COP2 Practical Brief : Concept.

After doing some research, I came up with a concept Idea. 

The next wrong step in the Barbie Brand.

Creating the packaging and inside box promotion for the 2014 Barbie. 
I have been shown that through brands such as Barbie we are being led into a more standardised world, Barbie is sold in over 150 countries, and therefore there is an increase of western culture on eastern soil. This is also proven in the opening of the Barbie Cafe in Taiwan, and can be compared to the process of Mcdonaldization. 
I want to create a Barbie in packaging that promotes the culture in 2014, how, due to the evolvement in communicative platforms such as the mobile and the internet, we have been forced to live a more integral way of life. By associating this change in culture or reality of culture with Barbie, this would be able to be dispersed throughout the world and picked up in over 150 countries, therefore prescribing to those that this is the standard way of life, however also parodying that due to the sales of Barbie in different countries we are being pushed into a standardised way of living. 

THE PLAN:
Create packaging for the 2014 Barbie.
Package her with items such as a laptop (for internet) and a mobile phone, (Items Mcluhan perscribed would bring us closer together), and connotate these, having Barbie saying such slogans as:

-  'No need to go out shopping, we can order online!' thus contradicting the results Mcluhan predicted. Shopping as an activity means that we interact with those, serving us, in queues and in changing rooms and is a social event where we have the opportunities to build relationships. All of this is taken away when we shop online, and there is no interaction involved with anyone at all. 

- 'Lets take selfies' - A reference to the idea that society is coming obsessed with ones self, with evolvements such as the front camera on my Iphones to make it easier to take pictures of ones self.

- 'I miss Ken, Lets video call him!' Previously, before the oncoming of the internet and mobile phone/tablet/internet one would have to physically go and visit them to actually see them, now we are able to be totally insular by talking with someone/ seeing them with no real physcial interaction. 
The problem with communicating via video call / text and instant message is that we are never able to fully understand the intentions of a persons message. 

- 'Add me on Instagram!'

55 YEARS OF BARBIE. 

This year is the 55th Anniversary to the first year a Barbie was released to the public. 
Create the packaging/inside items for the 2014 Barbie who will be branded via the points made above. 
But also in the box include a leaflet that plays out the 55 years of Barbie. 
A timeline of a Barbie from every decade, from 1959 when it began until 2014. 
However do this in a comical and parody way, picking and choosing the Barbies that haven't been overly successful (my intention of the project is to show how the production and dispersion of Barbie's has had a negative effect on culture (Americanisation) but also, How the evolvement of more communicative gadgets has lead us to live a more integral life, focusing on the points made by McLuhan and Ritzer in my essay) These could include Oreo Barbie, Smile with Becky etc. 

POSSIBLE DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES:

- Map on back of box with Barbie logo on top of most countries signifying that Barbie is sold all over the world as a representation of Homogeny. 

- Illustrations of the accessories that Barbie has and the phrases she has to go with them. (Actually market them as a talking barbie)

- Illustrative reference to the '55 years of Barbie' leaflet inside the box.

- Other products in the 2014 Barbie collection.. Standardised house?
Parody the idea that housing design is becoming standardised, Housing designs are created, and can be cut and paste into any location making them more space and cost effective, and therefore accessible to a larger range of people from different class backgrounds etc, Distributing this via a Barbie which is sold to many different countries promotes the travel of this Western way of design even further.

WHAT I NEED TO LOOK AT NEXT:

- Barbie Packaging. 
- Barbie through the years. 
- Special edition dolls. 

COP2 Practical brief : Further research.

COP2. 
PRACTICAL BRIEF. 
FURTHER RESEARCH.


THE HUMAN BARBIE. 

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The human Barbie is a woman who has gone / is going through an extreme lifestyle change to look like the real life Barbie. Valeria Lukyanova, insists that she has only have breast surgery and that the rest of her body is completely natural with the help of make up to get this close to life Barbie look. 

'Barbie is ideal woman' adding that she had been fascinated with the Mattel character since she was five'.

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There is also a real life Ken, Justin Jedhica whom if from New York, he also comments that 'children play with Barbie and Ken all the time and so, its fed to us from a very young age that, that is the epitomy of what is beautiful, or what Is handsome.' 

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This evidences that it is not only those in the west and the country where Barbie originated that people want to try and live a Barbie inspired life, but this oncoming of strong American culture is finding its way across into eastern culture, being that Valeria originates from Ukraine, not far from middle eastern countries such as Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. 

BARBIE OBSESSED WOMAN.

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A californian woman who has already tried to master the aesthetic of a Barbie doll has now turned to doing hynotherapy classes in hopes they will lower her IQ and she can become dumb just like Barbie. 

"I just want to be the ultimate Barbie. I actually want to be brainless," Blondie Bennett, 38, told Barcroft TV. "I don't like being human, if that makes sense... Natural is boring... I would love to be like, completely plastic."

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"I've had 20 sessions and I'm already starting to feel ditzy and confused all the time," Bennett told the Daily Mail.

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This proves that such a powerful brand is changing culture. Although this is happening in California, It does not matter of the location, this doll is sold in over 150 countries, and therefore It could happen in any one of those, and probably is happening, but is not so easily covered by the news. Prooving that Americanisation is happening, it is not unheard of to hear children saying that they want to be just like their Barbie's. 

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For Barbie lovers their is a place in Berlin where you are able to go and experience Barbies dream house. Visitors are invited inside the life size house, which looks exactly like the Barbie dream house in the television series. Customers are able to go into Barbies kitchen, bedroom, closet and try on clothes, and are transported from room to room by Barbies elevator. 

At the end of the experience visitors can look at the gallery of all Barbies past and present, and even buy a new one as a token to remember their day at the Dream house.

Places such as these and the cafe in Taiwan are proof that Barbie is being injected, on a larger scale than through purchasing a doll, into all sorts of cultures, driving forward the American way of life, and producing a new stream of followers whom visit this place and wish that they too could live a life like Barbie's. 

I also looked at the Barbie television series, Life in the dream house. From the first episode I watched it was clear standardisation and efficiency was a theme. In the episode they are planning Barbie's youngest sister Chelsea's birthday. Almost everything done in the clip is by a push of a button including breakfast, decorating, and baking a cake. More so, the characters in the clip complain about how hard their jobs are, 'Baking can be such hard work'. In reference to decorating (pushing a button) 'Why do I have to have the hardest job'. This teaches children no patience, and that the only way to be happy is if something is done as fast as possible. 
'Barbie you log in each gift, who its from, and Chelsea's emotional response' is what another of Barbie's sisters says to her in reference to Chelsea opening her gifts. Proving that there is a lack of emotion, and that any emotion, which we assume may be little as it has to be 'logged' doesn't seem genuine, it makes the process of opening gifts somewhat like a routine. After opening gifts Chelsea exclaims, 'This has been the bestest day, the yummy cake, the decorations, The military precision scheduling', which this is exactly what this episode promotes, an efficient life, teaching viewers that you can only be happy if tasks are completed at this rate of speed, that a happy life is a 100% time efficient life, that time spent working hard on preparing things is actually a waste of time.

COP 2: Practical project : Thinking of a new idea.

COP2. 
PRACTICAL BRIEF. 
THINKING OF A NEW IDEA.

I went back to my essay today and wrote down the most prominent themes and focuses in hopes of finding new inspiration. 

Points of focus / interest:
- Growth in telecommunications: Mobile and internet.
- Manufacturing of the media: no truth, influencing the public opinion. 
- Topography of news stories. 
- Too selfish and involved in consummerism: oxfam advert.
- Wider spread of one culture. 
- Tyrannical power of the western way of life. 
- Americanisation is not totally negative, allows us to have a more rational world. 
- More standardised way of life for everyone. 

Something that I particularly enjoyed writing about in my essay was the growing dominance of a western way of life on eastern soil. As a point to begin I began to think about large western brands that had travelled into the Eastern world. 

- Mcdonalds (hence mcdonalidization)
- Disney 

And then I thought of Barbie. Barbie is a large American company which I have seen make a footprint on almost every fragment of the world. 

I began to research into Barbie where I found some interesting information.

Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. Source

The first ever Barbie released in 1959.

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Standard Barbie dolls are approximately 11 1/2 inches tall, the dolls are at a 1/6 scale and therefore In real life, this mimics a 5ft 9 woman. The other measurements for these Barbie dolls are as follows 36 inches chest, 18 inches waist, 33 inch hips. These measurements mean that the Barbie does not have between the percentages of 17-25% body fat that is healthy for a women her height, and therefore if real would not be able to fulfil all its necessary bodily functions. 

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It is estimated that over 1 billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide in over 150 counties with Mattel (Producer of Barbie) claiming that 3 Barbies are sold every second. 

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White Francie

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Coloured Francie 

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In 1967 the 'Coloured Francie' doll made its way into the market, sometimes described as the first African American Barbie doll. It was produced using the same existing head moulds for the white Francie doll and lacked African characteristics other than a dark skin. 

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Christie

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The first African American doll in the Barbie range is usually regarded as Christie, who made her debut in 1968. 

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Black Barbie.

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Black Barbie was launched in 1980 but still had caucasian features. 

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So in style Barbies.

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In 2009 Mattel brought out the So in style range which was supposed to have a more realistic depiction of black people.

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Teen talk Barbie. 

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In July 1992, Mattel released Teen Talk Barbie, which spoke a number of phrases including "Will we ever have enough clothes?", "I love shopping!", and "Wanna have a pizza party?" Each doll was programmed to say four out of 270 possible phrases, so that no two dolls were likely to be the same. One of these 270 phrases was "Math class is tough!" (often misquoted as "Math is hard"). Although only about 1.5% of all the dolls sold said the phrase, it led to criticism from the American Association of University Women. In October 1992 Mattel announced that Teen Talk Barbie would no longer say the phrase, and offered a swap to anyone who owned a doll that did.

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Oreo fun Barbie. 

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In 1997 Mattel realsed the 'Oreo fun Barbie' avaliable in both black and white skin tone. The Oreo fun Barbie was supposed to be a doll in which girls could play with after school whilst enjoying 'America's favourite cookie'. However the term Oreo when interlinked with a black person is a dereogatory term often used to described a person who is black on the outside and white on the inside. Because of this mishap the doll was therefore, very unsuccessful. 

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Share a smile with Becky. 

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Also in 1997 Mattel released a doll called 'Share a smile with Becky' whom sat in a pink wheelchair. However one customer, whom was wheelchair bound, found that the doll whilst in its wheelchair did not fit inside the elevator in Barbie's dream house. Mattel said that in the future they would adjust the dream house to fit with Share a smile with Becky. 

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In sepetember 2003 The middle eastern country of Saudi Arabia outlawed the sale of Barbies. saying that she did not conform to the ideals of Islam. TheCommittee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice stated "Jewish Barbie dolls, with their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers and be careful." In Middle Eastern countries there is an alternative doll called Fulla which is similar to Barbie but is designed to be more acceptable to an Islamic market. Fulla is not made by the Mattel Corporation, and Barbie is still available in other Middle Eastern countries including Egypt.

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Totally tattoos Barbie.

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In April 2009, the launch of a Totally Tattoos Barbie with a range of tattoos that could be applied to the doll, including a lower back tattoo, led to controversy. Mattel's promotional material read "Customize the fashions and apply the fun temporary tattoos on you too", but Ed Mayo, chief executive of Consumer Focus, argued that children might want to get tattooed themselves.

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Barbie Cafe in Taiwan.

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In 2013 in Taiwan the first Barbie themed restaurant called Barbie Cafe opened. 

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OUGD505: Studio brief 2 - Aromatherapy candles.

As I had suggested in my previous research and presentation, my plan for the last brief of 505 is to create a range of packaging and promotions for a range of aromatherapy candles at Yankee candle. 
Firstly I wanted to analyse past and current design for aromatherapy candles/ products on the market. 

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I noticed when looking at other brands with aromatherapy that some have a very medicinal aesthetic, this must be due to the process in which Aromatherapy candles work and their purpose, to treat ailments. I also noticed that the navy and white is a common colour choice reminiscent of blue antique medicine bottles.  

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Again the aesthetic of the blue medicine bottle has been used again but in a more modern sense, using materials such as plastics, with the more concurrent spray tops for easy use. The design looks somewhat more contemporary through the implication of sans serif typeface over serif and modern pattern. The designer has also included a colour code in which each colour represents another treatment. This could be a good idea to incorporate into my project, to make it easy for customers to identify the product they are looking for, for a certain ailment. 

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I picked up on this packaging design not only for their solid concept (consistent packaging with colour code and relevant names) but also because of the experimental packaging and how the package unfolds to reveal the product. However the spike aesthetic of this box is not something I would follow as the shapes, as well as the tall pyramid it is encompassed in is too harsh and hostile a shape for an aromatherapy candle, I do however believe the colours, thin typography and flowing line illustrations are fitting to the product. 

Again this is another medicinal design I found however It appears to be a more premium option, with the use of other colours such as silver and longer paragraphs of writing. I think that to stay in tune with the Yankee candle brand straying away from the medicinal aesthetic would be more appropriate. As often medicine is connotated with serious illness, I want to abolish this idea from the packaging, and instead create something much more calm and serene, that is almost spa inspired. 

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I noticed the {be}well range mainly because of the strong and simple concept. Again the products are colour coded for easy identification however it is the names of the products which really caught my eye. The {be}well range uses similar and consistent subtitles throughout keeping the {be} as a continual fixture and interchaning such words as joyful (to boost spirit),and rested (to help improve sleep). I feel that a strong product range name such as this will give the range more of a solid stance within the company and a more successful beginning. 

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A very pharmasutical approach to aromatherapy products, created to relieve and help with specific ailments such as sore throat, allergies, fainting, seas sickness etc. Items are colour coded and in traditional tins, with traditional hand drawn illustrations, however are given a contemporary touch with bright pops of colour. The traditional illustrations would work well for a brand such as Yankee candle, however the colour would have to be substituted for more neutral tones or no colour at all. 

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I really liked this packaging design due to its simplicity and how much the designer had considered the users ability to understand and navigate their way around the product. The product is simply labelled and the user is able to detect the 7 scents which combine to create each collection, and pick out each one individually to burn as one wants. The packaging is consistent throughout and makes use of a clever change in colour and pattern to detect the difference between scents. The products have a great bearing on the contemporary market, due to the pattern design and minimalist style.

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These candles have a very feminine approach with a soft and dainty colour pallet, combined with a few pops of colour. The packaging has a consistent floral pattern also very feminine which is processed in foil to communicate that the brand is more so a premium selection of candles, rather than for those on a budget. The candles are also packaged in a drawer like box, making it easy for the user to smell the scent of the candle before they buy which is something very important to remember. 

COP2: Practical project initial ideas and concepts.

CONTEXT OF PRACTICE. 
PRACTICAL BRIEF. 
INITIAL IDEAS. 

IDEA ONE:

Create a small publication which ponders with the idea 'Can Graphic design change the world'. Focusing mostly on newspaper and magazine (editorial) questioning the idea put forth by McLuhan, and the global village, that these platforms would thrust us into a global embrace. 

The piece would begin with the question 'Can graphic design change the world?'. Followed by this would be a news headline. The bind of the book would be a coil sort across the top. in which the user would flick through them backwards, somewhat pulling the pages from the back over the top of the coil. 

The next page to be flipped over would be a the news headline of a story, In a Newspaper set up, much like someone would see when approaching a news paper. The user may choose to read the news article. However it has been somewhat proved that we are not able to empathise with these stories, because we do not experience them. We do not create a rapor. 

And so this is what I wanted to focus on, building a rapor with the reader and the person/people involved in the news story. and slowing by flipping each page, build up a rapor/ backstory of those/ the person involved. 
The aim of the piece is to try to get the reader to feel empathy for the people involved. I then want to question the readers, ask them if the rapor which has attempted to be built has touched them in any way etc. and then flip back to the beginning page 'Has graphic design changed the world'. 



IDEA TWO:

Create a piece of graphic design that catches peoples natural reactions to both local and global news stories. 
This could be in the form of posters/ a book or more so, an idea that I thought was more appropriate for the concept was a short supplement which could be slipped inside news papers, or delivered separately with letters/ newspapers on the daily round. 

This idea was inspired by over hearing a dialogue between two people whilst the news was on. On the television there was a news story documenting the shooting of a 15 year old girl. Three young boys of around the same age were arrested in conjunction with the crime. I wasn't intentionally listening for a reaction. However I found that the people watching, completely dismissed the news story, instead of making any comment on it at all, they instead focused solely on making unnecessary comments about the news readers appearance whilst laughing. I started to realise that this was the evidence that we were not even localised, never mind globalised. we were not able to care for those on our own shores, of a short distance, before even thinking of those of polar locations. Then it struck me, If only were were able to see directly our own reactions to the stories, would we be embarrassed or would we still turn a blind eye?

The supplement could be designed so that a headline/image of the news story sits on the left page of a double page spread. On the right hand side of the page is the reaction to the story which I have documented. 
For some I may be able to document instant reflex reactions to stories, and for others I may have to revise a set of questions in which I show people a newspaper story and ask them questions to document their thoughts.

However looking at my idea again I felt that there was a way in which I could improve it, I considered instead of trying to circulate the information via a paper based platform, that circulating it via the internet would be more appropriate, as i had talked in my essay about how new communicative devices such as the mobile phone and particularly the internet had influenced and changed the way in which people lived their lives. 

The new plan:

The new plan would be to take exactly the same idea, however adjust it to be distributed on the internet. I thought about how news travels fastest online, and I came to the conclusion that it was mostly via social networking, a bi product of the invention of the internet. I could create a web page using the same content which could be shared virally on social networks. 
The design would have exactly the same format but make use of a web slider. the web slider would be split into two sections. On the left hand side would be a story, local or global, and on the right, and ignorant comment made about the story which proves were not globalised. 
To improve the ideas strength and purpose, I was told that I should look at themes or things that Mcluhan prescribed the global village thesis would do or improve and find quotes from academics to back these up. this way I could use a quote as a slide and then contradict the quote with the evidence I had found with the news stories and ignorant comments. 

I looked both at my essay and the globalization entry on... to find themes of which I came up with a set of four:




However once finding these I spent quite some time looking for stories online on facebook, bbc news, and a selection of news papers and i found that It was very hard to find any evidence. Most news sites seemed to monitor the comments, not have a comments section, or there were generally no ignorant comments apart from some internet trolls. 
It was here that I realised I couldn't chance the success and progress of my project/response, on the hope of finding ignorant comments to prove a point. Therefore I decided to go back and look at my essay for inspiration.