Evaluation OUGD401

At the beginning of Context of practice I was excited at the prospect of being able to research politically charged Graphic Design, as I chose to answer the question of Graphic Designs role in social and political upheaval, a topic which I was enthusiastic about yet had not previously gone deep into. I felt that it was an opportunity to broaden my practice as well as my understanding of political art, looking at design which was more informed and directed at a specific audience.  The question meant I would be looking at design which has shaped or played a role in times of political or social change, this was a broad spectrum so I decided to explore theme of protest more than any other, looking at iconic designs used in protest or as an attack on a political change, works of revolution against conformity or the established order a topic which I found inspiring.

Through completing the study tasks given through the studio time for Context of practice I became more comfortable with the prospect of writing an essay, something which I was worried about having not written a full formed essay in a long time. The study tasks helped me to form a structured plan of which I would follow to complete my essay. Through the study tasks and the lectures for COP I learnt of a protest movement which occurred in France in 1968, where students and workers united to protest the conservative government at the time and also capitalism. Looking deeper into this I felt it would be a key point to look at not only for my essay but for my practical piece as the design which was produced at the time of this unrest is now iconic to the time and continues to be inspiring and relevant today. This research was key to my essay as it held a huge part in my argument yet the research I had gathered for this was majorly internet based, I need to broaden the range of research resources I use this was one drawback within my work.

Though I looked mainly at protest pieces I also researched pieces which were for a Political reason for example the Obama 08 presidential campaign, holds a huge place in my essay to see both sides of social and political upheaval, highlighting the moods which are set through the design work which occurs because of the upheaval. I looked at a number of texts which aided my work yet again the majority of my research took place through websites and PDF's, I have recognised this as one of the weaknesses in my work. I feel my essay analyses relevant and iconic design work which answers the question of Graphic designs role in political and social upheaval looking at the inspiring and influential nature of the work and how it shaped the modern world now. I feel that through the module I have broadened my understanding of graphics role in politics and society as well as grown in confidence towards producing essays, being able to critically analyse work and see its relevance and keeping the entire essay on the correct topic and informative.

Screen Printed Finals - Poster

The screen printed finals went really I used a dark red so that it would be clear on the pink stock, the type came out really legible, which is a concern I had to consider knowing that sometimes in screen print it can be lost if not done carefully. The Black type at the top came out really well, bold and clear, it looks almost digitally printed and is legible sitting atop of the image I used. The image came out obscure which is what I wanted it to be like, the bitmap style which I Used made the image clear enough to be recognised yet only as a person who is protesting not the actual person who it is. I did find some difficulties during the print process as the ink ran in some places yet creating some nice effects. I am very pleased with the outcome of the practical side of the brief as it is what I set out to produce yet even better than I imagine, it is a strong informed piece which works in context to the question I chose to base my essay on. It is informed and reflects the research I have carried out.

Final Digital Resolutions OUGD401

I chose to just use the body of the image of Charlie Gilmour not the entire image, for one reason that the image can be universally used and not just for London (Which was were the photo was taken) it shows a young man waving a flag for revolution and change which is a strong political statement in its self. The picture reminds me a lot of one used in France '68 which depicts a person in a long coat throwing a brick, the image I have chosen shows more of a peaceful message. I kept using the red type and image overlay to keep using the styles I saw throughout my research. The type is Times italic I used this to as it is a bold serif font, which is seen as old fashioned, this was to promote the use of the slogan and style which was used almost 50 years ago in France, they are old but still relevant as ever today. I experimented with layout to get a good idea of how the piece would work when I screen print it. Below is the negatives I have prepared for screen print. I chose to Bitmap the image of Gilmour to obscure his identity and also to get a bolder print full of colour.

Practical Development. Ougd401

Starting of developing some ideas for my practical I knew I wanted to use edited imagery, I had some stock photos of gangs of youths which could represent students and protesting, I knew I should use the colour red as it is a common reoccurring theme with political designs. I mocked up this poster using a relevant modern day protest quote which I found whilst researching. It was a start off point yet I felt it was too busy, I then thought of the styles used for the protests in Paris in 1968 and the simplicity and striking style they used. 

This is an image taken from the student protests which lead to the London Riots in 2012. It shows Charlie Gilmour, son of pink floyd lead singer, Gilmour has become iconic in the riots, most famously for swinging on the union jack at a cenotaph in London. This image depicts Gilmour waving a flag which reads revolution, if his identity could be to some extent obscured I could use the image as a metaphor for all students who are protesting or revolting against the established order. Again I edited the image to make it red to keep with the correct aesthetic of a protest piece.

I decided to use a coloured stock for my design so began mocking up more thought out designs inspired by the French posters. I looked at using a light pink stock to make the red and black screen printed image more bold, pink would also represent peace and calm to provoke a sense of peaceful protest. The image I have used is the one of Charlie Gilmour, not only have I turned it red but I have also cute it into long strip sections to represent oppression and students being told to conform. The quote I have used is one used in 1968 'Sois Jeune et Tais Toi' which translates to 'Be Young And Shut Up' a strong quote which is still relevant today as the conservative government continue to tamper with the education system and not expect backlash. I decided to create a fake protest event for art students (using leeds college of arts name) as it was the art students in '68 which instigated alot of the protests as they created the silkscreen posters which became iconic.

I continued to experiment with layout and form to test out which would be best continuing to use the type and image I had produced. Yet still felt that the image I had used was making the piece to busy and too obscure to be totally clear legible. I felt that I needed to make it more simple.

Practical hypothesis

My initial ideas is to produce a poster response using the techniques I have seen in my research, I want to produce a piece which pays homage to the screen printed designs used in the France protests of 1968, Using limited colours of Red and Black and edited imagery.

Research Practical

What I found was a lot of these politically charged pieces, especially student protest pieces, had a hand rendered style type on the design. They would be rough striking visual posters and would portray strength and rebellion. Again the use of red representing a clenched fist, to portray anger and unity in struggle.

Many of the old posters which I looked at, including the 'Support Prison Rebellions' poster, used hand rendered imagery to put across their point. In this case it uses fists (Another well used icon in politically charged design) to show the struggle of racism embedded in the US prison system at the time. Again they have used red as the only colour on the poster. One apparent aspect which can be seen in the prisoners support poster is a use of structure and layout the type arrangement in place conforms to a grid.

Another one which uses the regular tactics of political design is the screen printed 'Come Together In Peace' Poster, it utilises hands which are seen as a sign of strength, and in this case unity as the hands are clasping one and other as well as hand rendered bold type, in this case in black sitting on the image, the use of the black and red makes for a bolder image.

The use of a red stock or pink stock with black or a darker hue of red printed on it works really well and is something which I want to attempt in my practical.

 “Everybody talks about the weather. We don’t.” The 1968 poster was a response by the German Socialist Student Union to an ad campaign for weatherproof trains. The students were suggesting that like the figures pictured above, they had more important concerns than everyday things like the weather. The bold red image is eye catching and was very topical at the time of publishing, it would have been influential.

‘Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge’ is a lithographic Soviet propaganda poster designed by Russian artist Lazar Markovich Lissitzky. The intrusive red triangle symbolises the Bolsheviks, who are penetrating and defeating their opponents, the White movement, during the Russian Civil War. Lissitzky was a leading figure of the Russian avant garde movement, designing a number of exhibition displays and propaganda works for the former Soviet Union. His work hugely influenced the Bauhaus and constructivist movements, and he experimented with production techniques and stylistic devices that would go on to dominate 20th-century graphic design. 

Research Practical OUGD401

I looked at politically charged design to get a grasp of graphic designs role in social and political upheaval. I looked at a broad set of posters and books to find inspiration which will help me to produce my final resolutions, a response to the essay which I wrote. Looking at colour and composition, imagery and typefaces used within these designs, I want to pick up key elements used in political design so as to produce a piece which will work to influence, inform and inspire like most political works have done so in modern times.

This poster represents the oppression in Columbia in South America, it was made by a French activist group who raise support for what is happening over there. Red seems a common theme throughout politically charged design work I shall look into the connections. The two tone style imagery adds a grit to the piece showing the harshness of the topic.

This book cover of Steven Kelmans Push Comes To Shove book on student protest uses hand drawn illustrations to create its point, showing students hand gestures possibly towards the government at the time, again the use of red can be seen in the clenched fist, perhaps to show the anger and tension in the fight against establishment. The simple line drawings which make up the cover are clear and relevant to the context of the book, there is clear use of grid systems.

This is a lithograph poster (A lithograph is a print made by drawing on limestone with wax crayons, applying ink onto the stone and printing the image onto paper) which translates to 'We Will Go On Until The End' it is used to show the protests of the Paris 1968 unrest. The imagery used is really strong using just a black and white image of a mass crowd with large bold san serif type to clearly put across the message.

Dada was an cultural movement which occurred between the years 1915 and 1923. Originated in Zürich, the Dadaist movement and its loose network of artists spread across Europe as well as into other countries, with New York becoming the primary centre of Dada in the United States. The very word Dada is difficult to define and its origins are disputed, even amongst the Dadaists themselves. This poster takes aspects of dadaist art work and over lays it with a screen print of the event which is taking place in new york, once again it uses red heavily in its design.

This poster was run for a free speech a movement held by a university campus showing the want for peace and environmental change. the poster uses a red and pink edited image something which has occurred numerous times throughout my research.

1968 France Student Protests - OUGD401

The posters of the Paris 1968 uprising comprise some of the most brilliant graphic works ever to have been associated with a social movement. Politics aside, from a design point of view they are iconic. The artworks were not superfluous decorations meant to beautify office walls - instead they took centre stage on the streets of France in provoking awareness and action. The posters were all anonymous creations, the result of collaborations between idealistic students and striking workers. 
Atelier Populaire declared the posters “weapons in the service of the struggle an inseparable part of it. Their rightful place is in the centres of conflict, that is to say, in the streets and on the walls of the factories.” The organisation went on to produce hundreds of anonymous silkscreen posters.


This poster outlines the struggles of the universities during this period of unrest, depicting a university as a factory












This poster is La Beauté Est Dans La Rue (Beauty Is in the Street). The poster is a declaration that beauty will not be found in the bourgeois palaces of culture, but in the struggle to create a new society. The image depicts a street fighter in a trench coat hurling a cobblestone at riot police, but the artwork also alludes to a popular slogan and graffiti of the day - "sous les pavés, la plage" (under the paving stones, the beach).





When the French riot police attacked the occupied universities and workplaces, the rebellion turned violent. The initial police onslaughts were so heavy handed that many joined the strikers in order to protest police brutality. The poster at left was the artistic response to the savage police assaults, and the chilling untitled image appeared on city walls all over Paris.














This poster depicts the French President at the time tampering with universities, with the slogan 'Capitalists' printed under the imagery, this is to scrutinise the president himself as well as the concept of capitalism which protesters of the time felt was failing and ruining the country.













The style the posters use is simple and eye catching, having been mass produced using silk screen prints which are a representative of the producers who were the protesters, they became iconic to the events which took place in 1968. The use of singular colours keep them simple yet bold and sharp they represent more than just art work but a cry at the political injustices felt at the times. I want to produce a screen printed piece which pays homage to these works, perhaps attempting a modern day rendition, when students still scrutinise the government over fees and the running of the education system.

Planning and structuring an essay - 03/11/2015

Essay must include References from 4 different academic sources quality sources which are reliable

bibliography of ten sources
start with a break down summary of the essay question.
first few paragraphs referencing some designers who are strong in this field (political graphic)

What?
How?
Why?

What evidence shows that the phenomenon described by your thesis is true? Examine evidence, demonstrating truth to your claim.

How does the thesis stand up to the challenge of counter argument?

Why have I chosen it why is it relevant?


Discuss the role that Graphic Design can play during periods of political and/or social upheaval.

General -> Specific analytical break down

Study task 

What graphic design will you analyse?

I will look into a specific period of time where graphic design played a key role in political or social event or period of time.  I will break down the graphic design used, such as propaganda for or against a political party or movement. I will look at the affect it had on the time and if it influenced further graphic design.

Essay Map -
Reference points -
Blogs :

• Design as politics / politics as design (2012) Available at: http://www.designaspolitics.com/ (Accessed: 3 November 2015).
• Rand, P. (1985) The politics of design | Paul Rand, American modernist (1914-1996). Available at: http://www.paul-rand.com/foundation/thoughts_politics/#.VjiW6BDhD0E (Accessed: 3 November 2015).
• Foulston, J., Creative, Follow, P. G., Lüfkens, M., Communications, G., 87, garneth, Shields, L., FIDELITY, H., 052185, bev, Communic, G., socialmedia, 123, Mohamed, A., Trivedy, D., Burnes, J. and 219, R. (2013) Hans Heimer. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/JamieFoulston/influence-ofdesign-2011praguecollege (Accessed: 3 November 2015).
• Ditsch, K. (2012) The Influence of Logo Design and Branding on Political Campaigns. Available at: http://polisci.indiana.edu/undergraduate/theses/Ditsch.pdf (Accessed: 3 November 2015).
• Chayka, K. (2013) Graphic design as political practice: A conversation with Metahaven [Part 1]. Available at: http://hyperallergic.com/65187/graphic-design-as-political-practice-a-conversation-with-metahaven-part-1/ (Accessed: 3 November 2015).
• Chayasatit, A. (2014) It’s not very nice that: Graphic design and politics. Available at: http://www.peopleofprint.com/exhibition/its-not-very-nice-that-graphic-design-and-politics/ (Accessed: 3 November 2015).

Books:

• Lavin, M. (2002) Clean new world: Culture, politics, and graphic design. United States: The MIT Press.
• Bloomsbury (2014) Design as future-making. Edited by Susan Yelavich and Barbara Adams. United Kingdom: Berg Publishers.

Break down of essay

• Summary of topic the question raises. Find an established meaning behind my question. Choose a legitimate definition of the topic which I can find arguments for and against. A well rounded introduction to the question.
• Bring in one or two pieces of academic text and explain and establish understanding of them seeing if the text helps or hinders the arguement
• Analyse work relevant to the essay question show the role it plays and the relevance of the design and its designer
• Move through different aspects of social and political examples to show graphic designs role in the broad sense of upheaval

Peer feedback?

Practical Research

Theme
Content-

Techniques

Content
Communication


Methods-
Research/analysis
Exploration/Evaluation
Testing


Political question -

- initiate social change
1968 paris screen printings striking posters
quick and dynamic technique

or

-social media technique to get message out there


1. Techniques - I will use techniques which propaganda artists, protestors and activists have used before, by employing dynamic striking type or imagery which would inspire or initiate something. I do not want to over complicate my design as social/political design should be snappy and easy to interpret so that it can be used in a range of scenarios. I want to keep it modern and to show how people can initiate social change in the modern world, where propaganda is not really used.

2. Content -

Imagery (Hand rendered/digital?)
Typography (hand rendered)
Posters? signs?
legibility

3. Communicate - I want to generate an idea and influence Decision using modern ideas and also using some old techniques such as propaganda to influence my work. I want to initiate change within my practical piece. Focussing on Student fees.

4. Research - I will research into modern design work produced for political purposes and also for opposing arguments to politics such as campaigners, activists and those who march for causes. I will look at propaganda to see how it was done and compare both old and new and see how the way people influence others have changed.

5. Evaluation/exploration-
consider other approaches other than hand rendered
all possible techniques
range of different signs or posters
same message different media
printing

6. Testing-
 I could super impose my image onto real protests to see how it would sit or apply it onto social media banners and more.


Task 2 -

My research question is Using modern techniques I want to produce some propaganda style posters/banners which look back on former techniques and styles, seeing if they are still relevant in todays protest culture.