Why I'm Scared of Design Reason #1239328

Right. Wrong. They don't exist in this world of kerning and text alignment. Instead there's a non-existant list of imaginary ideals we adhere to. It's frightening. Why? Because everything is dependant on the eye and not the brain. (Obviously we don't discount Mr Brain entirely, he has his place in the creative process, I just think Mr Eye is higher up the metaphorical food chain) There is no right answer, there is no wrong answer, there is only simply what looks right and what looks wrong and well, if you don't know the difference, you're pretty much fucked. If you told me this doesn't scare you, I'd tell you that you were lying. Right and wrong make the world go around and when you're stuck in Purgatory, it's a little mind boggling. Maybe that's exactly what design is; Purgatory. It lounges in the middle as it waits for it's inhabitants to make up their creative little minds. But perhaps it's just me, I've always been one who likes things black and white, you're either right or you're wrong and that's it. I don't like middle ground and I don't like sitting on the fence so to be in a place where the answers aren't so easily defined, yes, it's a tad frightening. Someone hold me.

Dumb

In relation to my previous post, I think they should show this advert to any male aged over 18 who still uses Lynx.



(Also, Ben Reed has a perfect face/everything)

WakeUp&SmellTheMisogyny

"Because girls like you to remember things...like their names. Wake up and stay alert." - Lynx print ad 2010
(Image credit: http://www.feministing.com/archives/021341.html)

Ah, the sweet smell of misogyny, how you warm my feminist cockles on your ever so manly open fire.

Believe it or not, Feminism really isn't my thing, (yes it gave us the vote and (more) equal rights, but it also gave us the impression that those naughty things with penis' are trying to keep us sistas down and that's just silly) I believe Feminism can be as damaging as misogyny if utilised incorrectly. Case in point, this highly intellectual piece of print advertising for Lynx aka the essence of boyhood puberty (because really, what self respecting man actually wears Lynx deodorant? Anybody? No? Good).

The chaps (I assume they're chaps?) behind this ingenious print ad obviously know who their target audience are, (teenage virgins) and for that I'll give them an ounce of credit, but for that only. These guys are incredibly lazy and that just pisses me off. How long do you think it took them to come up with this concept? Ten minutes or so? I mean, how much will these spanners be getting paid to come up with a "creative" solution to sell Lynx? A shitload more than the average worker is my guess. Advertising should be witty, it should be well thought out and, well, y'know, it shouldn't be sexist. Obviously they're not trying to appeal to the female population so it's ok to annoy the living shite out of us, isn't it? Aren't these ads as offensive to males as they are to the females? Don't they just assume that the most important thing in a man's life is shagging as many different women as possible, so much so you can't even remember any of their names? Yes, because this is certainly a quality I look for in a man. Oh, you wear Lynx? You fucking stud, c'mere! I certainly know I can't help myself, I smell Lynx on a man(?) and I immediately de-robe and throw myself at him, for I am a female and therefore, by the rules of Lynx, will always fall for the sweet smell of excessive teenage masturbation. Must be The Lynx Effect, eh ladies?

Perhaps I'm over-thinking it all. Perhaps they know that sex(ism) sells and therefore just keep on abusing it. Perhaps I'm just too bloody defensive for my own good.

Now, I'm not saying that I want a fluffy world of rabbits where boys and girls sit around and plait each other's hair while sharing biscuits and chocolate, I'm not saying that at all. I actually love a bit of sexist banter, what I don't like is mindless adverts such as the above which makes it seem like sexism is actually ok when in fact it's really bloody ugly. But what can you do eh? Sexism has always existed and it always will. There will always be lazy advertisers who use it to sell things. Way of the world, it won't change but that doesn't stop me being incredibly wound up by this relatively small injustice.

I guess I just hate that some idle tools make money by employing such lazy, lazy, lazy bastard advertising tactics. As my mother would say, "get a real job." Be able to actually grow a beard and wear real aftershave, then we can talk.

Arty Bullshitzu

Here's my idea for our degree show.

Whilst procrastinating I decided to watch a random documentary (The Culture Show: Tate Modern Turns 10, look it up on iPlayer, it's tasty) and was particularly inspired by a chap who talked about how, due to Tate Modern's popularity, often artwork is misunderstood by the (uneducated?) general public.

This got me thinking about our degree show. No doubt on opening night, most of the visitors will be students relatives, significant others etc that most likely, won't have a particular understanding (or real interest) in our work like we do. I assume most people will trot around, look at their child's work, go "hmm, well done love" and then move on. (Maybe I'm just cynical?) Anyway, my idea is to provide a list of things to consider whilst conducting said trot. Hopefully this would encourage people to consume the artwork rather than just chewing it for a bit and then spitting it out, figuratively speaking of course.

Here they are:

Literal Vs Obvious

Singular Vs Plural

Significance Vs Throwaway

Niche Vs Understood

Meaning Vs Visual

Style Vs Content

Edition Vs Obsession

Conformity Vs Individual

Audience Vs Idea

Message Vs Style

Quality Vs Quantity

Scale Vs Need

Understanding Vs Knowledge

Misunderstanding Vs Interpretation

Impression Vs Study

Elitist Vs Democratic

Perspective Vs Flat

Safe Vs Radical

Soul Vs Sale

Needs "tweaking" and editing, yet. Just a general scribble of ideas as of yet.

Digest

So I've pretty much finished everything for uni (hopefully I'll have some images of my XLA to show later on this week) and I kind of feel at a loose end. I don't know what to do. I get home and feel bizarre because I feel like I should be working. So, I don't know where this came from but I want to do something with my daily intake of food (or the lack of). I have absolutely no idea if anything will come of this but if I don't do something my brain will rot.

So, today I have eaten:
2 packets of crisps
1 Alpen breakfast bar
Slice of chocolate cake
1 Galaxy chocolate bar
2 Refresher ice lollies
4 single Pringles (snigger that rhymes)
Bit of cheese
1 Thai red curry
1 shit BLT sandwich

Bloody hell that's awful. Please don't judge me.

Call Me Wanker.

Hmm, wonder who I voted for...

Re:Kern

Rekerned my Truth/Happiness piece. I didn't want to at first but think it looks much better now.