Gammaphunk Blog

My Final project is about the exploration of what it means to be Human, i’ll be exploring different aspects from the sound we make, emotion we go through and the way we see our world. 

Noticing 

We all see things differently, for example we could all be travelling on a train and   our perception of whats going on could be completely different what the other person sees or hears. 

For example Daredevil has Powers and abilities although the character is blind, his remaining four senses function with superhuman accuracy and sensitivity, giving him abilities far beyond the limits of a sighted person. Few characters know that the hero cannot see. Daredevil developed a radar sense, which is similar to echolocation.

Taking inspiration from this i decided to disable one of my senses for a moment on the train, i closed my eyes for 40 minutes and just listened and tried to feel the atmosphere. I was able to sense where people were and at some point some sounds were quite sharp. The fascinating part of the of the journey was when the doors of the train opens and shuts, i could feel the the wave the doors make when they open from one end of the trains to the other, it felt amazing. This then prompted and affirmed my idea of seeing things differently and presenting them through sound design and moving image whilst giving it a sense of Journey. 

Here is a good example of relation of how sound and moving image works well to communicate an idea succinctly. 

SOUND TONE SCALE 

The image above shows the way music is articulated in order to evoke different moods. Of course the key it’s in plays an important part for example major key sounds happy, minor key sounds sad. 

HAPPY 

Here is a version of Pharell’s Happy video, 

The keys in the first verse has a sense of curiosity and questioning about it, it’s it combines F7 and C(flat) in the keys which switches from happy and sort of minor sad key. 

It then resolves from a Dflat7 in a Cmajor7 which is where the message “because i’m happy” is sang 

SAD 

Sad Version of happy. 

This shows how sound can influence our perception and the way we feel, so i will play close attention to it as i develop my project.

This image is from an article i am currently looking at, it’s quite interesting because it goes through the emotional tone scale in sound design.

1.     Comment on how Paterson (2009) structures and organises her text to convey the wealth of material available in the House of Fraser Archive.

Firstly Patterson introduces the large collection that the House of Fraser archives hold. These are “comprising over 130 metres of ledgers, product catalogues, photographs and files” (Paterson, 2009:170) These include the different companies that operated under House of Fraser as a body and the different types of stores they owned or sold over the course of British history. These stores sold many good “from linens, through ladies’, men’s and children’s fashions, to furniture , and perhaps the unexpected markets they operated in pharmacy and undertaking” (Paterson, 2009:170-172) 

Paterson then talks about the humble beginnings of House of Fraser and it’s expansion which resulted in an array of different type of collections and the different types of campaigns and marketing strategies adopted in order to showcase all that the House of Fraser had to offer including the stores inside the complex adopting their own mini campaigns. For example “The Dickins and Jones’ archive includes invitations to view new fashions collections including a show on the hotel de Paris in Bray, southern England” (Paterson, 2009:172)  The use window displays became more prominent as a tool to of devising the campaign strategies. The archive “charts the development of collection and sale previews, fashions shows and in-store promotions. In-store promotions ranged from campaign involving the entire store, ‘Buy British’ campaigns being particularly popular, to smaller promotions run by the individual departments such as products launches and fashion previews.” (Paterson, 2009:172) 

Paterson also talks about the different catalogues developed in order to archive all the products different store departments have, so that it becomes easier for consumers to browse the vast products and services offered at House of Fraser. 

 different marketing strategies adopted during different times of the British economy and happenings in regards to Royal events. 

2.     Based on your reading of Paterson (2009), and conducting additional independent academic research of your own, what is an archive and how do you understand it can be used for the advancement of knowledge in the fields of fashion/ design/ business history?

3.     How could you use an archive to advance your knowledge of a particular designer, brand or topic?  With reference to Paterson (2009) anticipate some problems you may encounter.

4.     According to Paterson (2009) what are some of the key problems with the House of Fraser Archive and how does the project aim to solve some of these issues?

5 IMAGE ANALYSIS 

Symbolic signs

The Olympic logo 

These images can all be identified as symbolic  signs as they can only be through the social convention it was birthed from. 

They all conventional images and they are culturally specific. for example;

the Olympic logo The rings of blue, black, yellow, red and green, which make up one of the most recognized symbols in the world, traditionally represent the five different areas of the world involved in the Olympics (North and South America are considered one area, along with Africa, Australia, Asia and Europe).  

http://www.livescience.com/32361-what-do-the-olympic-rings-symbolize.html 

All the images have a history behind them and decoding them to find the meaning is where the magic of understanding what they truly mean begins.

The Silver Fern

The image of the silver fern is widely representative of New Zealand and New Zealanders. It is an image to which all New Zealanders relate and is a powerful and emotional symbol of inspiration at times when it matters.

The symbol comes from the leaf of the New Zealand fern - Cyathea Dealbata (Ponga is the Maori name). The leaves are dark green on the upper side and silver underneath. The underside glows brightly in moonlight providing excellent track markers in New Zealand's native forests. It was often used by Maori as bedding for sleeping on due to the thin texture of the 'hairs'.

The symbol of the silver fern is widely used in sport which, given New Zealand's passion for and commitment to sport, is understandable. However, it is misleading to characterise it as a symbol limited to sporting roles - it pervades the imagery of all of New Zealand and has inspired new Zealanders in all aspects of their lives ... from the famous New Zealand export "Fernleaf Butter" through the badges of most New Zealand Army units through Neil Dawson's Civic Square sculpture in Wellington through to Violet Walrond's swimming costume in the 100m freestyle final at the 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games through to our old 1 cent coins.

The New Zealand Labour Party badge has featured the fern from 1946. From the early 1970s lifetime members of the Party were presented with a pin after 25 years service.

It has played an inspirational role for the military - New Zealand Army contingents who saw overseas service in the South African war of 1899-1902 are understood to have worn fern leaf badges, while the fern leaf had become the predominant badge in the Army by World War I ... and of course in New Zealand's national game, rugby.

http://www.nzflag.com/silverfern.cfm 

The rolling stone

The rolling stones is an iconic logo in the punk rock, no one will know the meaning unless they are from that subculture or if they haven’t learnt what it is. 

To me the tongue signifies what the rolling stones was about; they represent a young and playful audience

Gene Simmons, the most famous tongue in Rock and Roll. 

The tongue sticking out is such a rock and roll thing to do, just like the Gene Simmons, it has edge and attitude which are attributes relating to Rock and Roll and the Semiotics relating to it

MITSUBUSHI LOGO BREAKDOWN (indexical and symbolic) 

In the 1870s, the shipping company Tsukumo Shokai, which was the precursor of Mitsubishi, used a triangular water chestnut icon on its ships' flags, and it is from this icon that the current three-diamond Mitsubishi icon originated. It is derived from the three-layer chestnut family crest of Yataro Iwasaki, founder of Tsukumo Shokai, and the three-leaved oak family crest of the Yamanouchi family, from the Tosa Clan. Records suggest that the Mitsubishi company name was settled on later.

http://www.mitsubishielectric.com/company/about/history/logo/

 family crest Tosa kasiwa(Yamanouchi clan)

The mitsubishi has quite a history behind it and since i am not from the culture i didn’t recognise it quite quickly. The leaves could symbolise longevity and since it can be seen as a coat of arms as a way of distinguishing from different clans it shows that symbolism is such an innate thing in our DNA, we are always required to identify things and identify where we belong or where things belong.

Egyptian logo

1. What do you understand by the term, ‘the transport of meaning’ and in what ways can this phenomenon be problematic in the world of branding? 

A. Transport of meaning refers to the effectiveness if communication channels The three problems defines are technical problem, the semantic problem and the effectiveness problem. It becomes a problem when the branding doesn’t correctly represent the operating body.

We read signs based on where we are from and the experiences we’ve had. we are signs we carry different symbolisms in what we wear. One of the good things in semiotics is that we can use it anywhere. 

Sound is interesting too for example someone’s accent, noise of a dog, Mc Donald's “para pa pa pa” jingle, again these can be perceived differently by people depending on their background and ethnic background. 

Roland Barthes 

“The death of the author” 

“reading is an act of process of creating meaning” this means that people are creating meaning as they read, so sometimes they might perceive the information different from what was intended. 

2. Explain Marshall McLuhan’s notion that ‘the medium is the message’ and discuss the roles of channels, media and formats in the production of meaning in branding.

McLuhan argues that “The medium is a message”, focusing on various aspects of the ones who deliver the message: Their knowledge, technology, education, background, regulations, etc. 

The medium adds meaning to the message, it affects the way the message is received for example, listening to television news and reading the same news on paper will be different because it gives a different feeling.

3. Apply each of Roman Jakobsen’s six factors of communication to six different brands, explaining how each function works in terms of how that brand communicates its message.

Semiosphere is the sphere of semiosis in which sign processes operate in the set of all interconnected Umwelten. The concept was coined by Juri Lotman in 1982 and is now applied to many fields, including cultural semiotics generally, biosemiotics, zoosemiotics, geosemiotics, etc.

This is the Piccadilly circus. 

Here is a quick breakdown of semiotics 

According to Pierce there are three different types of signs. 

Iconic signs: signs where the signifier resembles the signified, e.g., a picture. 

Nike 

Starbucks 

Coca Cola

INDEXICAL SIGNS (pointing sign, index finger)

Indexical Signs: signs where the signifier is caused by the signified, e.g., smoke signifies fire. Denotation: the most basic or literal meaning of a sign, e.g., the word "rose" signifies a particular kind of flower. 

No Smoking 

Recycle 

Toilet Signage 

Indexical signs are quite space related, and to helps identify the way in which the space can be operated by representing the objects they stand for. 

SYMBOLIC SIGNS 

Symbolic (arbitrary) signs: signs where the relation between signifier and signified is purely conventional and culturally specific, e.g., most words.

Symbolic signs no meaning to the actual object, they are linked to their object through a learned convention. A person has to be from a culture or familiar with the meaning of the sign in order to know what it means.  

For example;

Signifier; Dad in different languages

signified; Dad (father of someone) 

Symbolic signs are considered arbitrary because they 

religious signs 

These are Arbitrary symbols that relate to religion, they represent the respective religions and you would expect to see them in their respective environments. 

Male and Female signs.

These male and female signs can me seen as arbitrary or symbolic because it’s the general sign used to identify both genders. They don't don’t specifically tie or relate to a public space but they can be included where appropriate.

Warning Signs 

Warning signs have are arbitrary, because we have learnt to associate them with danger whenever we see them. The colour yellow is symbolic to danger, animals that have yellow coating on them can be deemed dangerous. 

My Journey to filming my first piece leading to my final major project has been interesting, the idea is to showcase my take on football through moving image as a primary medium. The idea is to explore different aspects of the game from poetic and artistic point of view, bringing familiarity to the connections and connotations intersected in the shots and sound design. 

It has been quite interesting shooting this as i had planned the shots that i wanted earlier on but i find it’s quite difficult to stop the game and get the exact shots that i want since they weren't acting for me. 

Sulaimon James

aka

Me and a friend decided to witness what it’s like to be a child again, to let go and not care about the final outcome of your doodle..