To produce two literal illustrations to accompany a given short story. The short story I will be producing illustrations for is Number 13 (1904) by M.R. James.

The parameters for my illustrations are:

• ​300dpi CMYK, 160mm wide x 226mm high with a 3mm bleed around all edges. To be representative of the story as a whole.
• 300dpi Greyscale, 105mm wide x 50mm high with the possibility of being a vignette. To be viewed as an establishing shot for the story/ chapter.

Number 13 is set in The Golden Lion a hotel in the city of Viborg, Denmark at around the turn of the 20th century:
"​The Golden Lion is one of the very few houses in the town that were not destroyed in the great fire of 1726"
"It is a great red-brick house—that is, the front is of brick, with corbie steps on the gables and a text over the door; but the courtyard into which the omnibus drives is of black and white "cage-work" in wood and plaster."

The events are those experienced by an English academic researching the history of the Church in the region. The events are retold by their cousin.
The story hinges around a mysterious room 13 within the hotel, which appears and disappears throughout the story. The appearances of room 13 are, early on, merely dismissed as tricks of the mind, misrememberings, or not even attributed to the room itself. That is, until the issue is forced and multiple people perceive the room at once one night. No less than four people are confronted with room number 13 together, as they go to break into the room, dawn breaks and the room door disappears, revealing nothing but plastered wall behind.

After digging up the floorboards in an adjacent room, a document written in an unknown language is recovered, copied, and given to the local museum.

"He had tried the wrong door, of course. Was his own room to the right or to the left? He glanced at the number: it was 13."

​"There was the door with its number as plain as could be, and work of some kind was evidently going on inside it, for as he neared the door he could hear footsteps and voices, or a voice, within."

"He went to the window—the right-hand window it was—and looked out on the quiet street. There was a tall building opposite, with large spaces of dead wall; no passers-by; a dark night; and very little to be seen of any kind. The light was behind him, and he could see his own shadow clearly cast on the wall opposite. Also the shadow of the bearded man in Number 11 on the left, who passed to and fro in shirtsleeves once or twice, and was seen first brushing his hair, and later on in a nightgown. Also the shadow of the occupant of Number 13 on the right. This might be more interesting. Number 13 was, like himself, leaning on his elbows on the window-sill looking out into the street. He seemed to be a tall thin man—or was it by any chance a woman?—at least, it was someone who covered his or her head with some kind of drapery before going to bed, and, he thought,  must be possessed of a red lamp-shade—and the lamp must be flickering very much . There was a distinct playing up and down of a dull red light on the opposite wall. He craned out a little to see if he could make any more of the figure, but beyond a fold of some light, perhaps white, material on the window-sill he could see nothing."

"he was in the habit of giving vent to his animal spirits when alone. Why else should he be dancing? The shadow from the next room evidently showed that he was. Again and again his thin form crossed the window, his arms waved, and a gaunt leg was kicked up with surprising agility."

"Just then, came an impatient knock at the door, and the knocker entered, without waiting to be asked. It was the lawyer, in deshabille and very rough-haired; and very angry he looked.
"I beg pardon, sir," he said, "but I should be much obliged if you would kindly desist——""

"Suddenly the crying or singing voice in the next room died away, and the singer was heard
seemingly to laugh to himself in a crooning manner. The three men actually shivered at the
sound. Then there was a silence."

"The only weapons of defence that could be mustered on the spot were a stick and umbrella. The expedition went out into the passage, not without quakings. There was a deadly quiet outside, but a light shone from under the next door. Anderson and Jensen approached it. The latter turned the handle, and gave a sudden vigorous push. No use. The door stood fast."

"In that moment the door opened, and an arm came out and clawed at his shoulder. It was clad in ragged, yellowish linen, and the bare skin, where it could be seen, had long grey hair upon it."

"The men dropped the crowbars they had brought, and said flatly that they were not going to risk their throats in that devil's den."

"The men nodded, and the younger stepped forward, raised his crowbar, and dealt a tremendous blow on the upper panel. The result was not in the least what any of them anticipated. There was no cracking or rending of wood--only a dull sound, as if the solid wall had been struck. The man dropped his tool with a shout, and began rubbing his elbow. His cry drew their eyes upon him for a moment; then Anderson looked at the door again. It was gone; the plaster wall of the passage stared him in the face, with a considerable gash in it where the crowbar had struck it. Number 13 had passed out of existence."

"For a brief space they stood perfectly still, gazing at the blank wall. An early cock in the yard beneath was heard to crow; and as Anderson glanced in the direction of the sound, he saw through the window at the end of the long passage that the eastern sky was paling to the dawn."

The subject of door number plates will likely feature in my illustration at some point, either in development pieces or in the final piece, so some relevant visuals will inform and authenticate any depiction I render, as long as I consider more historically plausible examples.

As the setting for my piece is around the year 1900, fonts with a relevant aesthetic, or even fonts that would be plausible in the story's setting time will help cement my illustration into the correct time.

As this illustration will be present at the beginning of the story, above the chapter, or in this case the entire story title. I am treating this illustration as an establishing shot; I've tried to focus on more setting orientated illustrations rather than ones that might betray the content of the story as a whole.
The number plates containing just the number 13 tie in well to the story title, and they might hint at the setting of a hotel if they're visually appropriate to the setting.

For the full page illustration, I intend to convey the overarching story into one image, or at least get the soul of the story into the image. There are a few key scenes within the story that either directly confront room number 13, or hint at an insidious presence yet to be revealed.
I've tried to make a door look ominous and foreboding with different perspectives and compositions.
I feel like this story hinges around transforming a mundane setting into one of psychological horror, the fear of the unknown is heavily played on in this story and the source of horror is never truly confronted or resolved.

Variations on the theme of numbered door plaques. This image works well as a simple establishing element for the story. These thumbnails serve to explore the style of number & plaque.

The composition I decided to develop further emphasises the atmosphere of the story without explicitly revealing the horror elements directly. While the imagery of some of the initial thumbnails (particularly 9 & 10) was striking, I feel that the showing of the "monster" detracts from the tense build up & psychological horror.

Adjusting the levels of each image can drastically impact the atmosphere & tone that they give off. Darker shadows & greater contrasts add a sense of depth & mood to an otherwise mundane image.

​The focus of this piece was the texture work, trying to make it look like a worn down metal plaque with scuff marks and signs of half-hearted polishing/ cleaning. I included visible screws to add some worldly authenticity to the image & to help balance out the focus of the composition.

Getting the perspective down for the major elements of this illustration was integral to its effectiveness for conveying the atmosphere of dread.
From developmental thumbnailing, I knew where I wanted the main light source to be for the image, so I was able to paint in the consequences of that element without itself being present in the image yet.
Working on a relevant coloured ground for this piece helped me judge the aesthetic much better than I imagine I would have if I were working on a plain white background.

Once I added the light sources, I went around and added in coloured highlights on exposed surfaces to ground the setting in a convincing manner.
​The challenges behind the lighting and shadows in this piece were very educational. Constantly referencing the image as a whole whilst making changes helped me judge which changes to keep, and which to omit.

I wanted to see how my illustrations would look like as an outcome in their intended location, so I created a quick mock-up of a page spread & placed them appropriately.

Third year independent dissertation academic research requirement for degree with hons.
Research summary

• Formative assessment
• Plan & rationale for essay, 500 words
• + bibliography
• Research evidence: blog
• October Deadline

Dissertation

• Summative (100%)
• Academic essay 4000 words (+/- 10%)
• +Bibliography
• Referenced using Harvard system
• Deadline December

Each student to be assigned a personal tutor.
Workshops: researching, academic writing & researching.
Subject choice

• One that will sustain your interest.
• That you can do justice to within the time frame.
• Linked to some element of visual culture/ design/ your own practice.
• That has toom for debate & argument.
• A chance to test out/ explore a subject of choice.

Thinking & writing critically

• Purpose: pursuing a line of inquiry and/ or argument.
• Links with History & Practice (Year 1) & The Critical Designer (Year 2)
• Context that cultural texts carry markers of the culture in which they were created.
• Siting design/ artist texts within theoretical frameworks.
• Finding links with your own creative practice.

Things to avoid

• Potted history – chronological narrative of history.
• Anything too descriptive or fact driven. Make a point, don’t just record events.
• Designer biographies/ monographs. Avoid one singular subject without additional perspectives.
• Personal rants presented without evidence. Get some sources behind your arguments.
• Tackling too broad a subject area. Set limits on the scope.

Essay Proposal

• Initial statement of intent – subject area & approach.
• Email digital copy by 4th June.
• Initial feedback before proceeding.
• Changing ideas.

Working Title

• First attempt of many, title will be revised over & over again.
• Try to sum up your theme/ line of inquiry in one or two lines.
• Can be structured as a question or…
• A short/ succinct phrase followed by a more precise exposition of research inquiry.

Outline/ abstract

• Abstract: A paragraph prefacing an academic essay.
• Short – 150/ 350 words.
• Non subjective no first/ second person.
• Brief context/ theme.
• Scope of subject area – what will be covered.
• Specific line of inquiry.

Key aims & objectives

• What do you want to achieve in your essay?
• Address key arguments.
• Consider scope.
• Try to specify 3 key aims.
• Written as clear statements of intent.

Research Methods

• Start by constructing a reading list.
• Try to locate key-texts on your subject to help refine and explore your theme.

Secondary research

• Critical frameworks (or fields of study).
• Literature review.
• Books, online journals & magazines.
• Artist works & media texts.
• Other publicly assessable information.

Primary Research

• Formal structural analysis of texts.
• Application of theoretical ideas.
• Interviews, surveys & questionnaires.
• Observation.
• Case studies.
• Practice led research: observations, experiments & studio practice.

Find research strategies that are relevant and applicable to your theme and argument.
Research visuals – mind mapping, flow charts.
June – July
Essay proposal form – emailed by 4th June.
Make research plan – methods to suit your subject area.
Literature search – Draw up a reading list of secondary research material.
Initial reading – Effective ways of collating information – research blog, notes.
August – September
Reconsider scope – revisit initial proposal & refine if necessary
Hone subject area – formulate key ideas & arguments.
Active secondary research – begin to substantiate ideas that will form written work.
Primary research – consider surveys, conduct interviews, contact organisations/ individuals etc.
Identify/ deal with any potential problems.
Refine scope – Restrict what you can/ will cover in 4,000 words.

Correct formatting for references within the bibliography & citations within the body of work.
Essay writing tips

1. Using quality sources – sources form the foundation of knowledge for the rest of your essay content & so they should be solid – Scholarly articles, academic books.
2. Pursue a clear rhetoric – express a stream of consciousness alongside theoretical perceptions, commentary, analysis, insights. Provide reasoning for conclusions. Evaluate sources’ perspectives & form your perspective in response.
   What do you want so say? – outline your perspective & clarify your position on the subject.
3. Structure – lead the argument through a clear thread of thought
   Intro 5 %– 10% of word count – Outline key themes & set up key-points to address in the essay
   Main Body 85% - 75% of word count – One main topic per paragraph, with relevant references throughout. Link paragraphs together to help the essay flow.
   Conclusion 10% - 15% of word count – summarise key-points, final answer to the question.
   Planning – Map out topic, flesh out with quotes, convert into a bullet-point draft.
4. Drafting & redrafting – refine the content, clarify the structure, & evaluate the flow. Proof-reading & checking references
   Draft > Review > Edit
   Editing:
   Content – Answering the brief correctly with constant references & sufficient depth.
   Structure – Flow of points & topics, coherent writing & well-formed paragraphs.
   Clarity – Being specific, concise sentences & clear rhetoric. Reducing generalisations. Trim overly verbose language, get to a clear point.
   Rearrange drafts to structure the final essay.
   Paragraph structure
   Point – State the point you want to make
   Evidence – Expand upon point, refer to sources through quote or paraphrase.
   Explain – Offer commentary and critique, contextualise within your discussion. Offer counter-perspectives.
5. Polish your tone – Formal tone
   Establish & use key vocabulary
   Avoid use of first & second person (I, my, you etc.)
   Aim for a similar style present in academic sources.

Referencing
When to reference:

• Directly quoting a source
• Paraphrasing a source
• Refer to a visual source

Acknowledge what is and isn’t your own work by including a reference.
Cite them right online - Home
Citations
In-Text reference or Citation
Inserted into main body of the essay, signposts reader to the end-text reference
(Surname only or organisation if no author, Date of publication, include page number for quotes from books)
A citation may be immediately after a quotation/ reference.
A citation may be integrated into a sentence where an author’s name is mentioned.
Paraphrasing – still requires a citation
Re-phrasing an author’s idea into your own words may demonstrate a deeper understanding of the content.
Paraphrasing can sometimes assist in the flow of content
Paraphrasing can diversify your sources to reduce the number of quotations used in your essay.
Bibliography

• Every cited source + additional reading
• Listed alphabetically by surname or organisation
• No numbers, no lists by source type/ categories

Reference formats
Books & e-books:
<Surname>, <Initial> <(Date of publication)> <Title>. <Edition.> <Place of publication>: <Publisher.>
​
Journal articles & Magazines
<Surname,> <initial.> <(Date)> <‘Title’,> <Journal Name,> <volume (issue),> pp.<start page – end page.>
Websites
<Author> <(Date)> <Title> Available at: <Link/ full URL> <(Accessed: date).>

Edited Books
<editor surname> <editor initial> <’chapter title’> (ed.) <title> <published location:> <publisher name.> pp.<start page number> - <end page number>

Images
Image reference list in numerical order.
Images embedded, labelled with creator, year & title.
Sperate image list after bibliography.
​
Direct reader to image using notation (Fig. <number>) or (Illust. <number>)

Image caption/ citation
 Fig. <Number> <Name of creator First & Sur> <(Production Date)> <Title> <[Medium & Optional dimensions]>

Image from a website
<Surname,> <Initial.> <(date)> <Title> <[Medium]> Available at: <Link> Accessed on <(Access date)>

Image from a book/ magazine
<caption details> <book reference>/ <magazine reference>

An overview of doing a primary research project
Primary research – engaging with different methods which can give deeper understanding of a subject
Research – Finding relevant sources of knowledge about a subject. Establishing a context. Leaning new information to understand.
Research seeks the answer to a question or a solution to a problem.
Research is rooted in theory, and may develop new theory.
Research contributes to the existing body of knowledge on a topic.
Research process – not cleanly linear, interchangeable & mingling stages

1. Initial ideas
2. Finding a specific aim
3. Review the literature
4. Choose a research method
5. Perform your research
6. Write up

Initial Ideas

• Manageable – Word count & Timeframe sensitive
• Original – New perspective/ insights, avoiding covered ground
• Relevant – Within the filed of graphic design or illustration/ visual culture

Worked example:

• Broad topic established.
• Framing a question – focusing topic on a specific inquiry/ aspect/ angle.
  Considerations: Read around the topic, become familiar with existing knowledge.
  Establish and adopt a new perspective.
  Keep the scope narrow to allow a deep dive into a specific area of a topic. Broader scopes dilute the content of a dissertation.
• Preliminary reading around the topic
  Possible avenues of approach – gender, culture, comparison
  Refine topic
• Review the literature – Books, Journal articles, Academic journals
  What has been written about the topic to date
  Relevant theoretical frameworks
  Key texts/ studies in the field
  What methods have been used
• Choosing the method
  How well does it measure what it’s meant to
  Must also be appropriate to the scale of the project

Three Key Methodologies

• Visual - Study of media or artefacts
• Social Science – Surveys, interviews, vox populi
• Practice-based – Research by doing

Visual analysis
Examining & deconstructing case studies of media artefacts
Theory used as a framework to examine case studies – a filter to view artefacts through (Feminism, Semiotics, Narratology, Gender etc.)
Social Science analysis
Methods used in sociology, psychology, and cultural studies to understand humans, their behaviours, and their interactions.
Quantitative vs. Qualitative research
Quantitative

• Number generating results – good for graphs & easily described statistics
• Generalising
• Good for exploring trends
• Good scientific method

Qualitative

• Interviews with open answers
• Individual perspectives
• Deeper insights
• Case studies

Survey considerations

• Where will you research your target participants
• How can you be sure your sample is representative
• Open or closed questions
• Careful phrasing to avoid leading questions

Practice-based
Learning by doing – gaining insight by going through processes
Documenting process
Critical self-reflection
Theory used as framework for analysis
Write Up
Synthesise any primary research with your reading
Develop answer to your research question – your thesis
Plan and write the chapters of your dissertation

Research – The search for, and systematic advancement of, knowledge.
Research is a key point within the design process.
“Could you get an education for a second!”
Grounded knowledge of creative material, methods, systems, software, techniques, & processes.
Professional development – To extend/ renew skills, to reach the top of your field and stay there.
Targeted research to address client briefs. Informed foundation for launching the design process.
Primary Methods
Methods carried out by you out in the studio, or out in the field: Practice – led research.
Practice-led Research

• Where knowledge emerges through a cycle of activity & reflection.
• Where theories, issues and interests are investigated by the production of creative works.

Approaches may include:

• Mapping,
• Experimentation with materials & processes,
• Sketchbook or blog-based investigation,
• Formal analysis and/ or application of theory,
• Adapted social-science methods.

Research mapping – visual mind-map of content. Chaotic web of possible content. A refined tree of content.
Experimentation with materials & processes (William Burroughs and cut-ups) (Art Spiegelman early experimental comics)
Sketchbooks & Blogs

• A means of reflecting upon and documenting ideas, theories, thoughts, feelings, memories, observations, plans, investigations via text and image.
• Can be subjective, objective, varied in scope, systematic, methodical, sequential, incremental.

(Paul Klee systematic sketchbook style, theory testing & annotated experimenting)
(Leonardo Da Vinci observational & investigatory experimental sketchbook style)
(Ivan Brunetti developmental & outcome focused, compositional & design orientated sketchbook)
(Joshua W. Kotter Developmental process annotated to produce outcomes)
Secondary Methods
Reading & analysis of existing published sources;

• Theoretical frameworks (of fields of research).
• Reading list – locating key texts on your subject.
• Literature review & comparison between sources.
• Finding useful case-studies.

Framework

• Ground rules/ theories/ concepts/ methods/ systems
• A set of critical perimeters & terminology to help us interpret cultural events & phenomena to answer the basic (human) question

Theoretical frameworks
“The organisation of human experience” Erving Goffman
“The frame does for the human mind what a program does for a computer. It determines how we read a given text or situation” Jonathan Rose
Examples of frameworks:

• Modernism: The framing of late 19th century art, society and culture.
• Semiotics: a methodology to uncover ideological constructs in media texts – signs, codes, and their cultural meaning.
• Narratology: a set of formal rules for understanding the structure of stories and their cultural significance.
• Subcultures: the study of disenfranchised groups within mainstream society, and their cultural output (or capital).
• Gender Studies: theories to help understand the social roles of men and women, their sexuality, and representation.
• Post Modernism: the framing of visual culture within a contemporary context, pointing to modern trends & concerns.
• Post-Internet (or cybercultures): the impact of new media technologies on society and social discourse.

Case study – a particular example or instance oof something, used to build an argument or knowledge.

• Not artificially constructed for research – occurs naturally.
• Examples: professional organisations public bodies, private companies, collectives, artists and designers etc. Phineas Gage
• Good for small scale research – illuminates the general by looking at the particular.
• Flexibility in the mix of secondary/ primary research methods.

Case study – Art Spiegelman – Maus parts 1 & 2 (1980 - 1991) MetaMaus (2011)
Targeted research – relevant WW2 themed books for authentic setting context, animal books for anthropomorphic character design.
Working process – exploring media & materials, designing layout & format.
Becoming a critical practitioner
Designing an effective research method
Remaking Theory, Rethinking Practice by Andrew Baluvelt – Key points

• Starting Point – Baluvelt highlights common criticism against use of theory
• “Overintellectualization” – disrupts the artist’s natural intuition
• Too abstract & vague
• Theory does not respond to the realities of studio practice, or the commercial world.
• Second Point – Proposes that the “impasse between theory and design must be bridged”, he argues that:
• Design is a form of “social practice”.
• “Thinking” & “doing” are two sides of the same coin – symbiotically linked
• Theory is designed and is therefore able to be shaped and used in creative practice.
• Third Point – “Smarting up” – turning the argument on its head:
• “It is also important to recognize that design, no matter how it is practiced, fashions its own theories about making that help give it meaning, significance, and legitimacy.” – Particularly in the age of the personal computer & widespread access to creative tools.
• Fourth Point – Theory is designed and is therefore able to be shaped and used in creative practice.
• “By understanding that theory is fashioned, refashioned, and self-fashioned – not merely fashionable, preordained or predestined – we can begin the process of putting theory to work.
• Fifth Point – Rethinking practice within a theoretical framework
• “Theory provides the basis with which to ask questions not only about work, but also through work. And if nothing else, what design lacks in terms of interesting work these days is not necessarily more visual variety, but rather move provocative questions and polemical answers.”

Why theory is relevant & useful

• Important to place you as a s a creative and your practice within a broader culture
• Useful in developing a visual literacy and understand how your work is read and understood
• Helps inform your creative practice to create more insightful and impactful work
• Helps you design effective research strategies to address a variety of creative briefs.
• Encourage lateral thinking – important in an ever changing and complex cultural landscape.

​Opening statement
Blauvelt discusses the divide between theory & practice within the specific sphere of graphic design, and then a more generalised view of the conflict between theory & practice in the wider world. Theory & practice are presented as divided aspects of work, thinking vs. doing.

Beyond The Great Divide: Practice Versus Theory
There is a resistance towards theory within the graphic design sphere. This resistance is simplified into two forms:

• “A Fear of overintellectualizing the practice of a profession…” – Within the dichotomy of thinking vs. doing, graphic design is doing. An emphasis on theory could harm the practice by increasing the barrier-to-entry to an academic-level of understanding.
• “… there is a concern that theory is simply too vague and abstract to be useful…” Theory is claimed to be too inflexible for all the practical applications of graphic design in the real world.

Blauvelt states that the conflicts between theory & practice must be resolved, as a benefit to both sides. Theory must adapt to the realities of the practice & production of graphic design, and practice must adapt to understand its role in impacting a greater social domain.
The perceived inaccessibility of theory is rebuked by the idea that theory is inherent within the practice of graphic design, or any practical work. Theory is not deliberately constructed & prescribed; it is constantly present & evolving within the work of graphic design. Graphic designers constantly affect, influence, change, and redefine the theory of their practice. Since the divide between those who practice graphic design, and those who craft theories of graphic design is so small, if not entirely non-existent, harmony between the theoretical & practical should be possible.
To resolve the apparent dissonance between theory & practice one must accept an approach to theory that is descriptivist rather than prescriptivist.

The Turn Toward Theory
As this piece was published in 2005, Blauvelt discusses the impact of rapidly developing technology on the theory & practice of graphic design: with the increasing accessibility of personal computers, the professional sphere of graphic design becomes threatened by how accessible the practice has become, anyone with a computer & access to software can become a graphic designer. Additionally, for current graphic designers, new skill-sets must be developed to adapt to this new medium.
With increased accessibility to the world of graphic design, amateurs can compete with professionals on a level playing field. As such, professionals seek out means to legitimacy, to distinguish themselves from amateurs: theory provides a way to gatekeep the practice of graphic design to authentic professionals. It’s all very elitist.
Baluvelt discusses the inclusion of historical elements within the taught graphic design curriculum as a means to gently introduce a theoretical aspect without meeting great resistance. The study of history helps establish a context to the present, which is parallel to Theory & Practice.

Rethinking Practice
The inherent presence of theory within the practice of graphic design may be addressed to varying degrees by the practitioner, to challenge them on a meta level or to simply acknowledge them within the work.
Research within a graphic design context is an essential part of the process, especially in terms of a specific problem to solve. Theory is similar to research in that it may apply specifically or generally & can be abstract.
Yet, to be useful, research & theory must produce satisfying answers that may be applied on a specific level. This is contrary to Modernist design theory which presents universal truths devoid of context which would be incredibly difficult to apply to any one specific scenario.

Teaching Theory In Graphic Design Practice
This section discusses defining what the role of theory within the context of the graphic design curriculum is.
“graphic design does not begin nor end in the objects it makes.” A cyclical model of the graphic design process, from conception to consumption, is proposed. Three key areas of discussion within graphic design are identified:

• Cognitive interaction – How intelligent aspects of design influence its form.
• Cultural reflexivity – The influence of graphic design on the world it occupies, and the influence of the word upon works of graphic design.
• Technological innovation – The capacity for graphic design to occupy a greater range of ever-expanding forms of media.

Exploring these three areas within the context of an academic curriculum invite questions with complex, and sometimes not definite, answers which are ideal for inspiring nuanced discussion regarding the topic of graphic design.

Post Modernism – “A cultural blender” Historical & contemporary influences affecting how we operate. Challenging to define exactly.

“Postmodernism remains a difficult, slippery and for some, infuriating topic … it is now so well established as a way of thinking about our time and our “condition” that it simply cannot be ignored” – Rick Poyner, No More Rules

Postmodernism

• Roughly dates from 1980s
• Describes the time we’re living through
• Seductive & fashionable term
• Disputed & elusive – lack of consensus on its meaning or application. Pseudo-intellectual bait.

Post-modernism

• After modernism – modernism has past
• Anti modernism – counter view
• Hyper modernism – modernism accelerated

Modernism

• ~ 100 years – 19th century to late 1970s
• Sustained period of innovation in the arts – linked to changes in industrial practices, science, and media.
• Context: overarching political & power constructs (socialism, communism, fascism, capitalism etc.)

Modernism’s key themes

• Rationalism – science overtaking religion
• Technological determinism – technology affects culture
• Belief in grand narratives
• Foregrounding of high culture

Modernism as determinism – how science and technological innovation affect the production of cultural texts. The camera (Lumiere brothers 1895) changed how artists may produce their work (for example how moving horses’ legs were depicted)
Scientific & academic progress affects cultural development – new ideas & ways of thinking to approach the world.
Modernism as meta narrative: A story of the arts in the 20th century (as told by key cultural figures) – which has a clear sense of hierarchy and order.
Postmodernism
“The Modernist laboratory is now vacant. It has become a period room in a museum, a historical space that we enter, look at, but can no longer be part of” – Robert Hughes, The Shock Of The New (1980)
After Modernism context

• From the 1980s – globalisation increases (hybridity, non-traditional communities, post-Fordian economics).
• Post Internet culture – the rise in new media.
• No more grand or meta narrative.
• Historical fragmentation & disruption of order.

“I define the post-modern as incredulity towards meta narratives” – The Post-Modern condition …

• Grand narratives replaced by localised or individual “micro-narratives”.
• Technology: allows for experimentation with identity & personal narrative. – Cherry-pick your data, lie: tell “your truth”. Everything is rhetoric & not even recorded fact can dispute.
• Contested testimony: post-Truth perspectives – “my truth”.

Social media & internet forums: intense personal narratives.
Post-truth culture

• Distrust in fact/ expert opinion
• Truth is relative, contested, not absolute
• Replaced by “authenticity”

Anti-modernism
“Reason (modernism) has been shaped by a dishonest pursuit of certainty” – Jean-Francois Lyotard, The Post-Modern Condition

• A complex reaction to the failures of modernism.
• Anti-foundationalism – rejection of rationalism, truths, certainties, doctrines, and unstable belief systems – there is no universal truth or philosophy.
• A questioning of the “ideological bias” of all history & knowledge.
• Scepticism towards the grand political schemes of modernism.

Anti-modernism examples

• Contradictory attitudes to modern media – declining trust in the media.
• Feminist anti “Patriarchal” perspectives.
• No more rules – subversion of modernist ideals.

Modernist design is a rational approach with rules & conventions whereas post-modernist design is experimental & free from constraints.
Post-modernist example: David Carson’s RayGun 1990s magazine
Hyper Modernism
“In an amazing acceleration… postmodernism is not modernism at its end but in its nascent state, and this state is constant.” – Jean-Francois Lyotard, The Post-Modern condition (1979)

• Modernism is an incomplete project?
• Cyclical: in tandem with post-modernity.
• Technological acceleration.
• Cyberculture & ideological new.
• Post internet acceleration of cultural hybridity.

Visual culture: Post Modern features

• Merging of high & low cultural forms
• Mutation in public space
• The unstable image
• Society of the spectacle

Mutations of public space
Urban or fantasy architectural spaces – sampling of different period styles, reflecting:

• Global/ cultural hybridity
• Hyper-reality
• Nostalgia culture

Shopping centers/ malls
Theme parks
The hyper-real... the boundaries between the real and the simulated implode” – Jean Baudrillard
The unstable image

• The hyper-real
• The order of the simulacra
• Bricolage, Parody & Pastiche
• Intertextuality & Double-coding
• Hybrid genres & use of irony

Semiotic overload – Difficult to identify the providence of an image.
The hyper-real – Proliferation of image signs that we can only read their representation & not their meaning.
We can no longer trust image as true representations of reality or trhe context in which they were created.
The degradation of the image.
The Hyper-real

• The presentation of images without reality or meaning.
• The real is produced – the hyper-real is reproduced.

Reality television a reality retouched & edited to create a hyper real product.
Order of the simulacra
The representational image sign goes through 4 key stages

• Stage 1. It is a reflection of a basic reality.
• Stage 2. it masks & perverts a basic reality.
• Stage 3. It marks the absence of a basic reality.
• Stage 4. It bears no relation to any reality whatsoever.

Bricolage – sampling of ideas from the past (design, pop music, imagery, aesthetic) to create something new.
Parody: Original text [author & referent] – Parody [loaded simulation].
Pastiche: Images presented without reality or meaning [Blank simulation].
Intertextuality & Double coding
Hybridity & Irony
The Society of the spectacle

• Mediation: life lived on & through a screen.
• Complexity (& simulation) is the new reality (more information but less meaning). “T.V. taught me how to feel, now real life has no appeal” – Marina & The Diamonds, Oh No!
• Multi-modal narratives.

The Gulf War did not take place: “The outcome had been devoured by the retro virus of history. And now that it is over, one can finally take account of its non-occurrence” – Jean Baudrillard (1991)
Last-Thursdayism
Post-modernism conclusion

• A contested term
• Post = after/ anti// hyper modernism
• Visual culture – features & terminology

Some alternatives

• Post-structuralism
• Post-internet
• Post-truth

​“The great thing about postmodernism is that it can be pretty much anything you want it to be. But then, the really annoying thing about Postmodernism is that it can be pretty much anything you want it to be. Which is the freewheeling paradox at the heart of this movement…”
​
Postmodernism is defined as a movement after modernism; Post – After. So, Postmodernism is a movement intrinsically linked with what came before.
Postmodernism is a critical reaction to what came before.

French philosopher Jean-François described postmodernism as “incredulity towards grand-narratives” which counters the modernist idea that humanity has a single, shared, global destiny & therefore humanity should address themselves on a global scale rather than divided cultures. This description elucidates the globalist vs. localist dichotomy separating postmodernist & modernist perspective.

The opposition to grand narratives, viewing past instances of them as failures (Communism & Capitalism being the chosen examples), influences the postmodernist tendency to curate & appropriate the successes of history within its designs. An example of this idea is the AT&T building in New York City, which accents contemporary design conventions with design characteristics from historical art movements. An Art Deco style top & a renascence inspired front entrance. A trope-example that shows this concept is museum architecture, featuring roman columns alongside contemporary design features.

​Postmodernism is self-aware & its designs may feature irony & derisiveness towards itself & other art & design movements.

Since postmodernism derives itself from historical influences & rejects one singular truth or narrative, any and all influences are valid, therefore any and all pieces of postmodern art & design have merit &, consequently, may have an infinite number of interpretations & associated commentaries.
Perception is reality, and everyone’s perception is different.

As postmodernism is reactionary to what came before, it has an excellent position to observe tropes of previous movements, and can therefore reproduce those elements with commentary.

The deeper meanings & context behind some postmodern works will be utterly lost on viewers who do no possess an awareness of historical works that may be referenced/ parodied within. Therefore, postmodern works benefit from an informed audience. Having the knowledge to understand a postmodern work’s influence enhances the viewer’s experience, but a total lack of knowledge does not entirely undermine the effect of postmodern works.

Postmodernism often takes a cynical view on the world, counter to modernism’s hopeful optimism. Postmodernism views the failures of history and projects the trend onto the future.

Postmodernism, overall, seems to be a justified, if whiny, negative view of the world. Postmodernism uses irony & parody to mock & reject ideals, beliefs, & conviction. Which is a perfectly valid position to hold, but does nothing to actively improve or change the world directly. Postmodernism celebrates the successes of the past, and appropriates those successes back into the contemporary paradigm. These successes emphasise that there are solutions, perhaps not one universal solution to everything, for problems within the world, and that we can change for the better as past examples show.
This illustrates the accuracy of this excerpt’s opening statement…
“The great thing about postmodernism is that it can be pretty much anything you want it to be. But then, the really annoying thing about Postmodernism is that it can be pretty much anything you want it to be. Which is the freewheeling paradox at the heart of this movement…”

​The role of creatives within a globalised culture
Global culture is a space or field made possible through improved communication networks in which different cultures may interact.
Key themes:

1. The Global Village
2. Trade without borders

The Global Village
The whole earth as a physical environment where all citizens, consumers, and producers

• Shared common destiny – One planet to be shared. Limited Resources.
• Cultural exchange & hybridity – global influence on local culture.
• Cultural imperialism – winning the culture war.
• The post-traditional community – impact on community relations.

The global community shares:

• Economic issues
• Health issues
• Environmental issues

Cultural exchange: a global community of creatives, influence, & intermingle.
Cultural Hybridity: Different communities experience & appropriate cultural trends from other communities within the global network. Example - mixing & cross-pollination of musical subcultures.
American cultural imperialism in the 1980s & 1990s – the spread of American culture infecting the global stage. Stop American Cultural Imperialism - Jonathan Barnbrook
Traditional community

• Being Rooted -Rooted in a sense of belonging & allegiance, fixed local work patterns.
• Historical ties - Linked to length of family residence
• Fixed spatial environment of private/ public spaces
• Shared rituals: - collective celebration, community events – example: may-day fair, village fete.
• Moral certainty - respect for community hierarchy.

Post-Traditional Community

• Transient connections – people move more frequently for work & leisure. Generational shifting.
• Changing spatial environment – town planning reflection socio-economic change.
• Digital integration – the growth of online virtual communities, individual & global narratives via new-media technologies.
• Moral uncertainty? Lack of community moral figureheads & authority figures.

The big box effect: movement from town centers of consumer/ leisure pursuits.
Trade Without Borders

• Since 1980s: growth & emphasis on global economics.
• Movement in the west from manufacturing to service-based economies – “We used to make steel!”
• National borders/ ideologies less relevant – collapse of institutional barriers to trade.
• Global brands – rise of transnational corporations.

Impact of covid-19 – reduction in global trade: an opportunity to reassess the situation of globalist capitalism.
Brexit (It’s been like 5 years) – UK’s changing approach to
USA – Trump’s nationalist/ isolationist agenda.
The role of global corporations.
What is a global corporation?
The difference between a corporation & a brand? A brand is an ideal and a corporation is the vehicle which delivers it.
Klein on corporations
Growth can be traced back to the 1980s – trade liberalisation, union reforms, & global economics – subcontracting production to cut costs.
Marked the movement from production to branding – corporations do not make the product anymore; they just produce its image.
Corporations are:

• Immortal – accumulated power, wealth, & influence.
• Ephemeral – can change their operation quickly to adapt.
• Aggressively competitive – driven by profit & growth.
• Chameleon-like – change their ideology to suit location – lack of accountability.

The corporate brand:

• Designed – corporate identity, logo
• Disseminated – via advertising: billboards, celebrity endorsements, product placement, infomercials, web advertisement, cultural presence.

Klein & the fashion trade:

• Outing of the logo & logo inflation
• Growth of the fashion franchise – Nike, adidas, reebok, gap, levi’s etc. – fashion as status
• Growth of high-concept advertising.

The branding of public spaces
Brand as a cultural sponge
The race towards weightlessness
“after establishing the soul of their corporations, the superbrand companies have gone to rid themselves of their cumbersome bodies” – Naomi Klein No Logo

• Head vs. Body: The production process is hidden from view as it is not part of brand construction
• Bargain hunting – outsourcing manufacturing to more favourable locations for profit.
• Minimizing labour costs – non-unionised labour, sweatshop models of employment
• …

Pro-corporate viewpoint? Corporations can have huge impacts on the world, sometimes this impact may be positive.

​The anti-corporate movement

• Growth since the early 1990s
• Growing politicization, awareness, & anti consumerism
• Use & adoption of social media – subcultures, & community forums in cyberspace
• Use of design as a weapon of propaganda, subversion, & culture jamming.

Subversion & culture jamming

• Brandalism
• Detournment and/ or [sub]vertising – production of alternative texts
• Pranksters & interventions
• Urban environmentalists, virtual communities
• Ethical & sustainable design/ arts practice

Brandalism – Billboard Liberation Front
Altering corporation billboards to transform & affect their message.
Subtle changes to advertisement posters that fit with the design aesthetic, but are counter to the intended message.
Adbusters – Canadian based network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators, & entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age est. 1989.
Design critical of capitalism as the dominant ideology in the world.
Anonymous – International network of activism/ internet gathering – opposed to the consolidation of corporate and government power.
Extinction Rebellion – current environmental activism.

• Re-designed for a global/corporate age
• Signed up to by leading designers/ artists
• “Design as a weapon for social change”

​A designer’s ethical code:

• How responsible are you for the work you put out into the world?
• As a creative, how far should you be guided by your conscience?

The main points of my professional Artist conduct manifesto, in no particular order:

• Never work for “exposure” as it undermines fellow artists & makes the entire profession more challenging. Seek fair compensation for work.
• Oppose discrimination within institutional settings, regardless of intent. “Positive discrimination” is still discrimination. This statement is qualified to institutions because I hold the opinion that people, acting on an individual level, should be allowed to discriminate for any reason they want (regardless of how distasteful their reason may seem).
• Zealously defend the right to freedom of expression. Censorship directly opposes artists. Artists should be free to create and pursue whatever they want within their craft provided said craft does not violate the rights of another.
• Promote & support my associated communities. If I get the opportunity to provide art for a Historical European Martial Arts (H.E.M.A.) event, I will be all over it.
• Never work for businesses/ people which directly oppose my beliefs (For example: companies that are pro-infringement of personal liberties, callous towards environmental concerns, maliciously exploitative).
• Be polite, & personable. Disagreements are not sole-grounds to be antagonistic, and pursuing such interactions in a hostile manner rarely have a desirable outcome.

Defining Gender
Spectrum of identity, society defines gender roles & performative behaviour.
Sex & Gender
Sex

• Biological differences between men & women.
• Official documents – legal requirements etc.

Gender

• The cultural roles of masculinity & femininity.
• Not natural properties of men & women – but are social constructs.

Opening thoughts on gender

• Definitions of gender are specific to time and place.
• Gender roles change over time – reflect broader cultural change.
• Representations of gender: ideas on gender are reflected and explored within the media & wider visual culture.

Popular media is a vehicle where ideas on gender are explored & debated.
Non-binary or genderqueer is a spectrum of identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine – identities that are outside the gender binary.
Transgender – gender identity does not correspond with a person’s assigned sex at birth.
Key debates on gender

• Gender & power structures
• Why do we use gender as the basis upon which to place discussions of identity?
• Essentialism vs. structuralism – are gender appropriate behaviours learned at an early age?
• Gender performance.
• What are the political, economic, scientific, and social elements that affect attitudes to gender?

Gender & representation

• How is gender represented in visual culture?
• Do representations in popular media reflect gender stereotypes, or prescribe them?
• Gendered body, cultural ideals?
• The relationship between gender & consumerism (Style magazines are the place to look).

Cultural patriarchy:

Are gender appropriate behaviours learned/ performed at an early age? Do they merely reinforce natural tendencies, or are they prescriptive doctrine?
Gender as performance

• Gender as construct.
• Gender as a performative act.
• Socio-historical conditioning.
• Culturally anchored.
• Reiteration – sedimentation – perpetuation.

The Male Gaze – Laura Mulvey

• The male gaze is the act of representing women in visual media from a heterosexual male point of view – which reduces women to objects of male pleasure.
• Three perspectives –
  1. That of the man behind the camera.
  2. That of the characters within the film representation.
  3. That of the male viewer
• Women are depicted in a passive role.
• Men are the active observers in viewing the female from their perspective.

The spectacular male body – the female gaze

• Common trope in popular media

Letraset – type-foundry. Letraset art sheets (1966) featured representations of gender stereotypes of the time.
Evering Goffman: Gender Advertisements – analysis of ads in the late 1960s & early 1970s

• The ritual subordination of women.
• Gender roles – the power dynamic.
• The gendered body – display & negotiation.

The ritual subordination of women:

• Men pictured as assertive – decision makers
• Women in supportive roles.
• Men survey – men look at women
• Women are surveyed – women are to be observed

Gender Roles – The power dynamic:

• Men inhabit the world of paid work – bread winners.
• Women inhabit the world of the home – homemakers.
• Humorous/ Ironic depiction of men in the home.
• …

The Gendered body – display & negotiation

• Men’s bodies are shown as active & forceful.
• Women’s bodies are shown as passive & yielding.
• Men seen as reserved/ alert/ detached.
• Women are seen as emotionally outgoing.
• The feminine touch – women are depicted as tactile, conciliatory, emphasis on hand gestures.
• Women and licensed withdrawal – women allowed to dream and imagine.

• Mother & Daughter in the home.
• All Mother’s imagined callers are male workers.
• Very accommodating to a giant bipedal tiger.
• Tiger is a black hole of consumption.
• Disturbingly accommodating to this uninvited guest that might be overstepping some boundaries.
• Tiger drains the entire water-table.
• Father returns – mother & daughter confide in him.
• Father offers a solution to their problem & they acquire more resources.
• Mother & daughter go shopping.
• Somehow preparing to accommodate the tiger again.
• The story seems to just happen to the mother & daughter, they are passive observers of the narrative.

​Are performative gender roles featured in popular media descriptive or prescriptive in nature?
“Style magazines can be seen as commercial sites of intensified femininity and masculinity.” – In The Culture Society: Art, Fashion, and Popular Music (Angela McRobbie 1999)
Key points to address:

• What can the analysis of style magazines tell us about modern gender roles?
• Are they progressive or regressive?
• Do style magazines accurately reflect real men & women?
• Do they propagate myths about femininity & masculinity?

Style Magazines: Context

• The magazine business: a saturated market – gradual move to online publication
• Categorisation of readers - by age, gender, relationship, status, disposable income
• Reader patterns – subscription, casual, second hand, cross gender
• Advertising – approx. 50% of costs of running a magazine are covered by advertisements, concealed advertising, advertorials.

Style Magazine: Themes

• Leisure vs. work – magazines occupy the world of leisure
• Status – focus on selling a future happier self
• Consumerism – gender identity linked with consumption
• Sexuality – normalise heterosexual relationships – attitudes to sex are constantly changing & being redefined.

“sex is a means of self-discovery, sex is the center of the relationship; sex is the step to other things; sex is always something that can be bettered or varied; sex is potentially a problem; sex is something you never can forget” 

Cover design is an important factor in slaves – seen in context with other magazines
Magazine covers address anybody, they also claim to address individuals with specific needs
Content – emphasis on lifestyle, consumption, relationships, & body image.
Use of a model on both – signification of body language, the feminine touch.
Celebrity culture – celebrities as role models, associated status.
Commodification of gender – link between consumerism and gender identity is presented as the norm.
Direct Address – image & text addresses the reader directly.
Subjective terms – you/ your/ our has two meanings: recognise yourself, and recognise yourself as part of a group.
Men’s magazines: regressive argument

• Firmly heterosexual in content & outlook.
• Reinforce (outdated) patriarchal ideologies.
• Provide cynical or misogynistic depictions of sexuality, gender roles, and relationships.
• Provide unrealistic male role models or purely fictional identities.

Men’s magazines: progressive argument

• Postmodern texts full of irony, humour, & self-awareness
• Encourage dialogue & negotiation between men & women.
• Provide a cultural place for male identities to be explored, manipulated, and preserved.

Women’s Magazines: regressive argument

• Have a long history, more saturated & niche market.
• Link femininity & consumerism
• Are “schizophrenic” – constantly changing viewpoints on how women should be. Dissonant ideologies.
• Obscure deeper (patriarchal) social structure
• Moral ambiguity and cynicism towards relationships – replacing romance with sex.

Women’s Magazines: Progressive argument

• Response to contradictory feminist viewpoint – ie what sort of magazines should young women be reading?
• Readers are actually more knowing & discerning.
• Provide readers with a sense of community, comfort & pride in a mythic feminine identity.
• Women have the right to demand satisfaction in sex, work, and in other areas of life.
• “There is an energy and vitality in young women’s magazines, a self-confidence and openness to the world rather than a retreat from it.”

Style magazines are sites where gender is debated and explored.
They respond to changing gender roles.
Reflect changing attitudes towards sexual relations, relationships, consumerism, & work/ leisure patterns.
Diminishing male power structures.

• The Analysis Framework used: Psychoanalysis - Bias towards Nurture (environmentally learned behaviours) as oppose to Nature (inherited traits & tendencies).
• Subject: Male power structures within cinema.
• Women’s displayed powerlessness creates men’s power.
• Freudian relationships discussed. (It is my opinion is that Freudian psychology has very little merit & his pseudo-deification within the field of psychology is an insidious blight that will never be removed. The man cherry-picked his data to support his already established theories, dismissed any evidence to the contrary and doggedly chased the questions to answers he already decided. A series of curated case-studies & anecdotes does not a scientific method make. /Freud rant.)
• Women proposed to be vessels of meaning rather than sources of it within a patriarchal society.
• Freudian psychological basis for discussing gender, sex, & relationships (Overemphasis on subconscious lust permeating every facet of life).
• Unconscious coding is imprinted upon members of society, cinema is purported to be an important part of that societal imprinting of ideologies upon the individual.
• Cinema both describes culture, and prescribes it.
• Alternative, amateur, cinema allows for the production of Work that challenges the current societal zeitgeist.
• Alternative cinema, by definition, only exists as a response to mainstream cinema.
• Mainstream cinema is responsible for imprinting an erotic language into the patriarchal culture of the day.
• Cinema, within the patriarchal society, creates a fantastical experience of vicarious pleasure for its male viewership.

• Cinema allows the audience to experience Voyeuristic fantasies & appropriate the performance of actors.
• There is an erotic pleasure in witnessing.
• Transforming others by objectifying them through this voyeuristic erotic fantasy is the source of pleasure, transcending the physical.
• The presentation of cinema, dulling the perspective of reality via dark theatres, enhance the voyeuristic aspect of viewing.
• Voyeuristic pleasure is derived from the recognition of oneself & the desire to be more, this is satisfied by the projection of the self beyond the physical body onto that which one witnesses. That projection extends to ownership of that which is viewed.
• This narcissistic projection is exploited in cinema.

• Under the male gaze women are presented to be passive objects of sexual pleasure
• Within cinema, the woman’s role is to be a catalyst for male spectacle. The value of a woman is that only which she may evoke within a man, she alone is worthless.
• Women are presented as an erotic object for characters within the story, and as erotic objects for the viewership.
• As a man is reticent to explore his exhibitionism & objectification in the eyes of another, the male role within cinema is to form agency, and progress the narrative.
• The male spectacle is that of action, that which a man is able to impose his will over, control & domination.
• Women are presented as objects for men to acquire within the narrative of a story, their sexual allure is played up until the male protagonist has acquired them.
• Men must objectify women to resolve an inherent fear within themselves, to control women is to control that fear.

The dissonance caused by using Freudian psychology, which paradoxically flips between Nature & Nurture as the primary driving force on psychological development, as the primary lens in which to view this subject matter detracts from any coherent point being made.
I believe this article's message to be that cinema is both a vehicle for patriarchal ideologies to be disseminated throughout society, and a medium that exploits an already established patriarchal code.

Exploring & defining subculture & style
Subculture:

• Dates to ~18th century to refer to deviant groups or urban underclass.
• The Lower tiers of society.
• Modern association with Post 1945.
• Teenagers & teen identity.
• Punks, Rockers, goths etc.
• Defined as a group who rebel against mainstream culture.
• Minority groups that counter the mainstream culture.

Mainstream culture:

• Popular.
• Lowest common denominator.
• Safe, unoffensive.
• Conservative.
• The things you can safely discuss at an extended family gathering.
• Society’s current default.
• “The organisation of a society into hierarchical structures that are shaped by political media social & corporate media”- Owen Jones.
• Found in Institutions, systems, & authorities.
• Operates through consensus.

A subculture signals a breakdown of consensus.

• Dissenting voices.
• Outright refusal to participate in mainstream culture.
• Desire to subvert, parody, or disrupt elements of mainstream culture.

Contradictory themes: Empowerment (personal autonomy) – Impotence (Lack of power/ political influence)

​Frame of Reference:

• Sub cultural elite – mostly male, young, white, educated, middle class, sexually ambivalent
• Writers: William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlingetti.
• Frame of reference: Post WW2 1950’s America, alienation from mainstream society. America escaping from economic depression.
• The Beat, as in “beaten”.
• Disenfranchised

Beat Literature themes:

• Anti-mainstream (straight) culture.
• Opposition to the military-industrial machine.
• Anti 1050’s materialism & consumerism
• Anti-censorship
• Moral ambiguity – liberal attitudes towards sex, gender, & relationships.
• Emphasis on individual autonomy.
• Underlying spirituality/ ecological consciousness
• Iconoclastic in form – freeform and experimental prose, links with abstract painting, be-bop jazz.

Square values vs. Beat values
Square values:

• Mainstream culture.
• Deferred gratification/ planned future action.
• Conformity to bureaucratic rules.
• Comfort in routine – strong work ethic.
• Consumerism = status.
• Family as moral center.
• Defined gender roles.
• Deference to Church & State.
• Fatalism.

Beat values:

• Counter-cultural
• Hedonism – leads to personal enlightenment.
• Spontaneous action/ new experiences.
• Non-conformity.
• Distain for work ethic.
• Anti-materialistic.
• Spiritual > interest in other (eastern) belief systems.
• Non-binary relationships.
• Belief in self-autonomy.

The Beats: The cycle of a subculture

• Growth & significant – self-promotion by beat writers.
• Popular with a young college audience – disenfranchised by Dwight Eisenhower’s America.
• Attracted audiences outside USA > Europe (French new wave, 1960’s counterculture).
• Vilification & absorption – reassertion by the mainstream.

Absorption of a subculture

• Critical re-framing in the popular press
• Media distortion & vilification of “beat” culture, evolving into a caricature of beat values, the birth of “beatthink”.

The Beatnik caricature (Lipton 1959)

• Sloppily groomed/ goatee
• Turtle neck sweater, sandals, sunglasses, beret.
• Prone to nonsensical slang and an affected patois.
• Convinced in his own intellectual superiority.

The Beat-chick caricature (Lipton 1959)

• Appearance; oversized sweater, black stockings, black eyeliner, unkempt hair
• “Weird & Spacey”
• Deviant/ morally suspect
• Sexually available/ open

1960s: Beat exploitation films develop.

Punk n. 1. Inferior, rotten or worthless person or thing. 2. Short for punk rock. 3. A young male homosexual. 4. A prostitute – adj. (Collins English Dictionary)
“No subculture has sought with more grim determination than the punks to detach itself from the taken-for-granted landscape of normalised forms” Hebdige: subculture & the meaning of style 1979
Key frame of reference points:

• The influence of the subcultural elite.
• Punk dress & rituals.
• DIY, sub-design and demystification.
• Detournement of mainstream texts.

Subcultural elite
Punk Vs. Mainstream values:

• Clockwork souls routines/ the job yuou hate but are too scared to pack in/ arse lickers
• Television
• 19/Honey/Harpers/ Vouge/ Infact all magazines that treat their readers as idiots

Formulating a Dress code:

• Anti-taste: reflection social dislocation.
• Use of collage & bricolage (use of a safety pin).
• Provocative: adoption of fetish wear & sexualised shock imagery.
• Subversion and co-opting of loaded cultural signs.
• Cross-gender dress.

Subversion of loaded signs – eg use of the swastika (the symbol of the enemy)
Provocative – use of pornographic imagery/ fetish fashion
Subcultural Rituals

• Nihilism.
• Sarcastic patois.
• Speed logic.
• The “pogo”.
• Participation in the spectacle. Blurring of audience/ performer dynamic
• Gobbing etiquette.

DIY, sub-design and demystification

• Participation & creation of cultural capital.
• Amateurism as a virtue- authenticity.
• DIY culture. Make your own means of production.
• Anti-corporate anti-elitism – demystification.

Punk visual lexicon/ semiotic code:

• Energetic/ urgent.
• Crudely produced.
• Cheaply printed – restricted use of colour.
• Mix of photomontage/ collaged elements.
• No rock star posturing.
• Lettering: ransom note style/ stencilled/ use of Letraset.
• Themes: class & suburbia, consumerism, urban decay, sexuality, criminality, anti-mainstream.

Detournement:

• Aping the parent culture
• Appropriation & alteration of an existing mainstream artefact

Jamie Reid’s punk graphics: political content of early punk. Jamie Reid & The Suburban Press (1970 – 1975) – “low-level shit stirring”.
Punk: The cycle of a subculture - There is a point where a subculture is at its most potent – after which it begins to be co-opted or absorbed into the mainstream.
Features/ signs of absorption:

• The subculture becomes common knowledge – popular, exploited by the mainstream.
• Subcultural elite lose control of the subculture.
• Early mainstream commercialisation of dress code – selling out.
• Corporate commodification & branding.
• The authentic story – “staking a claim” by the subcultural elite.
• Mythologising the story.
• Re-presentation & nostalgia (post modernity) – Curating and reframing the past.
• Academic reframing.
• Institutional/ cultural reframing.

There is a point where a subculture is at its most potent – after which it begins to be co-opted or absorbed into the mainstream.
Features/ signs of absorption:

• The subculture becomes common knowledge – popular, exploited by the mainstream.
• Subcultural elite lose control of the subculture.
• Early mainstream commercialisation of dress code – selling out.
• Corporate commodification & branding.
• The authentic story – “staking a claim” by the subcultural elite.
• Mythologising the story.
• Re-presentation & nostalgia (post modernity) – Curating and reframing the past.
• Academic reframing.
• Institutional/ cultural reframing.

A Subculture is a sociological phenomenon that stems from a disenfranchised group's need/ desire to rebel against their perception of mainstream societal values, thus forming their own micro-society in which they can feel authentically invested in.
​Subcultures adopt their own values & aesthetic codes which confront their contemporary mainstream culture.
A unique & distinct cultural uniform separates members of a subculture from that which they oppose. The perceived otherness of a subculture's uniform helps separate them from the mainstream, until eventually the mainstream adopts & appropriates said uniform, and it becomes a historical costume.

As subcultures develop, they form their own unique cultural branding.
Cultural capital may take several forms which may or may not be present in a given subculture.

• Visual themes - unique icons, or appropriated iconography used in a different context. Art & design.
• Audio themes - A recognisable "sound" that permeates throughout the subculture.
• Cultural themes - Key points of political/ social/ spiritual consistency. A coherent ideology.

Vapourwave is primarily a music genre which developed its own subcultural following which has transformed into a vague nihilistic commentary on modern consumerism & capitalism through its visual aesthetic.

Vaporwave's visual aesthetic has surpassed its music as the primary cultural capital of the movement. Both the audio and visual elements of vaporwave are iconic & distinct, yet the visual elements are more striking.

• The Graphic code of comics – graphic signs that are unique to comic strips, easily understood & accepted conventions
• Encoding & Decoding – Design’s impact on story & readership
• Comic strips have an underlying complexity to their design that is not immediately apparent on a surface viewing.
• American & British comics developed separately, and so conventions & designs differ.

 
The Graphic Code of Comics

• Character Abstraction – Simplified depictions of characters. More relatable, & efficient to draw.
• Gutter –
• Speech Bubbles – Conveying the spoken, word within comics.
• Sound Effects – Audio elements visualised. Onomatopoeia.
• Symbolic Icons – Culturally dependent icons to denote a variety of things.
• Narrative Box – Setting conveyed through the written word.
• Though Bubbles – Conveys the inner thoughts of characters.
• Panels – the frames of the story, individual snap-shots.

 

• Encoding – creating. The Intelligent design behind the creation of a work & the narrative behind it.
• Decoding – reading. Understanding the connection between

 
Plurivectorial flow

• Comics display past, present, & future all at once.
• Focus & direction of eye movement across the page can be erratic. Constant reference to past events in the story.

Various strategies can be employed to direct the reader’s eye:

• Page Layout.
• Strip ellipses.
• Key panel coordinates.
• Page breaks & cliff-hangers.
• Use of negative space.
• Reader “closure”.
• Transition types to show the passage of time.

 
Deconstructing a comic page into its constituent frames:
Text box & balloon > Panel Frame > strip > hyperframe > page margin > single page
Page – The whole page as one.
Strip – Sequential style & aesthetics considered, the direction of the narrative is managed.
Panel – Detailed examination of word & image and transition between panels
 
Significant Panel coordinates – entry/ exit points and center
Negative space –Drawn elements show only a portion of the story content.
partial visuality: omitted, implied, content of the story that is not drawn within the frames. Negative space prompts the reader to imagine beyond.
The gutter as a transition device:

• Moment to moment – Small lapses in time, self-evident depictions
• Action to action – Different actions within the same scene.
• Subject to subject – Same scene/ concept different subject of focus. Reader has to work to understand the narrative.
• Scene to scene – Significant movement of time/ space within the story.
• Aspect to aspect – Scene setting transition, no apparent change in time. No narrative progression, just reinforcing the setting.
• Non-sequitur – No clear connection between panels.

Moment-To-Moment - Small jumps in time showing the same subject or setting progressing from one moment in time to another

Action-To-Action - Single subject of focus transitioning from one action into another, generally small time-frame, but can be longer or an ambiguous duration of time between frames.

Subject-To-Subject - Narrative thread remains the same; different subjects within the same scene shown in different panels.

Scene-To-Scene - Different settings shown, great difference between time or location between each frame.

Aspect-To-Aspect - Subjects within the same setting, reinforcing the setting by showing features between frames that share aspects of the setting, the same mood/ tone/ location/ concept/ aesthetic.

Non-Sequitur - Frames with no discernible connection to each other.