Rationale
"An investigation of image making, focussing on publishing and print" Was the initial statement I made on my selection of briefs and the potential basis for a design strategy into 3rd year.
Having vested interests in illustration, publication, editorial, website design and promotional delivery I will be trying to include my external interests of videogames, science, sci fi and socially driven media into a comprehensive portfolio of work evidenced by the work produced this year.
To do this I will need to evidence that I am capable of using the facilities available to demonstrate my abilities when using print-based media, as well as the utilisation of digital software.
Science, science fiction and video games have played a huge part in my life, so it only makes sense to investigate, elaborate and create design that is geared toward these subjects to give me footing into the respective industries.
I ideally want to do 2 regular briefs and 2 wefty briefs as it will allow me ample time to construct and get on with my dissertation which could cause problems if not organised or prepared for beforehand.
So I would say that the overarching statement for the year to come would be:
An investigation of sciences and videogames through experimental image-making, utilising different media with a focus on publication and print finishes.
Statement of Intent
I will be looking at how I can achieve a much more professional outcome when designing for print based solutions at a level I feel reflects my personal ambitions and keep trying to better myself with each project I embark on.
For publication(s) I will be looking at book-binding/book making for reasons such as the book fair, being able to create - independently - a piece of work suitable to the content and format (restrictions) as in designing for publications, there is rarely one solution; for example a multitude of cover designs, promotional materials like stickers, coupons, links or business cards could be integrated into the format.
Alongside this I will be using image-making/illustration in my design as normal, but would like to keep my illustration that does not fit into a direct context within my professional work a separate portfolio/entity as an output into a separate part of the design industry that could aid another possible route into a career or placement. Since I have started doing some band flyers/posters already I would like to carry this on after/during my remaining time on the course as it is something I greatly enjoy.
Editorial illustration/design has been a subject I have wanted to do since the image module. Taking form of a restricted exercise in visual communication and image making capabilities, it is also an easy way to get yourself noticed and in the public eye. My interests of editorial are extensive yet limited, potential mini-briefs or illustrations would be directed at: OXM, PS3M, FRONT, Loaded, G2, Gamesmaster and the Escapist.
The last focus/direction would be on design for web, something I touched upon in second year, I believe it to be detrimental to my work as I often get asked to do people's websites, but with complicated requests that I would need much greater assistance with. Flash and HTML5 embedding for media would aid me in creating a range of sites that demonstrates my capabilities as a young edgy designer, but lends that edge to a level of high standard professional design that could contribute to all projects.
In summary my work will be based on my experiments with print and media based solutions, with the focus on editorial and publishing. On the other hand, my work will also be focused on, but not limited to, my experiences with web design and digital production, which will inform the process of selecting the right way to deliver the project.
Brief 1
Title: Positive Posters
A brief that emphasises the importance of an issue through an investigation of concept and research with a focus on image-making and high impact visuals.
Delivery: Portrait A1 300dpi CMYK poster, although potential for developing into publication.
Brief 2
Title: Heroes of Science
A brief that looks at how certain scientists have had a profound effect on modern society as well as how we communicate with each other.
Delivery: 5 Covers for publication, 1 full set of double page spreads for one scientist.
Brief 3
Title: National Science Foundation
A focus on image-making and composition at its core, with an investigation of scientific endeavours and engineering prowess.
Delivery: No real limitations; Photography, illustration, Informational posters/graphics, interactive games and videos.
Brief 4
Title: 25th Anniversary of Zelda
An investigation of image-making, format and delivery with a focus on promotional materials.
Delivery to be considered
Monday 26 September 2011
Saturday 24 September 2011
DIssertation Rationale and Statement of Intent
Dissertation Title
Is Fallout: New Vegas a simulation that borders on the 'real'?
Dissertation Tutor
Richard Miles
Rationale
With my previous essay being a Baudrillardian reading of Palmer Eldritch... by Philip K Dick, I decided the next logical step would be continuing my study of some of his concepts, as well as lending from other contemporary theologist's studies to support this claim.
Being an avid follower of videogames throughout my child, teen and adult life, I can confidently say that modern games seem to be incorporating many historical, cultural, social and military elements of real life, especially in Role Playing Games.
Often many people disregard videogames as distractions or something to overlook which is quite the opposite. It seemed a logical step to apply this sort of theory to something that has always been a huge interest in my life.
My reason for this particular game is that not only does the vast arid landscape of the desert give support to Baudrillard's Desert and Utopian ideals, but the game's content is packed full of real life 'simulations' that Baudrillard talked about. It also gives me a chance to understand a country that is full of general ignorance, whilst eliminating my own.
Since I was hoping to do a lot of work aimed at the video gaming industry, I figured that the best way to go about that would be to do a dissertation that could reflect my interests as well as inform, educate and broaden my learning experience while I'm here at university.
Statement of Intent
I aim to investigate the various factors that affected the outcomes of the Cold War in America, both in the real world and the 'real' world of New Vegas; from the post-war architecture, domestification of appliances, application of military technologies, social/political pysche and the impact upon the player/character relationship. Or to put it simply, the ludoliteracy developed in game.
Unsurprisingly the Cold War mentality that dominated America and Soviet Russia spread like a black cloud of fallout over both nations but from this spawned the ascendency of neo-liberalism and shock capitalism which gave birth to a new age of consumer culture that was introduced subtley to the neighbouring nations.
I have already done some significant research on the subject finding correlation between the real and 'real' which has given me a firm basis for establishing the fiction from fact as well as the startling truth that the fact undermines a relative amount of the fiction.
I will divide the various topics of study into cohesive chapters;
From this I intend to investigate the possibilities that the world of Fallout is no different to the current American mindset; terrorist threat is still a strong cause for concern due to the constant propagating through the mediation of images and news; the use of excessive advertising trying to give consolidation to those who believe their lives could be transformed in an instance of consumerist relief; the secrecy of US military officials and politicians that strive to test or simulate man's ideas of destruction, creation and replenishment of natural resource at the expense of the people they are meant to be protecting by law of the founding fathers and the bill of rights that America was built on.
Books
Ok, my list so far is...
New Left Books (2010) America, Jean Baudrillard, London, Verso.
Chapters: Vanishing Point, Utopia Achieved, The End of US Power, Desert Forever.
University of Minnesota Press (1995) The Art of The Motor, Paul Virilio, Minneapolis, Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data.
Chapters: The Media Complex, A Terminal Art, From Superman to Hyperactive Man and the Art of the Motor.
Polity Press (2009) Martin Scorcese's America, Ellis Cashmore, London, Polity Books
Chapters: Not started yet.
Biddles ltd (1996) Baudrillard for Beginners, Chris Horrocks, Guildford and Kings Lynn, Icon Books
Chapters: All
Feral House (2007) Top Secret Tourism, Harry Helms, Port Townsend, WA
Chapters: Alaska - H.A.A.R.P., California, Colorado, Nevada and Texas.
Princeton University Architectural Press (2002) Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America, Tom Vanderbilt, The University of Chicago Press, London
Chapters: Dead City: The Metropolis Targeted, Survival City: This is only a Test, The Domestication of Doomsday: New Buildings for the Perilous Atomic Age, The Underground City of Disappearance, Twentieth-Century Castles: Missile Silos in the Heartland, The Secret Landscape: Some Cold War War Traces
V&A Trustees (2008) Cold War Modern, David Crowley and Jane Pavitt, South Kensington, London
Chapters: From Monuments to Fast Cars, Europe Reconstructed, Europe Divided, Design and the Democratic Ideal, The Bomb in the Brain, The High-tech Cold War, Looking down on Spaceship Earth: Cold War Landscapes.
The MIT Press (2007) Persuasive Games: the expressive power of videogames, Ian Bogost, Massachusetts
Chapters: Procedural Rhetoric, Ideological Frames, Advergames, Values and Aspirations, Digital Democracy
The MIT Press (2007) Second Person: Role Playing in Games and Playable Media, Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Massachusetts
Chapters: Computational Fictions, Real Worlds, Appendices
Texts/Articles
The Political Economy Of Virtual Reality: Pan-Capitalism, 3/15/1994, Arthur Kroker and Michael Weinstein
The Grit Beneath the Glitter: A Collection of Essays on Las Vegas, Hal Rothman and Mike Davis
Spatial Discursions: Flames Of The Digital And Ashes Of The Real, 2/13/2001, Robert Nirre
The Obama Avatar, 6/4/2010, Arthur and Marilouise Kroker
Global Algorithm 1.0: The Global Algorithm, 5/14/1996, Arthur and Marilouise Kroker
Ground Zero: Las Vegas' Luxor, 11/6/1996, Jeffrey Cass and Dion Dennis
Tech Flesh 9: The Secret History of Jessie Gelsinger's Death, 5/9/2001, Jacqueline Stevens
Empire@Play: Virtual Games and Global Capatilism, Nick Dyer-Witheford and Greig de Peuter
Websites/Online resources
ctheory.com - See above
http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/ - HAARP
http://www.mps.mpg.de/en/projekte/helios/ - Solar Satellite Systems
http://www.norad.mil/ - NORAD
http://www.ugo.com/games/fallout-retrospective - Fallout Timeline, Scroll at bottom of reference box to navigate
http://www.nv.doe.gov/default.htm / http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/photos/default.aspx- Nevada Test Site, READ FIRST
http://www.lanl.gov/ - Los Alamos Lab
http://www.atomictourist.com/nts.htm - For general information.
I have cited so many website throughout my blog also. Will keep updating I suppose.
Additional Activities
Research Visits, if possible to Bethesda Ireland and hopefully a bunker in the UK.
Is Fallout: New Vegas a simulation that borders on the 'real'?
Dissertation Tutor
Richard Miles
Rationale
With my previous essay being a Baudrillardian reading of Palmer Eldritch... by Philip K Dick, I decided the next logical step would be continuing my study of some of his concepts, as well as lending from other contemporary theologist's studies to support this claim.
Being an avid follower of videogames throughout my child, teen and adult life, I can confidently say that modern games seem to be incorporating many historical, cultural, social and military elements of real life, especially in Role Playing Games.
Often many people disregard videogames as distractions or something to overlook which is quite the opposite. It seemed a logical step to apply this sort of theory to something that has always been a huge interest in my life.
My reason for this particular game is that not only does the vast arid landscape of the desert give support to Baudrillard's Desert and Utopian ideals, but the game's content is packed full of real life 'simulations' that Baudrillard talked about. It also gives me a chance to understand a country that is full of general ignorance, whilst eliminating my own.
Since I was hoping to do a lot of work aimed at the video gaming industry, I figured that the best way to go about that would be to do a dissertation that could reflect my interests as well as inform, educate and broaden my learning experience while I'm here at university.
Statement of Intent
I aim to investigate the various factors that affected the outcomes of the Cold War in America, both in the real world and the 'real' world of New Vegas; from the post-war architecture, domestification of appliances, application of military technologies, social/political pysche and the impact upon the player/character relationship. Or to put it simply, the ludoliteracy developed in game.
Unsurprisingly the Cold War mentality that dominated America and Soviet Russia spread like a black cloud of fallout over both nations but from this spawned the ascendency of neo-liberalism and shock capitalism which gave birth to a new age of consumer culture that was introduced subtley to the neighbouring nations.
I have already done some significant research on the subject finding correlation between the real and 'real' which has given me a firm basis for establishing the fiction from fact as well as the startling truth that the fact undermines a relative amount of the fiction.
I will divide the various topics of study into cohesive chapters;
- Social factions - The relationships of both worlds and the subsequent effect of dissonance created in certain social circles
- Technological advances - How the 'domestication of doomsday' along with its production of commodity products, military weapons and boomtown construction had an adverse affect on American psyche
- Architecture of the Cold War - How structures and systems put into place in the Cold War has left traces of its existence on the land as well as looking at the relationship between the prominent American ideologies of today and the past.
- Player/Character relations - Looking at how ludoliteracy can shape, inform, distort and educate the player. Focussing on how certain choice mechanisms, character input, plot and Non Playable Characters create an emotional relationship that is not too far from roles played in real life.
From this I intend to investigate the possibilities that the world of Fallout is no different to the current American mindset; terrorist threat is still a strong cause for concern due to the constant propagating through the mediation of images and news; the use of excessive advertising trying to give consolidation to those who believe their lives could be transformed in an instance of consumerist relief; the secrecy of US military officials and politicians that strive to test or simulate man's ideas of destruction, creation and replenishment of natural resource at the expense of the people they are meant to be protecting by law of the founding fathers and the bill of rights that America was built on.
Books
Ok, my list so far is...
New Left Books (2010) America, Jean Baudrillard, London, Verso.
Chapters: Vanishing Point, Utopia Achieved, The End of US Power, Desert Forever.
University of Minnesota Press (1995) The Art of The Motor, Paul Virilio, Minneapolis, Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data.
Chapters: The Media Complex, A Terminal Art, From Superman to Hyperactive Man and the Art of the Motor.
Polity Press (2009) Martin Scorcese's America, Ellis Cashmore, London, Polity Books
Chapters: Not started yet.
Biddles ltd (1996) Baudrillard for Beginners, Chris Horrocks, Guildford and Kings Lynn, Icon Books
Chapters: All
Feral House (2007) Top Secret Tourism, Harry Helms, Port Townsend, WA
Chapters: Alaska - H.A.A.R.P., California, Colorado, Nevada and Texas.
Princeton University Architectural Press (2002) Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America, Tom Vanderbilt, The University of Chicago Press, London
Chapters: Dead City: The Metropolis Targeted, Survival City: This is only a Test, The Domestication of Doomsday: New Buildings for the Perilous Atomic Age, The Underground City of Disappearance, Twentieth-Century Castles: Missile Silos in the Heartland, The Secret Landscape: Some Cold War War Traces
V&A Trustees (2008) Cold War Modern, David Crowley and Jane Pavitt, South Kensington, London
Chapters: From Monuments to Fast Cars, Europe Reconstructed, Europe Divided, Design and the Democratic Ideal, The Bomb in the Brain, The High-tech Cold War, Looking down on Spaceship Earth: Cold War Landscapes.
The MIT Press (2007) Persuasive Games: the expressive power of videogames, Ian Bogost, Massachusetts
Chapters: Procedural Rhetoric, Ideological Frames, Advergames, Values and Aspirations, Digital Democracy
The MIT Press (2007) Second Person: Role Playing in Games and Playable Media, Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Massachusetts
Chapters: Computational Fictions, Real Worlds, Appendices
Texts/Articles
The Political Economy Of Virtual Reality: Pan-Capitalism, 3/15/1994, Arthur Kroker and Michael Weinstein
The Grit Beneath the Glitter: A Collection of Essays on Las Vegas, Hal Rothman and Mike Davis
Spatial Discursions: Flames Of The Digital And Ashes Of The Real, 2/13/2001, Robert Nirre
The Obama Avatar, 6/4/2010, Arthur and Marilouise Kroker
Global Algorithm 1.0: The Global Algorithm, 5/14/1996, Arthur and Marilouise Kroker
Ground Zero: Las Vegas' Luxor, 11/6/1996, Jeffrey Cass and Dion Dennis
Tech Flesh 9: The Secret History of Jessie Gelsinger's Death, 5/9/2001, Jacqueline Stevens
Empire@Play: Virtual Games and Global Capatilism, Nick Dyer-Witheford and Greig de Peuter
Websites/Online resources
ctheory.com - See above
http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/ - HAARP
http://www.mps.mpg.de/en/projekte/helios/ - Solar Satellite Systems
http://www.norad.mil/ - NORAD
http://www.ugo.com/games/fallout-retrospective - Fallout Timeline, Scroll at bottom of reference box to navigate
http://www.nv.doe.gov/default.htm / http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/photos/default.aspx- Nevada Test Site, READ FIRST
http://www.lanl.gov/ - Los Alamos Lab
http://www.atomictourist.com/nts.htm - For general information.
I have cited so many website throughout my blog also. Will keep updating I suppose.
Additional Activities
Research Visits, if possible to Bethesda Ireland and hopefully a bunker in the UK.
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