Study Task 3 - Planning and Structuring an Essay

How does Western mainstream advertising present ethnic minority women?

• Introduction
  Advertising is powerful, it can influence the way we think. Most people in advertising are beautiful and white, especially women. Ethnic minority are largely misrepresented in advertising. 

• How black women are whitewashed in the west 

‘African American women have been excluded by television and movies, by white beauty ideals. Consequently, to have a place in the American cultural industry, African Americans attempt to mirror American standards of beauty through their appearance…’

Black women have pressure to disguise themselves - told to emulate European features, sold products to make themselves appear more westernised, Dove try to capitalise on this with their 'love your curls campaign' lighter women deemed more attractive .. men are 'allowed to be darker'... Beyonce advertisement altered to make her appear lighter ... in comparison to skin lightening creams

• Employment of Ethnic minority women within advertising

There is a distinct lack of women within advertising ... if there isn't a lot of women, then their must not be a lot of black women.. More black women working in advertising would help there to be more representation of black women in the adverts. ‘As one of few black women in a senior media role, I have a burning passion to ensure the industry embraces diversity of all types. Aside from the fact that it is clearly morally correct, I firmly believe it is essential to the continued success of advertising and media agencies.’... ‘How can we claim to understand all the different consumers out there, unless our staff reflect all aspects of their diversity and difference?’

• The West's Influence on the East

Companies use caucasian or very light models in their advertisements in the East - Korea's models are 100% white. However, have these ideals been in their cultures before influence from the west or colonisation.

Western company L'Oreal sell whitening creams but are they jut benefitting from what has already been in their culture.

Finding some quotes for my essay

"The body has historically been much more integral to the formation of identity for women than it has for men. If women had defined for themselves the ideals of their body shape or decoration, this would not be problematic.'

'It is denial of this right in history of western cultural representation, in medical practice, and in the multi-billion dollar pornography, fashion and cosmetic industry that has granted squatters rights to their own bodies.'

Provocateur: Images of Women and Minorities in Advertising by Anthony J. Cortese

Study task 2 - Reading and Understanding a Text

My essay question is Discuss the role that illustration can play during periods of political and/or social upheaval. (although I might change this)

I have chosen both of the 'First Things First' manifestos to analyse.

Tone-of-voice: What can you deduce about the authors position in regard to the subject matter from their tone-of-voice

The tone of voice is revolutionary, they want to reject our society of consumerism and designers having to work on only things that are for profitable means. The authors want the designers to be able to create things for charities and things they care about not big companies who exploit people. 

5 Key points that the text makes

• It's morally wrong that designers have to make work like this - for the cosmetic industry etc. It's not ethical and we shouldn't have to put up with this just to pay the bills.
• We should change our ideas of what we think graphic design and other types of design are for  - they're not just for consumerism.
• They hate any type of advertising that is used to sell coffee or roll on deoderants or anything we don't particularly need.
• Designers have forgotten their love of designing - they're just making stuff for the money.
• We should get rid of the consumerism aspect of society.

5 Key quotes from the text

• 'Commercial work has always payed the bills, but many graphic designers how now let it become, in large measure, what graphic designers do. This, in turn, is how the world perceives design.'
• 'Unprecedented environmental, social and cultural crises demand our attention.'
• "Commercial work has always payed the bills, but many graphic designers how now let it become, in large measure, what graphic designers do. This, in turn, is how the world perceives design."
• 'We propose a reversal of priorities in favour of more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication'
• '...those who have flogged their skill and imagination...'
• 'Unprecedented environmental, social and cultural crises demand our attention.'
• 'By far the greatest effort of those working in the advertising industry are wasted on these trivial purposes, which contribute little or nothing to our national prosperity.'

Analytical Paragraph

This manifesto is an extreme take on how designers work within consumerism. It wants designers to reject job offers for designing adverts and packaging for the consumer market and create work that is meaningful and helps promote change. The consumer market has meant designers have lost their way in creating original design and creatives are now reliant on commercial advertising and working for profitable companies. We view design differently because of the consumer market because of how creatives earn their money, and creatives aren't encouraged to use their design skills for good uses because we just don't see their jobs that way. 

Image Analysis - Study Task

Empire Marketing board - 'East African Transport Old Style' and 'East African New Style' by Adrian Allinson, from the 'Colonial Progress Brings Home Prosperity' series of posters.



The Uncle Sam Range (1876) Advertising Image by Schumacher and Ettlinger, New York


These images both display pride of colonisation and empire. It is promoting the idea that the West (particularly the U.S and the U.K) is culturally, socially and technologically wise superior to the rest of the world. In the current time both of these images could be seen as racist or xenophobic in it's themes whereas at the time they would have been socially acceptable. Both images are patriotic to either America or the British Empire.

'Uncle Sam Range' is an advertisement for a range cooker. This advertisement is in the 100 year anniversary of America's independence (1879) which is marked by the clock .The gold title indicates wealth to depict that if you buy this cooker you'll be seen as wealthy - probably being sold to the aspirational middle class. It is a garish and bright poster, using the American flag in every chance it gets to really show how patriotic these Range cookers are. To give the sense that you'll be a 'real American' if you buy it. The range isn't even the focal point of the cooker which shows how big the celebration on the anniversary is. During times of national occasions, companies usually use these to sell their products even if two and two do not go together and the product has no relation to the occasion. The advertisement is trying to show how strong the U.S has come since becoming independent and shows that with the metaphorical bill which has mocking list of stereotypical foods that immigrants of the East Coast of America would eat i.e Irish immigrants would have moved America because of the potato famine and America has helped them. This advertisement also portrays the backwards-ness in social attitudes at the time.  The white man in this picture looks tall, powerful, well dressed and affluent. Whereas the woman in this picture is serving the man, kept in her place, not necessarily allowed at the dinner meeting. The black man is even smaller, demoting his worth.

The Empire Marketing Board's advertisments are less so to sell a product and more to sell an idea. These posters will have been to prove that the empire is still a good idea to the people of Britain and also to encourage the wealthy people of East Africa who would probably had  British education to invest in new infrastucture. The Old Style shows women, men and children working together, slowly and have unhappy/ angry faces to say that this style is not working for them. In the New Style, it is only black men working maybe implying that women are to weak to do these building jobs. I think it's trying to say that the new style would benefit everyone, however the bridges they have built are probably purely to benefit Britain with importing goods and the African people are just dehumanised workers. The white man is higher than the African workers to show he has the power. He is the hero of the colony and without the white man's intervention Africa would carry on being 'backwards'.

Both of these advertisements are trying to promote inclusivity and 'working together' but the white man is still the focal point and he will always be superior. They put black people at the bottom and dehumanise them from actual humans with minds to just simple workers - slaves perhaps. Even though both of these advertisements were created after the abolishment of slavery,  proving that the idea of black people had still not progressed. These images try to justify stealing other people's land through nationalism and depictions that we're better than them so it's acceptable for us to steal their land. In a historical view, these advertisements try disguise the horror and brutal attacks within these areas of history while still blatantly showing them up through the undermining images of black people.

"To what extent does advertising construct our ideas of gender?"

A few basic things I hit on while researching through this question

1. There is a distinct lack of black women in advertising, either being in the background or not being present at all
2. There is a distorted view of women or lack of women in advertising because only a 25% of the advertising directors are women (however it has progressed up 4% in recent decades)
3. Even when women are meant to be 'empowered' in adverts it still plays along their looks and the 'natural beauties' are still airbrushed and in proportion to be acceptable to our societal ideals of the female body. (whereas men are allowed to be disgusting...) 
   
4. Something makes me recoil in horror at trying to sell products through a 'real beauty campaign' - 'you have real beauty as long as you buy these products'. 

"What is the role of print media in the digital age?" - Group Task

Print media - In the art of printmaking, "media" tends to refer to the technique used to create a print
Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints that have an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting.

Digital print - used by computers, perhaps photoshop and other adobe programmes.

Analogue print - screenprint, woodcut, engraving, etching, mezzotint, lithography etc

Dan Hays, Nuclear Winter - 2009. This is a digital print. Used with pixels to create a whole image which is more recognisable from a further viewing distance.

Jim Dine. A woodetching print.

There are pros and cons to both methods of printing:

• Analogue printing has a authenticity that it is one of a kind and originality, no same print will look exactly the same whereas digital print has the option to make thousands of the same print (which could also be a pro).
• Digital printing can be more exact to how you want it to look - however this could be a hindrance because an accident with analogue print could open your eyes to a new process or look that you might want to explore.
• Analogue printing could be a waste of time and money if something goes wrong, however with digital print you have the option to do it over as soon as it goes wrong without any particular cost.

Preparatory Task

Social definition - 

•  relating to society or its organisation. 
• needing companionship and therefore best to living in communities.
• an informal social gathering, especially one organised by the members of a particular club or group.

“People are fascinating. Especially the ones who hate me.” 
― Rebecca McKinsey

Marion Barraud

Cultural definition -

• relating to the idea, customs, and social behaviour of a society.
• relating to the arts and to the intellectual achievement.

“Sometimes we feel we straddle two cultures; at other times, that we fall between two stools.”  - Salman Rushdie

  

Cachetejack

http://infotraveleasy.blogspot.com/2012/10/brazil-thriving-african-culture_30.html

Technological definition-

• relating to or using technology.

" Technology is anything that wasn’t around when you were born." – Alan Kay 

Jasper Rietman

Historical definition -

• of or concerning history or past events.
• belonging to the past.
• set in the past.

“History written in pencil is easily erased, but crayon is forever.” - Emilie Autumn 

Amandine Urruty

Political definition -

• of or relating to the government or public affairs of the country.

"There ain't no answer. There ain't gonna be any answer. There never has been an answer. That's the answer." - Gertrude Stein

Matt Brooker