Context task 2

For our first part of task 2 we were told to get into groups, look through the Leeds College of Art 2012-13 prospectus, and make notes about what we thought about it, the things we liked and disliked, and what we thought worked or didn't work.

Does it work? Is it successful?
This is what I will be looking for;
The choice and organization of font(s) and overall aethetic.
The purpose and meaning of the publication.
The target/potential audience of the publication.
Any social or political context relevant to the production of the publication.
Whether the design solution ultimately.

Notes on the publication;

Front page looks like a rubbish power point with a childlike font (Biff and Chip) Its patronising and attracting the wrong people to the college.
Bad type on the contents and unnecessary text.
Over whelming about of text.
Like the subheading font, its more appropriate, but it doesn’t go with the rest of the type.
Not got a good balance of type to image.
Doesn’t say Leeds College of Art anywhere on the front, it says it on the back, although its not right aligned, left aligned or centered, its just randomly been placed on the page.
Different paper in the book itself, swaps from matt to satin randomly.
Trying to appeal to visual people and attract them to come to LCA, but the prospectus isn't very visual.
On page 134, you cant read the text on the image.
The layout of the images are very random and visually unsettling.
Headings don’t stand out.
Graphic Design pages don’t show Graphic Design.

Here are my 5 constructive criticisms of the prospectus;
There is no need to change the paper in the prospectus, it should all be the same keep it consistent, otherwise it seems unprofessional, and makes the satin paper sections look superior to the matt.
The Leeds College of Art logo on the back of the prospectus would look better if it was left aligned or Centered, not dropped in the middle.
The power point look is not good for the prospectus, so the front page may need to change its layout.
The font of the text in the Prospectus sometimes doesn't make sense, it doesn’t look right, the font needs greater consideration, as it is attracting the wrong people at the moment.
The Headings don’t stand out very much, therefore people get lost and don’t know where certain things can be found, making it bigger or on the left side rather than right may also make it easier to locate.







The second part of task 2 was to analyse two images, find what elements are similar and things that are not. We are working in a group of 4 people so that we could talk to each other and tell them why we thought what we thought.

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

• Very patriotic, red, white, blue, stripes, stars, similar to flag

• Bald eagle on shoulder of man in image

• Black slave doing the cooking, back then showed wealth

• Advert for ovens, selling ovens but not on how good the oven is, but by who owns these ovens-the tactic of advertising

• Wealthy people so best ovens

• July 4th 1776- America got their independence and shows 100 years of independence, shows how far they’ve got

• Showing American greatness, willing to host a dinner party for the rest of the world, showing they are better than others, being slightly racist with the food choices for other countries, and making fun of them

• Only been independent for 100 years but showing how superior they are

• Saloon bar font-looks like a Western style and its gold

• Caricature of an American dream

• Aimed towards American men aspiring to be the man in image

• Middle class men, if he has it, you want it

Poster by Savile Lumley (1915)

• Propaganda-to make people feel guilty if their not in the war

• Patriotic and British

• Picture pefect, exactly where each memeber of the family should be

• Man looking towards the audience, all about the dad

• Wealthy family, dad in a suit, children in nice clothes

• Very subtle message, British

• Shows family values

• Everyone has serious faces

• The font is clear and readable, asking question to the audience

• Poster made mid World War one, and shows looking forward to after we have won the war

• What would you say to your children about the war if you knew you did nothing to contribute

• Nature of war; it was expected that the men were to go to war

• Expected that we would win, and poeple will write about it, and you have won this great life, but meaningless if you did not contribute

• Font/type-targets the audience, asks question to us not the dad, as he is looking at the audience; and is also italic so looks like speech

• ‘Great war’ -everyone will remember it forever

• Aimed towards middle class - noone had to sign up for the war, but working class would for the money, therefore guilt middle class into helping and promote the war

After collecting this information from our group we listened to other people's opinions on the images and added their thoughts to our list so that we could gather as much information as possible so that we could write a short essay about how these images are similar and how they are dissimilar. Here it is;

The two Images, The Unlce Same Range and The Poster by Savile Lumley are two very different images, but with similar aspects to them. Uncle Sam’s Range is and American advert about selling ovens, it is very in your face and patriotic, dedicated to America and the way they think poeple want to live. Where as the poster by Savile Lumley is a classic British scene, and its a subtle way of guilting men into going to world war one.

These images are similar as they are both very patriotic and are also both aimed at middle class men.  Uncle Sam's Range allows the audience to see what their life would be like if they had this oven, as in the image it shows that men who have this oven are very wealthy and therefore can afford good products, which makes middle class men want to buy it so they can aspire to be like the man in the image. With the British propaganda poster it is a lot more subtle in the message it is giving. It was created mid world war one, and was designed to think into the future after the war, and shows what middle class men could have, and it shows a good life. They designed this Poster expecting that we would win and people would write books about it, and remember it for ever. The message in the image shows that if you don’t contribute to the war you don’t deserve this great life you lead, this is why its aimed at middle class men, because they have a good life before the war anyway, but makes you feel guilty for not being involved. This is another reason why the two images are very similar as they both have big igos, the British just presuming that we will win the war, whilst the Americans presume that everyone want to be like them as they are ‘feeding the world in the aid of The Uncle Sam Range’ by allowing others to buy their product.

The type in the British poster is aimed towards the audience rather than focusing on the child asking her dad, this is clear as the dad in the image is looking to the audience as if waiting for an answer. The type is clear and easy to read, it has a good layout and is very clear what the message is and what the poster is about. Where as the main type in The Uncle Sam’s Range image is more in the style of a saloon bar, its very western and in gold, the smaller Type isn’t very legible and is very hard to read. This is where the images differ as I personally didn’t understand that The Uncle Sam’s Range image and that it was trying to sell ovens. Where as the British Propaganda image came to me straight away, it a lot less cluttered and busy than the other image, which I think works better as it is more clear. These images have very similar aspects, target audiences and concepts but also differ in many ways, such as the approach to getting the message across.