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Activity 5A

Global warming and its prevention, was a research project I covered in Semester 1. I was investigating possibilities of what one person could do to reduce their carbon footprint and relating it to my design discipline, which is Textiles. I undertook secondary research from books and online journals to gain information on global warming, the concerns of prevention, and if one person can make a difference. To carry on this research I would have undertaken some primary research, which would have enhanced my work. I will go on to discuss this matter after explaining the research I have done.

I focused on getting secondary research from mainly books and online journals in order to find out more about global warming. I researched the book by J. F. Harrington called The Climate Diet: How You Can Cut Carbon, Cut Costs, and Save the Planet. Harrington believes that “global warming is not yet viewed by many as a current personal threat”, which is why even though we get bombarded in the news of the effects that global warming is having on our planet, people are still not changing their lifestyle to help reduce their own carbon footprint. He came up with very simple solutions, which were written in a very minimal language that everyone could apply without dramatically changing their lifestyle. I related this to textiles by looking at wallpapers, which you might think has nothing to do with global warming and you are right; at the moment it does not. But why should it not? One reason behind looking at wallpaper is that it is present in almost every building you enter and would be a constant reminder or a way of helping global warming. Wallpaper in Decoration by Jane Gordon Clark sees the potential of wallpaper along with many other artists because they see a blank wall as a blank canvas to put their ideas and designs on. She has researched light reflective papers, which reflect light back into the room. I was very interested in this concept because if the wallpaper is reflective then you need less light, therefore using less electricity and not feeding so much on the natural resources of our planet. By researching the potential in global warming prevention, we could determine whether wallpaper could be a success and whether it would make a difference to global warming. Therefore, I would need to do some primary research.

First, I would start by doing some observations of different types of people from students to families and pensioners. I would observe them in their homes and at work to see how they interact with the space and what they want from it. I predict this will differ within age groups and situations. By looking at a cross section of the population I would get a better view on how people interact within their home and work spaces. I would be looking for whether or not they recycle and what type of interaction they have with the interiors. This would look at whether they have photography, pictures or mirrors on their walls, how much electricity they use and how much it differs during the day, especially at night. For example, we could investigate into the matter of people leaving their televisions on standby during the night, which logically consumes electricity that is being wasted. By seeing how they interact in the space they live or work in, we can attain information on what the subject population is like, if they think they can help global warming and what they want from their interiors. By seeing what they want from interiors it would allow me to relate it to wallpapers and to observe if a light reflective wallpaper in the home or work space would be successful in design and in practice to lower the carbon footprint. I would observe fifteen groups of people both at work and at home to see if there is any difference in their behavior. I would observe each group of people around five times to make sure that the information I am collecting is more rounded and precise. By using observation as the first method of primary research I would gain a lot of information from a wide range of the population about what they do to help global warming and their home interiors.

To follow on from the observations, I would use the information I have gathered to create a mind map in order to generate questions for interviews. For the interviews I would get the subject population to sign a consent form before I conduct a semi-structured interview. I would need to first ask general information needed so I can get a cross-section of the population like their age and occupation. I would then conduct the interview, only asking questions that would provoke lengthy answers to gather more information, on what they think about global warming, what they are doing to prevent it and whether or not they could do more. I would also ask questions about their homes, focusing on how they have decorated it, how much electricity they use, and if their house in insulated. This information I would use to directly relate to wallpaper design concept to see if it would be viable. By getting this information and conducting the interviews I would hope to gain a broader understanding on what people think about global warming, how much do they really think they are doing and whether or not they actually are helping. The information on what they think about global warming and the prevention of it is critical because one cannot find much out about what people think purely by observation unlike looking at the interiors of home to relate to my wallpaper design concept.

To back up the research I did in semester one and following on from the observations and interviews, I would conduct an experiment. I would focus on Harrington’s belief that small changes make a big difference to global warming and utility bills. I would perform an experiment to see if people would be willing to make small changes. I would conduct this experiment over a month within fifteen homes of a cross-section of the population. I would ask them to reduce the temperature of their hot water by 10 degrees Celsius, if they use a tumble dryer to air dry clothes, turn off all lights and equipment after use and also if they have a dishwasher, to hand wash. These are all small changes to someone’s lifestyle. By conducting this experiment I would like to find out whether or not they are able to persist or find it difficult changing small things within their lifestyle and how much money and energy they have saved over that month. Also I would find out whether or not after the experiment they would continue doing these things. The experiment will provide me with facts if small changes do make a big difference to energy consumption and the environment. If there was a big change by just switching off equipment after use then it would seem viable that wallpaper design concept would make a difference. This will expand on my research I did in the first semester about global warming and its prevention.

The primary research that I would undertake would have its flaws. The main one, I believe, would be trying to persuade people to get involved. Where and how would I get people willing for me to come into their homes to observe them? I have thought about this and it would need to be friends of friends, or friends of the family because not a large amount people would let a stranger into their house to observe their habits. The other problem I considered is of people lying about how much they do to help with global warming. People would want to seem green and friendly. This is why when I would conduct the observation I would not tell them what I am particularly looking for.  Also during my interviews I think I would ask for more facts; for example where they recycle and what they recycle, because to me the more information they can give me the less likely they are lying. For the experiment I think it would be hard to avoid the observation problems of people not sticking to the routine so I could potentially ask them to keep a diary to log the information. If they did, for example, use the tumble dryer it could be taking into account when looking at the final information gathered at the end of the experiment. I would also need to see if putting up light reflective wallpaper would work to lower the carbon footprint. This would mean having a few trial homes with the wallpaper in it to see if they used less light and over electricity once it had been put up.

To sum up, I am interested in knowing whether small changes in someone’s lifestyle can make a difference to global warming. I would undertake observations, interviews and an experiment to back up and expand my research done in the first semester. Focusing on people’s thoughts on global warming, what they do to prevent it and what they want from a space they live in, I would see if something as simple as light reflective wallpaper could make a difference to global warming and if people are willing to make small changes to help save the planet.

Clark J. G. (2001)Wallpaper in Decoration, London: Frances Lincolm

Harrington J. F. (2008) The Climate Diet: How You Can Cut Carbon, Cut Costs, and Save the Planet, London: Earthscan

Activity 5B

Culture is a subject I tackled recently as a studio project. In my studio brief I decided to focus on British heritage, looking in detail at the structure of clothing especially suits.  I was interested in the details, the making and the structure of suits. During this project I did some secondary research into how suits are made and the tools that make them. If I did this design brief again I would carry on with my secondary research and undergo some primary research to get first hand information and good source drawings to help develop and expand my sketchbook.

To gather more information to attain a better understanding of British heritage and its fashion within the country, I would conduct more secondary research. I would look at books about the different types of suits, fashion of suits over a period of time to find out the different ways you can make suits, what tools are needed to make them, and who is well-known for the British heritage-influenced suits. The fashion forecasting magazines and latest fashion magazines are useful in helping to see what the latest fashion of suits are and how that could be incorporated in my designs to make more contemporized British heritage samples for my culture project. It would also give me a direction to go in my sketchbook by showing me what inspired the forecast and what the colour palette is. I would also look online at British contemporary suits designers and classic suit designer collections to give me a broader knowledge of what is in fashion and what makes a good suit. By continuing my secondary research I would gain an enhanced understanding of what makes a good suit design, which is essential to my work as I am making samples for a British heritage suit. It would also give me more ideas of what I could focus on in my sketchbook and to give me ideas of what first hand information I need from primary research.

To add more information and source drawing to my work I would undertake some primary research. I think the most important research I should have and would do, if I redid this project, would be observation. I would observe how suits are made, the stages in which they are made and the fabrics which professionals use to make good quality suits. By observing how suits are made, it would give me an insider’s knowledge of what makes a good suit; what details are important to look for when buying a suit and making one. The structure and details of the suit would also be shown clearly which is what I was most interested in within this project. It would give me a chance to get good source drawings and photography, which would have been a great asset to have in my sketchbook and to develop from. I would also observe how people buy suits and wear them. To do this I would go though the process of buying a custom made suit and see where and how they wear the suit. I would observe five people to see what they want from a suit. I would be interested if the tailors and the customers look for the same things in a suit or whether the tailor looked for something in particular when getting a suit. I would want to, from my observations, take away what to particularly focus on when doing my sketchbook and samples in order to make sure it contains the information on what makes a good suit.

To back up the information found out in the observations I would undertake interviews. I would give the participants a consent form to fill out and gather general information like age and occupation to make sure I have a good range of the population’s wants and likes. The interviews would give me knowledge of what people want from suits. Where they buy them? Do they get them custom made? Where do they wear suits? What do they look for when buying a suit? What style of suit do they like? What is their favorite suit and why? I would again be interested if the answers differ from the customers and the tailors. By getting information on why they like suits and what they want from them it would give me a better understanding on what to focus on when doing my sketchbook and samples. It would also hopefully confirm and expand on the information I collected from the observations. Primary research I think will be a vital part of my sketchbook and sample process because it gives a lot of information on the chosen subjects and it consists of first hand information of what people want and like, which is crucial to producing samples.

Primary and secondary research is vital to any project whether it be for studio work or for design studies. The steps, which I have outlined, which I would retake if I redid the brief about British heritage would give an extra depth to my sketchbook and make it more exciting because it would contain a lot more information. Design Studies has made me realize this. The things that we learn to do with research and how to take it on should be undertaken in all projects to get the most information possible in the shortest amount of time. I will definitely carry these research processes forward into third year and beyond.

Hey everyone!

So assignment 4 we have to interview people on a chosen topic to survey peoples attitudes and how the differ.

Activity 4A

The topic i have chosen – What objects do people treasure most? why?

So i had to make up some questions for the interview which would give me the answer to the question. I therefore brainstormed the subject about how we collect objects and how they become valuable. Some of my conclusions were that they were given by a friend/family/Boyfriend/Girlfriend making them a very personal gift. Other ideas were photo/ticket stubs/souvenirs which remind the person of a memory or moment in time. Or it could be something passed down along the family. These are my main ideas of my things become things we treasure.

Activity 4B

For the interview i have conducted it in a Semi-structured  approach – these follow a plan but you can deviate to follow up interesting comments in more detail.I  may have questions written down as prompts or general topic areas.

My 1st interveiw

1. What was the last thing given to you?

She got for her birthday and Ipod and a few bits and bobs.

2. Who gave you the present?

Her flatmates .

3. Did you like it?

Yes

4. Why did you like it?

It was given to her on her birthday by her friends which she loves. It was a very thoughtful present because she told me that her Ipod had got stolen a few weeks previous to her birthday and she was overwhelmed when she got another because she takes it everywhere with her.

5.  What is the last thing you gave someone?

She got her friends birthday present which was a bottle of wine and a card.

6. Why did you think they would like it?

It was for her 21st birthday present so she thought wine was appropriate and the card was cute.

7. What was the last thing that you bought for yourself?

She bought herself some t-shirts and a dress

8. Why did you buy it?

She needed some new t-shirts and she bought a dress for her birthday to herself to wear.

9. What sort of things do you collect?

ticket stubs from cinema, theatre, flights, nights out and concerts. Things from holidays as little souvenirs.

10. Why do you keep them and collect them?

It reminds her off good times with her friends, of good performances and as a little reminded.

11. Do you have memories from the things you have kept?

Lots of good times and memories.

12. what object of yours would you consider the most valuable?

her phone

13. why is it valuable to you?

It is the main way she gets in touch with friends and family. She is from Dubai which means her phone is the main way of her getting in contact with her family.

14. what object would you consider the most precious to you?

She has a precious stone – a white dimond

15. why is it precious to you?

She got it from her parents for her 16th birthday and it is really valuable and expensive.

Interview 2

1. What was the last thing given to you?

A book. Ian Rankin mental land

2. Who gave you the present?

His dad

3. Did you like it?

He has not read it yet

4. Why did you like it?

He has not read it since he is reading another book at the moment but he liked the 1st installment of this book which made him want the 2nd installment of it.

5.  What is the last thing you gave someone?

Coffee

6. Why did you think they would like it?

They like coffee. It was a new product by starbucks. It was instant coffee that apparently taste just as good as a real thing. Starbucks have even invited him to come one morning and have a blind fold test to see if he can taste the difference.

7. What was the last thing that you bought for yourself?

Dvd’s all sci-fi

8. Why did you buy it?

There was a sale since the shop is closing down, his sister told him off the sale after she bought 18 dvd’s for only 21 pounds. She said that he had to go therefore influencing him to go.

9. What sort of things do you collect?

books that he has read or wants to read

10. Why do you keep them and collect them?

Because he loves reading and re-reading and finding things that he did not notice the 1st, 2nd, 3rd time he read them.

11. Do you have memories from the things you have kept?

yes although he doesn’t really keep much. although there is a rock he got on holiday when he met a 10 year old kid for the day and he gave him the rock saying that if both of them kept the rocks then they would have a nice memory of them forever.

12. what object of yours would you consider the most valuable?

His macbook laptop

13. why is it valuable to you?

For education and profit and he does computing at uni and has his own web development business and could not function without it.

14. what object would you consider the most precious to you?

Blue Bear – a teddy

15. why is it precious to you?

It was given to him when he was born and has been like a safely blanket to him when he was young.

3rd Interview

1. What was the last thing given to you?

a hug

2. Who gave you the present?

Jane his friend

3. Did you like it?

yeah

4. Why did you like it?

Bacause he just died in a computer game and was dissappionted

5.  What is the last thing you gave someone?

birthday wishes

6. Why did you think they would like it?

yeah if he didnt he would get hit from his friend for forgetting so she was happy that he remembered.

7. What was the last thing that you bought for yourself?

computer game- battlefield 1942

8. Why did you buy it?

to play his friend in lectures because they are boring

9. What sort of things do you collect?

old computers

10. Why do you keep them and collect them?

He keeps them for personal learing about computers

11. Do you have memories from the things you have kept?

no

12. what object of yours would you consider the most valuable?

photos

13. why is it valuable to you?

its his memories, reminds him of fun times so he doesn’t forget them.

14. what object would you consider the most precious to you?

graphics card for computer

15. why is it precious to you?

it makes computer games looks better and that is what he spends most of the day doing.

Activity 4C

So after the interviews i discussed it with a friend who also did the same question. We came to pretty much the same conclusions. For a 1st the girls that were interviewed went into much more depth about the questions asked making them easier to interview to extract the information we wanted. The boys said the bare minimum and required a lot of extra questions to get the details needed to fully answer the question. To remind you of the question it was what objects do people treasure most? why? i based my interview on the build up to this question and getting them to understand the difference of importance difference between valuable and treasured. Peoples valuable objects were mainly everyday objects like phones and laptops compared to the treasured objects were mainly useless something that you cant use but has a memory attached to it. so why do we keep things that are useless? do we need them as a constant reminder? why cant we just remember them on a day to day basis? i think we need objects that we treasure to remind us of good times and take us away of everyday dramas. It makes us that bit happier when we see something that we love. All the objects that were considered the most precious were given to the owner. mainly as birthday presents by parents for a massive birthday or when they were born. The objects that were with the owner throughout life seems the most precious as i am guessing that it has got them through the good and bad times when growing up. It is just a constant reminder of the fun they had a childhood. Do we need a reminder of our childhood? i think so. we need something to remind us that life is not about work it is about having fun and experiencing life and what better reminder than a childhood possession. It needs to  be a childhood possession because when you are a child life is about playing and having fun. It was interesting to find out why people why stuff, why they think people will like it and the stuff they kept because objects are the easiest way of showing who you are.

Assignment 3: Design Safari

Activity 3A: Observe and record

For this assignment I had to choose out of a list of places where we could sit and observe people. I had to watch people and look for rules of etiquette, how they interact, how they act in a certain environment and see if there are any unspoken and spoken rules.

I went to a coffee shop to do my observations and I realise how many rules of etiquette people do unaware when they are out and recorded these observations.

There are some observations I made about the staff, which were probably told about the rules of being nice to the costumer. I noticed that they were always cheerful, very polite, would let you go 1^st if walking somewhere, helping the elderly with their tray to their seat. All these I expect the job wants from them to make the enviroment friendly and welcoming.

In the queue everybody kept the same distance apart letting him or her have his or her personal space. No one talked unless they knew each other except the occasional old lady talking to someone about what it said on the board and the weather.

No one complained about the wait in the queue but just accepted it.  The norm was the one person would go and get the seats and the other would wait in the queue. Normally if it was a couple the women would wait in the queue while the guy sat down and read a free newspaper.  Always after the newspaper was borrowed it got put neatly back into the holder for other customers to use.

It was not only the staff that helped the elderly to the seat many of the costumers also did.  There was a seat etiquette, which you might see on buses that you tend not to share unless you know the person unless it’s busy. But if a couple had a table for four they were happy to move if a family came in to a smaller table if it came available.

While sitting down at the table everyone took the coffees off the tray and put them on the ground to allow more space and make it feel like there was less of a barricade between them. While at the table not many people had their elbows on the table, which shows, they were aware of their etiquette. Not many people had phones out unless waiting for someone and then they were put away.

I also noticed they way people ate was different. They were aware that they were out and that people would see them so things were cut up into tiny bites and a napkin was used between every few bites.

I have made sketches of the space but however need to find a scanner to put them up.

Activity 3B: Discussion

As a group we discussed the observations we made in different environments. Everywhere had the same seat etiquette. Also the waiting in line the space given. The eating etiquette changes if you were in a bus/train station that if you were in a museum or café. Everyone notices the help the elderly was given and the generally politeness of people. Although compared to a museum or gallery the bus station and shopping centres pulled up a little short for politeness.

Assignment 2

Activity 2A: Roland Barthes

In the 1^st part of this assignment we had to read The Rhetoric of the Image by Roland Bathes and then discuss as a group how this relates to our specific discipline mine being textiles.

The Rhetoric of the Image by Roland Barthes talks about semiotic analysis. In general he discusses an image used for advertising Italian food. He explains how everything in the image anchors a specific meaning and without some of the representations used the meaning would become less clear. It is similar to stuff if you have studied media studies about anchoring a specific meaning by objects, text, sound, camera shots etc. In the image shown since it is just a photograph only objects such as onions and tomatoes are used to show the consumer that these products are fresh and used from good ingredients. It has the label of the food repeated to make it easy to learn and to recognise if seen in a supermarket. The only thing added as text at the bottom to further anchor the mean. Barthes argues why all these ingredients the picture give a good representation on polysemic meanings. He also explains why the image would not be so effective if they did not have these images and texts to make a clear meaning.

We discussed this essay and related it to textiles.  Here are the bullet points of the points made during our discussion.

-What do clothes say about you?

-Culture?

-Need to know the background of the people you are designing for

-Accessorise to add extra information about what style you have. What group you belong to. For example a black top does not mean you’re a Goth but if you add extra information such as heavy black make-up, a cross, black nail polish it becomes clearer.

-Design clothes for different cultures- some clothes can have different meanings to different cultures.

-Clothes for different climates e.g. intuits reindeer is essential clothes others countries such as India seen as a crime to wear fur.

-All imagery within your clothes show who you are

-People judge what you wear to find out information about who you are

-Making a visual statement with your clothes

-Advertising who you are

-Clothes represent who you are.

-Symbolic meaning- political

-Writing on your clothes

-Advertising political views

-Advertising your tastes

-Using slogans to sow beliefs, views, and tastes

-Clothes that represent religion

-Show political stance

-Word of mouth epidemics- mavens

-Show your person interests and lifestyle

-Fabric

-Trade regulation

-Ethnical studies

-Used to mark down studies

-What is ethnical?

-Ignorance by consumers

-’Going green’

-Fair-trade- shop in the wellgate

-Selling you an idea

-Designer labels are you really paying for better quality of clothes? Or the label?

-Gok wan – advertising

-Clothes can represent gang warfare

-Colours- different cultures different meaning

-More information- narrows audience- design only for niche market

-Images can be seen differently by different people

-Fabric used to show status- velvet and silk used to be worn by kings now anyone can wear it.

-Jeans used to be only worn by the poor and prisoners now become everyday clothing

-Clothes represent your position

-Clothes show your profession

-Uniforms

Activity 2B: select random images

3 images taken from www.sxc.hu

Activity 2C: talking to people

I had to take these 3 random pictures to a selection of people, ask them to look at the picutes and produce a story that links all 3.

Jenica

Age :19

Nationality: Indian

Gender: Female

Countries lived in: UAE, USA and UK

Course: Architecture

The little bee buzzed through the air, looking for a place to rest. He landed on a flower stalk with leaves surrounding him. He surveyed his environment, noticing the freshness of the blades of grass. Suddenly, a glean caught his eye. He squinted to determine what it was. Oh no! A snake! Just as panic set it, an observation was made. It wasn’t moving. At all. He cautiously flew over to find that is was a simple s-shaped hook lying on a stump of a tree. Boy, did he feel silly. Laughing at himself, the bee buzzed away to a new place.

James

Age: 20

Nationality: British

Gender: Male

Countries lived in: England but parents from Scotland.

Course: computing.

He was playing in the garden. It had just rained but eh sun was out. The bees were buzzing and the moist grass was swaying in the wind. On the tree stump was part of the old swing. The s-shaped tie curled like a snake waiting to pounce. The rusting scrap and the felled tree reminded him that those times were gone.

Brian

Age: 22

Nationality: British

Gender: Male

Countries lived in: Scotland

Course: Mechanical Engineering

The man was waling through the long think grass reminiscing of his childhood years. The solid ask tree he had broke his arm on after swinging on the tire that was hung from it, the old house he used to live in now looking like a ghost house and the weeds in the corner where the slower bed used to stand in its magnificent array of colours. A movement caught his eye that especially drew his attention. A bee was hovering around the garden. He flinched when he saw it as once he was stung on the neck around where he stood now. A smile came across his face as he eventually looked over to the tree stump that still stood worn and beaten. This was especially prominent as the iron s he placed on top of the stump remained all these years. He finally turned away knowing he will never walk through his old garden again.

Natalia

Age:19

Nationality: Polish

Gender: female

Countries lived in: Poland and UK

Course: Jewellery

One day… a little girl decided to go on a walk to the forest, when she was just passing by a lawn full of lovely green grass she found a steel hook and picked it up.

Unfortunately she didn’t notice a bee that was just resting in the hook and got stung rather badly.

Joanna

Age:19

Nationality British

Countries lived in UK

Course English and film studies

-needed to be shorted-

The bee was gathering the pollen of the flowers, spreading it to another plant when it blew on to the grass. The bee saw and was scared by a snake like shape resting on his usual resting place, an old cut down stump of a tree, and buzzed away.

Craig

Age:20

Countries lived in: UK

Nationality: British

Course: Web design and development

The bee was flying around buzzing its own buisness about to rest of the metal frame onto fo the tree stump when all of a sudden this bouning creature came at him. So big and hairy with slobber dribbling out of its mouth. It made a dreadful skretch of some sort. The bee flew as fast as its could trying to find within the massive blades of grass Luckily the creature gave up and moved on leaving the bee to go and admire the flower which caught its eye.

I did not feel like any more people were needed for this task as 1/2 of the people came up with the idea of the metal s looking snake like.

Activity 2D: The Fourth Image

I have chosen story one by Jenica to be my target story. So to add to the meaning I am adding a new image so people will interpret them similarly to the 1^st story.

I asked a different set of people to interpret the images. At 1^st I found just over ½ were getting a similar story and even more once I put them into a specific order.

Activity 2E: Adding Text

I returned to the original three images and added the word snake onto the bottom of the iron s-shaped pole. I found that this also helps people interpret the images in a similar way as adding the picture of the snake, and I think even worked better because they realised that the s-shape was snake like.

I also added admired to the picture of the grass as many people were thinking the bee pollinated it rather than just noticed the grass.

Finally the last image I added for lack of better choice buzzing to show the bee travelled from one image to another.

Overall I found the assignment really interesting showing how little things such as one word can help anchor the meaning of something which is polysemic. I have learned this before from studying media studies at schoolboy dissecting a film to see why people with different cultures, background and interpret the same images in the same way due to anchorage.  I did find however that Barthes example was not the best one to teach people about polysemics because it was a very simple and tradition advert which has been seen a million times before.

hi everyone hope you had a great Christmas and a fantastic new year.

Back to uni, new task for design studies is Photo analysis of someone we don’t know very well photos from childhood or their room in its natural state (no tidying up). I swapped with a friends friend who i don’t know very well.

It was interesting seeing pictures of someone you don’t know very well and judging them only on a few pictures and its surprising what you can learn.

The 1st picture i was given was of her maybe about 8 years old standing in front of an old passage way/bunker which is buried in a beach. You can tell immediately that she was a very active child with her hair pulled back into a pony tail, a black fleece on, white shorts and black and white trainers. She was also very slim as a child which also suggests she was a very active child. She has a few bruises on her knees which suggests she is adventurous or very clumsy. Since the picture is taking at the seaside and she is very comfortable and smiling it suggests that she loves being out doors and possible lives not far away from the beach.

The 2nd picture is taking on a ferry or some other type of boat. She is standing with her 2 older sisters and her mum. The lack of bags and shoes on the older sister makes you think that this is a family day out or possible that they live on a island which requires the ferry to take them to the main land. The sky is cloudy which also suggests that this is not a holiday photo and they are all wearing jumpers. Her mum looks very happy with her children, very laid back with her curly hair flowing the the wind. She is wearing a big warm jumper, jeans and trainers and is also very slim which the children have inherited. It also shows where she got her active personality from. The family is huddled together showing that they are all really close and happy together. The older sister from her expression is the most mature and very caring about her sisters and very close to her mum as she is cuddling her. The middle child is very independent which is shown form her facing a different way from the others and is quite possible a little bit of a day dreamer as she was looking out on to the ocean. I imagine she is the quietest of all the children. My friend i think is the youngest, she is pulling a funny face which shows that she is fun, possible likes a lot of attention as she is looking quite cheeky. I think she is around 4/5 years old with her sisters being 6 and 8 years old. All the clothes the children are wearing are very colourful, warm and mixed. This shows me that they are probably used to the cold as none of them seem at all bothered by the weather. You can tell that she is influenced by her family more that anything because she are all dress similar although she does remain to her some individuality because she is wearing green and blue, her sisters and mum however are wearing a lot of red.

The 3rd is of her again by the beach when she must be around 10 years old. She has her hair down, wearing dungarees  and has a hoodie wrapped round her waist. She is still very active looking wearing trainers and carrying a hoodie for when it cold later. Although now she is wearing a necklace and bracelets which shows she is becoming more girly and more aware about things like fashion. she seems to be more laid lack that in the 2 previous pictures  which is shown by the flared dungarees and hands  in her pockets. I think she is getting more influenced by her friends growing up as the pictures of her mum and sisters she is wearing something very different. She is becoming more individual with age and taking influences from different things other than just her family.

The 4th picture is of her with 4 other girls which are either sister/cousins/ friends. they are splashing about in the water which is mudding and cold looking showing that they must be just at their local beach rather than on holiday. They are all looking like they are having lots of fun. They are all very close together in the photo which shows that they are close. The girl i think is my friend is caring someone on her back who is younger than her. She looks like she has water or sun in her eyes but she is still smiling which shows that she is used to it. This looks like a big family day out on the beach with friends during the summer holidays from school.

The 5 th picture is taking far away but is of 2 eople in a dingy and 2 people in the water passing a ball. the back ground is spectacular of lots of hills cut away with a never ending lake/ocean whcih seems to break them up. everyone looks like they are having lots of fun. Its too far away to take any more information out of the picture.

The 6th and last picture has been taking when she was on holiday which you can tell by the change of scenery. rather than a beach its of a sunny little side street with very European houses, looks like either Italy or France. she must be around 10 years old wearing all black, long crop shorts and black Adidas trainers. Her clothes show that  she is being influenced by rock music and her friends more that her family although she does still looks very active like her mum and sisters.

Overall i think she was a very active child, who had a very close family and loved by outdoors.  It will be interesting to see if i was right about my analysis of her pictures and what analysis she came to looking at my childhood photos. Unfortunately we have not had found a time that is suitable till the end of the week but i will update the post when i do find out.

Global Warming. Everyone is thinking about it, but how much is really being done about it. Why are people not doing more to help our planet. J. F. Harrington who wrote the book The Climate Diet: How You Can Cut Carbon, Cut Costs, and Save the Planet believes that “global warming is not yet viewed by many as a current personal threat” which is why even though the news bombard us with more and more evidence of global warming people are still only doing the bare minimum or less to help. Aaron M. McCright and Rilry E. Dunlap belive however that “awareness of this global threat reinforced public concern about environmental problems.” However Willett Kempton argues and explains within his book why “public concern has no effect in some cases and quite dramatic effects in other.” this is due to many factors including education. Some scientists believe that people would do more if they were better educated about Global warming, the effects it has on our planet and what each and everyone of us can do to help stop it. People still believe that it is the governments problem and even though they have been trying to help to get people to start caring for our planet by advertisement, better recycling facilities and now getting smart meters in every home, people still don’t believe that one person can help make a difference.

Harrington is trying to show people that “global warming is in our backyard” that is a personal threat to us. He gives examples of what global warming is doing to our planet now. An example of this is of New York City in 2007 during the winter the temperature rose to above 70 Fahrenheit (21 Celsius) and a few days later was cover in snow which is a less dramatic example than the flooding, tsunamis and hurricanes we have witnessed on the news since this book has been published but it is still a very serious concern. Harrington provides information of individuals that a few simple changes can reduce your carbon foot print and help save on energy bills. He puts his point of view about global warming in very simple terms so everyone can understand it. He compares peoples overindulgence of shopping and food as us ‘binging’ on the planets resources, “our overuse of her resources is not only killing us, but also is destroying the larger body that sustains us.” Even the previous American President Bush admits that “America is addicted to oil”. This shows we need to make steps to help change out lifestyle and Harrington steps for this are 1. Get the facts, 2. Make a decision, 3. Set Goals, 4. Count your carbon calories, 5. Get involved and 6. evaluate and monitor. This climate diet is more small incremental changes on how we inhabit the plant to make real environmental changes. The climate diet follows the basis for anyone losing weight in a healthy way.

Harrington gives reasons for going on the climate diet if what you already know is not enough to sway you. An example of this is 1. Someone has to do it. Our government has been trying to review the ‘greenness’ of their policies along with over countries due to the EU Summit in March 2007 but scientists says that it is still significantly below what is needed to help slow Global warming. Harrington therefore gives simple solution which is everyone followed would make a difference. Changing from an incandescent to a compact fluorescent light bulb even makes a significantly difference. Incandescent compares to compact fluorescent produces 175.5 k/wh/year compared to 50.895 k/wh/year. Making sure your house is well insulated to help keep in heat. Reducing the water heater from 140 Celsius to 104 Celsius, air dry clothes and have a good design on house to maximise sunlight. All of this make a big difference not only to the planet but to your bills as well.

Harrington has produced a table of what just heating costs before and after the climate diet does to the cost and energy used. Before the diet heating CO2/year (Kg) was 5,589.35 which percentage total of CO2 was 15% after diet CO2/year (Kg) is 2.795.75 which percentage total of CO2 was 11% which is a total cost reduction of 58%. The facts clearly show the Harrington’s steps do work to significantly reduce CO2 and home bills. They are simple and non-interfering with everyday lifestyles it is not meant to be a quick fix but a long lasting solution to help global warming.

I am planning on going on to something which seems totally unrelated to global warming and at the moment is, wallpaper. When you think wallpaper you think of some dodgy prints on a wall probably from the 70’s. However wallpaper is becoming a very creative art form which is now not just seen as decorative arts but also fine art, illustration, photography and textiles. I have been researching from the book Wallpaper in Decoration by Jane Gordon Clark. Clark sees the potential of wallpaper along with many other artists because they see a blank wall as a blank canvas to put their ideas and design on. Clark relates this very well saying that

“a few designers, recognizing wallpapers’ true potential,

are challenging its conservative image by experimenting

with innovative techniques, using a combination of

computer-aided skills and craftsman ship.”

Before I go on to the more innovating wallpapers it is important to know about the history because a lot of the wallpapers today are produced in the same way. Wall decoration can be traced back to murals of Knossos, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Ancient Rome, with Ancient Egyptian tombs and prehistoric cave painting, However the decorative arts became wide spread during the renaissance due to the frescos within churches mainly in Italy. Wallpapers were originally invented to replicate luxurious textiles that people would hang on their wall. It also was designed to help add decorative architectural detail within a property. Wallpapers were originally printed by hand from original blocks with was a design cut into seasoned hardwood then dipped in colour and pressed to the paper and repeated along the length of paper. Surprising Albrecht Durer invented printing. Now most wallpapers are produced by machine. However there are still come from China are some of the most expensive wallpapers to buy which can be seen in stately homes which have a Chinese print and each strip of wallpaper is different because they are hand painted.

Wallpaper now is becoming more like art. There can now be no visible repeat, a photographic image, new digital techniques help to produce more state of the art designs and concepts of what wallpaper is. “William Morris, Frank Lloyd Wright, Andy Warhol, Bridget Riley – have attempted to bridge the gap between the fine and decorative arts” Clark notices. Clark like the artists mention believes “ walls are large spaces and the impact their decoration will have on a room can be more decisive in defining style than any other item.”

Wallpaper is used to help shape an interior space and is used to create an atmosphere within in. Clark admits that “until recently wallpaper has been a very conventional medium” but now there is a fresh approach and has become cutting edge. Clark gives examples of new types of wallpaper. Light reflective papers “reflect and refract light as it hits the surface of the wall.” (Clark). Light reflective papers are made from metallic inks and colours incorporating mica. Mica is a mineral which in mined then grounded down to a fine power. It properties are that it catches light, makes a surface glow, gives a silky appearance and if printed on to something seems independent from its background. The effect designs are mainly ones which have a good balance between matt and reflective areas and give good depth. Clark describes these light reflective papers and they way they react to light, “the papers change according to the way light plays upon the surface”. This makes for a very interactive wall. Within direct sunlight the wall appear to glisten and within artificial light the wallpaper reflects the light. Another example given of light reflective papers is gilded wall. Gilded wall are produced by gold, white or sliver leaf which is paper thin and well known to be a nightmare to work with. The designs have to be simple but the leaves give a shimmering richness and bring depth and warmth to a room. An invention by Arnold Newman is insulating wallpaper which is a multilayer quilted wallpaper comprising of non woven fibres with fire resistant qualities also is a innovation in wallpaper technology. Clark gives many ideas on how wallpaper is now an art form and how new innovating design and technology is expanding the decorative arts.

I will now explain why I have chosen two book that at first seem to have no link. For our previous assignments we had to come up with some kind of design to based from a mind map the the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. My design was to help global warming by producing something which was attractive and made people aware of how much heating or lighting they were using and try to cut it down so less energy was getting wasted. I got my my inspiration for my idea of a recent graduate of textiles from Duncan of Jordanstone Joanne Hodge. She for her final year produced a series of textiles using heat reactive dyes and light sensitive dyes. I thought to reduce energy bill and make people aware rather than just have a smart meter there which you may or may not look at to produce a wallpaper that either reflects light around the room which means less lights are necessary or heat sensitive wallpaper which if the room became too hot the pattern on the wallpaper would disappear reminding the owner to turn down the heaters.

I liked Harrington philosophy that small changes can make a big difference to global warming and to slowly change peoples habits to make them more environmentally friendly. My design is simple but I would hope like Harrington idea that small things can make a difference that this would work especially now the the advances in wallpaper not only technically but also in designs would make it an appealing way to make people are and to cut down the amount of energy they use. To actually cut down people energy bills and CO2 emissions successful it would take more than just putting up wallpaper to switch off a few light or turn down the heating every now and again it would take the steps outlined in The Climate Diet to significantly make a difference. To extend this research I would look into other new technology or changing old ones such as the technology for wind farms in capturing energy and how possible that could be used within every home and other renewable technology and how this can be used in everyday scenarios.

Clark J. G. (2001)Wallpaper in Decoration, London: Frances Lincolm

Harrington J. F. (2008) The Climate Diet: How You Can Cut Carbon, Cut Costs, and Save the Planet, London: Earthscan

Kepton W. (1993) Will Public Environmental Concern Lead to Action on Global Warming: Annual Review Inc.

McCright A. M., Dunlap R. E. (2000) Challenging Global Warming as a Social Problem: An Analysis of the Conservative Movement’s Counter-Claims, Social Problems, Vol. 47, No. 4. PP 499-522: University of California Press

Newman A. (1977) Insulated Wallpaper : United States Patent

For Last Note Have Redone Task 3 Please take a look.

Dr Keith Skene and Vivien Collie were the 2 speakers at this Sustainability forum. I enjoyed both their talks which at 1st were talking about different things but overall the talks were about food.

Dr Skene at 1st was explaining the working of the world and the effects that we are having on Global warming which was interesting since  i am focusing on this on my design studies. He came up with many different solutions to global warming that are not being done. The point i was really interested in was the population. Did you know that are population is over 40% over the natural population sustainability for the planet. I didn’t. The main reason why are population is so high is because of GM crops which allow us to produce more food that it would be natural to do. This however is having many side effects on the planet including global warming and extinction of animals which is now is at its all time high since the last world disaster. It really gives you something to think about…what is the population was basically given a ban on how many kids they could have. Would it have been the same as China one child police and that if they had a girl then they would kill or have an abortion which recently led to China lifting this policy. Other ideas were to eat less meat…which i can imagine some people would wince at the thought off because of our culture.

Vivien Collie works in Fife mainly trying to get people in the community to buy food from there area. Food which you can taste the quality off. She has been arranging more and more farmers markets so you can get to know the people who make the food you eat which i think is a great concept. Town councils have been taking a great step to bring communities these great opportunities to buy good food even if it is more expensive that tesco or the local supermarket at least you know and can see if you want where it was made and produced recently. Supermarkets have been also taking a greater step to try to get more local produce into the store but so far in my supermarket ive only seen milk.

She also talked about the amount of food we waste due to supermarkets buy one get one free policies and the big baskets which we naturally feel we have to fill. I have decided now to just buy what i need when i need it to avoid this. hope you all do the same to help our enviroment.

On Wednesday I went to a lecture by Dr Phil Cotton on ‘Victims of Torture’. It really opened my eyes. Dr Cotton is a GP and a volunteer for the medical foundation to help torture victims. He talked about his experiences about the people which he has tried to help, the torture techniques used on them (including lots of disturbing pictures of scars from torture) and how this effects them even 10 years down the line. I found it really hard not to cry about what is going on in the world and how people can do this to each other.

One of the most common forms of torture is rape. Although we hear about this in the newspapers quite frequently and to be warned to be safe to when we go out its hard to believe it goes on as much as it does. For example we got told that of all the immigrants that come into the UK between 30-50%!!! of them are tortured rather than the 15-30% which was before been told. That along with the prison type building they are kept in while they are questioned to see if they would be ’suitable’ to live in the UK. What is worst of all is that a lot don’t get accepted to live in the UK they get told to go somewhere else. I think if they are so serious to come in the under storage of boats and lorries and rick their life just from the ride to the UK to get away from the problems they were facing in their own countries to be a little less harsh rather than treating them like criminals or even animals. One of Dr Cottons patients was refused entry to the UK because of the ’side-effects’ of torture. He could not remember certain facts clearly.

I found this lecture very emotional and am finding it hard to talk about so if you want to know look up Dr Phil Cotton or look at the work of the medical foundation

On Thursday 5th November I went to Stag Fashion Show shown in Edinburgh. Stag for those who dont know is the Scottish Textile Academic Group. The show included work from the ‘most talented student’ just graduated from 13 Scottish colleges and Univerisities. The show was titled ‘Fashion’s Future’.  So i went with people from my year and 3rd and 4th years and i have to say it was amazing. I loved a lot of peices and it was nice to see and experience my 1st fashion show. If you havent been to one you should def go and even if you dont like it you get free champagne so its not all a loss…

I was really impressed and inspired by the work on show. The ruffles, netting, the futurist designs and just the way they moved as they went down the runway. It great and scary that in another 2 years i will be able to produce works such as the ones shown. I just wish i brought my camera! i would have but i didnt think we would have been allowed to take photos.

I was slightly dissapointed by DofJ show because of the lack of full garments compared to the other colleges/universities but i did feel like it has more a meaning to me becase her work was based on dyslexia which because i am dyslexic i can really relate to. Here is a picture from the degree show.

Sorry for the bad picture but believe me it is stunning.

I do have to admit i did not like all the peices such as one college did a set of dresses which if you can use your imagination here big, really puffy wedding dresses with pink fur lining….not quite my sort of thing.

But overall the standard of the show was very high. Including the venue which i saw after it refurbishing into a rented space from a church. It did make a great deal for the show to make it seem glamourous. If you are interested in architecture you should visit the church its in edinburgh on Mansfield place.

Here is a couple picture i managed to find from the show.

In running order i will tell you the univerity/college and email of the student.

GSA – h.britt@gsa.ac.uk

Cardonald College – mmarshall@cardonald.ac.uk

Ayr College – a.mccaig.ac.uk

Glasgow Caledonian University – L.Shearer@gcal.ac.uk

Robert Gordon – kim.eason@rgu.ac.uk

Adam Smith – MoNeilson@adamsmith.ac.uk

Ducan of Jordanstone!!! – f.stevenson@dundee.ac.uk

North Glasgow College – awood@north-gla.ac.uk

Teleford College – kim.gunn@ed-coll.ac.uk

Herriot Watt – h.sharp@hw.ac.uk

ECA – m.burkinshaw@eca.ac.uk

hey everyone, i have to apologise for the fact that I’ve just been putting up my assignments and not much else recently but I’ve been busy with work so at the moment i have 4 unfinished posts which i will try to put up this week.

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