Throughout this module of research and communication, I have undertaken tasks which have enhanced my basic skills and knowledge when it comes to using a wide variety of resources and approaches towards my own work. I found most of the tasks beneficial however, some felt more challenging than others.

For task one and two, I started off by looking at an advertising poster by the notorious brand, Moschino. From that, I linked it through the pushing of boundaries with an image found on the internet that has recently caught media attention. I found that this related to the exhibition at the met; Iris and b.Gerald Canton. Upon hearing what the first task was, I didn’t expect it to benefit me massively however, it gave me knowledge about current affairs that are happening in today’s fashion industry that I wouldn’t have thought about without doing my own research into it.

Task three and four had me finding three different resources, a book, newspaper and website that all linked together and reference them which I found fairly easy as I have previously used harvard referencing before, however I did struggle with locating my first image that I wanted to explore further. Going into a library full of books should have made it easier for me, nevertheless, I found it harder to narrow down to just one image that I wanted to digress, drawing out the time process in which I completed the task which is something I need to improve on. I found the lecture more interesting, as we are in an already saturated industry, making copyright even harder to enforce.

In task five and six, I started out looking at a collection by Roberta Einer and then used the internet and articles to find out about the inspiration behind her designs. The lecture made me realise how much an artist can be inspired by other peoples work and the sheer amount of work that goes on behind the designing process. This related back to the previous task which emphasised how important it is to reference what and who has inspired your own artwork. I also found creating a visually stimulating mood board very useful and applied similar ways of composition in other mood boards I have had to produce since.

For task seven and eight, we had to read and analyse a text, and then link it to two other texts that related. I found this task more challenging than others due to the heavy, articulate language used in the reading, making me have to read through it multiple times to fully understand it. I also found it harder to find reliable sources that related well, drawing out the process of completing the task. Due to the dread of having to complete this task, it meant that I put it off for as long as I could, procrastinating more than using my time wisely.   

Task nine and ten had me analising a controversial advertising campaign by Duncan Quinn. It allowed me to question societies ideologies regarding advertising to a specific audience, analysing a brand and image, which I enjoyed unpicking. I find this taboo subject to be highly interesting as it has reason for debate, aiding my own morals and beliefs, expanding my own opinions.

After reflecting on these ten tasks, it has made me realise how useful they have been towards my own projects. I have generated a wealth of knowledge about different creative practitioners, the industry and using a variety of resources when finding inspiration. However in the future, I need to work on my time keeping skills when completing these tasks, tackling one a week to keep up.

This photograph was taken from the 2008 advertising campaign for Duncan Quinn, a luxury, high-end suit maker who entices the wealthy through their own ideologies of man. They advertise a swish, wealthy lifestyle that only the elite can afford, through fast cars, fine suits and dominance over women. On the Duncan Quinn website, he is described to “ throw the occasional party, indulge in the odd cheeky lunch, drive too fast and enjoy life just a little too much in the company of his friends”. He takes aspects of his own life and uses it as influences of how he wants his own brand to be represented and who his target audiences is, raising the concern of ethical and social issues within the advertising industry.

The image depicts a bloody, half naked women, lying on the top of a car while the man stands over her looking smug. The fact that he is fully clothed in an expensive suit while she is half-naked with a tie around her neck, embodies animalistic connotations, dehumanising her, making her submissive in comparison. In addition, he is stood over her which implies that he is ‘above’ her in superiority. The use of the neck tie is typically a symbol of power which is taken further here as it is the main weapon that is used by the ‘anti-hero’. This arises the social issue of masculinity. Jason Katz wrote, Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity where he explores the dominant aspects of being white, heterosexual and middle class within a patriarchal society, for example, “Dealing with economic instability, the increased amount of non-White workers taking jobs, and the women’s movement, men of the time were looking to something that they could use: strength and violence.” This way of understanding, applies to Duncan Quinns ethos and how he represents his own company. He appeals to the white, heterosexual man because that is what his company embodies, it is a projection of Duncans own out-dated views and morals which can be seen to be foreshadowed within this image, through the black and white filter used over the top.

Another ethical issue that has been raised from this advertising campaign is how women’s bodies are exploited to generate male attention. Theorist, Laura Mulvey discussed the male gaze in exccess which can be applied to this image. The fact that a women has been used half naked, stretched over a car, in ‘sexy underwear’ denies her of human identity, which is emphasised by the fact that her face isn’t used in the image, only her body. Laura Mulvey expressed, “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active male and passive female” which is illustrated within the relationship of the two protagonists in the image.
I personally believe that the progress made by the feminist movement is being contradicted by the ideologies presented by elite brands who embody out-dated, offensive and morbid ideologies showing that there is still a huge divide within the advertising industry and what is socially acceptable within today’s society.

Kratz, J (2011). Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity. (SECOND EDITION) Thousand Oaks, pp. 261-269.
Mulvey, L (2009). Visual and other pleasure. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Dunca Quinn (2011) Who?. avaliable from: http://duncanquinn.com/about/ [Accessed 27 November 2017].

University of Pittsburgh (2014) Advertising and Dominant Masculinity | Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. Avaliable from: http://www.wstudies.pitt.edu/blogs/mnf14/advertising-and-dominant-masculinity [Accessed 27 November 2017].

Sanda Millers, ‘Fashion Media: Past and Present’, evaluated the concept of taste during the eighteenth century, also known as the enlightenment period. The first fashion magazine, Le Mercure Galant was regarded as the first form of modern publicity, emerged and introduced a wider audience of ‘intellectuals’ to a subject worthy of intellectual pursuit and was ultimately progressed by the likes of Denis Diderot. Le Mercure Galant was however, short lived as it was seen to be ahead of its time and was later reintroduced as Mercure de France during the ‘age of reason’ amongst the French revolution. This is argued to have changed societies ideologies of the constrictions of beauty and taste. Miller contemplates the philosophical aesthetics of the concept of taste and discusses whether it is deliberated through personal judgement or a more meaningful, thought-out critique.

The french encyclopaedist, Denis Diderot was aware of moral messages behind a piece of artwork and believed that it should be evaluated on a more irrational basis as there is no common denominator in our own personal likes and dislikes when critiquing. Diderot argues that art is a ‘delicacy of the imagination’ (Barlett, Cole & Rocamora 2013) suggesting that the way we interpret art is based on personal opinion and how we see them is different to how another observer would perceive it. I personally agree with this statement as everyone is brought up differently, shaping our own ideas and opinions through cultural experiences, environmental and political differences and also by the people surrounding us. This lends itself hand in hand to the famous expression, ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’.

A critic who opposed Didorts enlightened efforts was Jonathan Richardson, who thought art criticism should be on an objective basis only. One of Richardson’s work was, An Essay on the Whole Art of Criticism(1719), in which he laid out seven categories that he perceived as being integral to the success of the artwork in which he was critiquing and assigned them a score between zero and eighteen. The categories being composition, drawing, invention and colouring. I personally think that this is also contradictory, as giving a piece of art a score would still have underlying personal opinion behind it. I also struggle to understand where you would draw the line between what ‘score’ you would assign them with. Whats sets an ‘sixteen’ and a ‘eighteen’ a part. He also claimed that, “One man may be as good a judge as another if he applies himself to it.” Thus showing that his beliefs about his own critiquing haven’t progressed alongside the enlightenment period like other critics.
In addition, Henry James, who was an American author had similar opinions to Diderot and wrote, “We must grant the artist his subject, his idea, his donné: our criticism is applied only to what he makes of it.” (James 1888) This suggests that he saw that the freedom of art allowed for a freedom of criticism much like Diderot expressed. He allows himself to see the piece of art in the way that the creator sees it, looking for more meaning and showing understanding towards it in contrast to a score sheet.

To conclude, I believe that taste within critiquing is something that has progressed massively and has a huge part to play within modern fashion and how we view art as a whole. The Enlightenment period paved the way for modern fashion to correspond to the concept of taste which aided the efforts in getting observers to have their own opinions, rather than a universal one that is constricted by tradition.  

Barlett, Cole & Rocamora (e.d) 2013, Fashion Media: Past and Present, London: Bloomsbury

James, H 1888, The Art of Fiction, ‘Partial Portraits, Macmillan and Co, London.

Richardson, J 1792. The works of Jonathan Richardson, Strawberry-hill, London.

This mood board covers the influences in Roberta Einers Spring/Summer ‘16 collection.
Her collection was inspired by American pop art during the 50s, 60s and 70s. East coast meets west coast. The American girl. Bubble-gum colours as well as colour blocking from Andy Warhol. Her use of detailed embroidery can be seen to be influenced highly from Balmain.

I have chosen to look further into this image by the notorious Andy Warhol. This was made as a exhibition poster that presents the portrait of actress, Elizabeth Taylor. Personally, I really like how simplistic this image is in shape and colour but also in practical process. He created it by using a simple screen printing method which really allows the colour to take center stage. To me, Warhol’s work epitomises colour blocking which is something that Roberta Einer has taken from his work and something that I could potentially look at in the future if I desired such inspiration within my own designs. On further research, I found out that Warhol had a fascination with the ‘celebrity death’ culture that began with his painting of Marilyn Monroe upon her tragic death in 1962. I think that this makes the image even more interesting to look at as an observer, as the image is hauntingly flat, yet so vibrant and full of life. Warhol could’ve wanted to celebrate their life through art, much like their own ‘art’ over the years. Now I know this, I can start to see something quite cold and chilling about his work, someone that once was at their peak of their careers, reduced, lifeless, without any emotion, much like the flat blocks of colour that he uses, which I think connotes the mark that is left behind them.

Tate, ‘Liz’, Andy Warhol, 1965. Avaliable from: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/warhol-liz-ar00320 [Accessed 14 November].

I started off by looking going into the library and finding the book, ‘Missoni, Art Colour’, which I found to be visually pleasing as well as interesting. One reason being due to the fact that I’m currently on my knitwear module which has involved me experimenting with bolder colour choices, something that I haven’t properly experimented with before. I usually stick to more muted and effortless tones, thus making me want to look into colour more which could help me with my understanding of colour combinations. To link with this, I found the article, ‘How colour affects our mood’, which I found to be eye opening. It talks about how colour influences an observers emotions, which in design, is very important when conveying the meaning and ideas behind what you create. One quote which emphasises this is, “when you look at red, it does increase your heart rate. It is a stimulating color”. This implements the idea that colour plays a bigger part in our day to day life,subconsciously. I then found a website which follows the ‘it’ colours, which in high-end fashion this season, being red. It also explores pinks, oranges and blues which all connote different meanings. I found this website useful in finding designers that relate to certain colours, but also in pairing a variety of different colour combinations together, inspiring my own work further.

Zanella, E 2016, Missoni Art Colour, Rizzoli International Publications, New York, United States.

Grumman-Bender, R. (2013) How colour affects our mood. Huffington Post, 27 November.

Francois, N. Sleek The most iconic colours in Fashion. Avaliable from: http://www.sleek-mag.com/2017/02/17/colours-in-fashion/ [Accessed 30 November 2017].

Moschino advertising campaign, spring/summer 1990, drawing Franco Moschino.

I first started off by looking at this advertising poster made by the brand Moschino due to the powerful message that it possesses. I think that the juxtaposition between the monochrome, in contrast with the bright red, connoting passion and danger, works effectively in conveying Moschino’s anti-capitalism meaning. Franco Moschino’s objective behind this campaign in the 90s was to expose the constrictions made by high-end fashion institutions and encourage the ‘people’ to experiment freely with what fashion means to them. It shows how much power mainstream fashion institutions can have within the industry. I think however that this is a very ironic statement made by such a large fashion house who is known for leading the way within high end fashion, which before the 90s, followed many of the same ideologies as other large fashion houses that this poster could be referring to.

Ashish, Spring/Summer 2016 Catwalk show.

From focusing on this topic, I thought that I would look into what boundaries are being tested to date within the fashion industry. One fashion brand I found of which has recently caught media attention is Ashish, who made its audience question gender fluidity back in 2016.
Above is one image that I found from their catwalk show which shows two male models, walking hand in hand down the runway in heels and wearing ‘feminine’ outfits. This gender fluid approach challenges the traditional ideologies presented to us about the fashion industry as a whole. I think that this approach allows the designer to be more playful within their designs, something in which I want to take away when thinking about who my own designs are for.

Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garcons.

One exhibition that is relevant to my two previous research finds is the Iris and B.Gerald Canton Exhibition at the Met. The exhibition focuses on the work of Rei Kawakubo and Comme des Garcons which features 120 womenswear designs which blur the lines between what is wearable fashion, pushing boundaries similarly to how Ashish uses gender fluidity to push their design ideologies further.

Frisa, Maria Luisa (2004) Excess, Milano: Edizioni Charta.

HuffPost UK (2015), Ashish Bring Gender Fluidity To The LFW Catwalk. Available from:http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/09/22/london-fashion-week-ashish-male-models_n_8177612.html [Accessed 1 November].

Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garcons (founded 1969), Body Meets Dress – Dress Meets Body, Spring/Summer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.