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Week 10- Research and Reveal

Updated: Sep 27, 2023

This week, I am going to research a theme or social issue within my local area, which will be achieved through engaging with the local community and backtracking to service design methods to help reveal issues.


SIDE PROJECT //

Birthday Card

I am creating a birthday card for my auntie but as I was creating my dandelion sketch, I started questioning how we started using this flower for wishing. For this project, I am going to investigate the source of wishing further to inspire imagery for the birthday card, which could potentially develop into something else in the future.


The process started off by looking at flowers and seeing how I can create my illustrative typeface into it, but then these tulips reminded me of trumpets and I started thinking of ways I could create a energetic piece of artwork. Other ideas included using angel's trumpet flowers for a closer resemblance to the instrument, and perhaps flowers exploding like fireworks in the background or ink and petals mixed in water. I looked at inspiration for music movements and came across a dandelion made up of musical notes, which was when I started questioning the origins of wishes.

Where do wishes come from?

  1. Putting candles on cakes comes from Ancient Greeks. The cakes represented the goddess of the moon, and baked goods were often brought to the temple as offerings.Candles were burnt as offerings for gods and goddesses, the light symbolised the glow of the moon, and the smoke would carry the prayers to the Gods (probably were wishes originated).

  2. Germans used birthday candles to symbolise the 'light of life' in the Middle Ages. One candle for each year of life and an extra candle for the coming year.

  3. Eyelashes originated in mid-19th century. A fallen eyelash is placed on the back of the hand before the wisher throws it over the shoulder- sounds like the salt superstition. The Cornish version is to blow the eyelash off the tip of the nose.

  4. Shooting stars were a sign that gods were looking down and listening to wishes.

  5. Ladybugs grants you a wish if it lands on you. Ladybugs are known for eating pests, so farmers would call it a symbol of goodluck for the harvest.

  6. Dandelions were a symbol of romance in the 1800s. If you blow on a dandelion and all the seeds flew away, your loved one returned the feelings for you. This turned into children thinking about objects of their affections, and later turned into wishing.

  7. Wishing well was used as a shrine. Early European tribes believed these were gifts from the gods and a sign that these gods were nearby. People would come to the well to pray and give an offering, which continues in the form of a coin.

I think this is interesting to hear how wishes are associated with religion because I grew up in a non-religious family and it never dawned on me how these wishes would actually come true. Perhaps people believe in other forces other than religion?

There was one interesting term I found, which is 'Humanist'. A humanist is someone that isn't religion or have any superstitious beliefs, and base their moral principles on reason. They believe that people should work together to improve the quality of life for all and make it more equitable. And a Freethinker is someone that doesn't conform to a bible and forms their own opinions about religion on the bases of reason. Humanism was invented mid-20th century whilst freethinker started during the 19th century.

According to the survey I am 100% Humanist, which would explain my pursuit in social projects. I wander if this philosophy influenced art manifestos during the 20th century? And it still hasn't answered my question on why we still make wishes - perhaps it is more of a mental note on something we are aiming for in life. Perhaps this birthday candle is the one moment where we get to be reflective and think about what we want for our future self.

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So based on the idea of birthday wishes being more of a reflective practise, I have proposed a rough idea on how I want to redefine the idea of a traditional birthday card. So above, you will see that I have used a water element to create the idea of reflection, with two light elements (man-made vs natural) to bounce off this watery surface. I thought adding petals would connect to my orginal idea of using flowers in my card (the typical card you would give to your auntie), but I also think adding petals has a tranquil effect as well as symbolising life.


I am going to develop a moodboard on reflection and see what other reflective surfaces I can be inspired by - perhaps there will be a few meditative practises or scenes. Could blowing out candles be linked to exhaling during meditation?



RESEARCH //

Lecture

For this week's lecture Hefin Jones discussed his processes and how he engages with the local community. He questions the effects designers have when they open up issues and leave.

He also talked about how particular factors could influence how well you engage with a specific community, for example, Jones is a white male that speaks Welsh, so he was able to communicate with the Welsh community within multiple pubs. Another example would be David Olusoga's research on African and British history, and I think being of African heritage put him in a position where he and the people he was interviewing felt comfortable talking about the issue because it is an issue that they can equally reflect on. So, by focusing my research on a local issue, I need to make sure I find an issue that I designate with and find people that feel a similar way. The only thing I am concerned with is the fact that I am only familiar with the student community rather than the locals, so I would need to research their set of values and how they communicate as a community. Although even with the student community, most people I know have left town since graduating, and being on a postgraduate course (and lockdown) has made me feel less inclined to connect to that community - it feels weird how I already feel that I have outgrown Falmouth due to the amount of 18-21 year olds in the area.


Over the past few weeks, I have ben advised to get people I interview to sign a consent form, however, it is important to inform the interviewee what kind of questions are going to be asked. Jones' approach seems to be more sensitive by asking asking the interviewee what they would be comfortable in sharing, which will inspire questions. As a dyslexic, I am terrible with thinking on the spot, so maybe there should be a pre-interview to assess what kind of questions they would be willing to answer, be informed by your own findings, which will allow me to generate a consent form that fits them. It will also allow them time to think more on the subject and discuss their opinions once the interview has been agreed. And since the process has already begun by this time, shouldn't they be provided with a journal for their thoughts? He mentions how sensitive issues could be left open once the designer has moved on from their research process, so shouldn't the designer provide support for them if they ever wanted to talk or a follow-up? At the end of the day, the designer has received something from the individual, so I think it a question of justifying how this research will help the individual as well as the designer. I think one example of this would be from BBC's 'Black and British: A forgotten History' episodes, which contributes a plaque for the interviewees to celebrate the memory of their African ancestors; it makes the interviewees feel that they have contributed to something physical and it is a good way to heal an issue that has been opened up.

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The idea of being a 'crossbencher' is about not being affiliated by either side but can provoke and ask questions either side haven't thought of. He talked about how important it is to not impose yourself too much into the conversation in terms of questions or my own opinion on how things are because at the end of the day people have their own ideas, so I need to invite this into the conversation- I need to be in the moment, so I am also guessing writing notes down will disrupt this process. By being in the moment, the interactions shape and influence the direction of the work, so I like this idea of not knowing the final outcome and giving in to the process.



Design Anthropology: Object Cultures in Transition

Valuable to Values

In the 1990s, firms such as IDEO, Fitch and Design Continuum had begun to change the way businesses thought about the place and value of the design through merging multiple disciplines. It is important when different disciplines work together to have an inclusive language that everyone understands.


Prototyping the Social

Tony Fry is a philosopher of design and sustainability that is interested in 'defuturing', which the law of unforeseen consequences and how we as designers think of the instrumental over the social - we need to understand our projects anthropologically.


Paul Rabinow and George Marcus mention how inventing concepts needs a critical distance from the present and to make visible what is emerging.


Michael Leube is an anthropologist working in the field of design. As humans we do not physically change very much, however, cultural evolution (technology, materials, etc) is influenced through design and creates a change in our behaviour over time. One example of this would be the introduction of the pre-mixed baking kit, which was designed for housewives to feel like they are saving time but the difference of being able to add a fresh egg made them feel less guilty for using shortcuts - that was the start of the mass food production we know today.


Runaway consumerism is designed to use our biological instinct of seeing whether we fit into specific groups within the hierarchy. It is the dilution that consumption creates happiness and compensates for our feeling of inadequacy when we don't fit into these groups. If I were to guess, I would say the early royals would have started this trend or maybe it was when people started dividing people into social classes? In the early 19th century, Karl Marx developed the social theory of class, which focused on the role of particular groups within production. However, in the 20th century, Max Weber focused this theory on income level, which may have created this idea of showing your income level through materialism in the hopes of being excepted into a desired group.


What if cultural evolution influenced biological evolution? Because we designed a range of ways to globalise and now everyone has a family history from different parts of the world, which has altered our biological characteristics. Thinking about it my past comment on mass food production, this too has influenced our biology evolution because now we have obesity and genetic disease, which might have also been caused by the micro-plastic and pollutants we absorb on a daily basis.


Visual Impact; creative dissent in the 21st century

  • 'Citizen journalism' came about in 2003 during the Iraq War. Newspapers started accepting photos from the public so journalists don't need to be in the area. This reminds me of how Forensic Architecture used public videos and images to recreate the Grenfell Tower tragedy; this helps journalists have a clearer idea of what happened during the event.

  • Global networking through emails, websites, pagers and mobile phones was a normal too in the 1990s for protests.

  • Facebook was created in 2004 and created the concept of sharing and discussion. Obama's 2008 election campaign was aimed at young voters. I think since the recent bill placing restrictions over street protests, I think social media will become the main source of protest especially while the pandemic is still present.

According to Rife Magazine (a platform for Bristol's young people), social media movements and street protests are interlinked as the internet spreads more information, enables larger attendance on the streets and quickens the time it takes for protests to form; pre-internet movements took months in advance to prepare for the streets. However, social media has enabled the public to continue the discussion after the protests, which can also lead towards criticism how protests were handled by police and protesters alike - I suppose it acts as a guideline for future protests to reflect and generate ideas on how they would approach a movement.



WORKSHOP CHALLENGE //

For this week's workshop challenge, I am going to write a 200-word project brief that identifies an issue within my local community.


List of issues:


Plastic Pollution

The Plastic Free Falmouth charity has been organising beach cleans and encouraging local shops and cafes to switch their plastics for more sustainable options. I think this is a relevant issue because locals and tourists alike have been known to leave their rubbish on beaches despite having recycling bins located on the beaches.


BBQ season

In the past, the fire department have been known for patrolling beaches and advising people to place metal trays underneath their fires because a child will most likely burn themselves on the sand the next day. I think this is a waste of the fire department's time and I think there needs to be a effective solution because there will be new students each year coming in from non-beach areas, so they will not be aware of the dangers involved. There was one Penfession post (the Facebook group for students to create anonymous posts), which advised students to 'protect the sand' during BBQs but most students did not understand what this post meant.


A disconnect for mature students

Mature students or postgraduate students seem to be disconnected from the student community due to the overwhelming amount of younger students.


Conflict between both campuses

There is a conflict between Penryn and Falmouth students. I have heard some Falmouth students students complain about how Exeter students are unsustainable, privileged and conservative. And Exeter students seem to have this impression that Falmouth students have chosen a degree that is useless.

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Written by an Exeter student, an example of conflict

Conflict between students and locals

Budock Terrace has become one of the most student heavy residences, locals have moved due to the noise pollution.


Whetherspoons chain

This is the most popular place for students to socially drink due to how the process accommodate limited budgets. However, during the pandemic, staff have been fired rather than being furloughed, and many of the staff are students. This leds to question whether students should support each other and stand-up to how this chain treated their staff. Is there a way to get students to support and save the smaller pubs?


Falmouth Anchor

Falmouth Anchor is a newspaper run by students, which I am going to use to reconnect with the student community and gain an insight into what students are talking about.


Kill the bill

Due to Bristol's recent violent protests, a law has been carried out to control the noise level and time slots for protests with fines if this is ignored. How else can we protest without having to disrupt non-protestors? There is the 'green and black cross', which are volunteers that help with legal matters before and after protests.

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Female students feeling unsafe

Even though Sarah Everard wore bright clothing, walked on a well lite street and was on her phone to her boyfriend, she was kidnapped and murdered by a police officer- someone that is established as a symbol of safety and protection over the community. Her death has sparked concerns over sexual violence, which has resulted in the #ReclaimTheseStreets movement. 97% of women aged 18-24 in England have been sexually harassed. Even though, women


The Falmouth Anchor conducted a survey for Falmouth and Exeter students, showing that 55% have experienced harassment whilst at university, but only 10% of them reported it to the police or university; not reporting it has a variety of factors such as self-blame, not recognising that the incident was a case of sexual harassment, fear of judgement and fear of not being taken seriously by authorities. There was a #metoo movement in 2017, however, this hasn't encouraged victims to come forward.

One student suggested during sex education, teenagers should be taught what it means to be sexually harrased. Another student mentioned the need for reporting sexual harassment to be more accessible.


After hearing the welfare president's story of sexual assault, it reminded me of my own experience and how even when you acknowledge this as assault you don't know it is a crime, and club environments make it difficult to identify the assaulter so you don't see any point in saying anything. I do not identify as a female, however, it doesn't stop others from identifying me as such- this led me to shave my hair, and as a result I feel safer. Another thing I have noticed during this transformation is that people have stopped assuming I am flirting with someone just because I talk to a male local at the bar.

Another individual cut their hair noticed the same effect and even tested the theory further by wearing a crop top and mini-shirt without any harassment. It would be interesting to explore the politics behind a haircut, but not restrict the subject to females. According to a NewStatesman article, short hair conveys someone that is ' more abrasive, masculine and more deranged'



My chosen issue:

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Comments:

  • Safer club environment for re-opening, timely needed. It's a great design challenge. Do we need to educate everyone that is in attendance? Is it important to educate potential victims about their rights as well as whom would be offenders, or just one party?

  • This is a very important and challenging issue. I remember seeing a documentary about crossing peoples boundaries sexually where the conclusion seemed to be that people are often not aware that they are crossing someones line.. Perhaps if people were more aware of when they were disrespectful, they would become more aware? Not sure how this would be done, but education and awareness seems like interesting approaches.

What has been done so far?

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Undercover officers

In response to the death of Sarah Everard, the government has proposed that police officers will patrol bars and clubs at night to identify suspicious offenders. This seems to be a unsettling solution after recent events have caused women to lose trust in police officers. According to a 2019 Observer, 1,500 accusations of sexual misconduct were made against police officers over the course of 6 years with only 13% resulted in dismissal or resignation. There seems to be club security issues not just around sexism, but also racism and homophobia as well.


Safe-space clubs


GoodNight Out Campaign

Good Night Out campaign for a safer nightlife started in 2014. They help local authorities (event organisers, student unions, and nightclubs) to develop sexual violence prevention through up-skilling workshops for staff members.

I am glad that there is a campaign in the UK that trains staff members, but there are no procedures in place for locals to suggest which clubs need the training. Or do I need to spread campaign awareness to my local clubs?


The video also points out how there is an issue of the public not intervening when they see someone being assaulted, which I am keen to look further into.


Home Safe Brighton

A closed Facebook group that connects people in the city to walk home together at night. Every Saturday, the group will patrol the areas from 11pm-4am to help people get home safely through a buddy system.


I wonder if there could be a similar system for going in a club? Do these community groups help individuals sober up before they step onto public transport; you can be assaulted there as well? Do they have enough money for a taxi - sometimes a taxi driver would rape women if they were unable to pay.


WalkSafe

WalkSafe was recommended by the ideas wall, which is an app that shows specific crime figures in different areas, allowing people to avoid hotspots.


I think the only feature I am concerned about is the HomeSafe feature, which sends your location to an emergency contact if you don't complete your journey within the time frame estimated by the app; people tend to walk slower when they are drunk, so it creates worry. Wouldn't it be able to recalculate time estimate as you walk?

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Creating a Campaign Strategy

Set the campaign aim

One sentence needs to communicate: identifying who or what needs to change, and focus on the impact the campaign will make.


When setting my objectives, they need to act like stepping stones on the path towards my aim. One example of this would be how a political party stands for one thing (conservative is all about stability), and the manifesto acts as objectives that tackle the barriers relevant to the party's main value.


What is Change Theory?

A 'theory of change model' creates a focused view on strategy and planning- mapping out activities that achieve the campaign aim. It is important to know what is achievable given the resources available to me and the environment I am working in.

It is also important to explore different ways of achieving my aim.

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What resources do I have?

Kirstie Edwards

Kirstie Edwards is currently running for Falmouth's Labour Party. She has lived in Falmouth for 25 years as a student and as a local, and has worked hard to solve environmental issues in Falmouth.


I have worked with her before as a voluntary Graphic Designer over the summer 2018, which involved producing posters for the charity group Kirstie organised called Plastic Free Falmouth. I am going to speak to her to get some advise on what is achievable when making a social change.


Projects she has been involved in:

  • Installed water points to increase bottle re-use

  • Community beach cleans

  • reusable cup schemes to festivals

  • Brought together the voluntary sector with business and charity leaders, county council members and Cornish MPs

  • Encouraged local businesses to be more sustainable. One example would be replacing plastic straws with paper ones.

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In her political statement, she mentions as a leader of Plastic Free Falmouth, she has experience working with officers and existing councillors.


She told me that she would be keen to get a working group going as part of a safer Falmouth, which includes young women. As she is very busy with her political campaign, she has asked me to get in touch with her about again after the 10th, however, she did say she could enquire about what can be done to help me with this project - it might be possible that my final piece could be turned into something physical, which is exciting.


Webinar: Prototype software

  • Sketch allows you to design without coding. FVG Format has higher quality. The feature 'make exportable' allows assets (imagery, logo, etc) to be downloadable for clients when previewing on Invision.

  • It's important to Design for mobile first and Desktop last; allows you to think about which elements are important. Bring behaviours that people are already use to like instagram swiping.

  • Invision allows you to view the sketch design on a browser and share your prototype with clients. Inspect code and create links between pages.

  • Principle is similar to Invision, except this creates more swipable interactions online.

  • AfterEffects can also be used to design a prototype, however, this wouldn't be interactive.

  • Other prototype software includes Figma and XD. I think one student mentioned that Figma disagrees with Adobe running at the same time, and I think since I am currently paying for the full Adobe package, I should make use of the XD feature.


Brief

Last month, Sarah Everard's was kidnapped and murdered by a police officer last month, raising the issue of women's safety and mistrust of police. According to Falmouth Anchor, 55% of Falmouth and Exeter female students have experienced sexual assault within Falmouth and Penryn areas.


Aim:

The government's proposal of undercover police in response to Sarah Everard’s death has been critised by the general public, so my aim is to find an alternative way to make the club environment safe from sexual assaults.


Barriers to consider:

  • Not knowing whether it is worth reporting an assault - assault is normalised.

  • The club environment makes it difficult to identify someone

  • Security and staff not taking action against assaulters

  • The public not intervening when they see someone being sexually assaulted


Resources available:

  • A local social activist and politican, Kirstie Edwards, has offered to build a working group after 10th May to help create a Safer Falmouth. She has experience with organising projects to tackle environmental issues through her charity group ‘Plastic Free Falmouth’ and has offered to enquire about what ideas are possible in the meantime.

  • 'GoodNight Out’ is a specialised team that trains staff on what to do when assaults are reported to them. There enquiry page for individuals to report specific clubs, however, this is under-promoted.


Visual Summary

Nightlife Association:

  • Overcrowded

  • Sticky floor

  • Touching - finger prints.

  • Dark

  • laser lighting

  • Dance floor

  • Base music

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Ideas

  • I like the idea of making finger prints visible because people would associate it more to a crime. Glow in the dark finger prints?

  • Maybe a gif of finger prints appearing on a woman's body throughout the night, whilst 'its all about the base' is playing. I think changing the context of the song from something that is supposed to standup to body positivity into sexual assault scenes reflects the conflicts within society; women are told to be confident in their bodies but then blamed for clothing choices after an assault.

I started off by introducing elements of the urban nightlife through display typeface and lighting. Finger prints were introduced to the designs to place emphasis on the sexual abuse taking place within clubs - we associate fingerprints with crime whilst sexual assault is normalised, so I wanted to connect the two. I also played with handprints, however, I think this makes the design look too busy. The hands/finger prints act like footprints on the dance floor, which navigates you through the page - feet aren't the only things that move on the dance floor.


The list of resources was created look like a menu you would see at a bar, and the barriers outside a nightclub has been used to represent the list of barriers within the brief.

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I reverted back to the fingerprints because the hands made the piece look too busy. I also kept the menu black instead of white because the whiteness was distracting the narrative.

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If I had more time, I would use animation to make the fingerprints appear one-by-one (within the U shaped narrative created) and fade gradually like normal fingerprints.


REFLECTION //

I was very interested in how Hefin Jones questioned the impact us as designers have on individuals once we have opened up an issue and disappear once we are finished with the process, so I think during my own process I need to think of ways my research would benefit the individual as well as myself and perhaps offer a follow-up from the interview. I think one example of this would be from BBC's 'Black and British' episodes, which contributes a plaque for the interviewees to celebrate the memory of their African ancestors; it makes the interviewees feel that they have contributed to something physical and it is a good way to heal an issue that has been opened up.



I used the Falmouth University's student newspaper to inspire the social issues I would tackle because Falmouth is highly populated with students and I wanted to associate the problem to people nearer my age. One month after the death of Sarah Everard has led 55% female students to speak out about their own experiences of sexual assault.


Since the recent violent protests across Bristol have led to the protest bill, I have started exploring alternative ways of protesting to gain inspiration on how to tackle my social issue. I have reached out to Kirstie Edwards, a candidate for Falmouth's Labour Part and leader for Plastic Free Falmouth, because she has experience of tackling social issues and turning her ideas into a reality. She has agreed to support me with this project through enquiring over what is possible for me to do, and has asked that I reach out to her after the campaign has finished. This would be a couple of days before the deadline, making it impossible to submit the finished outcome, however, the idea of creating something real is really exciting - it's no longer a hypothetical project.



REFERENCES //

Side Project


Research


Ideas Wall

Things I've looked at

Things I've shared


Workshop Challenge


Recent Posts

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