it stood out more. after peer review of this design choice, they believed that the best option would be to use a title like the ones found in men’s magazines. This was because the title would be more eye catching and sophisticated, which would be appropriate for the context.

The idea behind the layout of the cover page was to keep the centre open to an image while the boxes and text could be aligned around it, similar to how it would be done in a gossip magazine.

Another aspect of the design was to add smaller images around the edges. However, some peers found that this idea may not work, considering the fact that the men’s magazines rarely use smaller images around the centre.

In terms of the colour scheme used, there is a clear variation. This is because the intention was to try and avoid stereotyping certain colours to genders and subsequently the type of reader who would be attracted to the magazine. So by varying the colours, it would be possible to break this stereotype and attract both men and women.

During the process of this design, you can see that the colour is made more subtle for the design as most of the mens magazines tend to use limited colour or neutral shades to emphasise small areas. 

Study Task 6 - Prototype 2

 The idea for this prototype was to design a cover with inspiration taken from men's magazines. as you can see from the layout, it is clear that the preferred method by these magazines is to have a centred image of someone, with text surrounding them.

The difference here was that the typography would be focusing more on the use of serif fonts, as they are used by more sophisticated magazines and help to promote formailty.

In terms of the layout itself, the main features of this design layout were to make the title and the central image the primary focuses. For example, having a large title with an image of a person in the centre would instantly capture the view of the reader. 

Around this would be subheading and other promoted content, using different fonts and colours to seperate each one. There would also be an emphasis on the sizing of the text so that certain elements would stand out more and show the viewer the relevance it has over the rest of the cover.

In terms of colour, it seemed necessary to use limited amounts of colour, as many of the men’s magazines did. The colours that were used however, would be the typical colours found in a men’s magazine covers. This was to see whether or not the design would look too stereotypical and whether or not to add other colours to break that norm.

Study Task 6 - Prototype 1

The first idea was to create a prototype that uses the gossip magazine layout.

Here you can see that I have used a layout that can frequently be found on women's magazine covers. By separating areas into squares, circles and rectangles the design is able to imitate the layout style of Heat magazine.

 In terms of the colour used in the design, you can see that stereotypical colours have been used. This is because magazines of this style tend to use colours that appeal to their female audience.

 From this I began creating outlines for where images could be placed on the design.

As you can see, the result of the design process was a cover that includes several images and utilises the use of sans serif text in areas.

Study Task 6 - Idea Generation

To start off the design process, analysing the existing magazine layouts was necessary to gather an understanding of how to present the cover. By producing several thumbnail sketches of the magazine layouts of several magazines that had been looked at it would be easier to approach the layout of the design prototypes. These initial sketches were mostly influenced by Heat and OK! magazine. 

By sketching several thumbnail designs it would be possible to understand which would best influence the development stages. This would help to make a decision on whether mens or women's magazines would work best as a layout. Alternatively, combining elements of both is also a possible option.

Here are several sketches with inspiration taken from mens magazines, including GQ and Men's Health. Most of the men's magazines showed a central image to be the primary focus of the design.