Final Project

I'm excited about completing my final project because I am doing something I probably wouldn't have done on my own. I'm creating a cookbook of recipes for my sister, who will be moving out of state. All of the recipes I am using are meals I have made for holidays or special occasions. I want to ulitize the design elements I have learned this semester in putting together an aesthetically pleasing design. So far I have all the recipes and tools compiled, I just need to concentrate on the layout and finishing touches.

Chapter 9

I really liked this chapter in the PL about science being a voice of authority and I think Chris' presentation helped to reiterate that we shouldn't always trust science, but that we have to be smart visual interpreters and decide if the information we are presented is accurate. I would agree that medical information is still guarded but I think we will see a change in this in the near future. More information is available to the public as far as conducting research or diagnosing symptoms, wheras before this information was reserved for medical journals or reference books in the library. I think people are beginning to realize that we have to make informed decisions about our health, that medical information shouldn't be privleged, and we have a right to choose what medications we want to ingest.

Document Design

It is difficult to define document design because there are so many different medias in which document design occurs. Basically the goals of document design are to know the intended audience and to create a usable design that gives the reader the information they need. The document should always be socially responsible which means the designer needs needs to know about the ethics of the company they are writing for as well as how their document will be perceived by different audiences.

Branding

In the article, "Keeping Promises," Holland says that brands developed with the turn of the century and industrialization. Mass production brought about competition in marketing goods and this is when the drive for brand recognition began.

The three links to the different products incite different responses to each but they all have one thing in common, the desire to identify with a brand and belong to the marketed culture. Hummer offers us power and adventure while the Agent Provocateur site is selling swimwear and lingerie that makes the buyer want to look as sexy as the models displaying the items. The third link, Microsoft is selling the newer desire to possess technological knowledge and be a "geek."

Holland encourages us to be smart consumers and to research the companies so that we know what our money is supporting when we buy products. Holland also talks about the power that consumers have and that we should exercise that power so that corrupt corporations do not get away with deceiving consumers. There is an appropriate phrase that refers to this, it is that on average a satisfied customer will share a their experience with one other person, but a dissatisfied customer will share that experience with ten other people.

Blog read around assignment

I enjoyed reading everyone's blogs and I was impressed with how creative some people were with their posts. I liked how Katrina gave examples of things she was experiencing around her, such as the trip to the museum and the Mall of America, and relating these things back to the class readings.
I found Joe's blog to be insightful as well since his comments and perceptions on the readings helped me to understand the concepts a little better.
I thought Lisa P's blog was really creative with the references to artists and examples of photographs. I haven't really explored art since I took a humanities course but I see the connection between art and visual rhetoric so I'd like to learn a little more about art when I find the time.
I'm really glad we did this assignment because I learned even more from reading about my peers' experiences and I enjoyed seeing how creative they were.

Anti-brand activism

The following link is for an anti-drinking ad. It's a chalk outline of a vodka bottle to represent a body outline from an accident. While Absolut commercials use popular culture to show "the absolute man" or "the absolute welcome," the anti-drinking adds uses parody to show "the absolute end." Absolut likes to sell an image of partying and being hip and this anti-brand ad shows the truth about what the results of drinking can be.


http://lifestyle.indiainfo.com/2009/05/02/images/drinking_01.jpg

Postmodernism Continued

While postmodernism is full of pastiche, parody and remakes, the movement has also brought about indie media and postmodern approaches to marketing. Artists have found inventive ways to market their work without relying on the large film and music production companies. Some successful artists have taken advantage of the benefits of technolgy to do their marketing online and offer downloads, which consumers can easily access.

Postmodernism is seen in architecture as well, with the combination of different design styles. Pastiche is seen in the architecture formis "free-floating and detached from the original historical or functional context." Elements of playing with functionality are seen in the way designers create mock hallways or Greek and Gothic designs. Sturken and Cartwright give the example of the Beaubourg building in Paris, in which the fuctional elements of the building, such as stairways and plumbing fixtures are placed on the outside of the building.