For my next assignment we were asked to go into the public sphere and blend into the environment and observe. The task was to watch how people went about their business and daily life and to note my observations on their behaviour. My chosen place from the list provided to us was a coffee shop. My chosen location was the Tartan cafe on Perth Road. I went with two other design students on a Saturday late morning so we got the shift over of people from late breakfasts to the busyness hustle and bustle of lunchtime rush. I noticed a lot of people came in and paused for very different periods of time deciding where to sit as it was self service to find a seat creating a more personal choice and relaxed atmosphere. A lot of people if in groups tried the back of the cafe as there are big comfy leather sofas located there. This demonstrates the service design of this cafe as attracting social gatherings to mull over conversation while enjoying the refreshments available. I located myself at the side near the entrance of the cafe where I had a clear view of people entering, leaving, paying. I wanted to blend into the atmosphere so people would act normally and not amend there behaviour as I would suspect people would if they realised someone was watching them. It was really interesting to see the array of emotions conveyed, some people came bouncing in with friends full of joy and laughter while others seemed to be there for more of business type, serious meetings. A stressful vibe was also emitted as consumers rushed in to grab a quick bite to eat and even just had time to grab a takeaway. As the morning progressed I noticed the shift in people as they replaced each other at each table, different conversations and situations arising every time. There was one table in particular which was designed for two people which on entering through the door would appear to be quite tucked away whereas it is actually located quite far out from the wall which I feel would make someone feel rather uncomfortable if by themselves. From personal experience I would always try to tuck myself away and not draw attention. I noticed that nearly every person who was there alone at some point read a newspaper while eating or drinking or waiting to be served. Once someone would get up to go to the toilet for instance or to go and look at the cake stand they would always try and leave a possession, most commonly a coat to mark their territory. However, I also observed that people wouldn't leave anything of value lying about for example their mobile phone, purse or handbag. In the time I was observing there was also quite a lot of children there with parents with nearly a ratio of for every child there was one adult. This could suggest having more control in the public environment. Nearly every child seemed to have their coat off and quite demanding in the respects of needing a lot of attention. The cafe provided the children with colouring in sheets to amuse them which I feel is a good design. Other observations included how well the staff worked as a team and the communications between them. They were all distinguishable as they were all dressed in black and they seemed to integrate really well with the customers. Coffee shops to the consumer, the outside eye can be a relaxed environment in which to contemplate and reflect whereas to the staff member can be the total opposite, a lot of rushing about and stress. While there I did a quick sketch which I have scanned in which you can see that the top of this post. It was drawn from my position at the side of the coffee shop. I have noticed from looking back at it that on entering the cafe you are immediately beside the tray bakes and yummy things which would persuade you that your eyes are bigger than you belly, again a smart design element. Each of the tables were spaced out quite nicely, I didn't feel too isolated or that my privacy was invaded. This also gave the waitresses a comfortable amount of area to walk about and serve people in, I also took a video on my phone while there. Admittedly I felt like a bit of a creep trying to take this video discreetly so no-one would notice as you can hear me say in the video! Overall I enjoyed this assignment as I openly admit I am a natural people watcher and could happily sit for hours watching the world go by with a cup of tea. It truly is amazing what you can pick up on and learn from reading into and observing other peoples behaviour!

After adding in a fourth image I found that people were still not really getting the same stories and my results were too diverse. One example of this stage of the experiment is:

Female, age 20, Art student

Someone was murdered in the big castle by stabbing them with paperclips and the only thing that witnessed it was the duck.

As you can see this is very far from my chosen target story so I decided to add in text to see if this made any difference. I added in the words "Tourist", "Mote" and "Choked".

This had an immediate impact. Here are some of the results:

Female, age 20, Textiles student

There was a castle with a huge mote surrounding it. The ducks which swam in the mote were poisoned after they ate paperclips which had been thrown into the river by tourists causing the ducks to die.

Female, age 20, Textiles student

There were ducks swimming in the mote surrounding a big castle. The tourists visiting the castle threw paperclips into the mote which the ducks then choked on.

Female, age 19, Graphics student

The duck was swimming in a mote surrounding the castle in the tourist area when it got tangled in paperclips and choked to death covering the mote in blood.

Female, age 19, Graphics student

A duck at a tourist centre in scotland was choked in the mote around the castle by paperclips dumped in the mote.

Having completed this experiment testing the theory of polysemous I would definitely agree that imagery can have multiple meanings and that your perceptions and cultural backgrounds may effect your response to certain types of imagery. From this task I can clearly agree with Barthes about the importance and added value of introducing text into the equation as this swayed my subjects to all think roughly in and around the same area. I would comfortably say that through carrying out this activity it has cleared up some confusion and I now feel that my understanding of this theory is slightly better.

The fourth image...

For my target story I've chosen the story by the male, age 20, medical student about the duck who lived in the pond beside the castle who ate the paperclips which were thrown in by visiting children and as a result the ducks choked died.

For adding in a fourth image I decided an image of blood would be appropriate to suggest the idea of death. By adding this in I hope it will prompt my next selection of people to come up with similar stories.

2c: Talk to people...

So having now showed the images to a random selection group of people these were the stories they came up with.

Male, age:20, Civil engineer student

I went for a picnic with my grandparents at a castle which had a famous rare breed of ducks. While there I fed the ducks and on returning to the car, grandpa had locked the keys in the car so he used a paperclip to pick the lock.

Male, age:20, Medical student

A duck lived beside a castle in his pond but there were little children who threw paperclips into the pond and the duck choked on them.

Female, age 21, Zoology student

Shrek lived in this castle and around this was a mote in which ducks lived in. Due to the alkalinity of the mote water due to the amount of duck excrement it caused Shrek's hair to fall out and his eyes to burn. In return he hand fed them paperclips to kill them.

Female, age 19, Textiles student

There was a little duck who lived in a castle and was always organised and had lots of paperclips.

Female, age 19, Textiles student

There was a big castle which was surrounded by a mote and at the bottom of the mote there was lots of gold and silver paperclips buried. A duck found them and ate some and sold the rest for lots of money.

I think you will agree that all these stories are very random and quite imaginative to say the least! Adding in a fourth image now and choosing a target story should be very interesting :)

My images...

These are the images I am going to use for my experiment. The randomness could be an interesting twist!!

Roland Barthes, "The Rhetoric of the Image."

Having read Roland Barthes' famous essay, "The Rhetoric of the Image" I have to confess that I found it an extremely challenging read which was full of language which was over my head but I will give a stab at relating to you what I have learnt. In this essay he emphasizes his view on advertising, how important it is and what it conveys. He speaks about how different imagery and adverts can read differently to a variety of people as everyone's perceptions are unique according to ones experiences. He uses the example of Italiancity and goes on to explain how the italian citizen from the advert may not realise that it represents "Italy" due to the touristic like symbolism. The essay is spilt up into explaining three messages. The first is the linguistic, fixed message, an image which directly relates to what the image is saying. Secondly, the connotated message, this is when you have the correct knowledge and skills to fully understand and interpret something. Lastly, the denoted message which basically states what it actually is, a raw form.

For this next assignment the task is to choose 3 random images and to test the theory of polysemy which Barthes covers in his essay. Polysemy is having multiple (a diversity of) meanings, all images are polysemous. By taking these images to a selection of people and asking them to observe and interpret a story from these images it should back up what Barthes says about how advertisements portray a lot of information and connotations which can be read by some people but not all and so this highlights the importance of gaining a fixed meaning. I am highly intrigued to see if my experiment will work and whether by slowly adding in other factors such as a fourth image or even text if this will result in people coming up with the same story.

The consumption of design...

After having read chapter 4 of "The Culture of Design" and having a lecture from service designer David Townson this morning it has stirred my thinking onto a deeper level about how being a consumer in this society and more importantly studying textile design within this society is a constant battle. Would you agree if I said that consumption is solely a monetary exchange? That no matter what we do each day even if the task is free, fundamentally someone had to pay for it somewhere along the line. For example if you visit a museum which has free entry you are to a certain extent gaining from this experience but that exhibition, that museum still has a monetary value and has been invested in by someone at point making it connected to consumption. We are living in a consumer driven society which we cannot get away from, even if consciously we don't always realise it. For instance when I consume a product or get my hair cut I don't automatically think about what sector I consumed from, (social,service, etc). It is not in our humanly conscious, we consume in these fields through instinct.

So I pose the question can we survive without being a consumer? How in the past did people survive without being engrossed and obsessed with consumption? I guess we could say at this stage there is a point between existence and now but then we need to recognise that these are miles apart. This could potentially be due to the shift in human behaviour, the sheer amount of manipulation which surrounds us. We cannot today get away from this consumer driven due to the amount of peer pressure and the amount of publicity and advertising. Society is now at the stage of want not need, therefore does this 'want' drive consumerism?

On another level how does this relate to textiles, how can we design if people don't want? As a young designer I would say we are forced into participating in this consumer drive. This makes mixes up a few emotions, I feel that to fight this would be incredible and potentially could be an amazing turn around but it is the fact that it would be such a difficult thing to do. A true passion and drive would need to be evident to hold you as a designer aiming to make a difference firm otherwise in my opinion there are too many stumbling blocks out there. This is a serious issue as the upcoming generation of designers we need to consider and not take it lightly otherwise we will miss our chance however scary it may be.

I suppose it all comes round to identity as well. In the chapter 'The consumption of design' it was stated about how our society being unstable reflects on the relationship of consumption and identity, therefore meaning identities are constantly changing. It goes onto talk about Slater's idea about mass producing and as a result reducing consumption creating 'prosumers'. He talks about consumption as a "private politically passive act which ignores reality that individuals also engage in a public realm with consumption." Basically bringing it back to thinking about the difference between a private and public space.

Finally, the last issue I want to mention is about whether or not we perpetuate consumption? In a sense I feel we do as we are now overproducing to satisfy a consumer driven society not only the thirst. This in turn then raises the issue about obsolescence and sustainability. In the textile field and in particular in the fashion industry. For instance, the trends change every season which drives consumerism. It is a very vicious circle in my opinion and something which is always ongoing and could pose many many questions but the final question I want to leave you with is does textiles perpetuate obsolescence?