Consumer identities

Products are designed to be an external representation of one self. By acquiring it, it reinforces or establishes social roles that give a sense of belongness to a group or ideology.

This products help in the intern negotiation everyone is carrying on between the actual self (who a person actually is), the ideal self (who that person deserves to be or want to be [directly related to the ego]) and the ought self (who that person thinks that should be). People is negotiating this triad to find a balance by consuming products.

There are two main social comparisons consumers carry on when deciding what product to consume: upwards comparison (for instance, comparing one self to a celebrity) or downwards comparison (for instance, comparing one self to someone considered less intelligent, successful, etc). This creates a feeling of community, making easy to identify which values or tastes certain people have by the products they own. They are symbolic representations.

Some examples of this can be Apple, which associate personality types with products. Nespresso uses George Clooney for an upwards comparisson, selling coffee more than just a drink, but a lifestyle.

Some of the ethical issues of how consumerism uses these techniques to sell are that, as a result, people stereotype others into categories, which makes consumerism a necessity for self-validation, which is a lie. Frustration will eventually happen for the self-fulfilling prophecy that will never be fulfilled through consumerism. This would be not so bad if there was a consciousness about it, but these associations happen unconsciously, making society chained to unnecessary and unrealistic expectatives as well as making its individuals narcissistic and negative about how they look.

These ideas, despite how unethical are, helps designers to  better connect with the target audiences. In title sequences design, this could be applied from the perspective of what a person means by saying they like a certain movie. They might want to say how curious they are, how funny or how brave.

Research for the design process

1x design sheet outlining relevant contextual research

The contextual research mainly focuses on the semantics and psychology behind title sequences, but culture, history and typography are other important aspects that inform what is being discussed. Designing title sequences is a typographic work, but also a work where time becomes a basic element to be considered. In order to understand how the interpretation of title sequences work the history is very important to inform why certain decisions have taken place throughout time. This decisions have been informed by,  amongst other things, the contemporary culture of each time.

1 x design sheet outlining target audience research

As can be read in the essay, the genre dictates the style, and each genre has certain target audience(s). Taking in consideration that the work produced is probably going to be the title sequences of a thriller or a drama the target audience will be mature, people that have the age and attitude to learn a lesson from the problems exposed in the film in question. An audience interested in culture with an open mind to be impressed and change their opinion. This kind of people can be found in any country, but it's probably that countries with better economies allow people to worry about dramatic situations as their primary needs are most likely covered.

3 possible personas: 

1.- James, British. James is a young accountant and he is single. He enjoys watching movies while he has dinner. He likes films and TV shows that challenge his beliefs or dramatic situations that teach him lessons for life.

2.- Marie, French. Marie is a young single mother who has not much time for herself. She likes to read books before bed and she is fascinated by auteur cinema. Whenever she has the time, she likes to watch slow dramas that take her away from her rush-paced life and be delighted by actors performances.

3.- Karl and Birgit, German. They are a couple in their 40's with no children. They work hard and their time is not conditioned by children. They have very good incomes and they enjoy spending time with each other. One of the things they do is watching films as a way to relax and be together.

1 x design sheet identifying and analysing relevant and related visual examples.

Breaking Bad opening title sequences.

These title sequences don't show the names of the people involved in the show. They just focus on creating certain atmosphere. The dark green in the background encourages chemical thinking reinforced with the formulas shown and the use of yellow colours (which reminds of radiation), followed by the periodic table. From this table, two elements remain and both construct the title of the show, [Br]eaking [Ba]d. This animation goes along with a guitar played in a country manner, as the show takes place in Alburquerque and it's been called a contemporary western by its creator Vince Gilligan. This guitar plays certain chords that hints about the bad decisions the main character makes, finishing in a transition made with smoke to show the director's name and a sound that reminds of the desert. The percussion that goes along with the guitar is more tribal, which refers to the stalking danger that mexican cartel (and others) is throughout this show. The typeface is serif excepting the letters taken out from the periodic table, which are in sans-serif probably to show that transition from simple to complicated, good and bad. Formulas are also in serif, which already have an implication of complexity.

Lost opening title sequences

This simple but deep work only shows the title of the show, which is Lost and not a single name. The word is written in 3D and the camera moves towards the "O" (probably because it looks like an island, which is the real main character in this show) with an irregular music that conveys mystery. It is out of focus and just for half of a second is in focus, but it's impossible to see the whole word when that happens. This is a hint of the pace the show has, showing parts of the puzzle in a very blurry way, making the audience believe they understand what is going on just to be dissapointed when they are shown it's not that simple. The typeface is sans-serif without any kind of ornament, which looks weirdly friendly, maybe to create more confusion.

Black Mirror opening title sequences

This show aims to show the dark side of the technology contemporary culture praises and how it is making human beings less ethical than ever without realising about it. The sequence, once again, doesn't show any names. It starts with a loading icon that loads the title of the show written in sans-serif probably to emulate a computer lack of personality. The text starts to digitally shine with more intensity until the screen breaks. This looks like a metaphor of how the excess of technology can be counter-productive. Then the text fades out not like going away, more like telling the audience that it will be back, and this is reinforced by the "monster" sound that goes with it, another hint of how the director wanted to represent the technology: a sibylline monster.

Luther opening title sequences

In this example the designers do show the names of the members of the team, which makes the sequence longer, but not much different from the other examples. The uses of black colours, close ups of crime scene elements, London maps, etc conform the dark part of the main character's life he has to deal with, but the music is soft, even romantic, and singed by a woman, humanising this character and hinting his deep, complex but benevolous personality. The dirty style conveys this complexity of the character, and his poses and looks balances this showing a mindful person. It creates a portrait of Luther, a person that has to deal with crimes, complex situations with serenity, showing his vulnerability.

Design boards:

Title sequences: no one talks about it

Thinking with type, type matters, motion graphic design and fine art animation are some of the books that this research began with. After looking for more content on google books and jstor (and other websites) it was interesting to see that there's almost no content regarding title sequences.

There's almost no theory about the semantics, no discussion. Only instructional texts, overviews and historical facts that repeat the same.

In order to improve the project one of the ideas was to investigate about a particular artist or genre. It was also considered exploring the connection between traditional graphic design and this sub-discipline. But after reading more texts and seeing how they approached this topic it was easy to see that semantics is always barely mentioned, but in different texts they say different things that they might be not necessarily contradictory, but they add up to each other.

These analysis put together with the text written by Georg Stanitzek, which goes into very much detail, should give an even more detailed and expanded vision of this topic that hasn't had the attention it deserves.

Triangulation & Referencing

Triangulation & Referencing Task Worksheet

Theme: History, technology, aesthetics

Focus: Form and function of movie title opening sequences.

Book reference (author, year of publish) e.g. “Jones, 2015”	Relevant key points in summary (use bullet points)	Additional notes (e.g. for or against)
Braha and Byrne (2011)	Anatomy of typeface, cone vision and screen dimension, timing, synesthesia, movie titles are the logo.	Analytical and instructional
Stanitzek (2009)	Functional characteristics of the title sequences	Thorough semantical analysis
Curran (2000)	Review of different film titles and famous studios	Overview and studios history
Krasner (2013)	Historical track of flim titles pioneers to modern days	Historical facts and quotes
Solana and Boneu (2007)	Detailed deconstruction of many different contextualised movie titles	Analytical, historical,
Yu (2008)	Typographic developement, based on screen, methodology	Analytical, historical
Plummer (2007)	Techniques and choreography of title sequences	Instructional
Gross (2015)	History of title sequences	Historical, partially analytical

Online content:

http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2416&context=etd (Printed)

http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/25619727.pdf (Printed)

https://designschool.canva.com/blog/film-titles/

https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/10/the-art-of-the-film-title-throughout-cinema-history/

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=yiq_o4FfDUoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=title+sequences+graphic+design&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=title%20sequences%20graphic%20design&f=false


Documentaries and other important videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbhi-JICKKI

http://www.watchthetitles.com/articles/00170-kyle_cooper_interview_pt_1_2
Other links:

http://www.artofthetitle.com/
http://amovieposteraday.tumblr.com/?utm_source=DesignTAXI&utm_medium=DesignTAXI&utm_term=DesignTAXI&utm_content=DesignTAXI&utm_campaign=DesignTAXI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1HNuAE9WdU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQDUtjwoaTY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_Qg1pQSOa0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8tBU5BqHtw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Vvs_JAh04

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw10quvFJOI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtJ6yAGjsIs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4xrJ_r6PUs

Different authors speak about the purposes of title sequences and how to approach the design process from a typographic or filmographic perspective.

500 word triangulation

The title sequences as paradigmatic anticipation of cinematic syntagm (Stanitzek, 2009, p48) offers elements of the film arranged in a narrative manner. This "duplication" of the movie will anticipate the events to come in a paradigmatic way, while the movie itself will do it syntagmatically. For example, the Pink Panther (Blake Edwards, 1964) anticipates the commotion in the film. The title sequences in Se7en (David Fincher, 1995) provides the personality of the killer.

Different authors have different definitions of this anticipation that can work together. Braha and Byrne (2011, P1) identified that "one of the primary functions of a title sequence is to set the tone... get a sense of the genre and pacing of the movie". Gross (2015) claims that the purpose of the title sequences is to nurture audience's expectations evoking the overall mood of the film and setting up the story. Krasner (2004) adds that the title sequences establish the context and set the tone of the movie. It gives an anticipation of events that are going to be revealed.

The great title designer Kyle Cooper (2009) ensures that title sequences set an expectation and makes the audience forget about everything else. Title sequences can be used to add more information to the film, and it's designers work to tell a story to put the audience in context. Braha and Byrne (2011, P1) add that "effective title sequences foreshadow themes of the movie without overshadowing the movie itself". They are an anticipation, but key points are not given away. Title sequences are not a summary of the film. They have the ability to add meaning or expose details missing from the film that are maybe revealed at the end or after a few views. These of course are choices, but it is imperative to capture the essence of the film. "Title sequences need to engage and excite the audience by hinting at some of the topics, themes" and even challenges taking place. The intention is to build anticipation and "create an emotional reaction from the audience" that makes them want to know more about it.

Walter Murch (cited in Krasner, 2004, P.36) gives a metaphorical definition: "The title sequence of a film is like the frame around a painting: it should enhance and comment on what is 'inside', alerting and sensitising the viewer to the emotional tones, the story ideas, and the visual style which will be found in the work itself."

Saul Bass (cited in Krasner, 2004, P.38) also shared his opinion: "My initial thoughts about what a title can do was to set mood and the prime underlying core of the film's story, to express the story in some metaphorical way. I saw the title as a way of conditioning the audience, so that when the film actually began, viewers would already have an emotional resonance with it." R/Greenberg associates (cited in Krasner, 2004, P.41) also catalogue the title sequences as visual metaphores for setting the atmosphere. "What I do in film is the opposite of what is done with the print image. Dracula is a very good example of the process. There is very little information on the screen at any time, and you let the effect unfold slowly so the audience doesn't know what they're looking at until the very end. In print, everything has to be up front because you have so little time to get attention. In film you hold back; otherwise it would be boring. The audience is captive at a film - I can play with their minds." "You have to take the people who have just arrived at the theatre and separate them from their ordinary reality: walking onto the street, waiting in line; you bring them into the movie. You want to tell them how to react; that it is alright to laugh, that they are going to be scared or that something serious is going on."

In the title sequenes of To Die For (1995) the main character is a controversial woman and Pablo Ferro identified how to add information about the film. "I wanted to set up her identity so well, that you knew this person before you met her."

Curran (2001, p129) divides the function of the title sequences in two. The first is a rough approach, a breathtaking piece of video and audio that impressively grabs the attention of the audience. The second raises a question or provides a clue, but it is also a way to keep the interest of the viewers, quietly wovening into the film.

Defining the brief

1. Research question: What is the form and function of movie title opening sequences?

1a. Is it viable?:  This concept is viable as it is exploring an existing topic connecting two different disciplines: graphic design and film. How the theory of graphic design can be used on movie titles in order to give a fair and engaging interpretation of the content with the right use of semiotics.

2. Defining the design problem: Designing a movie title requires a research about the film itself and the personal interpretation of it. The result must aim not only to be appealing to the audiences, but to give a fair graphical interpretation of what the content is about. This is also a great opportunity and challenge as a graphic designer to apply graphic design theory in motion graphics within the context of cinematography. The subject of study can be a film or a TV series.

3. "Client" needs or requirements: The imperative need is to demonstrate an appropriate use of graphic design elements in order to achieve an engaging outcome. This project will be based on one or more films, depending on how extensive this experimentation needs to be in order to draw a conclusion to the research. 

4. Audience: The audience will depend on the title(s) that will be chosen for this project, which is unclear at this point in time. If it is an epic movie, like the Lord of the Rings, it will be a mid 20's-30's target audience who enjoys medieval and epic stories. If it is a TV series like Luther, the target audience will be young people interested in intellectual duels and to question morality and ethics.

5. Mandatory requirements: Research into semiotics in film and graphic design in order to successfully graphically represent the content of a movie or TV series using semiotics with elements like colours, typeface and motion.

Parody and Pastiche

Jameson claims that modernist styles become post-modernist codes. The postmodern parody is a blank parody, without bite or ulterior motives, just a result of cherry-picking the components. On the other hand, Hutcheon defends the parody as a self-reflexive practice and goes deeper with a diferentiation between parody and pastiche.

Jameson points out that the post-modern architecture lacks of principles and chases an over stimulation. For example, the retro style is a glossy hyperstylised way to enhance qualities and fashion attributes. All of this is a desperate attempt to make sense of an age that doesn't (Jameson, 1984: 16). There is no grand narrative, it is just a superficial recylcing of dead cultures (Jameson, 1984: 17) as a resignation, resulting in a depthless technologic reproduction weakening of historicity.

Hutcheon makes a difference between pastiche and parody pointing out first that all post-modern works are critical or ironic-reading parodies 'as a new model for mapping the relationship between art and the world' and as 'a dialog with the past' (Hutcheon, 1989: 180). The paradox of modernist parody is that despite of partially lacking of depth and meaningfulness, it actually has a vision of interconnectedness, and its ironic historical references are not nostalgia or 'cannibalisation' (Hutcheon, 1989: 182). Besides, this parody is not trying to escape from the historical, social and ideological contexts. In fact, the intention is to foreground them (Hutcheon, 1989: 183).

Jameson explains the parody of post-modernism in a way that despises the reasons behind this artistic movement following social and political interests, whereas Hutcheon points out this not only contradicting his arguments, but pointing out that it is an opinion coming from an anglo-white male from the western who rejects pluralism behaving like a snob.

Laura Mulvey - Visual pleasures: Triangulation and referencing

In order to do a precise triangulation and Harvard referencing it's important to identify at least 5 contextual facts about the writer, 5 key points in the text and 5 key quotes.


Contextual facts about Laura Mulvey

- Doctor in Law and Literature
- Feminist
- Avant-garde filmmaker
- Screen theorist
- Professor
- Lacan/Freud influences (Psychoanalysis)
- Written in 1975 (When sexual equality and women's lib were more controversial topics)
- Mulvey's most famous book


Key points in the text

- Phallocentrism of male character castration
- Scopophilia in film and audiences
- Ego-libido
- Fetichism
- How culture reflects society + its inequities
- Women as object (to-be-looked-at-ness)
- Male active, women passive
- Patriarchy
- Male gaze


Key quotes

'the woman as icon, displayed for the gaze and enjoyment of men' (Mulvey, 2009 [1975]: 22)

'fetishistic scopophilia, builds up the physical beauty of the object, transforming it into something satisfying in itself ' (Mulvey, 2009 [1975]: 22)

'She is no longer the bearer of guilt but a perfect product, whose body, stylised and fragmented by close-ups , is the content of the film and the direct recipient of the spectator's look' (Mulvey, 2009 [1975]: 23)

'the female image as a castration threat constantly endangers the unity of the diegesis and bursts through the world of illusion as an intrusive, static, one-dimensional fetish' (Mulvey, 2009 [1975]: 26)

Triangulation:

Mulvey breaks down the patriarchal subconscious that is reflected in films. The pleasure in looking (scopophilia) that the audience experiences is explained by the fetichism of having the privilege of looking at a woman in ways that in reality wouldn't be possible, being the woman the object to be look at and satisfy the male gaze. The woman is objectified, used for the visual pleasure of the men, showing parts of her body in close-ups. The man's troubles and desires are the main storyline, whilst the woman is only orbits around him in a passive role. He actively participates in the reality created in the film, where she is just an enjoyable distraction.

Storey is supporting Mulvey's statements about the activeness of the male in opposition to the women's passiveness. In the text, he explains the Oedipus complex makes impossible for the men to fulfil their lack. Far from contradicting Mulvey, he proposes a solution where the male can be visually pleased without objectifying a woman.

Dyer analyses the sexualisation of males in film. More particularly, William Holden in Picnic. Dyer claims Holden is sexualised by his athletic physique through feminine coded positions but telling heroic anecdotes. He also mentions the relation between males and females in film. There is a pleasure of masochistic relationship where the female is the star and fills male's ego. He observes that despite what Mulvey claims about the woman being the victim, she is the one retaining the control of this masochistic contract where he will never have her. Therefore the male does not just play a passive role, but an active one where, as Dyer says, he suffers as well.

The Ignorant Schoolmaster

The first lecture we've had this year, The Flipped Classroom, was about education from the perspective of the marxist Jacques Ranciére.

I found this lecture very interesting, since I have personal interest in communist theories. How inverting the roles we have been using the last decades (if not right now) are actually in the opposite direction of the learning path of evolution. Is very interesting to see how all this started in France during the 60's to use this time as a reference if one day I need to look this up.

I also found very informative how the visual communication is a way of fighting against the world and how it was noticeable in that time. The problem is when a revolution is comercialised, like Che Guevara's face. Is at that point when we can say the revolution has failed. It also reminded me of movements like the punk or hip-hop, where their initial values seem to be dead and belonging to other times.

The School of the Damned is something I never imagined it could exist. It's important to have individuals in our society that constantly dare the current educational system by breaking the rules of teachers and students in order to thrive to a more intellect-sharing society rather than the one we are leaving in, based on hierarchies, control, indoctrination, selfishness and judgmentalism.

Production

Considerations













Final choice:

Haircuts sketches

Perfumes

I started this brief with an idea of designing a logo and identity for a haircut store. But after exploring different fields where genderisation happens, I've eventually decided to do something related to perfumes as it is a more flexible field.

Some of the shapes are quite neutral, but the colour is sometimes decisive. Dark and primary colours like black, blue, red, etc are associated with manhood, while light ones are related to women, like pink, gold, purple, etc.

The shapes on the designs for men are more sharp, but not necessarily. The details are what makes them identifiable for the consumer. Some designs are quite obvious, with the bottle with a shape of a body or a fist.

After some research I could tell that designs for men perfumes can be neutral or more ungenderised, and they are appealing for men. This doesn't really happen with designs for women. They have some extra details or a clear genderisation to appeal this public. This is probably because back in time the designs were always to appeal men, but when publicists found out that women were the ones in charge of shopping it was then when they had to find a way to appeal to this public, and what we see today it's a product of that. Therefore, ungenderised things might be considered things for men, while things for women are normally genderised.

Another thing I realised is that for this kind of bottles the designers normally use the space between the container part and the outside to create shapes out of it or even illusions. This space have more curvy shapes for women's and more sharp for men's. The design for women perfumes are less simplistic and more refined. Also, small sizes with big caps are usually used for women's perfumes, for swanky purposes maybe? Men's designs are more likely to be opaque.

I think most of nowadays designs for women can be summarised in 1 word, passion. While designs for men can be shortened in another one: Power. In order to deconstruct what it's already constructed, an unisex design should represent different concepts from these two. Equally and not necessarily one of them above the other.

Although, It's not about what the bottle looks like, but in what context it is set. This is because many current bottle designs are actually not so genderised, and their identification can be tricky. Besides, the essay is about the advertisement and package rather than the product itself. So I am going to use a template created by someone else on internet of a perfume in a handcrafted bottle and experiment with colours and typefaces to identify the possible solutions to this problem providing a genderless design.

In order to do this, I am going to maintain a very minimalist design so the colours and typeface gain importance. The results will be classified based on my personal interpretation towards the design until I find one or several genderless combinations.

Helvetica (Ambiguous. Name stays in Helvetica from now and on to mix it with other serif typefaces with gender connotations)

Trajan - Helvetica (Hierarchy and power connotations. Experimentation to separate power and men)

Bodoni - Helvetica (Bodoni brings glamour and high fashion connotations. It can be easily masculinised)


Conclusions: Everything that has pink or blue on it is genderised straight away. Golden colours have two lectures: glamour or power. A garnet colour for the box and pink colour for the bottle create an incoherence, so not always different components can be mixed to add meanings to something. But it's interesting to see how the combinations with colours that are supposed to be masculine can be used for feminine designs, while it can't be that way the other way around. Once it has pink, it can't be masculine. But it can be black, blue (dark colours in general) and with a pink bottle it automatically becomes feminine. This is because of what was previously explained: masculine designs may be considered genderless, but not femenine designs.


Feminine Approaches:







Masculine approaches:













Genderless:









Incoherence:






Leaving the colour on a side, if the importance comes from the typeface, it's interesting to see how playful typefaces, like Moonflower, have no masculine connotations at all. A product like this can be clasified as feminine.




It's interesting to see how Bodoni, which has high fashion connotations, can stay a little bit genderless, but still a bit feminine because of a more than probably unconscious association.




A more classic typeface like Garamond brings more ambiguity. It makes the box look traditional and not interfering with other interpretations.

So, In theory, the use of colourful, vivid or playful elements might normally lead to interpret that it is a femenine product. While dark colours mixed with very basic ones (gold, black, white) can make either a masculine or a genderless outcome. Although, a colour can be vivid, and if it's not mixed with others or used along striking typeface, it can also be genderless.

Another thing I've noticed asking other people for feedback and to see if they think like me, with some of my genderless decisions they think they are masculine. And the pink colour is more associated with young women rather than women in general.

After all of this experimentation and the feedback, I've decided to design a very simple brochure with the combination of elements that were found most genderless.

Evaluation of WIP

The purpose of this post is reviewing and evaluating an example of CoP work-in-progress. Address effective elements and areas to develop further.



Evaluate questions to consider:

What were your initial aims?

My initial aims was to design something that is normally genderised and un-genderise it.
What processes / strategies have you used and why?

I've done experimentation with colour combinations and typeface that alongside with feedback sessions have allowed me to identify the most genderless choices.
What literature have you read that informs this work?

The same that has been mentioned in the essay.
Is the work effective (in terms of your aims)? In what ways? How do you know it is effective (testing)?

Not yet. For now it doesn't make the audience think about a gender when it's picked. Nevertheless, it has to be more focused on perfumes.

I know its effectiveness because of the experimentations and feedback previously mentioned.

Does it communicate what it should do (in what ways)?

It should communicate more sophistication and it should look more perfume related.

What are the successful elements and why?

Colours and typeface. Probably because I've had experimentation with it, and not with shapes.

What areas need improving or developing further and why?

Shapes, layout, to properly communicate the message that is intended to.

Toys

Genderised toys
















Ungenderised toys

Store fronts with connotations of femininity

Designs with connotations of femininity. Curves, ornamentation, sophistication, relaxation, thin typeface









































Connotations of masculinity: Straight lines, lack of ornamentation, classic, simmetry (they look like book/coffee shops)














unisex (they can be confusing and don't look like a hair salon