BBC History magazine is one for Britain biggest selling magazine for an insight to History. Supplying an informative and enjoyment to historical facts engaging an loyal Audience. "Reaching a core audience who are mature, highly affluent and educated" (BBC history magazine | immediate media Co – the special interest content and platform company, no date)
"We may be a history magazine, but we’re never stuck in the past. Whether it’s the latest research on major historical topics, or explanations of how history can inform current affairs, we always offer our readers a fresh perspective on what’s gone before. With a remit that encompasses everything that’s ever happened, we rarely struggle to fill the magazine. In fact the hardest part of my job is deciding which fascinating subjects will have to wait for another day.
"
"Rob Attar, Editor - BBC History Magazine"
Being the number one history selling titles, the question that follows is who is the audience the magazine attracts. Knowledge from research the magazine audience hits an impressive number of 228k readers, and their online footprint generate 174k on Facebook. Audience Profile:
On the Jincars Scale : B-C1
Both Male and Female audience who are educated and have a desire and interest into politics and Historical events.
The Magazine will attract middle age people from 35-50 (Average 46)
Bibliography
BBC history magazine | immediate media Co – the special interest content and platform company (no date) Available at: http://www.immediate.co.uk/brands/bbc-history-magazine/ (Accessed: 5 November 2015).
How do people see technology: " Technology is no mere means, Technology is a way of revealing .. it is the realm of revealing , i.e of truth" -- Heidegger.
"What is Afrofuturism : speculative fiction thats treats african American themes and addresses African American concerns in the context of the twentieth-century techno-culture". -- Mark Dery
"Afrofuturism is a literary and cultural aesthetic that combines elements of science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, Afrocentricity, and magic realism with non-Western cosmologies in order to critique not only the present-day dilemmas of people of colour, but also to revise, interrogate, and re-examine the historical events of the past. "(Afrofuturism, 2015) The world of science fiction in the present day has an absence of culture diversity, and afro futurism is aiming to make a change, and clear this absence in the future. Janelle Monae- Many moon - Video is about how she is a twenty century person who DNA has been stolen where is become this dancing puppet for the rich and powerful.
"Janelle Monáe has made a conscious effort to restore Afrofuturist cosmology to the forefront of urban contemporary music. Her notable works include the music videos "Prime Time" and Many Moons", which explore the realms of slavery and freedom through the world of cyborgs and the fashion industry" (Afrofuturism, 2015) Sun Ra first introduced the themes of Afro Futurism to the music industry, in Chicago , when he collaborated with other artists producing music with "hard bop and modal sources, but created a new synthesis which also used afrocentric and space-themed titles to reflect Ra's linkage of ancient African culture"(Afrofuturism, 2015) "Wangechi Mutu (born 22 June 1972 in Nairobi, Kenya) is an artist and sculptor who lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Mutu is considered by many to be one of the most important contemporary African artists of recent years, and her work has achieved much global acclaim" (Wangechi Mutu, 2015)
Afro Futurism over the years has become well established, recognised world wide, its a growing concept which today could even be classed as a genre.
Bibliography
Afrofuturism (2015) in Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrofuturism (Accessed: 30 October 2015).
Wangechi Mutu (2015) in Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wangechi_Mutu (Accessed: 30 October 2015).
After a personal tutorial, Id received some feed back regarding the final piece I originally created. It seemed that a lot of my work had lost direction and I had explored the ideas of a female figure rather than designing something within the convention of James Bond. I had to reconsider my direction. My final piece was referred to 'Horror' rather than 'Bond'. The dripping blood featured on bond opening credits takes a digitally stylised approach, as my homage of this iconic 'dripping red' didn't result in the clean stylistic finish, and gave more of a horror movie appearance.
I took a different approach; I got lost in personal art rather than an illustration design for a specific audience (James Bond Fan Art). I went over my research and looked at different art produced for this project. I went back to the roots of my research and looked at the artist Michael Gillete who composed the designs for the James bond novel covers and posters. I state in previous posts "I admire the traditional art appearance in these posters, yet there loud with colour. They are bold striking images which is a similar feel to what i would like to achieve in my final piece."
This is not something that I achieved after stating my direction. After straying away from the typical bond conventions, I felt that capturing a image with my own personal style but still maintaing a influence of Gillette work would be the best approach to re creating my final piece successfully.
Below are some Experiments I created in result to my new direction. Using the originally figure I composed with pencil and then digitally modified on Photoshop. Editing the colour tint exposure, contrast, hue, saturation and colour balance levels.
Roots
of Urban Music: In todays contemporary British life Caribbean music is a major influence.
Knows as a triangle the vibes consist of three segments of the world: West
Africa, West Indies and West Midlands.
UK
Hip & Jungle: Hip hop was gradually emerging in the nineties, establishing
an independent identity of the US scene. Despite this establishment of the
growing Hip Hop, Birmingham maintained heavily under the influence of a ' Reggae
Town'. and Due to this demand for Reggae it effect the Region.
Jungle,
a new genre had emerged in the 1990's known today as Drum and Bass; it
introduced a new tone to reggae and a desire for a 'home grown UK sound’. And
even today in the digital era the African percussion still remains today.
One of the united kingdoms established jewellery designers. Born in North east England 1939. acclaimed internationally her work is a combination of jewellery pieces, sculptures and culture. Her work is widely inspired by the recall of her childhood memories, by the sea, fairy tales and love of literature and cultural differences.
The exhibition in Room of Dreams is Ramshaw's most outstanding piece to the present day. It intrigues the audience to use the imagination and explore the unknown meaning of the collection. Described by herself as a 'Museum in a museum' the collection is opened to personal interpretation and add your own thoughts and opinion to her work.
"The collection is not cohesive except that is relies on dreams, stories and desires for its inspiration. The room is ver personal to me, but I hope others will bring their own thoughts and ideas to it" (Wendy Ramshaw)
The room consists of featured ring sets which are displayed and specifically places on the sculptural; resulting in works of great beauty.. This idea of combination of two form has always played a part in Ramshaws life; " as a child Ramshaw would often play alone using and making small objects to create her own homemade museum displays" and interest as a child which became a passion and career.
Shakespeare and Lewis Carroll's alice in wonderland has had an influence in her work today,with references. She later developed her work with the idea of science, motherhood and culture, continuing to provide personal stories through out her art forms and jewellery collections.
I went to both the Think Tank and Birmingham Museum, however I there was more of a variety of choice to base ideas of at the gallery. Below are some images I took whilst there.
I had a browse through the greek and ancient Egyptian; I felt that they are the typical conventions of any museums and want to find something that was exclusive to Birmingham itself. Seek the 'hidden stories of the museum' and find the culture of Birmingham itself.
Two of the Galleries at the exhibition stood out to me as I didn't expect to see something so different. It immensely intrigued me to find out further; Vibes and Wendy Ramshaw. I concluded that I will look into both galleries to explore possible outcomes.
"The medium
is the message" is a phrase coined by Marshall McLuhan meaning
that the form of a medium embeds itself in the message, creating
a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how
the message is perceived."(The medium is the message,
2015)
"An
implosion in which everybody is involved with everyone. The age of co-presence
of all individuals is the age of communication- the ages of instant
humans. Computer data banks dissolve the human image. Love thy label
as thyself."
We gain
a an insight. Not data. Today we live in a digital data age. Mc Luhan
gives us wisdom, timeless information. We appreciate the power of
visual culture, and gives us an insight into technological age.
Touches topics on how society has changed by both ideas and
tools and how this has altered human behaviour and our mental attitudes.
Key Ideas & Thinkers:
Harold Innis- The Bias of Communication - "
time and space biases Monopolies knowledge"
Neil Postman- Technopoly - " Media Ecology
Douglas Rushkoff - Program or be Programmed - "
Programming Culture"
Marshall McLunhan - Understanding Media - The Global
Village, Media as Message Media as extension Senses"
Harold
Innis- ( 1894-1952) Historian Theorist from Canada
"Neutrality
is never neutral as it appears" (Slavoj Zizek, The Pervert's Guide
to Cinema)
nothing
is neutral, everything is pre disposed. Everything that has been
designed carries some baggage from the creator. Anything
that has been designed leaves a design legacy, whether it's intended. This
legacy could be a good or bad outcome. Everything is pre dispositioned or
biased.
"Most writers are occupied in providing accounts of the content of
philosophy, science, libraries, empires, and religions. Innis invites us
instead to consider the formalities of power exerted by these structures in
their mutual interaction. He approaches each of these forms of organized power
as exercising a particular kind of force upon each of the other components in
the complex."(other publications,
no date)
Innis basic belief is the idea"relative stability of cultures depends on
the balance and proportion of their media"(other publications, no
date) . He bases his thery of three questions:
1.How do specific communication technologies operate?
2.What assumptions do they take from and contribute to
society?
3.What forms of power do they encourage?
The key
to soical change is dependant on the development of communication
media. "Any empire or society is generally concerned with duration
over time and extension in space."
Time
Biased Media: "Time-biased
media facilitate the development of social hierarchies, as archetypally
exemplified by ancient Egypt. For Innis, speech is a time-biased medium."
Space
Biased: "They are associated with secular and territorial societies; they
facilitate the expansion of empire over space"
David
Godfrey summarises Innis’ distinction as follows:
"For
Innis, the organisation of empires seems to follow two major models. The first
model is militaristic and concerned with the conquest of space. The second
model is religious and concerned with the conquest of time. Comparatively, the
media that have supported the military conquering of space have been lighter,
so that the constraints of long distances could be lessened. Those media that
supported theocratic empires had relative durability as a major characteristic
so that they could support the concepts of eternal life and endless dynasties.
((other publications, no date)"
Marshell
Mcluhan:
(mywebcowtube, 2011)
Programming the Environment: 'Technological change is neither additive nor subtractive. it is ecological' . We see the world in a digital terms, this network, but what we don't realise that it is physical. There are servers and cables which create this vulnerability. Technology has a physicality. digital technology is programmed. this makes it biased towards those with the capacity to write the code. We are part of the digital age. We are fish in the digital world. We are being used we are not users. You will never be a master, you can only gain an insight to gain an exposure to the truth of the digital era. Art and design can be thought of as a different sort of Programming. We don't necessarily have to be constrained to the digital tools.
All Designers are , thinkers - generating ideas, builders- making ideas into reality , Improvers- taking existing work and making it better and producers- executing repeatable processes t a high standard. . Art and design as a type of programming.
Bibliography
The medium is the message (2015) in Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message (Accessed: 23 October 2015).
other publications (no date) Available at: http://www.media-studies.ca/articles/innis.htm (Accessed: 23 October 2015). mywebcowtube (2011) Marshall Mcluhan Full lecture: The medium is the message - 1977 part 1 v 3. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImaH51F4HBw (Accessed: 23 October 2015).
Browsing
through the BBC History Magazine I cam across Becca Throne an illustrator who
has produced pieces for the magazine itself.
Becca
Throne born on the Welsh and English Boarder studied illustration at BA and MA
at Falmouth. Currently living in Nottingham Throne working as a full time
illustrator with repeat clients such as BBC History magazine, the Folio Society
and National Trust books. Throne work tend to feature "linocut,
hand-burnished using a teaspoon and printed with water-based inks which dry
faster than traditional oil-based mediums, allowing for longer to be spent on
designing and cutting and less on waiting for inks to dry. Some more colourful
illustrations, which require several printed layers, are pieced together
digitally for speed and accuracy, though I still use more traditional and
unpredictable techniques wherever possible."(Becca Thorne illustration:
About, no date).
A
lot of her work is influenced by her life experiences and travels from English
beaches to the landscapes in New Zealand. When not travelling or working
on given projects Throne tutors at the University of De Montfort.
Looking
at Becca Throne work specifically for the BBC History magazine the imagery is simplistic but layered. It normally features one colour
creating a mood for the piece, which probably reflects to the mood of
the text. This is something that I want to achieve in my final piece.
Bibliography
Becca
Thorne illustration: About
(no date) Available at: http://www.beccathorne.co.uk/info.html (Accessed: 27
October 2015).
Bond isn't just an international name it or a worldwide phenomenon. The man James Bond is a brand. "of the the current strongest brands in existence". Bond isn't just a dominated male based target audience it opens up new doors as a brand introducing marketing techniques and collaboration with other world wide products such as cars, Alcohol, watches etc. Men want to be him and women want to be with him. There is a desire and appeal from all angles as the audience.
James Bond is iconic he has aspiring attributes in which all audience and brands want to achieve: "desirable, attractive and cool. Even the darker, aggressive and brooding edge that Daniel Craig has brought to the character has not dented its appeal with brands."
James bond has not got a narrow audience it has a worldwide view, from books to movies even the Queen got involved in 007 stunt in the Olympic opening ceremony. "which was arguably the first stage of VisitBritain’s 'Bond is Great Britain' campaign., Bond serves to reinvigorate the country's tourism injecting an exciting energy and a sense of cool. The strategy is very much about capturing the excitement of the film and positioning Great Britain as the place to find that – as well as tying’s Bond’s qualities to Britain."
The product associated with Bond and even newly introduced creates appeal and a wider fan base opening new doors, such as Audi lovers both Heineken and coke hitting heavily at the young make target audience. Also Omega, smartphones and the list goes on.. It's had to distinguish the difference between relationship between the film story and the featured brands; it definitely raises the question is it all got to the stage of a marketing experience? "rom the brand perspective this is a big win, but does it undermine the Bond character and the film's integrity?" "Verdict
As Branded Entertainment goes, 007 is the ultimate brand ambassador and all the brands associated with the film are guaranteed to reap the benefits. But where does the brand involvement end and the story begin?"
I decided to create a piece for the Electric cinema featuring Monica (Bond Women). I took a simplistic and sophisticated approach, with a vintage appeal. The process of the outcome of my piece is shown Below:
Step One: This is a Image of Monica Bellucci as a model. What I like about this particular photo is the seductive, independent and empowerment the image conveys; the typical generic conventions associated with Bond girls. The black paint splatter across her, somewhat like a dress, resembles blood spillage from a gun shot.
Step Two: I opened the original photo in Photoshop and edited a collaboration of a half skull and rib cage; reflecting the opening squeal of Day of the Dead.
Step Three: After the Digital edit of photo's I then returned to the traditional forms of art and hand drew the image I produced.
Step Four: I Scanned the original drawing and digitally modified it on Photoshop, changing the contrast, resolution, exposure and adding a vignette. I created dripping blood with a straw and watercolour and scanned it onto my computer and added the layer on the original drawing, resulting in my final piece.
Define: Cocky:"conceited or confident in a bold or cheeky way." Criminal : "a person who has committed a crime." The image I would have to create for this specific brief I felt my have to have humorous side to the image. The play with words and contrast I would like to achieve this in my final piece for the magazine.
This image above I discovered browsing the web and I feel it's relates to article in the magazine. The idea he's broken the law yet still having several cigarettes behind bars, has this irony. This is something I want to achieve.
"Catherine Jones was a disabled woman who received poor relief from the parish of St Dionis Backchurch in the City of London from at least 1757 to at least 1783. For most of this time she was living in Wales. While the effort she was forced to expend in obtaining and maintaining this pauper/parish relationship was considerable, the amount of support she received was also substantial." (Palk, 2001)
Jones received the support in 1757 receiving a substantial amount to of £3 4s. Although she was not currently living in the parish, it was her father birth place and she herself lived there for several years. There was no evidence that Jones had married or had children. Therefore it's assumed this was the reason for the payments to continue.
Catherine Jones despite receiving payments for finical aid, returned to London, in 1772 for an unknown reason. Once she arrived in London she was placed in a pauper farm workhouse in Hoxton. A few months later she was deported back to Wrexham; the parish provided her with clothes and money if she agreed. In 1783 Jones was removed of the parish records in the assumption she had past.
Bibliography Palk, D. (2001) Lives - Catherine Jones, fl. 1757-1783. Available at: http://www.londonlives.org/static/JonesCatherinePauperC1757-1780.jsp (Accessed: 22 October 2015).
Synopsis: To 'adopt' an object from Birmingham Museum. Through close observation and research extrapolate a piece of interpretative work which expands and informs on the various qualities of the object through creative experimentation and exercises in styles. This should result in an interpretative solution gauged to trigger informs museum vistor.
The reason I chose this option as I felt it was creatively experimental and you can widely explore ideas based on the simplicity of a specific object of collection. Giving something a different meaning or an underlying depth is a personal interest of mine. Interpreting another message to a piece is what I feel art is. Every piece of work is interpreted in a different way by an audience. History Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery: Birmingham Museum consist of international importance of fine art, jewellery, local and industrial history, ceramics, sculptures and archaeology. The Museum is funding and run by the largest company in the United kingdom; Museum Trust.
