Proposal Crits and Identity and Consumption Lecture

Proposal Crits

Peg - Sustainability, looking at eco-activists

Practical:

1. Re-branding an unsustainable company.

2. Designing a 'repair space' to have people reuse products.

Sadie - Graphic designs relationship to music within self identifying sub-cultural groups.

Practical:

1. Thinking about developing a zine, as they have been

Response to my Proposal:
Clear, has a direction to go in.
Backed in research, could do with a more concrete evidence as well as the articles found.
Relates to graphic design through the u se of branding/marketing.

Identity and Consumption

Consumer psychology - the study of why people buy things.

Consumer behaviour - the study of individuals, groups or organisations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use of disposable goods and services. Including all emotional, behavioural responses that follow.

What is identity?

The fact of being who or what a thing is.

A close similarity or affinity.

What is consumption

The process by which goods and services are at last put to final use by the people.

How do consumerism and identity relate?

10 Brands I personally use:

Colgate

Lucy and Yak

Patagonia 

Farrow and Bawl

Aveeno

Boots

Instagram 

Google

McDonalds

IKEA

Percy Pig

Trainline

Why do I use Trainline?

- Because the app is really effective.

- It is simply designed, looks appealing and trustworthy.

- Can use the tickets on my phone, easy to travel.

We buy the things we relate to, that fit into our lives.

We consume what fits in with our values, lifestyle, cultures and status, we do it to construct something about ourselves, a look, a persona etc.

• Find aspects of the project that have physical things to compare and contrast, develop the essay further.
• Looking at Maslow's hierarchy of needs, thinking about how we can analyse adverts, campaigns etc. 

What is social categorisation?

Categorising the world around based on the self.

It's easy to categorised ourselves in relation to the people around us, rather than others.

What is social comparison?

Comparing ourselves with others what we learn from similarities and differences driven to maintain and often increase self esteem.

What is social identity theory?

Symbolic interactionism - Brands and products transformed into symbols (eg sex symbols).

Avoiding products with undesired meanings - Opposite ti our desired self is our undesired self. Me or not me - outdated or former self.

Brand identity and minority influence - strong social bond and deep routed loyalties - those around us influence our choices, social product choices.

Identifying strongly - making sense of those around us, making people see us in a certain way.

What is self discrepency theory (Higgins 1987)?

A theory suggestign why we become unhappy with oput self image. 

You have:

Actual self - the way you are

Ideal self - what we're striving to be, what we think is perfect

Ought self - the way we think we should be, acts like a conscience, acts like a check.

Discrepancies between theses selves can lead to anxieties, low self esteem, dissatisfaction, identity seeking behaviours (Dittmar, 2008).

'Do consumers design our own lifestyles or are those lifestyles designed for us?'

- Steven Miles, Consumerism is a way of life

Commodity Fetishism

When the value of something exceed the value of the materials and labour that's gone into it, it becomes fetishised. It becomes symbolic, serves a spiritual purpose in some senses. 

For Tutorial Bring:

- Proposal

- 3 ideas, initial thoughts and images

- 3 case studies or examples that relate to your theme

- 3 questions or points of discussion for the tutorial, what do you want to talk about?