SB2 Study Task 04 - Defining the brief

Research Focus:

Body positivity campaigns, healthy eating adverts, fashion and beauty models

Defining the Problem:

Young people are constantly shown images of the 'perfect body' in fashion and beauty advertisements, these models are usually tall and slim with toned stomachs and no flaws such as stretch marks or cellulite. Not only is this unrealistic to expect of real women, it often isn't true of the models themselves as software such as Photoshop is used dramatically in the industry. A few celebrities have actually spoken out on the issue such as Lady Gaga on her cover for Glamour magazine. A lot of adverts seen are actually body shaming women such as the 'Are you beach body ready' from Protein World, these kinds of images are what gives women of all ages self esteem issues.

Client needs/ requirement:

Dove - To create a series of posters/ prints to promote body positivity. The designs must be eye catching and appeal to women as well as men so that they are aware of the issue. They must be suitable for public viewing as they will be plastered on billboards, poster stands and advert space on the underground and bus stops etc.

Audience:

Everyone, the posters are to speak to and inspire those who aren't very confident and have self esteem issues as well as those who don't, but need to realise how much of an issue it is. Particularly young people, the campaign should be fun and illustrative and take a fresh approach away from the photographs of women.

Essay 2

Protein World

• banned from london underground
• still bring out more offensive body shaming images
• unrealistic of what the product has to offer
• sexist
• ads that hit back at this - https://www.creativereview.co.uk/ads-of-the-week-21/

Victoria's Secret 

• doesn't show any women from different ethnic backgrounds
• all women all lean and fit
• change.org petition launched about the ad
• unrealistic beauty standards
• stores don't sell lingerie for bigger women
• VS shows only feature very slim girls

Dove

Parodies

SB1 Study Task 03 - Possible images

Below are some of the images I am considering to use for the second essay in which I will discuss the relevance to the topics I spoke about in my first essay.

An infographic comparing the dimensions of a Barbie doll compared to the average size of a real woman. It clearly shows that the figure is unrealistic and even unhealthy. 

A magazine cover featuring musical artist Lady Gaga, the image is photoshopped and Gaga actually spoke out about this issue. 

""I felt my skin looked too perfect, and my hair looked too soft. This is not usually how I dress or how I carry myself."

"I believe my true mission is to inspire young people to fight back against forces that make them feel like they're not beautiful or important. I do not look like this when I wake up in the morning.

"When I look out into the audience every night, I feel a strong opposition to the corporations that are around me. I know they see the faces of my fans and they see dollar signs. This is not what I see at all. I see friendship and love."

An ad campaign for LUSH the cosmetics retailer that ran in August and September of 2015 in Australia. The image promotes positive body image and features 4 of the company's employees. There was a complaint made to the Advertising Standards Bureau claiming the image was 'pornographic in nature' however LUSH stood by the campaign. 

An advert from Protein World that was eventually banned from London underground transport as a lot of people considered it offensive and sexist towards women. The image shows a very slim model who seems to have no imperfections but a very toned and shapely figure. It is unrealistic for most women and extremely rude to portray this as the only body type deemed 'beach ready'. The image was advertising a range of weight loss supplements and meal replacements - the ad is implying that using the product will allow you to achieve this body however all it has primarily done is make women feel embarrassed about their bodies if they do not look like that.

Yet another example of body shaming, the ad features Angels from 2014 in Victoria's secret usual revealing underwear with the words "The Perfect 'Body". The campaign is spreading unrealistic beauty standards at a shameful level. The marketing is seen as harmful to Uk residents Frances, Black, Gabriella Kountourides and Laura Ferris who launched a Change.org petition demanding that the company change the wording of their advertisements. This ad features one type of woman - fit and lean, see contrasting ad below by Dove that features women of all heights, skin tone and body shapes. The Dove image is a lot more relatable to women around the world. 

Dove hit back with this ad that is part of their campaign 'Campaign for Real Beauty' launched by Unilever in 2004.  The campaign includes advertisements, videos, workshops and events with the aim of celebrating the natural physical variation embodied by tall women and inspire them to have the confidence to be comfortable with themselves. 

Essay 1

A number of authors, scholars and medical professionals have considered how the manipulation of digital images in the media affects society; namely the use of Photoshop and other editing software to create unrealistic ideas of the human body. The American Medical Association has brought the issue to light and has said they are going to be ‘taking a stand against image manipulation in advertising, stating that alterations made through processes like Photoshop can contribute to unrealistic body image expectations, eating disorders and other emotional problems.’ Krawitz (2014) claims that for the Western World in the past 50 years ‘thin’ has been the ideal body type and considered the most attractive, this is due to a model’s weight generally being ’20 per cent lower than a healthy person’s weight.’ Krawitz (2014). Both of these are factors for women today believing their own body is ‘fat’ and ‘unattractive’ but as well as this having an impact on ‘real’ women; the models themselves are under the most pressure with a large majority admitting to eating disorders and sadly a small amount dying from anorexia caused by extreme dieting. However there are people who have a different view on the whole issue, photographers and artists such as Jeff Schewe of Photoshop News “We have wonderful tools to create images, new digital cameras and photographic digital printers and powerful tools such as Photoshop and we are expected to do what – nothing? I don’t think so”. People should be educated on what is real and what is not. Krawitz (2014) says that readers cannot tell what has and what has not been Photoshopped – a lot of people believe everything they see to be factual and real.

There are a number of questions to be asked regarding this issue: Should unrealistic Photoshopping of people be banned? Should there simply be a warning on any doctored images so that the consumer knows? Should there be laws in place to stop models with eating disorders being able to work – forcing them to get help and be healthy? Well in Israel they decided to step up and do something about the growing numbers of young girls being unwell. Krawitz (2014) ‘In Israel, doctors diagnose over 1,500 new people with an eating disorder annually and ten percent of Israeli teenagers suffer from eating disorders.’ Their Photoshop law came into effect early 2013 and it is designed to ‘Minimize the negative impact of exposure to advertisements depicting models as extremely thin’ in turn avoiding the development of eating disorders in people from the media. The law states that all models over the age of 18 must provide a doctor's note dated back no more than 3 months proving they have a healthy BMI before they can appear in adverts, commercials or other media. This would force the models to eat a healthy balanced diet in order to stay above the 18.5 ideal BMI number. Another point of view to consider is that of Rogers (1999) not directly related to the Photoshop argument however very relevant to the issue of eating disorders; Barbie ‘the ideal woman’ described by Mark a white male in his forties “perfect hair, shapely legs, faultless breasts, an hourglass torso. For many years this was how I perceived what an ideal woman was supposed to look like – the notion was planted in me from an early age, perhaps 5 or 6, when I got my first glimpse at an unclothed Barbie” The fact that the Barbie doll not only affected how young girls thought they would grow up to look like, but young boys believing this is what women were supposed to look like is deeply concerning. Before girls are old enough to idealise people such as models, actresses and singers they are given dolls to play with, that symbolise “ageless puberty, anorexia, fixation on appearance and clothes, and high heels” says Madeline, a university faculty member with another claiming she is the ‘cosmopolitan woman, a male pleasing woman’. The ideas sent out to the young by the whole Barbie franchise is that of a lie – Barbie can have any career she wants as long as she looks good; which is certainly not the philosophy you want to be teaching your children and spending money on.

Following on with messages received through products and advertisement Arnold (2011) argues that there is very little if any scientific evidence for media exposure leading to eating disorders, comparing the accusations to “ads for disinfectant somehow promoting OCD or Bluetooth headsets promoting schizophrenia because it looks like you’re talking to yourself”. Not everything we see and read must be taken so literally however some people don’t have the ability to filter. For these people the solution could be to add a warning to publications and advertisements to make everyone aware that some of the content isn’t necessarily realistic – a French Parliament member, Valerie Boyer tried to implement a law that would fine any advertisers up to 50 per cent of the cost of the campaign if they failed to add a warning that read ‘Retouched photograph aimed at changing a person’s physical appearance”. However the bill was not successful as the President and First Lady had both been Photoshopped in the past. Some blame editors at high fashion magazines for the use of skinny models and photo manipulation however Clements (2013) former editor-in-chief Vogue Australia claims “Most people accuse editors of photoshopping images for the girls to look slimmer, on occasion we had to do it the other way round”. I believe these standards come from the root – being the fashion designers themselves and those who cast for the shows. Lagerfeld (2013) “No-one wants to see curvy people on the catwalk” the head designer and creative director of Chanel is known for saying controversial things and heading one of the biggest brands in fashion a lot of models are influenced. Another part of the industry to point the blame towards is the agencies with a survey by Model Alliance (2012) showing that 64.1 percent of models had been asked to lose weight by their agents, with a further 30 percent admitting that they suffer from an eating disorder.

In conclusion with all evidence and opinions under consideration a lot more research must go into the claim before any legislation about the use of Photoshop is put into place whether it be in the US or UK, however there is enough evidence to introduce laws about whether models can work or not under a certain BMI. Photographers and editors should have full creative rights but people need to be educated on their work and how it is art, not real life. It isn’t possible to stop all unrealistic media out there as it isn’t just professionals, but everyday people on social media using apps to make themselves look better; it is a part of the Western world today and it must be accepted whilst educating the young.

Bibliography:

F Rogers, M (1999). Barbie Culture.

M, Krawitz. (2014). Connection between eating disorders and media images.

Diller, V (PH.D). (2011). Is Photoshop destroying America's body image?

Stewart, D. (2009). France Proposes "Health Warning" Label On Photoshopped Images. Available: http://jezebel.com/5365104/france-proposes-health-warning-label-on-photoshopped-images.

Arnold, C. (2011). What's Photoshop got to do with it?. Available: http://edbites.com/2011/06/whats-photoshop-got-to-do-with-it/.

SB1 Study Task 02 - Triangulation & Referencing Task

Below is the triangulation task that I completed to aide the writing of my essay, it includes three different sources, the main ones I used to write my essay including the main points I took from the articles and books.

SB1 Study Task 01 - Finding Research Sources

Today in the context of practice session we looked at the list of quotes again and decided on the theme that we wanted to look into for our context of practice essays. I believe that the most interesting option to myself personally was society - mainly gender representation in the industry, body image and things related such as fashion and makeup - consumerism and advertising.

Jansson-Boyd, C. (2010) Consumer psychology. New York: McGraw Hill Education

"Many studies have found that both women and men do not believe that their current body form is attractive... Research has repeatedly found that physically attractive individuals are perceived by most to be socially more desirable than those that are perceived as being unattractive, something that is likely to have been reinforced by consumer societies..."

Finding research sources

CoP Theme: Society

Search terms/key words: Gender, body image, gender and advertising, gender and the media, gender representation, gender and branding, gender and consumer society

LCA Library	1: Body image: understanding body dissatisfaction in men, women and children.  /  Grogan, Sarah  (2007) 2:  Advertising cultures: gender, commerce and creativity  /  Nixon, Sean  (2003) 3: The media and body image: if looks could kill.  /  Gunter, Barrie  &  Wykes, Maggie  (2005)
Google Books (preview)	1:The Media and Body Image: If Looks Could Kill
Google Scholar	1: Body Image Dissatisfaction: Gender Differences in Eating Attitudes, Self-Esteem, and Reasons for Exercise ADRIAN FURNHAM NICOLA BADMIN IAN SNEADE Department of Psychology University College London
Websites	1: http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/laura-jordan-bambach-on-the-continued-need-for-equality-in-advertising-22-09-16 2: https://www.creativereview.co.uk/an-image-isnt-enough-you-have-to-have-some-sort-of-narrative-an-interview-with-isamaya-ffrench/ 3: https://www.creativereview.co.uk/ads-of-the-week-21/ 4: http://krytyka.org/gender-stereotypes-in-mass-media-case-study-analysis-of-the-gender-stereotyping-phenomenon-in-tv-commercials/ 5. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-greenberg/teens-makeup-selfesteem_b_3209198.html
JStor	1: Hidden Lines: Gender, Race, and the Body in "Graphic Standards" Lance Hosey Journal of Architectural Education (1984-) Vol. 55, No. 2, Gender and Architecture (Nov., 2001), pp. 101-112 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1425611 Page Count: 12 2: Alms for Oblivion: The History of Women in Early American Graphic Design Ellen Mazur Thomson Design Issues Vol. 10, No. 2 (Summer, 1994), pp. 27-48 Published by: The MIT Press DOI: 10.2307/1511627 Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1511627 Page Count: 22 3: Selling Mr. Coffee: Design, Gender, and the Branding of a Kitchen Appliance Rebecca K. Shrum Winterthur Portfolio Vol. 46, No. 4 (Winter 2012), pp. 271-298 Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Inc. DOI: 10.1086/669669 Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/669669 Page Count: 28

History of Type Lecture

Type: production & distribution

• type is language based - comes from spoken word, a movement from communication being oral to being physical.
• different methods of production have impacted on how type looks
• type - reading and writing is man made and has to be learnt.
• first written language was reciept for trade
• pre modern, modern, post modern
• bench mark of modernist type - helvetica
• off the back of bauhaus type designers started to appear - design to align to specific culture or product
• 1990 shift in graphic design and typography it was first Mac Classic available to buy for less than $1000
• moved away from using brushes and wood and into digital type design
• by making itself evident, typography can illuminate the construction and identity of a page, screen, place or product.
• enemy of type - vincent connare 1994 comic sans
• 1990 - tim berners - www - could communicate without print
• 1995 - bill gates brought in internet explorer, imposed a bunch of rules for the world wide web.
• john clark - reducing size of documents so we can read them , however this has affected our ability to read long documents.
• stopped speaking and started typing, relationship between written and spoken word started to flux
• we have started to replace words and ideas with smiley faces - take us back in reverse to pictures how letters started.
• language is fluid
• post modernism- 
• 1977 - jamie reid - visual culture that surrounded punk, non modernist, getting rid of grid, tearing type up, integrated way
• viv westwood fashion
• john heartfield, anti society 1932
• london print studio 2014
• 1979 - barbara kruger
• 1992 - david carson - anti graphic designer, actually more of a modernist - ray gun, undermining the grid

History of the image Lecture

The second lecture of the series was an exploration of the history of the image, jumping back and forth in time. The aims of the lecture were:

• To quickly introduce you to a broad range of visual communication from different cultures, contexts, and epochs. 
• To demonstrate how creative and tangential connections and continuities can be traced between these diverse examples. 
• To provide you with a visual resource which will hopefully help you solve briefs creatively. 
• To introduce some of the philosophical and theoretical approaches to visual communication that we will develop over the next two years. 
• To demonstrate the power of visual communication.

There is a primal raw spiritual feel about image making.  No one really understands what the primal drawings in the cave mean, there are animals, strange patterns, speculation about what they mean, recordings from the date? Best reading is that they are attempts to commune with some sort of higher power, images of magic. In many ways we still do this now. Lascaux Caves, France.

The same thing, there is some more energetic and spiritual about the painting, it shows emotion and power.

Controversial exhibition Pompidou Paris, aboriginal sand painting, the aim is to try and prove the point that there is something kind of similar to what aborigionist have always done to what modern artists do now. Point being that there is continuity between past and present. There is something in the core of us and how we work that unites us all as people. Controversial culture imperialism.

Rothko, killed himself, when you look at a painting its supposed to be like looking into abis, revolutionary, but also depressive, you should feel the tragedy when you look at his work. Commissioned for the four seasons in NY, but he was a radical so felt guilt. He made gloomy paintings so the people in the restaurants felt sick. People stare at the paintings in a gallery and they often cry.

You have to travel to see art in galleries and museums; they sort of have authority over us. There are parallels between art in churches and in galleries. Religious experience, queue up then worship the mona lisa, get our digital proof and then leave having paid. The mona lisa - Enigmatic smile, meaningful because of its characteristics? Or because people queue up to see it and its behind bullet proof glass – if it is because of this, institutions have complete power.

Exit through the gift shop, byproducts of capitalism. Products make the mona lisa more relevant and powerful across the world. The digital age make it so possible to take pictures of everything, scan and reproduce, the art is no longer private property.

Banksy art is created for free public viewing, then the art world decide they are commodities and are to be sold to galleries.

Jackson Pollock, carefully designed, more like a drawing with slaps of paint it isn’t just randomly distributed. He listens to jazz music and his body goes with it, he is involved in the painting he moves with the space. Supposed to be the soul just vomiting onto the canvas. 

Cia were funding Pollock to create free abstract expressionism work to contrast with the Soviet Union, it was a cultural weapon.

Guerrilla Girls – fed up with the fact that woman artists aren’t shown in the galleries, 11^th edition of the story of art until there was a woman included. Women are more beautiful, the objects and men are subjects. Using art as a weapon against art.

Some things to think about and research further:

• The fact that places are branded; they sell themselves through image of representation not real life.
• There are images of glamour in advertising and instore, is this an insecurity to us because we see something that we don't have, should our lives be different?
• Constructivism
• Socialist realism
• Steve Bell
• Anarchist
• Communism - Capitalism
• Abstract expression