Extended Practice Briefing

Things to consider and put when writing our Extended Practice Briefs

• Mores/lots of detail as possible.
• Write about EVERYTHING that you're going to be doing.

Background Considerations

• Applications (where is it in context)
• Content Considerations
• Ethical Concerns - Audience, Content, Context
• Production (Digital or Print)
• Collaboration - Time, Cost, Workload, Creating a Creative Contract?)

Mandatory Requirements 

• Design Boards
• Ongoing Evaluations/ Reflections - e.g. evaluating feedback 
• Blog
• Ethics Form (depending on the nature of the brief)

Final Production

• Depends on the brief 
• for research brief - (maybe focus on theme that pops up and the most interesting when researching about the topic)

Sources & Reading Lists

• Events, Studio Visits, Galleries, Videos, Texts, Books - that inform your book.

PPP: Th€ Pric€ i$ Right

Following our time planning session last week, today we had a session all about pricing our work correctly and how to deal with different types of brief and clients.

Opening Activity:

For four scenarios price how you as a Graphic Designer would charge these design jobs.

1) New Logo for a start up business by a newly graduated student.

• I would charge £70 as it's a start up business as well as the fact that they just graduated they might not have enough finances to support them.

2) Re-design of an indie magazine that's already published 2 issues but not much hype around it. 

• I thought £250 would be a good estimate as it may cover collateral that comes with redesigning the magazine such as posters and advertising, logo etc.

3) Branding for a Leeds festival aimed at students.

• I thought £750 would be roughly correct as a festival will require lots of collateral, however it will also depend how big the festival is and how long I will need to take in order to design everything. 

4) Branding a publication design for the Tetley.

• I thought £200 would be a sufficient amount as I thought it would be a pretty short job and possibly wouldn't require lots of time. 

Bearing these in mind, estimated our needs, essentials and cost for a month in order to calculate whether or not each the money that we charge for these projects can suffice us for a month. 

After calculating all my costs for a month, I found that I roughly needed £150 each month meaning that I probably won't survive if I was to charge projects like I was charging before. 

PROJECT BASED PRICING *charging up front (50% commencement 50% completion)

• client knows where they stand - as long as project specifics are down and agreed, it'll stop client to ask for me each time.
• BUT, because they've already agreed a fee, client's may actually ask for more stuff each time (maybe have a limit to how many amendments client can ask for) 

VALUE BASED PRICING (charging in reflection to the value of the project/client) *licensing 

• Licensing - having a small share each time there's roll out and client comes back for additional designs etc. 
• Assess the business - look at how it stands in order to factor its value and quote the price based on it.
• In an ideal world - we as designers may be able to scale with the business, make a change for the better for the business. Can be an opportunity to educate the client about it, whilst benefiting from developments that clients are experiencing.   

• VALUE over everything
• Asks lots of questions 
• Know your worth!
• Confidence

THE FUTUR - CHRIS DO

Invoices

• Invoicely
• Xero
• Anna
• Quickbooks
• Solna

*FREELANCE work TAX: Self Assessment Tax (gov.uk UTR # Unique tax reference) 

TIP for chasing payments from clients :

"The Accountant" - e.g. account@intern-mag.co.uk RED BOLD TEXT 

Thoughts & Reflection:

I found it eye opening and really helpful to know the kind of strategies and different types of pricing we could charge for our work as I never really quite grasped the idea before because I've never properly sold any of my designs yet. Knowing that putting value over time was really helpful, as it could help me in the future with dealing with clients and strategising if ever I was to do freelance work. It'll also help me understand my place in the industry and how I should place myself, despite being a new designer. It may also help me to be more confident when dealing with clients who may want to take advantage or downplay design work that I do in the future. 

Week Starting 28th October - Briefing

TO DO LIST:

Extended Practice

• Write up Extended Practice briefs on brief templates (BY THE END OF THIS WEEK)
• Copy and Paste Competition briefs on brief template.
• Check out Reading lists 
• Brief - set the parameters clearly and specifically - time span, audience, why, what exactly do they want you to do
• Problem has to be clear or point of the brief but outcome don't have to be
• Level 5 briefs - put o.g. brief somewhere - expand on it? development from it?

PPP

• Read Module Learning Outcomes 
• Make sure to appropriately tag blogs with 602 or 603 or both as Extended Practice and PPP are interconnected.
• Check out Reading lists 

COP

• Establish a coherent structure to COP essay before starting (the discussion, arguments, what you're trying to present).

Extended Practice: Crit

We had a mini first crit for our 10 briefs that we are tarting for Extended practice, I didn't really had a lot of ideas or brief drafts that I prepared, but thankfully it went well.

Competition Briefs:

1) STARPACK

• BRIEF C - Sustainable Solutions with Corrugated Cardboard
• Consider the structure and graphic design elements on the pack to enhance the consumers perception of brand (audience response etc.)
• Identify ANY product that's currently packed and distributed using single use polymers or mixed material
• *I like it as it's focused on forward thinking design (design for the people). 
• BRIEF G - Plastic Into Paper 
• Identify current products in plastic? 
• Consider user/environment for the the product
• *I like this brief as also focused on the environment and decreasing waste, using design as a tool to reduce damage to the planet. 

2) ISTD 

• Project 3 - Migration
• I was drawn to this brief as it's something that I have experienced myself and something that is closely related to me, therefore I think it would be really interesting for me to do this brief as I think that I can use my own experience as a migrant and relate it to me. On the other hand, I can also relate it to something that I really enjoy but may be something out of context from the initial meaning of 'migration' which is music. Similar to the Microgenre's of music module we did in first year maybe I can use typography as a way to express the 'migration of a specific microgenre' as I did struggle a lot in expressing Korean hiphop in type during that module, I thought revisiting the same theme with a better understanding of typography may help me produce a refined piece of work. 

Collaborative Briefs 

3 & 4) INTERNAL COLLABORATION

• REVISITING 503 Collaborative Brief (THAT'S SO ASTRO)
• Me and Jocel created a collaborative free publication themed around zodiac signs with two Illustration students, that was distributed for free in the university and in Village Books for our 503 brief last year. I got some messages and responses from some people who found it really fun and interesting when they picked a copy from uni, however we never got around to creating more editions. I thought this would be a great opportunity for us to create another edition- perhaps editions that we distribute around university again. Due to possible conflicting schedules, I think it'll be best to work on it together rather than contacting the Illustration students that e worked with last year as they were quite busy as well. I would be a great way to get our design out in the university and be a fun publication that hopefully everyone can get around to reading and relating to, just like our original intention for the publication last year.

• LAURADIO 
• Last year I grouped together with some people for our PPP project which we won centred around creating a university podcast aiming to open opportunities for people from other courses to have access to visiting professional talks from other courses and vice versa. It would also be a platform for current or graduating/alumni students to put their brand out for people as well as a fun podcast that everyone in the university can listen to. However, as the 2nd year got busy, the project became stagnant, though I do have some drafts to it. I thought it would be a great opportunity to actually start the podcast and test out if it actually works and can gain attention from people not just in our course but around the uni as well . We could start with the drafts we have already got, and build up to a more professional set up as it grows. Maybe it could become an official podcast in the university and be integrated in the Student Union just like NEST Magazine. 

5 & 6) EXTERNAL COLLABORATION

• Collaboration with Art and Design Student from University of Leeds. 
• A friend of mine who does Art and Design in Uni of Leeds has an extensive collection of photographs from her travels around Asia and other countries such as Seoul and Hongkong, and she has inquired  me to create a collaborative publication to showcase her photographs. I'll probably handle most of the publication production whilst continuously take to her about the design direction, theme etc. of the publication.
•  Collaboration with Dance Society in University of Leeds
• I have been a part of a dance society in University of Leeds and have created some connections with the committee members of the society. They've thought of creating a commemorative publication or similar printed design commemorating the year in the society, as they perform in a lots of events, do weekly dance tutorials and dance competitions. Also, as most of the members of the society are international students or postgraduate students, they thought it would be nice to distribute it to the members as a way of saying thank you to their members and something they can take home to remember the society with.

7) Research-led Brief

• Showcasing the emergence of ancient traditional Filipino writing system and Filipino culture (Baybayin)
• As I'm doing my dissertation on East Asian culture and beauty ideals, I've thought of also showcasing my own specific culture through a research led brief like this. I'm not quite sure what I want to do as a practical for this idea yet, but I thought it's a great way for me to find out more of my own traditional culture as it's a writing system that was diminished during the Spanish colonial era and is starting to be implemented again in modern Filipino education, mass media etc. I also want to actually learn the writing system and understand it so that's also a process that I could possibly show throughout this brief. I want to showcase the uniqueness and beauty of our traditional writing system and Filipino culture to an audience who are not familiar with it as it's something that I'm proud of and something that I want to share to people in a creative and interactive way.

Thoughts & Reflections:

I was initially very worried about the crit as I haven't done much on this module because of my focused towards COPm however as Amber and Nick reassured us that it's a good starting point, I think that I shouldn't be worried to much of what i have so far and seeing and hearing what other people have as well makes me feel reassured. Everyone's ideas were so diverse and interesting that I think it was really good to get some inspiration from them as well and really pick something that I'm passionate about or a niche or mundane topic that I could create something really interesting with. I think from the ideas that I have so far I think that I'm going to start with the Research led brief first purely because I think it will be quite hefty, therefore gradually doing small bits of it may help me with actually producing the practical for it.

COP: Looking into Visuals for Main Body Content

Problems with trying to get content from this research

• too focused on selection of models - model ethnicity, visuals of models
• usage of Asian celebrities to garner Asian consumers e.g. Kris Wu for Burberry
• Western celebrities cultural appropriating Asian culture for 'asian aesthetics - can be linked to pop culture?? 
• not really much on branding and identity
• have to research more on actual brand identity - logo, type, design elements 

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/asian-culture-appropriation_us_5cd20d2be4b0a7dffcce2e1e
http://www.thefashionlaw.com/home/luxury-brands-tailor-their-marketing-to-millennial-consumers-in-the-far-east
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/fashion-designer-prabal-gurung-asian-models_us_5bbfa6e2e4b01a01d688b4ff?ri18n=true&guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9jb25zZW50LnlhaG9vLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIASQiga6B0gvgflz8YMdV6Tp0ODaw0NiPMUCS23ClOi0NMzcgO-OqGhUmrUs_zZ6VnrW7TnSaOer0QzbnHV5KUeh7WH-y7f_MkXcHPRB9ySpKI4oTrooUkPVv_V5TNmI1ApJrJZG3042ApDpu6JNhyrxS8hPRiq26-XYLt17i6d
https://www.vogue.com/article/asia-major
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-trends/Luxury-brands-appoint-Asian-ambassadors-to-strengthen-digital-presence

PPP: 'Growth Mindset Vs. Fixed Mindset' Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUWn_TJTrnU

Thoughts & Reflection:

After watching the video, I kind of realised that I have some attitudes that reflect the 'fixed mindset' characteristic such as that I get very scared of trying out new things that I feel like I'm going to fail at, and knowing that theres a big chance of me failing, I automatically give up at it. However, I realise that having this kind of attitude will only make me a prisoner of my own thoughts and is detrimental to my learning development. This year though, I feel that I'm slowly trying to build up my confidence in learning new things and doing things that would previously make me feel challenged and scared. In comparison to what I mentioned in my PPP presentation last year, I think that I'm slowly starting to build up confidence on my own design skills, partly because I feel like instead of putting off people's praises I actually accept it now and not think of it as something burdensome but rather to help me be more proud of what I'm doing and to really tell myself that I'm a Graphic Designer.

In addition, as I was watching the video, I felt that I am starting to have more of a growth mindset and it kind of gave me the confirmation that I am taking things in better and in a more positive and healthier way that before. It made me feel better all in all.

COP: 1st Tutorial with Amber

• Brand and Identity are interconnected.
• cultural appropriation -. cultural accessibility, but no measure in place to safe guard it for it to be appropriation 
• all about perception and subjectivity
• perception could be about celebrating culture however sometimes in could be taken to much and not understanding where it's coming from especially int he fashion industry where it's all about the visual; purely visual
• initially the visual you see is what you get -> you can dissect it later and it will have loads of considerations and themes and meaning but at the same time from what you see and how you see it, then you'll create your own meaning and POV of that visual. 

• INTRODUCTION - Say AND  position what East Asian culture is -> can be reflection of MY own perspective or POV?  
• SAY somewhere in the introduction possibly - put it in the context of the basis of the research
• Why am i doing this?
• What's my purpose in choosing this topic?
• It's such a broad topic, HOWEVER, I'm going to focus on one topic...(because it's so wide-ranging so it is essential and in order to draw a conclusion = also talk about it's depiction in fashion industry/identity)

• CONTENT  
• talk/connect with some brand e.g. CHANEL
• popular culture
• cultural appropriation = ARGUMENT CAN BE:
• when brands have actually effectively used east asian culture (inclusivity) and talk about why? their identity?
• Asian brand defying Western high fashion brands = talks about heritage
• IS HERITAGE ONE OF THE KEY CHARACTERISTICS FOR IT TO BE EFFECTIVE AND GETTING IT RIGHT?
• INCLUSITIVITY, DIVERSITY
• Globalisation - Accessibility of culture - Is it a good or bad thing?...not necessarily bad but it's HOW PEOPLE USE INFORMATION they get through globalisation and culture accessibility (LINKS  WELL WITH TALKING ABOUT REPRESENTATION AND APPROPRIATION)

WHAT TO WORK ON:

• MY DEFINITION OF WHAT EAST ASIAN CULTURE IS WITHIN FASHION 
• What CASE STUDIES am I going to use? 
• More substantial  content for main body of essay

FOR NEXT MEETING:

• 10 mins catch up with Amber
• Bring visuals (brand Identity, maYbe look up Chanel's social media? visuals that show brand identity *logo, type, colour, colour, references) NOT SO MUCH ADVERTISING THOUGH...

rough notes during tutorial

Thoughts & Reflections:

It was a really helpful first session, although it was quite short I think that it helped confirm that I've got a specific enough question that I can continue working with from now on. Amber also helped me to solidify key theories and themes I could read more specifically about now and definitely talk about in my essay. Also, previously I was still focused on focusing in much more on Advertising, however after talking to Amber about it, I think she was right about focusing towards Branding and Identity because I can get lost towards the visuals in Advertising that doesn't really mean much or do much to my research and it could get me stuck, therefore from now I'm going to divert to looking at Branding and Identity (it will also help me bring back this topic to Graphic Design with looking at logotypes, logos, colour, shapes, image making, audience link etc.) Hopefully, in our next meeting I can get a clearer view and direction to the main body of my essay when I bring my visuals in and talk about how it's going to refer and work in my essay. I also really need to start drafting my practical so I think looking more into the visuals and Branding and Advertising of some brands (e.g. Chanel) will help me start to draft my practical brief. 

Key Things to note for my essay:

• belonging and globalisation -> representation
• perception and subjectivity (intro)
• pop culture

Arguments

• Heritage - is is key to getting the representation right?
• Inclusivity and Diversity - brands that did it right
• Cultural accessibility - is it good or bad?

PPP: Time Planning

Following the session from last week, we had a time planning session with Alec and made a weekly time plan that we can roughly go through throughout the year. 

SIMPLICITY + CONSISTENCY = PRODUCTIVITY

We also watched a video of Michael Karnjarnaprakorn and found some very interesting things:

• How do I control my own time?
• How do I change my habits?
• Start small - don't do too much that you'll get overwhelmed 
• Have quarterly goals
• PLAN - DO - REVIEW- Have three things for each (doing too much or too small will not be effective.
• Put monetary value on tasks - this will help visualise and realise how important some things will be in comparison to other tasks.

Focus Techniques 

• Pomodoro - 25 mins work / 5 mins break (every fourth cycle break extends to 15 mins
• Eat the Frog - start the day with the most "daunting" task. 
• Get Things Done (GTD) - organise tasks to different themes.

Apps & Softwares 

• 'Stay Focused' - chrome extension that blocks website for a certain amount of time to help you focus.
• Stickies - MAC
• Teux-deux (paid) - digital checklist to help you stay on track
• Marinara - similar to pomodoro
• 'Self-control'
• Toggl - diagnostic app but is manual input only (helps you reflect on how much and how you're actually spending your time. 

We then moved only creating our own goals based on the 3 by 3 by 3 structure that Michael said:

Annual Goals

• Produce a good portfolio at the end of the year
• Creating and keeping connections for future employment
• Be confident and up the scratch with skills that I've learnt for the past 3 years
• 
  

Term Goals

• Complete dissertation
• Researching, contacting and sending to potential companies for work placement (S
• Balance Extended Practice and PPP (because they have the same deadline date.

Weekly Goals

Thoughts & Reflections:

After this session, I feel more motivated to actually stick to the plan that I made for myself. I've also created the plan based on how I've been roughly using my week and what work I'm prioritising, however, when I started making it, I realised that it was getting too unrealistic and forgot to actually put resting days/times, so I decided to reflect back to the previous weeks and made it as realistic as possible and thought of the days and times where I'm most productive (e.g. around 2:00 to 5:00 in the afternoons and actually not doing work on Saturday's). I feel like doing this makes me more at ease and I'm not stressing myself too much because I know how much I can actually do and I won't look back at it and think "I CANT DO THAT THAT'S TOO MUCH!" and start procrastinating. Also, even if I'm not religiously following the plan or if I've gone a bit of track, I know that I can go back to the plan to get myself back and do things with a rough structure again. Hopefully, I'll be able to stick or roughly refer back to the plan so I reduce the time I waste during times where I'm supposed to be working. 

COP: Seminar 2 (Audiences, Users, Consumers)

*Additional reading for COP seminar: What is textual analysis?

WHO'S IN CHARGE?

Who was involved in the study?

-Graphic Designers and end users of asthma; they used 'asthma' as it's none commercial but rather more informative with less persuasive language and elements. 

What arguments does the article make?
-The role of designers and how we're meant to 'design for the people'. 
-End-users can be of being help by giving more focused and accurate information about their needs rather than designers making 'informed guesses',

What suggestions is the author making in relations to how we practice design?
-Designers make 'appropriate outcomes' rather than intuitive guessing end-users preferences.

*Our design studies are reflected from art history studies, that we look at designs from an informed cultural meaning. 

WHAT IS TEXTUAL ANALYSIS?

-Consider who your are communicating to and how well you are communicating to them

-How well does a piece of text or design persuade an audience. 

INCORPORATING CONSIDERATIONS F USERS/AUDIENCES WITHIN VISUAK ANALYSIS

-Consider what the chosen text/image relate to the intended users/audiences.

-Consider how design can be better for consumers/ users not just graphic designers

DEMOGRAPHIICS

-age, gender, sexual orientation etc.

-they are expressed through numerical figures.

-marketers can use these information in order to target specific audiences ()

-however, they only offer a limited info of WHO that target audience is. 

PSYCHOGRAPHICS

-attempt to make 'demographics' clearer

-personas

-personality, characteristics, opinions, values, attitudes, interest and lifestyle (especially in branding, branders can mould their brand images around that lifestyle and in turn gain brand loyally and brand association to oneself)

DATA GATHERING

Qualitative - refers to the answers that have more value than numerical : emotional, personal e.g. questionnaires that requires an explanation. opinions etc. 

(THEMATIC ANALYSIS - Braun and Clark, 2006)

*Analysing data - focus group, interview etc. - what are you going to do with the answers to make sense of theme? 

*Review the dataset.

*Coding - codes are short phrases that act as interpretative handles for the data. They could be descriptive of interpretative. (making phrases that make sense for what is being said) Are you looking for a deeper meaning in what they're saying? 

* Themes - once you have a list of code, organise these in a  thematic order (grouping groups in common areas) 

*Review and discuss some of the most important themes that emerged from the data. (themes become the focus of the data and how the data affect the essay focus). 

-Can't exactly be grasp the same way as QUANTITATIVE DATA.

Quantitative - It's numerical, surveys, multiple choice options, 

*Think carefully of how you're going to create the questionnaire etc. would it be better to only collect figures or a more detailed explanation from people. How will it help with the essay or practical brief?

*Do you ask a lot of people? How different answers can correlate? 

What methods do i use to gather information?

What methods am i using to make sense of information?

What methods are appropriate for my own essay question and focus?

Extended Practice Workshop

Today we had our first session with Nick as an Extended Practice starter workshop. We created prints from dissected typefaces (Baskerville, Cooper Black and Neue Haas). 

I really enjoyed the session and found it really chill and calming. It reminded me a lot of the kind of experimental workshops we did in first year and the kind of visuals we can make in a limited amount of time. I also enjoyed how it was very handmade and a very rough and raw process which makes me think of how important creating rough ideas and experiments are; I feel like definitely in 2nd year we kind of lost this process and went straight to digital ideas and creation, and I think this was one of the reasons why this workshop was very helpful and was done. 

Looking at other people's visuals I really liked the textures that some people made on their designs. It something that really separates handmade processes to digital ones as every textures is very different and something hat you can control or not control yourself, which is fun and interesting at the same time. You wont always get the result that you want- good or bad. 

I also liked how some people played with the spaces that they had. Constricting or trying to use/ balance the space with the design. I think it really works for the shapes that they used as well as how they laid out the shapes as well. Like (1) looks very natural and has a very organic feel to it, whereas (2) looks more polished and controlled, working more towards a more geometrical and clean aesthetic. 

Thoughts & Reflection:

I liked the session as it kinda made me take time off thinking about COP too much and just have fun with creating prints and experimenting for a while. I also made me appreciate handmade prints and processes again and how much of an important process it is for us. It's good for idea generation  and overall creating more unique designs rather than going straight to digital processes.

PPP: Briefing

@ThisIsIntern

*Money - invoicing, how to get paid right
*Networking- talking to other people in the industry
*Professionalism - talking about yourself professionally (not like a student)
*Self Promotion - broadening way to promote yourself framing it in relation to the design industry

Brief One: Personal Branding

*appropriate preparation for ambitions through research into self-promotion material (social accounts, business cards creative CV's etc.)
*Blog - everything that affects or develops the progress of the year in PPP
*submit PRINT based and/or digital branding

Brief Two: Design Strategy

*blog - document ongoing research into - preparation for started progression ambitions
*studio visits, open days, professional activities, talks, events, cv workshops, external engagement in relation to personal practice.
*submit a design strategy document (PDF) - compile key learnings and evidence of career-specific activities
*records of professional correspondence, enterprise plans, contacts, reflective skill evaluation
*10 minute Presentation - communicate and summarise your individual creative ambitions, career plans, design strategies and professional activities
*write blogs with learning outcomes

PPP: First Seminar (Barriers)

Today we had our first seminar for PPP and started the session with discussing and pinpointing our worries about our own personal practice

We wrote down our thoughts on post it notes and did several exercises in order to pin point our upmost worry about the course ourselves and our future. I personally thought that:

• My Confidence
• Current Design Skills &
• Poor Networking Skills

...are the three main barriers I have and the three main things that are holding me back. Especially not having a lot of confidence in myself is making me scared to explore more and be more assertive and trusting of my own capabilities. This also makes me doubt myself a lot and compare myself to others in the course further demotivating me and making me scared about my future. Furthermore, I think it's also the reason why I think my current design skills aren't good enough and why I'm scared of networking, is because I think right now, I'm not good enough. 

Going up and looking at what others wrote and voting one that encapsulates the biggest barrier I have kind of makes me feel relieved in a way, that I'm not alone and that other people also have the same worries as I do. Talking about it with the class and hearing other people's thoughts also made me feel better as it kind of gave me some validation that actually, maybe I'm doing okay, we're all doing okay.

COP3: Specifying Dissertation Topic (to clear my clouded mind) & New COP3 Question

Following my concerns from the COP Presentation last week, I decided to narrow down and specify which field of 'beauty' I want to focus on and a main theme I want to explore from the existing topics that I've outline in my presentation.

·      Why am I writing about this topic? – Purpose

·      It’s depiction in high fashion industry/ and identity

·      e.g. “The basis of this research is from a keen interest of representation of POC within fashion…”

·      BRIEF POINT ON BELONGING AND GLOBALISATION (used to start counter argument) – ALSO because of PERCEPION, SUBJECTIVE VIEW

I decided to specify more on the representation of POC (East Asian minority) in High Fashion because:

• I'm a person of colour myself and I can relate very much to the topic.
• I think in today's society and norms this topic is very relevant especially when brands and companies are trying to be more conscious and 'woke' about their principles and ethos in representing not just Caucasians but also other ethnic minorities. But are they really representing minorities rightfully? or are they just bandwagoning the 'inclusive and diversity' appeal in order to have a good brand image and appeal to consumers. 
• As a graphic designer, I want to explore and understand more about where people like me stand in the industry and how we are truly represented in media as I feel Asian stereotyping and appropriation are especially being 'downsized' and normalised in society today unlike other appropriation or worse – racism towards other minorities. 
• 
  

I continued to use the theoretical themes that I wanted to explore but focused them more towards the new topic that I'm writing about, however after speaking to some peers for some feedback and clarity about my topic, I feel as though I'm starting to lean more towards talking more in depth about culture and ideas of orientalism which made me kind of confused and worried, that maybe I'm leading farther away from Graphic Design now. ://////////

Nonetheless, I reviewed WHAT DO I REALLY WANT TO TALK ABOUT?....Instead of solely talking about beauty ideals in relation to Advertising, what I really want to focus on is the representation of East Asian culture and traditions in the Western High Fashion industry/advertising, but using fashion/beauty as the specific field in which I will talk about it in.

Why High Fashion in particular? 

Fashion is one of the most attainable ways of showcasing one's identity and it is also very easy to apply and give cultural references to certain fashion trends and concepts which can affect how we view those cultures overall. High Fashion brands such as Chanel, Dior and Prada have developed high prestige to their brand image, that although not everyone can afford their products, people can still refer to the brand as 'inspiration' as they set trends in the fashion industry, therefore having massive social and cultural impact on society as a whole. 

In addition, East Asians are also one of the largest consumer market of High Fashion brands, so it'll be interesting to explore east Asian views on the representation of their culture and how it is perpetuated in the media. How do they feel about the these representations and do they think it fully or truthfully represent who they really are in the society?

Linking back to Graphic Design

Graphic Design is a huge part in Fashion Advertising as graphic designers have to make decisions on how to present a certain product to a consumer audience; at the same time satisfy the fashion designers concept and idea behind the product. The design elements which the Graphic Designer uses within the advertising design will have an effect on how consumers react to advertising as certain colours and typography (especially when used within advertising context e.g. slogan), as they will have their own meanings and connotations rooted within them and within culture and society. This may be where stereotypes and appropriation may come under and scrutinised within High Fashion Advertising and how culture and representation of East Asians are depicted in mainstream western society and media. 

From my previous broader question, I've come to a clearer question and structure for my specific COP3 topic. 

HOW IS THE PORTRAYAL OF EAST ASIANS IN HIGH FASHION ADVERTISING AFFECTING THE REPRESENTATION OF EAST ASIAN CULTURE AND TRADITIONS?

Thoughts & Reflection:

I think now I'm much clearer about the direction in which I am taking my essay to, I think that it is still linking back to Graphic Design in terms of examples and talking about meaning and culture associations of design elements. Now that I've structured my essay more, I can now focus on doing more reading on the new themes Ii've outlined in the structure as well as produce my proposed practical brief, hopefully before my first tutorial meeting with Amber.