In this module I was taught techniques that I will later need for my writing such as using online resources, library resources and referencing. I also explored topics I found interesting as well as things that I did not.

In Task 1/2, I looked at how to use online resources. I looked at a book which helped pick my theme for that task which was androgyny and further researched intro androgyny using the internet. What I found difficult about this task was trying to find archives that related to androgyny and I spent a lot of time looking for archives in the wrong part of the website, which was very time consuming. I did enjoy having the freedom to research anything I wanted to as it made the task enjoyable and also motivated me to do it as it was something of interest.

In Task 3/4, I looked at how to use harvard referencing by looking at a chapter in book, website and newspaper article that related to it. This task taught me how to harvard reference and the other tasks were practice for harvard referencing to help me for future tasks. At first I found Harvard referencing tedious but over time referencing became easier so I it affects me less than it did in the beginning.

In Task 5/6, I found this task interesting but i found the process to be time consuming and it created a lot of confusion. It was hard to find a designer who mentions all their references so I interpreted their references and found images I believed related to the collection. It was hard to research into my images as there were no specific references e.g. film, book, place. I had to try gather information about an artist based on minimal information I found.

In Task 7/8, this was the most time consuming task that I had to do. I chose the shortest article but it was mostly in French so I then read the longer article that I had read through that and make notes. Most of the notes were pointless as I had to summarise 18 pages and then talk about one specific topic within the text. I did find some of the text interesting and also found it to be a learning curve of what to expect in the future. I think I will scan through the text rather than pick a text based on length.

In Task 9/10, We has to look at ethical issues of an advert. I found the lecture as well as the task interesting because it is a topic that can have more than one viewpoint which allows more choice. I did not actually know any specific ethical issues in the task so I had to research some of those before I could start the task. It was interesting to look at the image and message behind it rather than the formal elements as I have done this in this past.

Overall, I think the task have given me information and knowledge for my future tasks and has allowed me to try and find my way of approaching tasks.

During the first semester of University we have a ‘Research and Communication Skills’ lecture conducted every Thursday between 11-13:00 in which we learn the valuable skills of researching and academic study, in terms of by given weekly-set tasks based on various subject’s such as ‘Academic Integrity’ and ‘Ethics’. From this, I found in particular the gathering and researching from primary and secondary sources beneficial to my studies as it allowed me to use the knowledge and skills I have learnt; apply to my sketchbook work – in terms of using the library and other forms of sources from the internet. Similarly, I gained different techniques and diverse ways of collating information and research and presenting it in a literary manner but in my bibliography my Harvard referencing could be pursued more efficiently.

One of the tasks which was provided to us was ‘How to use Online Resources?’ which was all about gathering research/information in a manner of different sources via the library and the internet. This included looking into a wider spread of diverse and varied sources by researching into primary and secondary materials such as:

• Books,
• Journals,
• Articles,
• Websites,
• Newspapers etc.

After collecting the required information we’re expected to Harvard Reference throughout in which the task ‘Academic Integrity and Plagiarism’ was specifically based upon and given out as a set-task to complete. I found in particular Harvard referencing every piece of information (text and image) was very time consuming meaning I had to account for this every time I started writing a piece of text. On the other hadn’t, I did find that gathering information and Harvard referencing for a array of diverse primary/secondary sources to be useful and relevant – it enabled me to find information/Harvard reference quickly more clearly and I found the whole process easier to grasp upon each time.

The main thing I found in particularly hard to do was keeping to the word count/limit for each task just purely based on the fact that on written tasks, especially the ‘Reflective Writing’ and ‘Ethics’ task, when analysing images I come up with multiple ideas – in which need to be narrowed down and become more conformed and precise to keep in the 250/500 word limits. To adapt from this, I feel by sticking with 1 main final idea and creating 2/3 alternative interpretations based upon the original idea the outcome will be the same as having a diverse range of ideas but becoming more concise and keeping within the word limit.

To conclude I found that these lectures left me enriching my knowledge and skills for my other projects enabling me to find research from a wide variety of diverse sources.

The advertisement I have chosen is for Duncan Quinn, who is seen as a high-end tailoring company. I chose to analyse this image as I found it to be the most shocking and degrading out of the two adverts. When first looking at the image you can see a well-dressed man with a smug look on his face. You can also see a woman dressed only in her lingerie lying on a car bonnet, being pulled with what looks to be a tie around her neck like a dog on a lead. I was initially disgusted by this as the woman has been portrayed as submissive under the control of the man. The way the woman is lying on the car suggests she is perhaps unconscious as her body looks limp and lacks any sort of life. The way she is positioned on the car also suggests that she has no control of her actions and is being controlled by the male. The woman wearing only her underwear creates the impression she is a sex slave and is inferior to the male who looks as if he is somewhat proud of what he is doing judging by his expression. The contrast in how the man and woman are dressed could also show how superior the male is as he is in an expensive suit which suggests money and wealth. As well as how the two are dressed, the way in which the man is standing above the woman gives the impression of class and social status and that he has the power to control the female. I the image, the three focal points are the male, female and car which creates a mysterious feel to the advertisement. The fact that the background or rest of the car is not visible makes the whole thing a lot more unsettling as it is unknown where they are and the addition of the black and white filter creates a sinister feeling for the viewer.

As Duncan Quinn is a high-end brand, you would expect their advertisements to be more sophisticated and send out a positive image as more people would see them. However, it comes across as if brands are creating more controversial ad campaigns to put them ‘squarely in the limelight, for better or worse’. Other brands such as American Apparel have also been scrutinised for their portrayal of women in advertisements as they have often depicted ‘young women in suggestive, sometimes vulgar poses’ which has resulted in complaints. However, on the other hand, these images have been used to raise ‘public awareness of important social issues’, as well as bringing the attention of other ethical issues. In John Berger’s book ‘Ways of Seeing’, he comments about how the ‘social presence of a woman is different in kind from that of a man’ (Berger, 1972) which highlights the problem of how different men and women are perceived in society. Later on in the book, the author suggests that ‘women watch themselves being looked at’ (Berger, 1972), indicating that women are seen as an object to be admired and that they have brought this upon themselves.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

[1] WWD (2014) Where Has It Gone? Available from:
http://wwd.com/business-news/marketing-promotion/controversy-where-has-it-gone-7813542/
[Accessed 27^th November 2017]

[2] Berger, J (1972) Ways of Seeing, London: Penguin Classics

For this task, I decided to read the chapter from the book ‘Fashion Media: Past and Present’ by Djurdja Bartlett, Shaun Cole and Agnes Rocamora. I chose this extract because I thought the topic would be more interesting to research. After reading the chapter once, I got a rough understanding of the key themes and ideas that were discussed. One of the main ideas was about taste and how people changed the way they saw art to make it more personal to them hence the saying ‘beauty is in the eyes of the beholder’ (Bartlett et al, 2013, p.14). The Enlightenment (a movement influenced by philosophers) played a major part in getting people to have individual opinions about art instead of following tradition. This change proved that not everyone had the same likes and dislikes as it was just a ‘matter of preference’ (Bartlett et al, 2013, p.14). The Salons were introduced in 1737 and art critics were developed so people could view and enjoy the artwork that was on display. Another main idea topic was about the first French fashion magazines and how they helped to sculpt taste by telling people about dress, interiors and entertainment. Their aim was to ‘represent the latest outfits worn at the French court’ (Bartlett et al, 2013, p.17) as well as ‘representations of “real life”’ (Bartlett et al, 2013, p.17) women from different classes. After the French Revolution, fashion magazines became ‘increasingly well – informed’ (Bartlett et al, 2013, p.18) with the latest news and developments in fashion.

The concept of taste is also present in the book ‘Fashion Brands: Branding Style from Armani to Zara’ by Mark Tungate from the line ‘you can dress from head to toe in Gucci if you like – it proves you’re rich, but it doesn’t prove you have taste’ (Tungate, 2004, p.45). For me this proves the point that class doesn’t matter when it comes to fashion as just because you have money and can afford high end brands, doesn’t make you any more stylish than someone who is less fortunate. In the book ‘Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity’ by Elizabeth Wilson, it states that fashion became the way in which people displayed their ‘unique individual personality’ (Wilson, 2003, p.156). Also in the book however, it mentions about the ‘rapidly changing styles’ (Wilson, 2003, p.16) which created a negative impact as people were criticised for adapting the different styles to make them their own.  Fashion has also had bad connotations linked to it, especially for women. In ‘Adorned in Dreams’, Wilson speaks about how a female fashion writer called Doris Langley Moore tried to get men to have ‘conservative attitudes towards women’ (Wilson, 2003, p.48) as she found they had ‘coy, sometimes amusedly patronising, sometimes downright offensive’ (Wilson, 2003, p.48) opinions towards women because the majority of the writers at the time were male. The French fashion magazines also used women in a negative way to mock the victims of the French Revolution by using ‘a young lady seen from the back wearing a white muslin dress with victim-style crossed bands’ (Bartlett et al, 2013, p.20). I don’t agree with these statements as now women play a major part of the fashion industry and it’s sad to see how they were treated in the early years.

After reading and analysing the topic in depth, I have a clear understanding about how taste developed and became personal to the individual as well as the evolution of the fashion magazine in 18^th century France. I have also found and acknowledged other sources that contrast and compare with the common themes and issues I felt were important.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

[1] Bartlett, D., Cole, S. and Rocamora, A. (2013) Fashion Media: Past and Present. London/New York: Bloomsbury

[2] Wilson, E. (2003) Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity, 2^nd ed. London/New York: I.B. Tauris

[3] Tungate, M. (2004) Fashion Brands: Branding Style from Armani to Zara. London/Philadelphia: Kogan Page

Research and Communication Skills module helped me improving my analysing skills and critical thinking. As an art student, I am more confident and comfortable to express my idea with lines, colours and patterns. Therefore, I was panicking at the beginning and scared to type the tasks. Through the process, I gained more and more confidence in writing and thinking about each concept in depth.

The first task starts with a simple and easy content: Online resource. In the session, the lecturer explained distinctively about the difference between primary resource and secondary resource and what type of online source is reliable and what is not. For example, I used to do my research depending on Wikipedia, but from then on, I found myself hardly using it anymore and entirely collecting information myself, bit by bit from various places and compressing them into the essay. I’m gradually avoiding the chance of being lazy and just relying on Wikipedia, and it’s beneficially for future development on research skills.

Additionally, the visual research task extended the ability to select information and take the essence and explore. This exercise required a mood board containing the inspiration of the artist and chose one to investigate. It provides an opportunity to practice on my analysing skill; observing the picture conscientiously, considering the intention and discovering the hidden message.

Except for those practical based tasks, Academic Integrity and Ethics were the most essential and useful concept in this module. From the topic of Academic Integrity, I learnt how to use Harvard referencing to quote where each source comes from to meet the standard formatting of using other people’s work. On the other hand, Ethics gets me to think about the moral baseline of creating or presenting artworks. They’re both theory-based, and the tasks test on your critical thinking and expressing your own opinion. In contrast, one is about ensuring that you understand your copyright to protect yourself and others; the other one is about you understanding, and consciously thinking about what you are spreading and the impact that it may have on people.

“leave the best until last.” Reflective writing is the most challenging task overall. It’s the only topic that we have to analyse a chapter from a book and referencing with other books. It’s the most time-consuming task as well. It certainly pushed me to read other books and to use the WSA liberty as it’s difficult to find an online resource that’s relevant to the text. Although, I can’t deny I learnt more on this task than others: From reading it over and over again, prooving with other sources and criticising the context in-depth and structuring how to put different topics in order.

In conclusion, it was an utterly useful module while doing the studio works. It’s a good practice to absolutely digging out your personal opinion and construct them in a digital wording format. The fact that you have a small piece of writing to complete each week helps you to get used to working under a deadline and gain that sense of achievement each week whiles feeling stressful for other moduled, alternatively, leaving thing until the last minute to fall and learn how to manage the time and being organised.

During this semester, I have been set various tasks asking to complete a range of writing on different topics. I have found some quite difficult for example the reflective writing task as the academic writing was unlike anything I had read before. I am pleased with the way my tasks have turned out and I have tried my best to meet the criteria set. I feel I have learnt valuable skills from both our lectures and my writing. I would say that I am more interested in the practical side of this course but still find writing essays and doing tasks engaging, especially the way in which our lectures are conducted as they give us ample information and deliver it in a fun and interesting way, making me want to complete my work and meet the deadlines within the time. Looking back, I mostly completed all of my assignments on the week they were set, knowing that if I left them until the last minute I would have struggled writing them all in bulk. I could have improved upon finding a way to use the library in a more efficient way as I found it quite difficult to locate and match my ideas and concepts with books on the topic – for example in the reflective writing task I struggled to find a book that was relating to the original idea of taste being dependent on the person. I particularly enjoyed the ethics task, as it was very interesting to write on the topic of feminism, as I am familiar with this as I did Sociology a level. I found it interesting because the photographs were both very outrageous unlike any advertising I had seen before, making me want to look into the reasons why they had advertised in this way and what the reaction would be – most people find it shocking. I am certainly looking forward to next semester and the topics to come, however, I find essays quite challenging so may find it more difficult than this semester. Adjusting to writing again after the long summer holidays was quite a shock but did the best that I could. Moving forward, I could improve upon my writing by using more connectives and making my sentences more intellectual and degree level. I could use the skills that I have learnt in the future when referencing a photo or webpage in any jobs in the arts, this is bound to come up. The skills that I have learnt are; being able to use the technique of Harvard referencing, analysing the ideas and concepts behind an image, writing about one photograph or image for a length of time, breaking it down which will be useful in the industry depending on what part I wish to go into. For example, I could use it as a freelance designer for inspiration and explaining my ideas and concepts or doing this for a large company, working for multi-national companies like Next or Topshop.

Duncan Quinn 2008 Ad

This is an aggressive and sexualising image of a woman sprawled out of a car in lingerie, with a tie wrapped round her neck and a man pulling it and it was being used as advertising for a clothing suit collection. I believe this image is ethically wrong because of many reasons; including it implies that women are submissive and men are in control. It implies this by the way that the man is leading her and has taken charge. This could be compared to a man leading a dog. Therefore, comparing women to dogs. The fact that the man is dominating the woman is sexist. It is ethically wrong because in this day and age, we have a wide knowledge about sexism in our society and it is wrong to promote it in advertising.

Another reason why the image is ethically wrong is because it is sexualising women. This is also sexist, especially because women have been seen as a sex object for decades. The English language itself is considered sexist. For example, the word ‘Tart’, in the “Collins dictionary says that this is a 19th-century contraction of “sweetheart”, a term of endearment, particularly to women. From 1887, however, it is attested as meaning “a female of immoral character; a prostitute”.” (David Shariatmadari, 2016). This is the same for many words. Words that are considered as a compliment in modern society are usually derived from words that describe women as sexual objects. The word ‘tart’, is also a food, which is insulting as well because it is comparing women to edible objects. The fact that the image is representing the woman as a sexual object, degrades the women and dehumanizes her.

There is a contrast in the way the man and woman are dressed. The man is almost fully dressed, wearing what looks like expensive clothing. In comparison, the woman only has underwear on. This portrays the sexes as unequal. His clothing style is also old fashioned, as well as the car the woman is lying on. This makes him look like he is not from our time. Women had less rights in the past, compared to what they do now. It is wrong to promote these times in this way. Feminists have tried for many years to change sexism, and over time we have managed to change perceptions. People are now ashamed of how we treated women as the second-class sex. This image is very ethically wrong because it is promoting what we should hate about those times.

Finally, I wanted to point out that the woman does not look like she is enjoying it, let alone has a say in what is happening. This is wrong because society pushes advertising about always giving consent to sex hugely in this decade. This links to the fact that this advertising looks like it was produced in another time as well, when women were seen as to do whatever a man asked, even if they were not okay with it.

References:

Shariatmadari, D (2016) Eight Words To Reveal The Sexism At The Heart Of The English Language. The Guardian, 27 January

Duncan Quin (2014) About. Available from:  http://duncanquinn.com/about/ [Accessed 1 December 2017]

Reflective writing – Taste, Fashion and the French Fashion Magazine
For reflective writing I firstly read the article by Sandra Miller, in the book article she reflects on 17th century French fashion magazines. She starts of the article with ‘fashion magazines have been truthful mirrors of their time. They have functioned not only as repositories of the progress of sartorial fashion and the most up-to-date social, cultural and artistic developments but also as self-styled barometers of taste.’ (Miller) This quote from her suggests to me how fashion magazines from that era are like the equivalent of today’s social media where they are up-to-date fashion trends, so the reader knows what’s the latest trend. I think Sandra Miller is correct with the ‘mirrors of their time’ (Miller) as they are, we can look back at the journals from that era as they tell us a story. In a few years’ time we can look back at todays fashion magazines as it can then show us how fashion has changed over a period of time.
Another quote she included was from another author. ‘An increasingly well-informed, provincial as well as urban, female readership eager for the latest news in fashion’ (Blackman 2007:6). With higher social class women in the 17th century they didn’t have to work so they took interest in fashion. They used the fashion magazine like a female newspaper where they could keep up to date. They followed the latest fashion and used it to set an example to others who looked up to them.
My favourite part of the article is the last paragraph where she sums up fashion magazines as ‘mirrors of their time’ (Miller). This I agree with. It’s all about fashion telling a story throughout the decades. They are like mirrors where they reflect what’s going on in the current social situation.
After looking at Sandra Miller’s article I read Daniel L. Purdy’s, this I found more controversial, especially in one of his quotes, ‘…unlike the Parisian journal, it appealed to both sexes more out of an ideological commitment to universal Enlightenment reform…’ (Purdy 2010). With this I don’t think the fashion journal appeals to both sexes at all, it’s clear it’s a more female subject. Women are the more fashionable sex, they follow fashion unlike men. Purdy obviously doesn’t understand the target audience for fashion.
He then progresses on to say ‘…French and English fashions to generate excitement among readers…’ (Purdy 2010). This I think is one of the only quotes of his which I agree with, although I found parts of the article quite negative towards the French magazines. I think French fashion is the most fashion forward, it’s more unique with it’s style and has always been the trendsetters of the world.
My next article reference was from Fashion Beyond Versailles, this I found it more agreeable, one quote ‘Le Mercure was also deeply aware that at its most fundamental level fashionability was an attribute that applied to elites. Certainly, the magazine addressed French elites’ (Bohanan 2012). This is true as the French working class couldn’t afford the ‘posh’ French fashion magazines, I think it was something for the elite, they were the most fashionable of their time.
After reading these three articles I feel that they all have different point of views but to gain knowledge on the subject its good to read a variety of sources to see how others feel.
I think that Sandra Millers book article is accurate to the French journals as she provides plenty of historic information on the topic, from this I feel like I have learnt something. With looking at these opinions it gives me the experience to further my knowledge of the subject with future projects. I can know look at a variety of sources.

Miller, S. Taste, Fashion and the French Magazine.
Purdy, D.L. (2010) The Fashion History Reader Global Perspectives: Fashion Journals and Enlightened Consumers. Routledge.
Bohanan, Donna. J. (2012) Fashion Beyond Versailles: Consumption and Design in Seventeenth-Century France. Louisiana State University Press.

From the two images we were given to carry out this task, I decided to choose this advert from the popular clothing brand American Apparel as personally it caught my attention more so than the one form Duncan Quinn. The advertisement that was presumably used in various magazines, bus stops, online etc.  shows a fairly young girl laid back on a bed holding her legs apart in the air with a pair of tights. It can only be assumed that the tights are the ‘product’ they are wishing to highlight in the campaign as they appear to be the only item of clothing in the entire image. However they are far from the main focus of the image, the position of the model and the pose she has taken is very sexual with the brands logo being the only thing to cover her modesty.

There are several ethical issues surrounding the image, one would be of course that because the image is so sexual and provocative it is deemed by most consumers as unsuitable for public advertisement. This however has been choreographed in such a way that the brand knows the reaction they will get, at the end of the day all any company wants is publicity good or bad and releasing campaigns such as this one does exactly that. Gossip equals exposure and exposure ideally equals to sales. American Apparel is a prime example of this and has been producing such material since 1995.

Another angle would be that it is unsuitable for the public as American Apparels main demographic is impressionable young adults/ teenagers and an image such as this and the message it sends, that if you shop this brand you’ll be just as ‘sexy’ and ‘desirable’ as the model, is very controversial. On the one hand it can be argued that showing a young woman in such a compromising situation, that it is okay to objectify and see women as nothing more than tools to make products sell. On the other had even though the models pose wouldn’t be considered natural it is obvious that she is in full control over her body and the way she is using it. There is nothing about the shot that suggests any force or uncomfort on her part, her expression and posture seems at ease so it can also be argued that in this age of growing feminism and unsqueamishness towards the human body that as long as it is all consensual there is no problem.

“The scandal-ridden teenage fashion company.” As it was reported by The Guardian newspaper online in 2015, the company had filed for bankruptcy as sales in that year continuously dropped. Followed by serious sexual harassment lawsuits against Dov Charney the company’s founder (not surprising seeing the kind of material he used to promote his brand) along with years of banned and risqué campaigns things looked worse and worse for the struggling business. I firmly believe that the controversy that followed the brand name was a definite factor in their downfall.

Bibliography:

Esquire.com (2016) The NSFW History of American Apparel’s Ads. Available at: http://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/g2442/american-apparel-ads/ [Accessed 1^st December 2017]

TheGuardian.com (2015) American Apparel files for bankruptcy. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/oct/05/american-apparel-files-for-bankruptcy [Accessed 1st December 2017]