Death Valley Ghost Town

A couple of years ago while travelling around West Coast America, I accidentally came across this ghost town I have since learned is called Rhyolite. unlike other ghost towns I visited, it's none commercialised, and can be seen totally how it was when the last person left, exposing it to natural changes over time. It was so eery especially being situated within the hottest place on earth, and within an area titled 'Death Valley' due to these deathly humid and hot conditions. Very little animal life can be seen- very rarely maybe a snake, but no sound except the warm breeze can be heard. Adding some strange, contrasting forms to the naturally disguised homes and cars that have been deserted, is the Goldwell Open Air Museum including the Ghost sculptures shown below, which play upon the deserted area and the eery-ness of the town.

I have since learned that the town is becoming much more commercialised and promoted, which I'm disappointed about- Stumbling across the town allowed me to get a true feel for the atmosphere and a sense of discovery and exploration into a world where people once lived.

I have also just read that there are a range of films created there, including 'The Island' which was recently on TV. I wish I knew that before I watched it as I would have appreciated the setting a lot more. I'm not surprised to learn that other films such as 'The Arrogant', 'Ultraviolet' and 'Bone Dry' were filmed there, as its such an atmospheric place, and must save a lot of money rather than designing and creating an environment set from scratch.

Gustav Adolph Mossa

Last summer when I visited Nice, while travelling to Italy, I discovered an artist who I'd never heard of before. Gustav Adolph Mossa's artwork was on display in the Musee des Beaux- Arts in Nice when I went, and I was amazed by the fine detail in his work. As a designer who used to paint a lot, I find his work very inspirational through his technique and style, and the themes of his artwork often very intriguing. Bellow is one of my favourite pieces of his- 'Pierrot s'en va'. Every time I look at it I want to know the story behind it- I'm not sure if I've made this up through my imagination, or whether it's the true depiction, but I think the main clown-like character has just stabbed himself, for his loss over the women in the background who he loves. This is something I certainly want to research.

Nature's Design

Nature is always an inspiration throughout various aspects of design. I love this photograph of icicles over a car, and the tree in the background. It looks like the falling of ice frozen in time, with the icicles pointing in the direction of the wind. I can't remember where this was taken which is a bit annoying, but it's still a great photo to look at. I would definitely hate to have to walk to Uni over that though!

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore

While in Italy over the summer, I visited this beautiful Cathedral. Although I have visited hundreds of Cathedrals during family holidays in the past, and despite previous to the holiday deciding not to write any entries on Cathedrals or churches that I visit, I couldn't resist this one. I have never experienced an architectural design so exquisite and breathtaking. When we sat by it to eat our lunch I found it's beauty and elaborate design kind of surreal. Although quite garish and its criticism for being overly fancy, I really admire the design and time that must have gone into every statue, and every pattern design. The inside is somewhat odd in that it's so unlike the facade- bare, gothic and quite empty, which was designed to represent the austerity of religious life.

Advertorials

The Line Between Editorial and Advertising.

'Supplementary Income' The Media Guardian, 31/08/09

Advertorials are becoming more common and increasingly subtle, resulting in many initially being confused with journalism articles rather than a promotion. The Daily Express was heavily criticised earlier this month by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Watchdog, for disguising advertorials as news stories (the Goldshield Rozip advertorial pictured below). It is within the ASA code that all advertising features must be clearly labelled as an advertisement.

Despite this criticism of the Express as a result of advertorials, as marketing budgets become more strained, advertisers who are looking for better ways to make brands stand out are increasingly turning to advertorials. Justine Southall, publishing director of Cosmopolitan, says that last year was their best ever for advertorial features, and that this year they are on a similar track. Southall recognises the importance of the relationship between the reader and advertiser, as it can also effect attitudes towards the magazine. All advetorials must be clearly labelled, "[including] making sure the point size of the 'Cosmopolitan Promotion' is clearly legible." She also recognises that other publishers may be purposfully disguising promotions with unclear advertisement labelling, due to the current economic conditions, and says that "this is really dangerous for the long-term health of a brand."

Advertisers are not attracted to the fact that readers may be put off reading an advertorial if it is labelled as an advert, and are so looking for alternative methods of attatching brands to editorial. But feature editors themselves are very warey of getting carried away, and ensure not to push too many products into editorial spaces, in order to avoid annoying readers.

In conclusion I think it is both advertiser's and media owner's responsibility to manage the line between advertisements and editorials. Advertisers must satisfy the ASA's code, and journalists must control the level and amount of advertorials readers are presented with. It will also be interesting in the future to see what new ways advertisers will be linking brands to editorials.

Product Placement in the UK

The ban of product placement is viewed as a problem by many advertisers and broadcasters, especially since Andy Burnham, then the culture secretary, earlier this year said that the ban would continue for UK television. He said it would blur the boundaries between advertising and content, and his "priority has always been to make sure we maintain levels of trust between audiences and broadcasters, and protect the standards of broadcasting for which Britain is known worldwide." Cody Hogarth, managing director of New State (Endamol's branded content division), backs up Burnham's decision by saying: "I don't think we'd ever find a commissioner who would take a programme that had product placement all over it."

The Conservative party however, has a different view, as they say they would relax the product placement rules- Ed Vaizey, the shadow minister for culture says "We don't think that product placement is a panacea for all the ills of commercial broadcasting. But we do believe that we should relax the rules." It has been estimated that product placement in the UK could be worth between £40m and £70m a year. Vaizey says "we also trust the broadcasters to understand their audience."

All parties also recognise that UK viewers are already viewing heavy product placement in programmes imported from the US. Mark Eaves (managing director for Drum PHD media agency) says "we either level the playing field or we take steps against imported programmes and series."

I know there has been concern about whether UK audiences would react well to product placement in programmes, but as Eaves points out, we are already used to it from the imports. Surely the decision should be whether we allow them on all programming, or not at all. However, Rabin Mukerjea, partner at the Grand Central Entertainment content agency, disagrees with this. "If there was a way of us fast forwarding, we could do what the US does- right now we'd be starting from year dot, so how long it would take to learn that lesson I don't know." Mukerjea argues that it's not a case of either having it everywhere or not at all. It would be something that programmers would have to ease into, with a risk of how audiences would react- US audiences are used to it everywhere as it blends into backgrounds. But product placement may stand out and distract audiences in the UK.

Damien Hirst- my criticism

As this is a blog for our personal opinions and critical analysis, I thought I should express my log term negativity toward the work of Damien Hirst. Although I admire his in depth meaning to his pieces, and the unique solutions he creates, I hate the fact that a lot of his work he doesn't actually create. He does have the initial ideas and concepts, but then he just passes them on to someone else to implement for him, while he receives all the credit notably the various animals he preserves and displays in formaldehyde.

His work has also been criticised a lot in the press, particularly when he won the 1995 Turner Prize. The exhibition of 'Mother and Child Divided' (below), and 'Away From the Flock'. Norman Tebbit who wrote for the Sun, said "Have they gone stark raving mad? The works of the "artist" are lumps of dead animals. There are thousands of young artists who didn't get a look in, presumably because their work was too attractive to sane people. Modern art experts never learn." This is a statement that I strongly agree with- there are so many more talented artists out there.

Advertiser-Funded Programming

Is AFP the answer for both Advertisers AND Broadcasters?

After reading an article in The Guardian's 27/07/09 Media supplement, it got me thinking about a method of advertising I previously knew little about. This is probably due to the fact that it is a method of advertising that is not widely used, but as the article suggested, it could become a more popular technique, with advantages to both advertisers AND television broadcasters.
Although Advertiser Funded Programming (AFP) has been around since the first American radio soap operas in the 1930s, few advertisers have chosen this method to reach their audiences due to the lack of clear marketing value. However, with the current economical situation, and the recent interactive technological developments, AFP could be the answer that both advertisers and broadcasters are looking for.

Commissioners were initially concerned whether AFP could deliver quality programming, which meant for many years it was considered as a risky choice for broadcasters. Earlier this month however, Nintendo and Channel Five announced a new prime time AFP show they are planning to launch- 'Britain's Best Brain'. The software company Sage also funded the majority of ITV's first prime time AFP last October- 'The Krypton Factor'.

David Brennon, research and strategies manager for the TV marketing body Thinkbox, says AFP will become a more widely used marketing meothd, as although "total sponsorship is estimated at £200m, and AFP is a small subsection of that at the moment... it will surely grow as brands see the power of association." This introduces the idea that more advertisers may recognise AFP as a method of advertising that they could benefit from. For example, target audiences will associate Nintendo DS with 'Britain's Best Brain', which will reinforce its brand profile as an intellectual and "brain training" product.

AFP could also be the answer to the decreasing television programming budgets. Mark Eaves, managing director of Drum PHD (the media agency behind the Krypton Factor deal), says that despite commissioning budgets already being driven towards peak-time terrestrial, "everyone is under pressure now, so any content with new funding is quite welcome."

Is AFP really a good deal for advertisers though? In an AFP deal it is the broadcaster who has the creative control. And with product placement banned in the UK, at the price of some, if not all the production costs, exclusive ads and a mention in the credits has often been considered as not a great side of the deal for advertisers. However, the recent digital interactive developments are making AFP more attractive, as it's moved on from the flat deal of advertisers investing large sums of money with little marketing value in return. Through the medium of the programme and anchoring material, specific audiences can be reached by advertisers through direct links to the brand. For example, a link on ITV.com's Krypton Factor page takes you to Sage's Trainyourbrain.com, offering mental games based on the Krypton Factor style, while promoting the brand. There is also the interactive support of the red button for Sky and digital users, and of course forever developing technology could open up many more interactive options.

Although the current economical situation and recent technological advances would suggest AFP offers many benefits to both advertisers and broadcasters, it's still too risky to jump into. Time and trial are the best measures of success for the method, especially as audience responses are an important consideration, and with current concern as to whether viewers would reject ad-funded programmes.

'Strange Days and Some Flowers'

'Strange Days and Some Flowers' Exhibition
Multiple artists.
The Storey Gallery, Lancaster.

Due to the gallery's copy right restrictions, I am unable to put up photos of the artwork. There are photos on the web site www.storeygallery.org.uk/programme.php?item=000029 and the flickr site www.flickr.com/photos/storeygallery/sets/72157621388108098/

Although I would say this small exhibition isn't worth making any special trips for, I would recommend having a gander if you're around the area, as it's free entry and I quite enjoyed it. It includes paintings, installations, pottery, architecture models and sculptures by the following artists- Dan Baldwin, Don Brown, Laura Ford, Matthew Holding, Robin Mason, Jock Mooney, Mika Rottenberg and John Stark.

The relevance of the title is rather unclear to me, other the the word 'strange' which describes it quite accurately. To me, the link between most of the work apears to be: a surreal and distorted vision of nature and reality that is often a playful and/or dark take on modern society. A good example of this would be Don Brown's 'Yoko XIX' and 'Yoko XVII' sculptures, which are exactly the same apart from the material and the colour- the first one is black and the second white. They are sculptures of a figure that appear to be draped in cloth material. The drape contors are sculptured really realistically and work well with the medium surface texture, as initially I thought it was a shiny latex material draped over. What I found interesting though was that a simple difference of colour can make a big differnece of perception- the black one immediately looked dark, dangerous, threatening and evil, and the white one looked pure, heavenly and peaceful. This colour difference may sound obvious but it made me think about how it relates to the world and our society- due to individual past experiences and social stereotypes, people often differ their views and judgments for two similar situations that have a slight degree of difference, such as age, sex or background for example. It also highlights the importance of colour as a graphic designer, as it can really alter how people decode and view our designs.

Another interesting piece was an installation by Jock Mooney titled 'Discontinued'. It features plastic models placed on and around a large, permanent statue within the gallery, of Queen Elizabeth I (?). It creates the playful and distorted vision of nature that I referred to earlier, with various little models of animals and toy-like figures. My initial perception of it was that it was an immature illustration of life. However, as I looked closer I notised hidden, dark aspects that resebled death and violence including a reef of bones and eyeballs and body parts scattered behind the statue- this was clearly a much more blunt and significant outlook on life than the 'immature' outlook I initially thought. The overall style of the models reminded me of the E4 'Hotel Room' and 'Beach' idents, which caused me to lack admiration for the installation, as I got the strong feeling I'd seen that style before. I have much more admiration and respect for artists and designers who create their own style, so this just gave me a 'nothing special' attitude towards the piece.
I would recommend this exhibition, as it had an interesting variety of work. But like I said- it's a very small exhibition (just 24 works) so not worth any extra trips.