The Disneyfication of Culture

When I first heard about this lecture I thought great, we're going to be talking about Disney. As a child I grew up watching the films and had probably every single Disney film there was. Even now that videos are no longer used I have replaced those copies with DVDs so imagine my surprise when the lecture we received talked about how Disney may not be what it seems.

With great relevance to the assignment at the moment, Hamid talked about how things can be portrayed to us and in a child like innocence we cannot see the true meaning behind it. Henry Giroux criticised Disney and their market aims to their young target audience arguing that these vulnerable children are learning about life through the eyes of Disney, which is something Giroux thinks is culturally incorrect.

Taking myths and Victorian fairy stories, Disney softened these and turned them into palatable stories. Built around the idea of happiness and innocence experienced as a child it is difficult to see the true meaning behind them.

What I found most interesting about the lecture was the wee film we watched at the end, discussing the issue that Disney films are not realistic. Disney can sell ideas through the images that they present to us which they describe as being dangerous because it is hard for children to distinguish between fairytale and real life.

The women conveyed in the film are all stereotypical of Disney to have the lack of ability to save themselves and feel the need to use their body to manipulate. Now although this may be true for some women, most women would laugh at this suggestion that they are incapable to survive without men.



In the film that we watched the example of women struggling was in Beauty and the Beast. As a child I used to love this film and never picked up on anything being discussed by these women! They talked about it being a platform of abuse - where the idea that the women is being abused and standing up to the man but then in the end running into his arms, undermining herself. Now I'm no feminist but I can see the point being made her, in saying that though I think that these women are reading far too much into this matter! For me this just raises the argument that adults see things completely different to children, which is fine, but life as a child is innocent and I'm sure Disney is the least of parent's worries in educating their children in the hardships of life.

With thanks:
http://www.chipandco.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/disney-logo.gif
http://nighthawknews.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/beauty-beast.jpg

Service Design in Practice

With David Townson

Beginning the lecture referring to an article that appeared in The Independent newspaper (Friday, 6th February 2009), “Too many design students, not enough jobs?” I was not exactly filled with confidence about the forthcoming lecture. With the shocking figure that on average most people will have 14 jobs before the age of 38, David made the point that our generation did not really ‘stick’ to any one job. Moving our skill set around, I personally did not see too much of an issue with this figure(and as I later discussed in my seminar that followed that day, the more jobs you have the more skills you are likely to learn). To get a job in the design field you have to be blooming good in your field or you have to have an alternative strategy to what you’ve learnt from DJCAD. I agree with the last point, I study Interior and Environmental Design but it does not mean that I will be employed in that part of the sector and what David asked us to try and do was to try and think quite broadly in what we would like to do and how we could use the skills that we are learning all the time in different parts of the industry.

The main point I learnt from yesterday’s lecture was that collaboration between the designer and the audience is very important. By involving people and talking them through the design process they are more likely to adopt the solution.
With examples from lift sharing with a small pocket of the community to helping a lightweight tubing company open up to a larger market, we were allowed to understand this point further.

An example: Lightweight Tubing Company
Already an accomplished company within the cycling field providing lightweight tubing for punctures, they felt a little unsatisfied. Wanting to increase their market, the company sought help from the Design Council. With there support, the company were able to redevelop elements within their current company and were able to connect to other industries. One of these advances, for example, was the light weight tubing being sold to some car manufacturer’s who used it to make lightweight cars.

A problem that designers can have is trying to be too clever. Talking about a visit to Manchester, David talked about an example where a designer tried to solve a problem but in trying to do so they in turn created another.
Picture the scene… it’s miserable and grey outside and raining heavily. You’re running late for a meeting, your umbrella has just managed to hold up in the gale force winds and you share an uncanny resemblance with a drowned rat. You walk into a plush hotel entrance, umbrella leaving a trail of glistening rain drops. You’re struggling! You glance anxiously about and your heart skips a beat…a stand holding bags for your wet umbrella is there, brilliant! Not so fast. Sure your problem is primarily solved and you do not soak the whole place with the rainwater but what happens when you want to dispose of the bag…there is no bin on the stand. A prime example where designers have failed to solve the whole problem. The had covered safety, ergonomics and function but had forgotten all about disposal. In a world that is constantly changing it is important for designers to adapt to the new problems facing our society and try to solve these as best as they can, without creating unnecessary issues!

I really enjoyed this lecture and felt it was useful in getting us to think broadly as a designer and understanding fully the people that we are designing for. A point that David raised and I thought was relevant was do we as students get advice in career prospects from tutors. The whole lecture theatre echoed 'no' and it was quite nice for an outsider to tell us that even if we ourselves are a little unsure of where we want to end up, it pays to be open to every possibility including service design...possibly just trying for a sale...?

With thanks:
http://www.lobbysolutions.com/images/umbrella/IMG_3163.jpg
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/interiors/annie-deakin/too-many-design-students-not-enough-jobs-1547416.html