Friday, 5 December 2014

Theories of Identity, Stryker Vs McCall and Simmons

Theories of Identity

Sheldon Stryker comparison with George J McCall and JL Simmons

Stryker’s identity theory is mainly about the idea that there is a social structure and that structure dictates how a person creates an identity. However in the McCall and Simmons theory it is not so structured. Their theory is that is more about how someone wants to be seen and be supported as that identity. The similarities are that in both theories, the identity can change but it needs an acceptance by audience.

In Stryker’s theory he writes that a person identity is all about the social context. The importance of that identity will change on the social surroundings, meaning a person can change their identity. The organization of the identity is chosen by environment, the way a person speaks to their boss is different to the way they speak to friends.  The more important the job is the higher the identity goes in the salience hierarchy and the more real the identity becomes. This is similar to McCall and Simmons’ idea that the more reward you get from a role performance the more the role becomes real. However, they say that a person already has an expectation of their role. If their role performance gets less of a reaction to what they were thinking the person beings to leave that role/identity alone. The higher reaction or more of a reaction they were thinking of, the more they start to commit tot the role. Commitment to a role in Stryker’s theory is all about getting that role legitimized. The more the role is commitment to with success the self-esteem becomes better, meaning the role will be more successful. In McCall and Simmons’ they talk about reward systems. There are intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards are more physical like money whereas intrinsic rewards are emotional like happiness. There is also support of an identity, which is the most important. These rewards are similar to Freud’s idea about the Ego. The three different egos play a part in identity making, but Superego itself is all about having goals, which relates to winning the role support. Freud’s theory on the Ego having a defensive mechanism is also apparent in McCall and Simmons’ theory, they suggest if a role isn’t supported a person can blame a lot of different things such as the audience themselves.

However, in the Stryker theory it suggests an identify is made with the environment in mind, knowing it will fit into the situation in hand.  Like the Lacan’s idea of the Mirror Stage, things are determined at birth. Your social environment is determined when you are born so persons social surroundings are already well known. A person will know how to act around certain people because they have learned this for a while.


There are a lot of similarities between the two theories but one is more structured and predetermined than the other. Stryker’s is more about social environment and being appropriate with the social structures. Whereas McCall and Simmons’ is more about role acceptance and a person self-belief.

Thursday, 13 November 2014

CoP 2 Lecture 7, Consumerism: Persuasion, Society Brand, Culture

Points of lecture - 
Rise of US consumerism 
Links between consumerism and our unconscious desires
Sigmund Freud
Edmund Bernays 
Consumerism as social control

Sources
Adam Curtis - Century of Self, 2002
Naomi Klein - No Logo, 1998

Freud - 
New theory of human nature
Psychoanalysis
Primitive forces and animal instincts need controlling
Civilisation and it's discontents 

Unconscious part of your mind is made up of ID, Ego and Superego
ID is our unconscious part of our mind that makes us do things, most natural 

1930
Fundamental tension between civilization and the individual 
Human instincts incompatible with the well being of community
The Pleasure Principle 
The animalistic desires an not compatible with modern society, so they are suppressed

WW1 indicated Freud's theories and his ideas of repressed animal instinct. Things like this is expected.

Bernays -
Press Agent
Employed by public info during WW1
Set up The Council on Public Relations
Birth of PR
Based on his uncles Freuds ideas
Crystallizing Public Opinion 1923
Propaganda 1928

He realised if you make people think that their instinct desires are met when they buy things, they will buy more and create a demand for things. [PR]

He made it less of a taboo for women to smoke, 1929 Easter day Parade. He paid all these debutantes to start smoking, tipped off the newspapers. Bernays made women want to smoke, feel independent and feel sexy.

Product placement
Celebrity endorsements 
The use of pseudoscientific reports

Politicians began using these techniques to become cooler and make them more attractive for everyone

Fordism
Henry Ford
Transposes Taylorism to car factories of Detroit 
Assembly line
Productivity increases to increase the wage, allowing workers to buy more products

Products were being made more and more, so branding and identity was needed. In order to make people want to buy their product over someone else's.

Products are now sold not on the need for something but the desire for it. 

Marketing hidden needs -
Selling emotional security
Selling reassurance of worth
Selling ego-gratification
Selling Creative outlets
Selling Love Objects
Selling sense of power
Selling a sense of roots

Walter Lippmann 
Public Opinion 1920
A new elite is needed to manage the bewildered herd
'manufacturing consent'




Monday, 3 November 2014

Making Connections

Deconstruction and Pastiche 

Deconstruction - Jacques Derrida observed a tendency in philosophy and theory 'to create dualistic oppositions and install a hierarchy that unfortunately privileges one term of each dichotomy' Reynolds IEP

Its a mode of questioning these assumed hierarchies and structures
His theory was spread through Universities and art schools in Europe and US in 70's and 80's


'Design, Writing, Research' Lupton and Miller, 1996 - 

Reality is built up on a foundation of representation - Derrida

Opposition believed that speech was privileged over writing

Speech/writing - Writing/typography - Seeing/reading

Hori, experimented with typography which had a significant impact on the type world, creating a lot of different genres. 




Deconstruction can change adjust typography meaning on the written word. But punctuation and things like that can not be seen as signs or semiotics. 

Type can be used to trick, to help read, or tell a story. It can be used to communicate a certain aspect, pick out the main information thats most important. 

Pastiche - 

Concept written mostly by Fredric Jameson. Pastiche is a parody of art and work. Appropriating styles from the past. He doesn't like capitalism and create work with a historical style is bad. 

Examples of Pastiche




Question time

EDITORIAL
TYPOGRAPHY
BRANDING
ADVERTISING
PRINTMAKING
NEW MEDIA

What is the general theme? - editorial, printmaking, typography etc
What are the current contextual/ historical issues of the general theme -  mind maps, lists
What do I want to know or be able to do in regard to this theme? - form this into question that implies a conclusion, what, how , to what extent
How does this relate to my [increasingly specialist] practice?



Wednesday, 22 October 2014

Theories of Identity


We had to read this before the seminar, which was a lot harder than I thought it would be. This a very dense and difficult piece of writing to understand and talk about. Going through it together made it easier to understand however.


Discussion - Stryker (1980)

- Role performance based on information in a given situation
- We adopt identities that compliment others in the current social scenario
- Self objectification
- The process of learning what identity to adopt in a given social scenario
- Commitment to an identity - if an identity is validated then commitment will increase
-Social structures (expectations)
- Social structures can be rigid or fluid
- Salience Hierarchy - the hierarchy of identities based on success and important to the individual


Discussion McCall and Simmons (1960)

- Self criticism - self review is more important than others
- Idealised idea self -Ideal self
- Always some dissatisfaction as we hold high standards for ourselves
- Over perform to begin with then adjustments are made in reaction to others approval/disapproval
- Places too much emphasis on self image as opposed to other people
- Ideal image in line with plans and goals
- Identity is the driving force for behaviour
- 'Exchange negoation'
- 'Altercasting' act of persuasion identity with force on other people. Rewards, extrinsic - intrinsic

How might these be used to inform your graphic design practise

Identity of a brand - changes to what culture they're in
Trends
Design how you want to be known for
Don't commit straight away to one design look


Wednesday, 7 May 2014

Evaluation OUGD401

BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN
LEVEL
04
 Module Code 
OUGD403               


 Module Title
DESIGN SKILLS


END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION

NAME
Molly  Goggin



1.  What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

I’ve developed my skills of thinking why I’m doing something. I look at designs I’m making and ask if something’s necessary or if the context of the thing is appropriate. It’s important to understand why you’re doing something and who will see it etc, so understanding the context Is really helpful. This module has definitely made me think about this kind thing.



2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

For the publication brief, I definitely thought of context in line with my design. Because the publication was about Constructivism it was appropriate to rely this information visually as well as in text. I did this with constructing a publication in a Constructivist way.

Research for the essay was really important and I think I did my research quite thoroughly in order to make my essay a good piece of writing. 




3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?


I think because my publication idea was quite ambitious I didn’t know if I was able to do it but the fact that I did try and didn’t give in to the second idea makes me positive I can try more ambitious things in other modules.

I also think my research and knowledge of Russia really helped me with my essay. So I think I already used my knowledge to make the essay easier for me, but by using it for a publication it also made me learn more about Constructivism.

So I think in this module I have used the research and really put it with the context or the publication and made it more of a thing than just a book or series or posters etc.










4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?

Time management for this module went out the window a bit. I think because it is a slow going yearlong module it quickly catches up with you. So although I got everything printed and done I did have a panic and had to make another publication in case I couldn’t hand in the main one. Although the smaller one does coincide well with the build a book.
I definitely will make more time for the module and make sure I have to print with extra time if anything goes wrong.




5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

Time management – book printing slots in a lot earlier – less stress
Question tutors more – If I’m a bit stuck, I should ask for help – more ideas etc
Organisation – Should organise time to go over first brief before hand in
Research – research for publication and how to create it wasn’t as thorough as possible
Run crits – within class I would of liked to run student lead crits








6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas:
(please indicate using an ‘x’) 

5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor

1
2
3
4
5
Attendance
x




Punctuality
x




Motivation


x


Commitment


x


Quantity of work produced

x



Quality of work produced

x



Contribution to the group


x


The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.