Study Task- 03 - Summarising and referencing

In today's session with Simon we had to create a extensive mind map of our chosen topic.
My topic was Political, so i wanted to try to have a range of things on my mind map, but with a little extra focus on the Nazi's raise to power in WW2, as this is the area i want to go in the direction off.

This was the mind map:

On finishing what we could on the mind maps, we then had to gather in groups of our subjects and talk through our ideas and what we've discussed on our maps.

Next short task Simon gave us was to write a short hypothesis on our topic question, also our hypothesis only had to focus on the direction we wanted to go into. The question for political was "Discuss the roll that graphic design has played in the political and social change in a specific period".

This was my hypothesis:

Graphic design played a very crucial role in the Nazis raise to power during ww2 and even to this very day, especially in terms of propaganda. Hitler’s Reich minister Joseph Goebbles saw the huge advantage and benefits from using propaganda as a source of corrupting people’s beliefs. Joseph saw the advantage from portraying propaganda through different media from advertisements, books, films and magazines.

It was a huge chance for Hitler to use propaganda to push his own agenda and to indoctrinate most of the German population to focus on anti semitism of Jews and to for Hitler to drill and brainwash his own ideology.

Task

The chapter i read was from the book "Propaganda print" and what it was talking about was what 5 aspects Hitler found to be extremely important and beneficial when creating any form of Propaganda. 

The five factors were:

1. Avoid abstract ideas and appeal instead to the emotions.
2. Employ constant repetition of just a few ideas, using stereotyped phrases and avoiding objectivity.
3. Put forth only one side of the argument.
4. Consistently criticise enemies of the state.
5. Identify on enemy for special vilification.

The quote i found most interesting in this book was from Joseph Goebbles and it read:

"It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. What after all a square and a circle? They are mere words and words can be moulded until they clothe ideas in disguise"

Moore, C. (2010). The Nazis. In: Propaganda prints. LONDON: A&C Black Publishers Limited. p146-149.

Study Task- 1 Image Analysis Exercise

Context of Practice Task 1 Image Analysis Exercise 

We have two pieces of design the Uncle Sam Range and the poster by Savile Lumley, both are extremely different to each other but some similarities do exist but which is hidden. The typeface used on Uncle Sam’s design shouts strength, stability and power. The type is a western serif font, which has a very important link with the Wide west cowboy era for the Americans, using this font will suggest America as a rising power as an independent country. Still emphasising on power the typeface colour choice of gold portrays wealth and also links back with the wide west style. In contrast to this the other design (poster by Savile Lumley) this choice of font is a completely different style and concept. Using a Sans serif font paints a very different image and is perceived as more personal, less strict and more informal then the serif font used in Uncle Sam’s design. Using a sans serif font with the word “daddy” makes a more personal connection to the audience, as the calligraphy font would be a representation of a child’s handwriting.

Both designs have a main purpose attached to it. Uncle Sam’s design is all about the American dream and giving the target audience the idea of America being a great nation as an independent country, there are multiple aspects in the design to back this up. Even though the main purpose of this advertisement is to sell Uncle Sam’s cooker it isn’t main focus as its push way off to the left. Many details in the designs instantly grabs your attention straight away, firstly Uncle Sam which in America is represented as an American icon used for promotion and propaganda purposes and Uncles Sam is a close resemblance to one of the great American president, Lincoln. Next thing is the list of counties the globe is holding, this shows culture superiority suggesting that America being only 100 years into independence is eating better quality food then most global countries that have been around for much longer. The independence date is pointed out on the clock on the mantle piece, 1776 showing the date of independence and 1876 showing the date as the present moment. As a whole the design shouts patriotism and representation of how well America is doing as a global power.

Savile Lumleys image is complete opposite it was design during the Great War, which was world war one. One important point of this image was when it was design. The poster was design during the war its self, so even though the war hasn’t ended the designer still suggests that Britain has or will win the war and this is life after the war. There are many points in the image to back this point up. Firstly the wording “great war” still gives of the impression of the war being already named even though Britain was still fighting the Germans during this stage, but the designer has still gone ahead and giving the war a title suggesting victory. Also the children are an important focus of the design, the girl is reading books about the history of the war and the boy is playing with miniature little queens guards. Looking at all these details you can gather that the design was meant to represent life after war and how good life is for Britain. The main point of this image was to shame the man for not participating in the war as in the days of the Great War men couldn’t be forced to join the war so many middle class and rich men would avoid the conflict. Looking at the wording of the type and the emphasis on the word “you” we can come to the conclusion that the man is the main target and also the mans face comes across ashamed even embarrassed and is somewhat avoiding his daughters glare, while she is asking what he did during the war.

The target audience intended for the Uncle Sam’s range was aimed at men who didn’t necessarily want the cooking range to cook for themselves but what the range represents as a whole, the American dream, the American fantasy that has been perceived within the design. However what’s being communicated is just fabrication and isn’t a real prospect for the buyer but just the thought alone is enough to inspire any man, especially a man who wants to show of wealth and power as a family unit. This point of a man taking care of his family is very important in both designs but is shown very differently in both scenarios on one hand Uncles Sam’s design shows incentive for the family man to become more wealthy and proud to be apart of the American dream and on the other hand the Savile Lumley design is aimed at the family man but this time instead of being proud of your county its more about the country embarrassing and shaming him as a family man, as he didn’t serve his role in the war and as a protector.