Critical Debates In Design: Task 8.2: Ten Things I've Learned

Always Feed Your Imagination
I believe that a person without imagination is like an empty shell. And when you are
studying design you need to keep that world very much alive most of the time.
Because now it is really hard to create something has never been done before,
something innovative and different and all you can do is feeding your eye and
imagination and hope for the best. I am not a huge fan of galleries and art shows, I
don’t even understand the modern art as I supposed to. I always count on my inner
world, which inspired by a weird thing deficiency. Because I don’t want to design
unnecessary products or fancy campaigns that has already been done by other
people and didn’t function properly. So I search for the real gaps of the society, which
can be filled by design. That is why I have been working on projects that can solve
environmental issues; they are biggest gap our generation, which can’t fill yet. And
those two semesters thought me that, if you want to educate someone you must start
that as young as possible. Therefore, with my last project my target group is the
children age between 7-12 so they can became considerate adults in the future and
won’t damage the environment like we do.
 

I Love Drawing
Since I was a small child I have a very wide imagination and I have always daydream
about eccentric characters and new worlds in my mind but I can never reflect them
onto the paper or screen properly. I always thought that I didn’t have the talent and
the patient to illustrate. So I have convinced my self that to illustration and graphic
design has nothing in common, because I was so intimated with the whole concept of
setting myself free and just drawing randomly. But the progress of the projects made
me find a pencil and a sketchbook to focus my ideas, and I am very glad that it did. I
started with small icons, which was easier to draw, and then I sketched human
figures and basic objects. After gaining enough confidence, it was so easy for me to
reflect my drawings into the projects and carry them into a new level with design
interfaces. Now I am more confident about drawing because I release that nothing
has to be perfect. My illustrations are mine and they are a piece of my imagination.
Thus, my new goal is to improve myself on animation and make a short cartoon with
the characters I have created.
 

Mapping Is Important
I have never heard about mind mapping before I started this module and I always
had hard time to focusing my ideas, keeping it realistic and finding effective solutions.
The first time I have asked to create a map, it sound a little unnecessary to me, but I
tried to make a couple of maps anyway to see how are they going to work. And now
mapping and writing my ideas is indispensable for me. It is because I am not very
focused person, noting my ideas or sketch some illustrations during the day gives me
a whole new perspective about my projects and I can work much faster that way. So
I will never break up with my agendas and sketchbooks again.
 

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone!
I studied graphic design for four years before I started my degree in London. And
when I am looking back I release that I have never set myself free or do anything
randomly. I always calculate the risk factors in my head and plan the safest trip for

me to get guaranteed results. But I believe that I took some risks and tried to made
different things this year. It is not only because I am well aware of the fact that this is
my last year as a student to design things outside the boundaries but also I wanted
to push myself to explore my limits. But during this journey I release that it is not
about the limits or success, it is all about having fun, loving what you do, this is
crucially important. Thus, I feel so lucky that I love my job enough to handle some
mistakes.
 

Do The Best You Can
And don’t care about the rest. I think this is very important lesson, to have confident
on your work. I wasn’t very good with judgements for the past years and I am sure
every designer can understand this because I commit myself fully to every project I
took and I might be a little fragile about the criticism sometimes. But now I can see
that, what designers do is for a public, to serve something and create a difference.
So it should not be only for my pleasure, it must speak for everyone. And at this point
getting other people’s opinions is very important to accomplish that. So being
resentful about opinions or taking things personal is just naïve. I believe should be
seeking for criticism to find the gaps in the society to fill and the hardest problems to
come up with the best solutions for everyone. Moreover, I don’t believe in the word
sufficient, achieving obligations in the minimum is never good enough for me. I need
to add a touch that makes my project stand out. And I believe the clients will
appreciate something new or extra added to the projects and this will carry the work
into a new level. So, as long as I trust my work and did the best I can no comment
can harm me only make me wiser.
 

Enjoy Your Projects
I have the terrible habit of stressing myself about almost everything. And I think
sometimes this keeps me to use my full potential. But as a designer I must be able to
stay calm, work on complex projects, team work and have fun. Therefore, I believe
that I have developed some solutions for my anxieties through out this year. Firstly,
the mapping and mock-ups helped a lot, to draw a road plan for my projects and
predict rough results, which comforts me a lot. Besides, I always thought the worst
thing about graphic design was sitting in frond of a computer for hours. And during
the RSA project, I see that I can change this. I go out and talked with people to test
my project or to find an inspiration more than ever which turned my project into an
interactive approach aiming changing behaviour patterns and I find human contact
very useful too. Moreover, I believe that if I enjoy what I am doing the audience of the
project will get that feeling of playfulness and happiness too. All in all, I learned how
to keep it cool except the printing days!
 

Social Issues
When I first saw the name of this module “Critical Debates In Design”, I was really
curious about the context of the subject. But at the end of the semester I realize that
social issues on design are as important as the design itself. All the movies that we
watched about the environment, the global warming and big companies’ approaches
about their corporate social responsibility policies make me think about the issue
deeply. Thus, I was very disappointed when I searched about the CSR policies some
of the companies that I have trusted for many years. Moreover reading Ken
Garland’s manifesto “First Things First” was an eye opening experience. In this
manner, I strongly support the idea of refusing to work for anything I do not believe. I
know that I might not have this option all the time in my future life, but I would never
try to sell something, which might have a negative influence on its audiences.

Marketing should not mean fooling people; it can only be an announcement or
promotion, which present the product in an honest way. Consequently, what Milton
Glaser said at his essay “ Ten Things I Have Learned” is a hundred percent true; you
should share the same common ground with the client that you are working for. I
hope I can be that lucky.
 
Design And Environment
I had to write about environment because I have studied on this subject almost every
module through out this year. But besides my personal interest on the subject, what I
have learned about the affect of design on environment during this module did not
please me at all. Because I always thought that as designers we are here to solve
problems not create new ones. But with the packaging issues, unnecessary adult
toys, which we compete for marketing constantly, I see that we are not helping to the
solution, only thinking our own advantages. I think being selfish is not special for
graphic designers it is the sickness of our generation. Since 80s we born into a
terrible world with countless economic crises, global warming and no money, our
primitive self-defence feelings tells us to “Save your self first, than you can help
others”. But I don’t want to listen that sound, I refuse to pollute the world with
designing colourful packages for shopaholic people of this century. In this manner
Victor Papanek’s book “Design For The Real World” helped me to build a perspective
about the subject. That incredible man predicted the problems that we are suffering
today, because of the over consuming, forty years ago. And the correctness of his
theories proves me that the future is not going to be brighter, because we are not
doing anything about environment, worst global warming. However, I still believe in
people and the idea that we can reverse the damage we cause, by learning how to
live with the nature. All in all I will always use my skills to find real solutions and I will
not allow my beliefs disappear in the search of self-survival.
 
Ready For A Real Job
It took me a lot of time to write this sentence because l love being a student very
much. They are the most enjoyable and carefree years of one’s life, and finding a
fulltime job means working for someone else, which may be very hard sometimes,
having office hours, paying bills yourself but most importantly growing up. I guess l
tried to avoid that as long as l can but those two semesters l have spent studying this
module made me release that now l am ready. I want to see my work published,
children enjoying my illustrations; maybe one on day seeing my posters on
billboards, even the idea makes me very excited. And I never think small or avoid
hard work I have always had big dreams about my career and making a real
difference on the design world and people’s lives at least in my country. I know that I
will start from the bottom and I need to work hard to get to the point that I want but I
am more focused than ever and I am ready to make a difference!
 
I Want More!
After leaving two semesters behind, I am convinced that graphic design occupation is
definitely the right one for me. Because I am enjoying every minute I study and every
piece of design and typography I see. My friends from other departments study at the
library with heavy books and tons of coffee just for the ideas that someone threw out
years ago. But design is nothing like that. Of course I am also reading books and
visiting galleries to improve my accumulation of knowledge and to find inspiration.
But I have the opportunity to create something new, something useful, something
beautiful and I’m in love with that chance.

Critical Debates In Design: Task 8: Sustainable Design

Green design, green architecture, environmental design, ecodesign, sustainable design, sustainable products, ecoefficiency and sustainable consumption - all these have claimed to bring design, ecology and environment together over the past two decades. However, the real issue that we are suffering is bringing together human and environment again. Except, "design for sustainability" mostly focuses on the designed object itself - the materials from which it is made, the amount of energy embodied in it, its ability to be recycled, and so on.  These things are significant too, but stylistic solutions will not help us to close the gap between the modern human and environment. In my estimation, we as one the most defenseless creatures on earth, should find our way to make peace with the nature to continue our existence on earth. Sustainable design may only be a small step on this way - because those objects are designed to allow the users to feel more related to the natural environment - but they are certainly not the absolute solution.

Sustainable design is an important process which helps eliminating the waste we create. Yet there are many applications on this approach ranges from the microcosm - small objects for everyday use, through to the macrocosm - buildings, cities and the Earth's physical surface. It is a philosophy that can be applied in the fields of architecture, urban design, urban planning, engineering, graphic design, industrial design, interior design and fashion design. However, the limits of sustainable design are reducing. Whole earth impacts are beginning to be considered because growth in goods and services is consistently outpacing gains in efficiency. As a result, the net effect of sustainable design to date has been to simply improve the efficiency of rapidly increasing impacts. Unfortunately, the present approach does not solve the problem that the scale of resource use is growing and not stabilizing. Still, there are some major principles that can be applied to all design platforms above, which are mainly:

Using Low Impact Materials: Non-toxic, sustainably produced or recycled materials
Energy Efficiency: Producing products which requires less energy
Quality and Durability: Longer-lasting and better functioning products
Design for Reuse and Recycling: Everything should be designed considering their after life
Biomimicry: Redesigning industrial systems on biological lines.
Service Substitution: Shifting the mode of consumption from personal to provisional
Renewability: Materials should come from local places which can be decomposed properly

A lovely example for sustainable packaging by Boston-based design firm Essential Design, the aim is to create a reusable shipping container intended to replace cardboard boxes. The structure is made entirely of the sustainable wood-based polymer cellulose acetate.

Besides those options on sustainable design above, as a graphic designer, l always do my best in order to think about the all the aspects of my designs and their impact on environment. When it comes to design world, the good intentions might blown away in the search of perfect solution for the customers. But we have to change our priorities - design and communication need to reduce negative environmental impacts and enhance the positives within the society. In this manner, we should orient especially the customers, and the society about choosing the appropriate and sustainable solutions to preserve environmental resources. In addition to big changes, even using a recycled paper may cause incredible differences, when you are printing millions of magazines or boxes. All in all, backwards thinking has never been so important - we must consider the outcomes of all the things we produce right from the start, reducing the negative impact in emissions and resource use. This will allow us to avoid the roadblocks to creating design that makes sense not only for us but also for the next generations.

I believe that our present solutions about environment and global warming is definitely not effective enough but I personally find the idea of "redesigning the planet" a little absurd. Therefore, human habits caused all those negative impacts at the first place, so the solution is not re-building the entire planet - it would be the exact same approach and end up damaging the nature even more - it is re-building our behavior patterns and actions. Moreover, what is more scary than global warming is "unconscious redesign" which is an unconsidered effect of the activities of changing economic and political structures devoted to self-growth and private profit. This unbalanced reordering may rapidly change the social and environmental orders, which means, the natural capital of social and environmental evolution. We must remember that, we all depend on a healthy planet to give us vital things like clean water, food and breathable air. Consequently, what we need to do is stop trying to beat the environment and be a part of it again. 

References
Books
Datschefski, E., 2001, The Total Beauty of Sustainable Products: Rotovision
Fry, T., 2009, Design Futuring Sustainability Ethics And New Practice UK: Oxford International Publishers Ltd.
Hailes, J., 2007, The New Green Consumer Guide: You Can Make a Difference USA: Simon & Schuster
Mackenzie, D., 1997 Green Design: Design for The Environment: Thames & Hudson 

Web Sites

Carbon Footprint, Carbon Management Company, www.carbonfootprint.com, Home Calculator, Available from: http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx 

Friends Of The Earth, Organization, Available from: www.foe.co.uk, Natural Resources, Available from: http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/natural_resources.html 

Neo, Positive Change Agency, Available from: www.neocreative.co.uk

Redesigning The Planet, Text, Available from: http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1200&bih=816&q=redesigning+the+planet&btnG=Google+Search Sustain Ability, Environmental Services Company, www.sustainability.com, Blog, Available from: http://www.sustainability.com/blog 
The Dieline, Packaging Design Blog, Available from: www.thedieline.com, The Sustainability Enigma, Article, Available from: http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2009/6/24/the-sustainability-enigma.html  
TED, Ideas Worth Spreading, www.ted.com, A Greener Future, Available from: http://www.ted.com/themes/a_greener_future.html   
Which?, Works for You, www.which.co.uk/, Environment & Saving Energy, Available from:  http://www.which.co.uk/environment-and-saving-energy/
Wikipedia, Available from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki, Sustainability, Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability

Critical Debates In Design: Task 7: Thou Shalt Not Advertise...

"The Nazis had the most effective corporate identity ever – this should warn us. That evil, horrible regime had this superlative corporate identity in which they didn’t tolerate any diversity."

Ken Garland for Eye Magazine - 2001

In an increasingly competitive market place, advertisements are almost everywhere; we see or hear a lot of them on the TV sets, in the underground, on billboards, in newspaper ads and in the public transport. Moreover, we allow them to shape our lives; they influence the music we listen, the clothes we wear, and the places we eat. Most brands market their products not only with advertisements but also by celebrities, movies, magazines, newspapers and on the internet. Licensed products, in the form of clothing, toys, and accessories, abound. Schools make deals with soda companies and sell naming rights to gyms to the highest bidder. Therefore, besides all those clear advertisement strategies, the social networks allows us to market ourselves to millions of other people everyday. It is not a secret that, advertisements comes to us from all directions, twenty-four seven. In this manner, the role of advertising is not only to direct the customers perception about what they need to buy but also to manipulate our dreams, goals, and lifestyles.

Advertising has a central role to play in developing brand image, whether at a the corporate retail or product level. It should have inform consumers of the functional capabilities of the brand while simultaneously imbuing the brand with symbolic values and meanings relevant to the consumer while preserving the ethics. Thus, the main aim of advertisers is to attract consumers attention and make them buy this or that unnecessary product whether they like it or not. There are intrusive advertisements for example those on the TV; in such a case you understand the aims of advertisers and it is more difficult for them to make you buy the product. The only way you buy it is to persuade you with the help of logical arguments that you really need it. But there is another type of advertising; the secret one. For instance the sweeties and other small and more often unnecessary things near the cash desks in supermarkets. It goes without saying that while standing in a long queue and examining all these goods you will certainly buy at least one. As experiments shows that this trick works with 97% of the customers.

Ethics should have always been an important issue for every business activity, although the term has meant different things at different times in different lands to different people. Unfortunately, the advertising industry has rarely cared to look beyond immediate marketing objectives. The argument in the industry is that it is the government's job to judge what is right and what is wrong. In my opinion the companies and agencies are shirking their own responsibilities for regulation. Therefore, I certainly agree that the ethic assessments should differ for each country according to their religion variation and cultural levels. For instance, a swimsuit advertisement might not disturb the public of one country but may disturb some other. Yet, the advertisement ethics is a very deep subject, from TV advertisements to billboards, different media mediums needs different approaches. All in all, products like, tobacco, condoms, politic ideologies, alcohol or anything which may effect children should not be on billboards all around the world.

Tibor Kalman’s famous quote – "designers, stay away from corporations that want you to lie for them", made into a billboard by Jonathan Barnbrook - one of the designers who signed the 2000 Manifesto - for the 1999 AIGA Las Vegas.

According to me good advertising is the responsible one. Moreover, I certainly support the designers who signed the First Thing First Manifesto. It is because there is no such a thing as value-free design. All the things that designers do, will meet the audience eventually, and those images will effect somebody's' perception in a good or bad way.  Therefore, this eye-opening manifesto was first written in 1963 and published in 1964 by the great British, designer Ken Garland along with 20 other designers, photographers and students, the manifesto was a reaction to staunch of 1960s Britain and called for a return to a humanist aspect of design. It lashed out against the fast-paced and often trivial productions of mainstream advertising, calling them trivial and time-consuming. It's solution was to focus efforts of design on education and public service tasks that promoted the betterment of society. The manifesto was updated in 2000 by and signed by some of the leading stars of the graphic design, artistic and visual arts community. It was republished by Emigre, Eye and other important graphic design magazines and has stirred controversy in graphic design, again.

References
Ethics in Advertising, a Speech by Chris Moore of Ogilvy & Mather, Available at; http://www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/speaker_pres/data/3001 

Eye Magazine, Available at; www.eyemagazine.com, First Thing First Manifesto, Available at; http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature.php?id=18&fid=99
Eye Magazine, Available at; www.eyemagazine.com, Ken Garland Interview, Available at; http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature.php?id=152&fid=653
Emigre Essays, Available at; www.emigre.com, First Thing First Manifesto, Available at; http://www.emigre.com/Editorial.php?sect=1&id=14
Wikipedia, Available at; en.wikipedia.org, First Thing First Manifesto, Available at; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Things_First_2000_manifesto

Critical Debates In Design: Task 6: Product Packaging

For centuries, we have been investing an excessive amount of money on empty boxes. And the role of packaging design was undeniable since environmental issues started to effect the world that much. So far, packaging was not only for protecting products for distribution or storage, but also a very colorful part of the commercialism and marketing. Even I - as an educated person who knows about the damage on earth - can't deny that, I like the feeling of opening a fancy box. Therefore, the problem is; most people put packaging and branding in the same basket, but they are absolutely different things from each other and we can easily eliminate the need just with simple design solutions. Nowadays most designers and companies try not to use packaging as much as they used to. Moreover, we are carrying our own shopping bags with us to grocery, and using mugs instead of paper cups. However, we still can't overcome the unfortunate domination of plastic bags or paper cups, but I believe that in a very close future we will get over those unnecessary wasters too. Consequently, design will solve the problem that it caused in the first place.

The Green Things - P&W

Green Things family designed by P&W.

Pemberton & Whitefoord have designed a range of eco paper and cleaning products for Tesco's US chain Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market. The range consists of everyday paper products, such as paper towels, bath tissue and facial tissue, and household cleaners as dish liquid, laundry detergent and cleaning sprays. Therefore, the paper goods are made from 100% recycled paper with 80% post consumer waste and whitened without chlorine. They also uniquely packaged in a plastic outer wrap, which expires in 12-18 months, eliminating any contribution to landfill. The cleaners are made from a plant based formula, free from phosphates, dyes and perfumes, they are pH neutral, biodegradable and scented with essential oils. Green credentials are delivered through the name "Green Things" and the leaf background, suggesting nature and earth. The strap line "powerful and kind" appears on the cleaners to reassure costumers that the products are effective whilst still gentle to the environment. Icons were designed for each pack to communicate the key products attribute, i.e. cuts grease and plant based formula and color-coded to differentiate each product and it's scent. In my opinion, design the agency develop an iconic, strong and clear look. The branding and packages have a friendly and approachable feeling taking cues from nature and plants. Normally, I am not a huge fan of hand drawn logos but ths looks organic and has a unique personality. Consequently, this is how a green packaging should be; 100% recyclable and only reflecting the benefits of the product.

P&W, Official Website, Available from: www.p-and-w.com

P&W, Official Blog, Available from: http://p-and-w.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-10-13T09%3A30%3A00%2B01%3A00&max-results=7 

Steve Haslip - Hangerpak

The Hangerpak designed by Steve Haslip, 2007.

Steve Haslip is a graphic designer originally from a small village in the South of England, UK. He has just graduated from the MFA Design course at the School of Visual Arts New York. The concept of Hangerpak is fairly simple; the new t-shirts always come wrinkled and out of coat-hangers. So Hangerpak is a sustainable, reusable solution to send and keep your t-shirts tidy. As you open the package you create a coat hanger. The packaging could be made from recycled material whether is is card or plastic and the only waste is the green tear-away tab. This lovely project won a first prize in the D&AD Student Awards 2007 category "What Else You Do?". In my estimation Haslip is a very good packaging designer, because he can answer modern designs' needs and here is a sustainable design which eliminates the packaging waste completely.

Carbon Footprint

Elements of a persons' carbon footprint left on the earth, the blue parts are primary and green parts are secondary carbon footprint.

Inevitably, each of us contributes to the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the climate change which effects the entire world. The choices we make in our homes, our travel, the food we eat, and what we consume and most importantly throw away all influence our carbon footprint. A carbon footprint is the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person. Therefore, it is a measure of the impact our activities have on the earth, and in particular climate change. It rates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc. Carbon footprint is made up of the sum of two parts, the primary and secondary footprint. So the primary footprint is a measure of our direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels including domestic energy consumptions and transportation. We have direct control of these. And the secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we use - those associated with their manufacture and eventual breakdown. To put it very simple - the more we buy the more emissions will be caused on our behalf. So we can say that Carbon Footprint is a product of the most famous modern disease; over consuming.

Green Packaging

Starbucks recycled mugs, designed by Alice Friedel.

I actually don't believe in green packaging much. If one takes a look at the annual charts on Global Warming, it is easy to see that, green or not we can't afford any more waste. Moreover, I observe that Green Packaging is only a trend so far. Most of the new established companies try to present themselves environment friendly, but I believe that this is only a marketing strategy. Therefore, people are more informed about global warming and environmental issues than ever, so we try to consume more carefully, but I think - moslty corporations - abusing those good intentions by launching eco-friendly products. I strongly support the idea which Victor Papanek present in his book, Design For The Real World, fourty years ago; "Design has become the most powerful tool with which men shapes his tools and environments (and, by extension, society and himself)", so most of the thing we buy are only adult toys. But it is because our kind is hunter and gatherer, we can't help ourselves to collect items in our modern caves. In this manner, not only packaging but also most of the goods we buy are beautiful and unnecessary just like those lovely mugs above.

Traffic Light Labelling

Traffic Light Labelling is a way of helping people to make the healthier choice about the food they consume. Nowadays, a growing number of supermarkets and food manufacturers are using traffic light colors on the labels. Food products with light labels on the front of the pack supposed to show the consumers at-a-glance if the food has high, medium or low amounts of fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt, helping people to get a better balance between those. This application brought to life by Food Standards Agency, and if you are a careful person you can notice most of the foods in the supermarkets has those labels on. Personally, I think this is a very useful approach for everyone, and people can benefit from learning what they really eat.

Food Standard Agency - FSA

The FSA is a non-ministeral government department of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to mainly food thought the UK and is led by an appointed board that is intended to act in the public interest. About the manufacturers impact on product label, my research shows that they need a lot of permissions and tests to pass a product from the board, especially for foods and cleaning products including chemicals, they have very strict laws here in UK. Food Standards Agency's' website, has a long list about the tests that each product should pass, the items are mainly; chemical safety, microbiological safety, hygiene standards, radiological safety, allergy, intolerance and list goes on. Moreover, the FSA established sticker rules on TV advertising to children of foods high in salt, sugar and fat and devised a nutritional profilling system to measure the balance of benefit and detriment in individual food product. In 2007 the UK TV Regulator Ofcom - Federal Department Of Environment, Transport, Energy And Communication Tools - introduced restrictions on advertising of products which scored poorly under the scheme. Consequently, manufacturers only present their product and if a product passes all those test, the Standards Agency approves their label.

Online Resources 
Food Standards Agency, Official Website, Available from: www.food.gov.uk, General Food Law, Available from: http://www.food.gov.uk/foodindustry/regulation/foodlaw/ 
Food Standards, Eat Well, Official Website, Available from: http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/ 
Food Standards, Salt, Official Website, Available from: http://tna.europarchive.or/salt.gov.uk/ 
Food Standards, Eat Safe, Official Website, Available from: http://www.eatsafe.gov.uk/
Food Base, Official Website, Available from: http://www.foodbase.org.uk/

Food Standards Agency Annual Report, Available from: http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia 

Guardian, Official Website, Available from: www.guardian.co.uk, Subpage, Article On Food Standards Agency, Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jul/11/food-standards-agency-abolished-health-secretary

Critical Debates In Design: Task Assessment

I wanted to post a simple map which tells about my layout and notion behind the tasks I have posted so far. As you can observe from the image below, I try to follow the same sense with each task. Moreover, besides the layout, I am quiet happy with the subjects given for Critical Debates, because social responsibilities and ethics are extremely important issues those days. I strongly believe that, a good designer should be able to handle every subject, without compromising moral values. In this manner, I try to fulfill all tasks given and reflect my own point of view about the subject. 
   

My study path for Critical Debates In Design.

Calendar For Second Semester

So, here is the study program that I have been following and will follow during second semester. I am trying to keep up with it and be organized, to finish all my modules on time in a good quality. I am aware of the fact that my map looks a little complicated, I color code the modules and use icons to specify the activities that I am going to do like, presentations or going to printer center. Therefore, I hope it is clear enough, and I can follow it.

My calendar for March.

Calendar for April and May.

Critical Debates In Design: Task 5: Ethics And Social Responsibilities

Just like everybody else I have my own ethics and values so I am trying to reflect them to my life as much as possible, however I have never been interested in politic matters at all. It might sound naive but my political opinion is peace for everyone. It is not only because war is a horrible thing, I strongly believe that in our condition right now, people's priorities should be more different rather than the upcoming elections or the conflicts between their political ideologies. There are still millions of children dying from hunger and backward illnesses or can't get a proper education, millions of people lives at the streets and the worst thing is with our thoughtless abuse we are actually killing the world and all its resources. So soon, there isn't going to be a land or oil or water to fight over. In this manner, I strongly reject to discriminate people -especially the one's in need- against their religion, political opinion or country and I reject to fight over those meaningless issues.

In the future, hopefully one day if I have my own company or even when I am working for someone else I will do my best to convey my ideas, ethics and my modality to my work and people around me. Of course, after people in need, sustainability and environment should be our top issues right now. In my estimation designers can do a lot with only small changes unless they have enough information about the subject. Eventually, all the printed media send to the press house from the hands of the designers. If only they choose the right paper, the right ink or at least try to eliminate unnecessary pages, I am sure we can save a lot more than we imagine. Consequently, to support and investigate my approach deeper, I choose to write about people who has opinions out of the boundaries instead of big, corporate design groups, which are mainly; Shepard Fairey and Thomas Matthews Design Group.

1. Shepard Fairey - Hope!

Shepard Fairley's collaboration with the legendary photographer Al Rockoff, "Duality Of Humanity" series- the 5th piece.

Frank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary graphic designer and illustrator, who has started his profession with skateboarding design. He first became known for his "Andre The Giant Has A Posse - Obey" sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His work became more widely known in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, specially his "Barack Obama - Hope" poster. The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston announce him one of today's best known and most influential street artists. His work is included in the collections at The Smithsonian, the Los Angles Country Museum of Art, MOMA in New York, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Therefore, I really admire Fairey's political approach and the way he reflects his opinions to his artwork. All the way from a street graffiti artist to becoming a worldwide known cult graphic artist, he never compromise from his anti-war opinions and guerrilla-style, handmade techniques.

"Barack Obama - Hope" poster 2008 by Fairey, the original image is now at Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery.

Fairey created a series of posters supporting Barack Obama's 2008 candidancy for President of the United States, including the iconic Hope portrait. Right now the poster is known to be the most efficacious American political illustration since "Uncle Sam Wants You". Shepard Fairey also created an exclusive design for "Rock the Vote", it is because the Hope poster had been "perpetuated illegally" and independently by the street artist, the Obama campaign declined to have any legal or direct relation with it. However the campaign officially disavowed any involvement in the creation or popularization of the poster, Fairey has commented in his interviews that he was in communication with the campaign officials during the period of the poster's release. Fairey has started that original version featured the world "Progress" instead of "Hope", and that within weeks of its release, the campaign managers requested that he issue a new version, keeping the powerful image of Obama's face but captioning it with the word "Hope" again. The campaign openly embraced the revised poster along with two additional Fairey posters that featured the words "Change" and "Vote".

The Obama Campaign officers authorize the distribution of 300,000 stickers and 500,000 posters during the campaign, in February 2008, Fairey received a letter of thanks from Obama for his contribution to the campaign, the letter said; "I would like to thank you for using your talent in support of my campaign. The political messages involved in your work have encouraged Americans to believe they can change the status-quo. Your images have a profound effect on people, whether seen in a gallery or on a stop sign. I am privileged to be a part of your artwork and proud to have your support.- Barack Obama, February 22, 2008". I personally find this message very modest and it proves the world that they were right about Obama. Even though it undeniable that the poster's contribution to the campaign, I strongly believe that Obama truly identifies with the idea of hope and progress not only for Americans, but also for the rest of the world.

Reference Websites
Artists in 60 Seconds, Available at; arthistory.about.com, Shepard Fairey Biography, Available at; http://arthistory.about.com/od/namesff/p/fairey.htm  
Interview Magazine, Available at; www.interviewmagazine.com, Shepard Fairey Interview by Iggy Pop, Available at; http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/shepard-fairey/
Obey Giant, Worldwide Propaganda, Available at; obeygiant.com
Studio Number 1, Available at; studionumberone.com, About: Executive Creative Director, Shepard Fairey, Available at; studionumberone.com/about 
The New York Times, Available at; www.nytimes.com, Shepard Fariey News, Available at; http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/f/shepard_fairey/index.html
Washington Post, Available at; www.washingtonpost.com, Shepard Fairey Article, Available at; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/05/16/ST2008051602005.html

2.Thomas.Matthews - No Shop

An image from Thomas.Matthews' website, their motto is "We believe in good design, appropriate, sustainable and beautiful".

Thomas Matthews is a leading practice in a field that they called sustainable communications. They produce high quality, innovative design at a time when simplicity of solution and clarity of message matters. Their lovely motto is "We believe in good design, appropriate, sustainable and beautiful", which I couldn't agree more. The word appropriate in their motto means; communicating the message through the most effective way to the right audience, sustainable define as design that has embedded systemic sustainability, and beautiful, through the creation of an eye catching and well-crafted outcome. Therefore, modern world's designers should consider every aspect of the project that they are working on. Besides good design such matters like; sustainability, consistence to the environment, and re-usability are extremely important issues.

They have worked with global corporations, architects and planners, museums, governments and world changing NGOs to create a whole range of projects. Their approach to design is keeping sustainability in mind in every project, whether it's design for branding, consultation, campaigns, print, web, signage or exhibitions. Most of the time, good intention lost in design that does not fulfill the vision behind it. Therefore, when I was flickering through their portfolio, I observe that they truly reflect their ethics perfectly to every project. According to me, the priorities are changing, design and communication need to reduce negative environmental impacts and enhance the positives within society. Not just because it's the right thing to do, but also this opens up a whole new creative world. Consequently, sustainability in business should give integrity, not greenwash and should inspire change from your consumers and clients.

"No Shop", client; Friends of the Earth, location; National Campaign Launched in London, 1997.

No Shop is a temporary installation devised to draw media attention to the launch of International No Shop Day in the UK. Th brief that Thomas Matthews received for this project was designing posters to appear in public libraries, however they cleverly revised the brief and created an anti-poster project. The shop posters were screenprinted over recycled sales billboards and they use nothing but a very simple typography to make their point. Despite the launch being over ten years ago - and only open for three days- it is still shown around the world as an illustration of the movement against over consumption. I believe the contemporary design treatment and concept will allow these images to forever be revised. And now the anti-poster is set to feature within 21st International Poster and Graphic Festival in Chaumont, France. Consequently, I find Thomas Matthews' approach on design and sustainability very successful, hope I can fallow their footsteps and create a similar agency in my own country. 

Reference Websites
Creative Review, Available at; www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2010/february/thomas-matthews-identity
Friends Of The Earth, Official Website, Available at; www.foe.co.uk, No Shop Press Preview, Available at; http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/19971128165639.html
Osocio, Social Advertising And Non-Profit Campaigns Around The Globe, Available at; osocio.org, Thomas Matthews, Profile, Available at; http://osocio.org/message/no_shop_by_thomas_matthews/   
Thomas.Matthews, Official Website, Available at;thomasmatthews.com/index.php
Thomas.Matthews, Portfolio, Available at; thomasmatthews.com/index.php/portfolio/print/

Critical Debates In Design: Task 4: Corporate Social Responsibility

There can be few in the business community who have not had to address some aspects of sustainability within the past few years. It has proved almost impossible in recent times to pick up any business publication or newspaper and not to be faced with an article addressing some aspects of corporate social responsibility. There is no doubt that many of the actions of a few major corporations have shown the worst side of commercial exploitation, whether this has been in the form of social or environmental exploitation or through manipulation leading to major financial disasters that have harmed many at all levels of society. Those factors made, CSR a vital issue in contemporary debate. Much of its currency comes from the scale and influence of the modern corporation. Therefore, in today's world some ventures are larger than many nation states. Their influence extends across the globe and their actions can determine the prosperity of communities and health of environments. The researches proves that the world's largest industrial corporations employed more than three million people in 2008. Moreover, according to those records their gross sales were over eight hundred billion dollars. In this manner, they have the power and authority, and demand the right to pursue their interests, generate wealth, innovate and change. However, great power requires great responsibility and great responsibility comes with CSR for corporations.

Thus, CSR is not a new issue. The social responsibility of business was not widely considered to be a significant problem from the time of the 18th-century Scottish social philosopher and classical economist Adam Smith to the Great Depression in the 1930s. But since 1930s and, increasingly, the 1960s, social responsibility has become "an important issue not only for business but in the theory and practice of law, politics and economics". Today we see consumers avoiding what they see -rightly or wrongly- as socially irresponsibly made products or products of companies that have allegedly not acted in society's best interest. It is inevitable that, more than ever before, companies in the private sector will be expected to behave socially responsibly. Already, many enterprises across the world have taken this as part of their business plan, however they are doing this because they feel it is good for business. Consequently, here is a research of the companies who highly criticized about their CSR policies and their new approaches.

1. Starbucks - Shared Planet Project

The Website which Starbucks set up for CSR issues, www.starbucks.com/responsibility

Starbucks - the largest coffee company in the world- has been a target of protests on issues such as fair-trade policies, labor relations, environmental impact, political views, and anti-competitive practices, namely everything that the idea of corporate social responsibility stands for. However, they have been running the "Shared Planet Project" for three years which is quiet successful in contrast to the public opinion so far. Therefore, they have started their CSR projects in 1999 with  "Grounds for Your Garden" in order to present their business more environmentally friendly. Their solutions was to give leftover coffee grounds to anyone requesting it for composting. Although not all stores and regions participate, costumers can request and lobby their local store to begin the practice. Unfortunately, this project was a huge failure for a company like Starbucks. In this manner, Starbucks began reducing the size of their paper napkins, store garbage bags, and lightening this approach reduced their solid waste production by 1.8 million pounds as they indicated to the media. In 2008, Starbucks was ranked the 15th on the U.S Environmental Protection Agency's list of Top 25 Green Power Partners for purchases of renewable energy. In contrast to that image, in October 2008, The Sun newspaper reported that Starbucks was wasting 23.4 million litres of water a day by leaving a tap constantly running in each store. In response, in June 2009, to concerns over its excessive water consumption, Starbucks re-evaluated its use of the dipper well system.

I believe The Shared Planet Project is the most realistic approach that the company set up so far. As anyone can clearly observe from their website the project has eight modules which are mainly the topics that they invest as CSR issues. As an international, billion dollar coffee company, fair trade and recycle should be obviously quiet important matters for Starbucks besides their other investments such as energy and farmers loans. Thus, with their new approach, I believe that Starbucks can become an example for CSR among similar companies. With their new website which they have set up just for CSR issues, in 2009, they have announce that especially the paper cups has become a major concern among the customers due to recycling challenges. And in order to minimize their carbon footprint, they are aiming to ensure 100 percent of their cups are reusable or recyclable by 2015. And now in 2011, they claim that they have served 4.4 million beverages in reusable cups in 2010 than in 2009. As a customer, I believe in their statements and investments that Starbucks announced after all they have been through with the media and customers about CSR during the last ten years, however it is up to us to push companies like that to be more environmental friendly and sustainable, because no company will act out without enough motivation.

Websites For Extended Research
Starbucks, Official Website For UK, Available at: http://starbucks.co.uk/en-GB/_Social+Responsibility/Starbucks+social+responsibility+-+Starbucks+UK.htm
Starbucks, CSR Website, Available at: http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility
Starbucks Foundation, Available at: http://www.starbucksfoundation.com/index.cfm?objectid=525D51E7-1D09-317F-BBF9A860BE884D22

2. McDonald's - Values In Practice

McDonald's poor and nonfunctional website for their inadequate CSR policies

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving more than 58 million customers daily. The company has  32,000 stores worldwide, and  22.6 billion revenue only in US in 2008. People may expect McDonald's to be a fair sample for CSR policies when looking at the profits however they are not. In this manner, as a prominent example of the rapid globalization of the American fast food industry, McDonald's is often the target of criticism for its menu, its expansions, and its business practices. Therefore, McDonald's has been sued -in my opinion, with reason- for many times from different environmental groups like; Peta or Greenpeace about their quality of food, their way of ethical treatment to animals and their poor CSR policies since 1990. After many years with conflicts and controversies, McDonald's finally set up a team of suppliers, independent franchisees and outside experts to bring some new approaches to the unsolved subject in 2005. Thus, they claim that, in long-term, their value-based company success demands progress on their road to sustainability. In the light of their announcements, to investigate their new approach to the matter, I tried to check their website and regional and local corporate responsibility reports, however in a huge company like McDonald's most of the links of the reports were not working and the website for their CSR policies definitely needs a lot of improvement just like their point of view.


Websites For Extended Research
McDonald's, Official Website, Available at: http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/csr/report/other_reports.html 
McDonald's, Social Responsibility, Available at: http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/csr.html
McDonald's, Corporate Responsibility Initiatives, Available at: http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/contact_us/social_responsibility.html 

3.Evian - Environmental Protection Commitment

Evian devoted a section at their website to sustainability and environment.

Evian is a French brand of mineral water coming from several sources. Today, the company is owned by Danone Group, a French multinational company. In April 2008, the company created the "Evian Water Protection Institute" to work on its three water and wetlands management projects. This institute will build upon the brand's original project with Ramsar, now giving it a global dimension. The Evian Water Protection Institute's first three projects will focus on the La Plata basin in Argentina, Nepal's Jagadishpur Reservoir in the heart of the Himalayas and Bung Khong Long Lake in Thailand and will help these local populations autonomously manage their water resources in sustainable fashion. Moreover, the company has also taken initiative to cut their own energy and water use by incorporating post-consumer recycled PET plastic into the bottle sizes that receive the most sales. The company has joined with Recycle Bank in an effort to get consumers to recycle. Therefore, Recycle Bank is an award-based company that gives participating households redeemable points according to the amount of materials they recycle.

Another of Evian's top priorities involves the brand's environmental impact. It has focused its efforts on reducing water and energy consumption - an area that provides an important opportunity to improve the brand's impact. Thus, it is obvious that the company is dedicated to planet's health and longevity and they shape their operations according to this manner from packaging to logistics. I find out that, their bottling plant is certificated ISO 14001, an international standard that guarantees their commitment to minimizing the environmental impact of their activities. This certification is proof that Evian has implemented all the necessary tools to continually monitor and improve their environmental performance. This ongoing approach has led to considerable progress in several areas, including improved recycling, reduced CO2 emissions and better water conservation. In my estimation, Evian can be a pretty good example with its CSR approach to other companies. As much as I expand my research about them, they convinced me about the reality of their actions on environment and sustainability.

Ramsar, Convention on Wetlands The Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty adopted on February 2, 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar. Ramsar, is the first of the modern global intergovernmental treaties on the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.

Websites For Extended Research
Evian, Official Website, Available at: http://www.evian.com/
Evian CSR Policy, Available at: http://www.evian.com/#/en_GB/50-protecting-the-environment
Evian Group Archives, Available at: http://www.imd.org/research/centers/eviangroup/the-evian-group-archives.cfm 
Wikipedia, Evian Corporate History, Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evian

All in all, this subject is directly related to the consumer motivation and their reactions to the marketing strategies. Therefore, as the public becomes aware of the negative consequences of the social irresponsibility of some businesses, so too has it become aware of good products and socially responsible activities. In parallel, business has also become equally aware of the informed consumer. Yet, still transnational corporation's could potentially play an important role in social development and consumers may buy their propaganda.

References
Books
Cannon, T., 1994, Corporate Responsibility, UK: Pearson Education Ltd
Burchell, J., 2008, The Corporate Social Responsibility Reader: Context And Perspectives, US: Routledge Publishing 
Hawkins, E., 2006, Corporate Social Responsibility: Balancing Tomorrow's Sustainability And Today's Profitability, US: Palgrave Macmillan
Hopkins, M., 2003, The Planetary Bargain: Corporate Social Responsibility Matters, UK: Earthscan Publications Ltd
Websites 
CRS, Official Website, Available at: www.csrwire.com, Sub Page, Press Releases, Available at: http://www.csrwire.com/categories/23-Corporate-Social-Responsibility/press_releases
Wikipedia, CRS, Available at: en.wikipedia.org, Sub Page, CRS, Approaches, Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_social_responsibility#Approaches

Critical Debates In Design: Task 3: Animated Digital Media Design

As we all observed by watching the OneDotZero DVD in the classroom, animation has been rapidly assimilated by the worldwide culture, so much that is remarkable to think what has been made possible by the revolution in digital filmmaking. Since Mickey Mouse, the last decade witnessed the incredible change in the way moving image can be created. This endless process is producing a remarkable variety of visual exploration, notably within the areas of animation, motion graphics and digital effects. In this manner, modern digital design community could never be described as traditional filmmakers. Predominantly, their work has moved from the page onto the screen, in other words they print visual expressions to video. Those new opportunities around digital media allows creators to move between different creative disciplines. They approach the medium from different standpoints, from the areas of architecture, animation, computer game design, new media, fine art and club visuals, but mainly graphic design.

Besides the creative aspects, animation is also an ideal medium for 21-st century communications with its infinite opportunities. The infant audience having now been recognized as a potential consuming force, therefore animation has become a mega industry that feeds thousands of design and creative professionals around the world. Since the early steps of this billion dollar industry, Disney has dominated the animation world like no other. The outstanding success of the drawings which handcrafted every movement was quickly copied by Warner Bros and MGM. From the 1950s onwards, the market grew exponentially with the spread of television. From the US came Tom and Jerry, Popeye, Scooby-doo and The Smurfs, from Japan Astro Boy, Space Battleship Yamato and Captain Harlock. Those iconic cartoons had different storylines, different aesthetics, but the same basic appeal. Little by little, television cartoons push a side the cinematic versions. However in 1988, the big screen hit back with Disney's Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. Blending animated, ink and paint cartoon characters and live actors with superb technical skills, that is to say, the film was a milestone in the animation history.

Approaching the end of the 20th century, music videos experimented with the use of animated visuals and computer graphics, introducing singers, musicians and viewers  in a whole new world. At the same time the Japanese animation entered the movie theaters in America with such hits like Akira (1988), Castle In the Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Princess Mononoke (1999) by the critically and commercially acclaimed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. After this evolution, it became clear that animation was in the throes of a major revival. Accordingly, heavyweight Hollywood studios make their way to the industry that Disney had been ruled for many years. One of the most successful example was the Dreamwork's Shrek (2001), which had a huge impact at the box office, followed by the 2Oth Century Fox's Ice Age (2002). However the movie changed the fundamental perception of the animation world was the wholly CG-generated Final Fantasy (2001) released by Sony Pictures Entertainment. Even the huge box office hits such as The Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter would have been nothing without the touch of the backroom artists. All in all, at today's modern world digital media entered in our realm and there is no way back, so here is the list of the animation studios which marked an era with their polished graphics and innovative work.

1. Psyop Animation Studios

"Happiness Factory" is a documentary created for Coca Cola by Psyop.

The New York based Psyop is a multimedia design firm - founded in 2000 - creates print, animation and branding campaigns. Psyop's slogan is "persuade-change-influence" and this young motion-design boutique's edgy and distinctive style allows them to work with world's most well-known corporate companies such as Volkswagen, Starbucks, Coca Cola and Sony. What makes them so special is they approach all the digital films like business cards and identify the visualization to the concept of the client. Within the digital realm, they have a variety of different approaches, some being really clean vector-based graphic looks like their speed motion campaign for AT&T, others having that sort of textural quality which anyone can observe among their different clients. Consequently, they are a perfect example for offbeat sense of humor and individuality.
www.psyop.tv 

2. Groovisions 

"Cuber Wired", Screen saver for Nissan Motor Co., Ltd 2005.

Tokyo based animation group Groovisions's graphic design is inspired by the primary-colored pop culture which shows itself almost all of their projects. This team is a pioneer for crossover media works with their broad field such as music, publishing, product, interior, fashion and web design, but focusing primarily on graphic and video production. They have formed their studio in 1993 in Kyoto. The group became famous by producing films and graphics for the Japanese pop bands Pizzicato Five, and Fantastic Plastic Machine. But they are best known for their ubiquitous and asexual character Chappie. Adorning everything from stationary to clothing and interactive projects, Chappie has become a cult phenomenon and merchandising success. Besides their animation projects they also have their signature under art direction and editorial design for magazines such as Metro Min., directing window displays for Maison Hermes, art direction for the "Do More With Less 40 Years of The North Face" exhibition. All in all, Groovisions is a the child of multidisciplinary approach indispensable part of modern artistic animation world.
www.groovisions.com

3. Zeitguised

MTV Sweetheart Pop-Art by Zeitguised.

Since 2001, Henrik Mauler and Jamie Raap assemble motion graphics that pristine infographic meditations and architectural motion explorations. Their general approach to the filmmaking and motions graphics can be described as "pop feeling which is outside the commercial realm". Since Jamie Raap comes from an artistic background, graduating as a sculptor, the audience can easily observe the tectonic, geometric and surrealist appearance of their perspective. This unique studio, have worked with corporate clients like MTV, Toyota and Vodafone so far.
www.zeitguised.com

4. StyleWar

The ad that has been done for Nissan is showing how agile and smooth this car is in urban traffic.

StyleWar is a Stockholm based director's collective focused on making commercials and music videos in new innovative ways and now has branch offices all around the world. They have started up 1998 with graphic design based projects and begun including live action material in music videos. They have completed highly original music videos for The Hives, Franz Ferdinand and The John Spencer Blues Explosion besides and impressive body motion and print graphic work.
www.stylewar.com


5. Champion Graphics - Geoff McFetridge

An animation for the New York Times, "A Year In Idea's".

Goeff McFetridge develops animations from a languid lo-fi skate-style tradition. His work has become progressively less about subcultures and more about intimacy. With the inherent simplicity of its direction and animation style, it speaks volumes compared to frenetic eclecticism of many of McFetridge's contemporaries. This amazing artist combines working out of his graphic design studio, Champion Graphics, with directing work for well-known Directors Bureau. 
championdontstop.com


Consequently, animation is an indispensable part of modern artistic platform and in an interference with most of the design disciplines. Therefore the great demand for animation seems to have no end, It has already been accepted as a legitimate art form and there are now museums dedicated to what was once regarded purely as superficial entertainment for children. In a very close future, all the design and art departments will interfere even more into one main field - marketing and commercialism, furthermore anyone with some drawing skills will announce themselves animators. All in all, it is up to us - educated designers - to explore today's user-friendly software systems and - justifiably - became a part of this multidisciplinary design realm.    
References
Books
Cranfield, B., 2003, Flips Book Seven: Animation, Hong Kong: System Design Ltd.
Selby, A., 2009, Animation In Process, UK: Laurence King Publishing
Walter, S., Hanson, M., 2004, Motion Blur: OneDotZero: Graphic Moving Imagemakers, UK: Laurence King Publishing
DVDs
OneDotZero Select DVD 1, 2003, Adventures In Moving Image, UK
OneDotZero Select DVD 3, 2004, Adventures In Moving Image, UK
OneDotZero Select DVD 5, 2007, Adventures In Moving Image, UK
Web Pages
Groovisions: Official Web Page, www.groovisions.com, Sub Page, Profile,
Available from: http://www.groovisions.com/profile/
Psyop Animation Studios: Official Web Page, www.psyop.tv, Sub Page, Operations,
Available from: http://www.psyop.tv
StyleWar: Official Web Page, www.stylewar.com, Sub Page, About StyleWar,
Available from: http://www.stylewar.com/content/about-stylewar
Champion Graphics, Official Web Page, championdontstop.com, Sub Page, Goeff McFetridge,
Available from: http://championdontstop.com/site3/gm.html
Wikipedia: Research Engine, en.wikipedia.org, Sub Page, Animation,
Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animation 
OneDotZero, Official Web Page, www.onedotzero.com, Sub Page, Watch,
Available from: http://www.onedotzero.com/watch/
Zeitguised: Official Web Page, www.zeitguised.com, Sub Page, About Zeitguised,
Available from: http://www.zeitguised.com/about/