REFLECTIONS ON LECTURES/SOURCE MATERIAL

How can Graphic Design be used to convey your core values?

COMMON GROUND/THE NATURE OF BEING.
WHAT ARE YOUR VALUES?
Honesty. Open mindedness. Authentic/Unpretentious. Agnostic. Humanistic. Environmentally Conscious. Skeptic.

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOUR VALUES?
Honesty: Learnt from bad mistakes. Not a good liar —no poker face. My conscience always keeps me in check. Don't like feelings of guilt/shame.
Open mindedness: Have learnt to be open to new ideas and change. This doesn't mean I believe everything.
Authentic/Unpretentious: I have tried to be what others want me to be but it just makes you unhappy. Take me as I am, or don't.
Agnostic: Struggle with organised religions, fairy tales or re-incarnation. Don't have a problem with the belief of others. There is something greater than ourselves/purpose in life. It's the eternal questions no-one can really answer. Don't always understand it but trust in science.

"(Man) cannot stand a meaningless life"

Carl Jung.

—

"Geezer's need excitement"

Mike Skinner/The Streets.

—

Humanistic: I think years of seeing human struggle has ingrained this in me. Hate injustice or evil men, religious war, war itself and poverty. There is nothing that can't be solved by dialogue.
Environmentally Conscious: Everybody should do their part.
Skeptic: Lived with a cynic and it rubbed off on me. Questioning nature. Always try to get to the truth.

WHAT IS OF VALUE TO YOU?
Friends and family. Respecting others. The environment. Social injustice. Music and Art. Creativity.

DO YOU SHARE THESE VALUES WITH THOSE AROUND YOU?
Some: Friends and family, respect, music and art and creativity. It's harder to have open conversations about social injustice and the environment and influence habit changes.

HOW ARE YOU INFLUENCED BY THOSE AROUND YOU?
Love of poetry (writing) parents. Graphic design ideas and communication/colleagues and peers. Humour/friends. Music/everyone I meet. You learn new things, ways of seeing from both friends family and peers and from seeking it out through you own self interest.

WHERE DO YOU COME FROM?
Earth.

WHO ARE YOU?
A son, brother, uncle, godfather and father who loves art and has made this passion a career choice. I love design but I like to look beyond one area of interest. I like learning new things about life in general and meeting new people. As a designer I embrace change and keep improving my skillsets and understanding.

DO YOU THINK WE ARE ROOTED AND DETERMINED BY OUR BIOLOGICAL INHERITANCE?
Yes and no. We obviously inherit traits as children that have never met their parents are often told how like them they are and some even go into the same profession. I think during puberty we fight against this to become self reliant individuals but as we get older we find ourselves being like our parents, especially where raising children is concerned. There is no such thing as fate our destiny though. It's about making the right choices in life.

ARE WE A BLANK SLATE WHERE EXPERIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT DETERMINE OUR SENSE OF VALUE?
Pretty much so.

IS IT NURTURE OR NATURE AND WHY?
It is nurture when we grow to take on projected values of our parents, but our nature tell's us to question and find out some answers for ourselves.

DOES AGE HAVE AN INDICATION ON OUR SENSE OF SELF AND IDENTITY?
As you grow older you realise that some of the things that concerned you when you were younger are for the most part unimportant even though they were important to you at the time. It's not that you care less — you are just more able to deal with life's tribulations and move on. You become more comfortable in your own skin.

WHAT PART DOES THE UNCONSCIOUS PLAY AS WE BEGIN TO UNPACK THE NATURE OF SELF?
I think it acts as a filter for what you are thinking versus what you are projecting. You can put forward an image of self that isn't authentic. In this way it also protects you from being vulnerable to others. This is the fast thinking that Daniel Kahnemann refers to.

Think that Freud's model of the psyche is a fairly honest one but don't agree that one's sexual nature defines the human condition. We do not always see the world from a gender perspective but as human beings in our own right.

THE ARCHETYPAL SELF
Strongly agree that we project the vision or archetypes of our likes and dislikes onto the world around us.

"Thinking is difficult. That is why most people judge."

Carl Jung.

—

ARCHETYPES IN BRANDS THAT EVOKE…
Hero: The Malboro Man.
Carer: The Fairy liquid baby.
Trickster: The Honey Monster.

THE CONSTRUCTED SELF
It was interesting to read about Edward Bernays 'construction of the modern marketing machine', using Freud's findings to deliver answers to public desires. This mechanism of the constructed self was in place long before Freud or Bernays. Egyptian kings and queens, greeks and roman's used a vision of the constructed self to adorn their temples. To bring law and order and to promote loyalty from the masses. Churches used images to explain to a largely illiterate congregation the seven stations of the cross. Less giving the people what they wanted than projecting their own will on the masses.

Could Paul Masur of Lehmann Brothers have single handedly started the culture of self interest, greed and consumerism that we are now familiar with with his call for a "shift from a needs to desire culture".

THE DIGITAL SELF

HAVE SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES BECOME SO ADEPT IN MANIPULATING OUR DESIRE FOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, OUR RESPONSE TO REWARD,
SYSTEM 1 MECHANISM'S, ARCHETYPAL SELVES?
I think so yes, but only for the people who choose to engage. Influencer's have built careers getting free products, followers and selling desires. Generation Y has been born into the digital age and for them this is a natural means of communication or self promotion. I think if you spend your 'private' life online then you are more susceptible to being targeted in this way. For the older generation ad pop ups and cookie tracking is just an annoyance.

ARE THESE SOCIAL DEVICES TOOLS FOR EMPOWERMENT AND SENSE OF SELF?
I think they can initially empower the user, but they can also be trolled by haters and bullies and this can have a negative effect on self esteem. It's about balance... knowing what is true and what you want to use the platform for to say about yourself and knowing when to put the phone down to give you time for reflection.

"Check yo'self before you wreck yo'self."

Ice Cube.

—

HOW WE PROJECT OURSELVES ONLINE
The language I use and how I appear to others:

Effective Design, Creatively Executed.

Graphic design services for thriving agencies and small to medium businesses.

Wes is an award winning senior graphic design creative with over 30years experience in brand design & communication. Starting his career in London with Coley Porter Bell, he popped overseas to gain invaluable international experience in Belgium. Since arriving on Ireland’s fair shores in 1998 he has worked for some amazing companies, clients and for brands to die for. He has worked on accounts as diverse as An Post, BOI, Belfast Telegraph, Bulmers Ireland, Eason, East Coast Bakehouse, Glanbia, Green Isle, Kerry Foods, Kilbeggan (Cooley Distillery), Linwoods, O'Briens Wines, Ornua, Spice O'Life, Superquinn, Vodafone and Vytal amongst others.

Wes’s philosophy is simple: It is Wes’s mission to engage with you, your business and your target audience from day one by gaining insight into market trends, competition and brand semiotics. You are an integral part of the process, with collaboration at its core, and with watertight working practices we can achieve the best results together.

TAKE OUTS
— Clichéd but a truism "Be true to yourself", authentic.
— Building a brand story and value system is similar to understanding the nature of self.
— How do you influence others to share your values?
— Thinking slower/reflection allows for greater problem solving
— Keep yourself in check (Check yo'self before you wreck yo'self — Ice Cube).
— Archetypes (projections) are useful when creating strong brands/messages (attraction and repulsion).
— Social media a platform of fast thinking (unconscious), response and reward, recognition based participants.
— Be open to new perspectives, values and possibilities. Remain authentic, human and content. Janette Rainwater 'Self Therapy'.

—

THE TRAJECTORY OF SELF
Getting to the core of your identity is a process that can only be achieved through engagement with self reflection. Observing: 'What do I want right now' is a stop your in your tracks moment to reflect, plan and achieve your goals (slow thinking). Self understanding enables planning ahead to construct a life trajectory or timeline. This is a similar process in modern brand creation. We think of brands as people with their own set of values, needs and desires and to get to the core of the identity these 'personal' traits have to be uncovered.

Keeping a reflective journal/autobiography (dialogue with time) helps you identify mistakes and learn from them setting goals for potential development.
If a brand is to be understood or created this method is used to get to the heart of why it is not working and how it can be improved. Reflection helps to build a coherent and rewarding sense of identity. A deeper understanding of what, why, who, where, your value system, your destination and sense of authenticity all play a huge part in creating effective graphic design in a commercial landscape.

The artist Frida Khalo is a great example of someone who expressed her reflective timeline through art, dealing with very specific life hazards in her work. The paintings read like a diary of emotions, dreams and desires. Another artist Cindy Sherman uses a constructed version of self to project ideas onto chosen archetypes. She talks about this in an escapist way where she inhabits the character and a transformation takes place with each photograph taken.

"We are not what we are but what we make ourselves."

Jannette Rainwater/Self Therapy.

—

SELF ACTUALISATION
Lifestyle and behaviours influenced by peers, role models and socio-economics across a specific time frame (age group) can give us answers about individual choice. In an age where choice is diluted by 'too much' we look for trust, authenticity and uniqueness in both our friends and purchase choices.

RELATIONSHIPS
Trust in relationships must never be taken as a given and must be worked at. To build trust you must be trustworthy and trusting, take the time to listen and stick with an issue until it is mutually resolved. I firmly believe that while there are boundaries that should not be crossed it is paramount to build trust and partner with clients to get the best results.

BODYSENSE
How you present yourself to the world is important for showing your true identity. This is the same for design.

TAKE OUTS
— Understanding self identity is the same as understanding identity. We have a story, values, sense of place and vision of the future and are unique.
— Reflective depth thinking can uncover ways of moving forward and new ways of approaching design.
— Build lasting relationships (Friends, peers, colleagues and clients).
— Trust is not a given.
— Listen.
—Present an authentic image of yourself.

—

WORKSHOP CHALLENGE

DEFINE YOUR VALUES AS A DESIGNER
What constitutes you? — See 20+ word list below.
How are you easily condensed into words and pictures? — I think you can pair the essence down to a symbol or visual representation, yes.
Are you easily condensed into something? — It's very hard to pinpoint your character and aspirations in 5 values. Bit like asking what's your favourite film.
Are you designing for frictionless communications or are you designing for lengthy reading? — A bit of both... I think in terms of values it's a snap of a bigger picture, thought process.

20 WORDS/VALUES RELATING TO MY PRACTICE/CHARACTER

MOODBOARD
My thought process here was to get to the bare essence of each value. In the same way that each value can be summarised in one word, I wanted to see if I could find single images that encapsulated the expression of the value. Simple and iconic…

— Effective Successfully landing a helicopter on Mars
— Reflective Magritte's surrealist internal world's
— Observant The eye, almost a galaxy imparting information to the brain
— Individual Grayson Perry. Artist, Personality, Writer and Cross-Dresser. Need I say more.
— Experimental Pollock's pivotal moment in art where the figurative image was lost forever to pure abstraction.

SKETCHES FOR A SINGLE VISUAL EXPRESSION OF MYSELF
I have decided to produce a 3-Dimensional piece and am playing with the idea of some kind of doll figure. The figure or idol has been used throughout history whether as a symbol of fertility, for voodoo or worship. In recent years vinyl dolls have become a mainstay on every designers desk and are highly prized and collectable. I want to impart some of this symbolism onto the doll or idol I create but leave it to the viewer to see if it has inherent values.

The sketches below show my initial thinking and contextualising of this weeks lecture on ID, EGO and SUPEREGO as well as trying to add my own values or symbols into the work without being too obvious.

—

FINAL EXECUTION

SINGLE EXPRESSION OF MYSELF
Opted for an idea based around idols and thought of myself as pawn in a chess set which reflects where I am now with work I am creating where the play is usually decided by a third party. The blue square represents the past and the yellow the future. The pawn is also a metaphor as in chess it can only go forward one step at a time unless it is taking an opponent. Through the process I am reawakening my desire to become more open, individual and experimental and in taking one step at a time I might just get there. You can't see the idols nose in the pic but he is not featureless. I thought this was also important that he or I have some personality rather than just being a standard chess piece.