Summative Evaluation:
Q_ What skills have you developed throughout this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them.
Throughout this module i feel i have really found that a design outcome is much stronger and informed when the concept is well though out, During this module i spent a long period of time with idea development for the publication task, I didnt want to jump into a simple concept of simply creating a booklet as this is the first thing we think of when publication is mentioned. It was apparent to me that to communicate my concept to the publication would have to come int he form of a much more effective medium. I feel that i have learnt that concept development is the most important aspect of a design project and the design becomes much easier if the concept is well thought out and developed.
Another thing i have learnt is that self organised crits are very effective for idea development as it is great to get a different view point from your peers. However i feel the main thing that i have took away from this module is to think outside the box. I feel it is apparent that when a brief is set it is simple to jump into the design and simply create a book. I decided to take a different approach and try something innovative i feel that i have communicated what i aimed too effectively and in a manor that is much more effective for my selected audience that a book would be.
Q_What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process.
I feel that without a doubt research has played the biggest part within my design development i feel it was good for me to work on a subject i knew nothing about as it meant i had to really look in depth at the subject, i feel this really paid off in terms of informing my design decisions, all the way down to colour choice.
I feel that the materials i used where very effective in staying in touch with the concept the reflective vinyl was used to replicate the materials used for road signage and other directional signage within society giving this a direct link to panopticism and again research even informed the name of the project Ctrl is a direct link to control which relates to the control of society the name was then shortened to the key board key for command which is a direct link to my project which also looks at how panopticism has developed alongside technology. The main thing that has effected my design development is the application of in depth research to my design choices and development.
Q_ What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
The main strength i have developed not just through this module but throughout the year is conceptual development i feel that in the past i have always jumped into design looking straight away at what items and products i can produce, however throughout this module i have sat back sightly before jumping into the design and spent much longer developing and nailing down a strong concept for the design process. From here i found that after creating design sheets everything fell into place the design process ran smoothly, I feel this is showing withn other modules too. In depth research informs your conceptual ideas and generation, that then leads to informed design which are in turn much more effective.
Q_What weaknesses can you identify in your work, and have/ will you capitalise on them?
In my opinion i feel the weakest element of my module has to be my essay i feel i could have developed this much further and triangulated much more effectively. I aim on developing these skills before going to work on my dissertation which is soon approaching i feel that i must ensure i choose a subject that will interest me for a long period of time as i found i lost interest slightly at the beginning of my essay. Another key weakness is again time management the print that was achieved was no where near the quality that i wanted the stock choices where also of very poor quality. this is something that will not happen during level 6 as i will be sure to have the stock ready way before the allocated print slots.
Q_Identify 5 things you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these
1_ Time management will be a big focus of mine i aim to ensure that when my designs are soon going to be printed i will ensure that i have stock ready and everything i need ensuring that i do not have to make any changes to my design production.
2_ I will push harder so that i am able to produce a larger product range as this will just give the audience a greater understanding of what the idea is, Also giving me practice and developing my skills within branding and identity.
3_ Experimentation with a range of print techniques this will just simply improve my skills within print however i will be careful to not just undergo these for the sake of it they must relate to my design direction.
4_ Motivation, throughout this year i have really pushed my self with the work load i really worked all the way through easter and wore myself out completely i feel i have learnt from this and now realise that i must have a balanced lifestyle or motivation can drop a huge amount.
5_Must give myself some time to make up for mistakes and delays that will occur during the design process these are un expected and will happen so i must ensure i give my self time to get back on track and keep on top of the brief.
Attendance 3
Motivation 4
Punctuality 4
Quality of work 4
Quantity of work 4
Context of Practice 2 final images
Exhibition
Final images of mocked up exhibition showing the way finding system and artwork as they would be displayed to the audience.
The exhibition piece displays 7 images of contemporary society and is displaying how design is an extension of panopticism and how it is applied to contemporary society.
Photographed Branding of print based materials_
The Print based materials display what would be given out to the audience on entrance to the exhibition, The colour scheme and design aesthetics are inspired by way finding systems that i have found within contemporary society. For examle the simplistic layout is inspired by signage where the aim is 100% communication, The colour scheme again inspired by road signage and the grid system that is over laid is inspired from my research into store layout and interior design and how retailers now use panoptic techniques to control their audience within the store.
I used Vinyl for the majority of my design not only down to the fact it created a really bold colour that was extremely eye catching for the viewer but i managed to get hold of the style of vinyl that is used for reflective road signage. Which was again a direct design choice based on the theme and the research i went through.
My promotional poster design was heavily inspired by my research into way finding systems and how they not only assist the audience but how they can also manipulate them. As you can see below i positioned the typographic elements so that the audience would be manipulated round the corner. I felt this was an instant representation of panoptic design and was an innovative design that would again attract the attention of the public.
Image below showing My print based branding for the exhibition and the layout of the way finding system that would be used within the exhibition.
These images below show the Exhibition guide that has an explanation of each piece and basic information educating the audience on what panopticism is about and how it is applied to contemporary society and most of all how it controls us.
Essay_
To what extent does graphic design extend panopticism in contemporary society.
The relationship between design and control is not always confronted directly. Both are difficult things to define, and their obscure nature challenges static comparison. Traditionally, when the relationship between design and control has been looked into it is through one-dimensional notions of power, with a focus on architecture. The aim will be to cover and explore control within the context of design, to consider how design and control overlap, and the inbuilt association within this relationship. Control is always involved with design and one should not look at it as a negative and have design void of control. Control is not naturally negative, but is always present. Examples will be given of this control through signage, directional control and surveillance. Using these examples, design becomes an entry point into inbuilt sociality through which power is exposed.
The Panopticon is a type of institutional building
designed by English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the late eighteenth century. The concept of the design is
to allow a watchman to observe inmates of an institution without them being
able to tell whether or not they are being watched.
The design consists of a circular
structure with an inspection house at its centre. From this location the
managers or staffs of the institution are able to watch the inmates, who are
stationed around the perimeter.
Bentham conceived the basic plan as being equally
applicable to hospitals, schools, sanatoriums, day-cares, and asylums, but he
devoted most of his efforts to developing a design for a Panopticon Prison. It
is his prison which is most widely understood by the term.
Bentham himself described the Panopticon as “a new
mode of obtaining power of mind over mind, in a quantity hitherto without
example”. (Bentham
1785)
A great example of modern day Panopticism
can be seen in modern retail in almost every high street and shops. Security
cameras are placed in many shops, but are they real or fake? The answer to this
does not matter, in order for the security cameras to work; they just have to
be noticeable. Half of retail environments will not use real security camera’s
in there shop, as there is simply no difference in the effectiveness, only
differences in the prosecutions of criminals. Tall mirrors placed around shops
are a very effective way of controlling both customers and staff ‘not only do such
mirrors help prevent shoplifting, they will also help supervisors in monitoring
the actions of other store personnel. By seeing yourself, possibly shop
lifting, or chatting to colleagues you automatically feel the omniscient force
is regulating and this creates self-discipline.
Another good example of this can
be seen in our Airports when passing through Passport control and Customs.
Passengers are controlled into order by signage, lines on the floor, colour
coding and orderly cues. Through the Custom section passenger pass through not
knowing who is watching, should I have declared? Walking passed the one way
mirrored glass unaware if anyone is behind it.
Whereas the panopticon is the model for external
surveillance, panopticism is a term introduced by French philosopher Michel Foucault
to indicate a kind of internal surveillance. The ” ism” indicating that it
applies to a much wider society.
Panopticism is a word coined by Michel
Foucault in discipline and punishes, to describe how power is exercised over
man in civilised society. The chapter of the same name starts by introducing
two examples in history where those in authority have controlled chaos in
society. Leprosy was dealt with by excluding those infected and on the other
hand the plague was ‘met by order’ (Foucault, 1977: 197). Foucault describes
the realisation that analysis and knowledge of the individual brings about
discipline and power as a political dream’ (Foucault, 1977: 197) which ‘gave
rise to disciplinary projects’ (Foucault, 1977: 198).
Full lighting and the eye of a supervisor capture
better than darkness, which ultimately protected. Visibility is a trap.
'To begin with, this made it possible - as a
negative effect- to avoid those compact chaotic, noisy masses that were to be
found in places of confinement. Each individual, in his place, is securely
confined to a cell from which can be seen from the front by a supervisor; but
the side walls prevent him from coming into contact with his companions. He sees,
but he does not see; he is the object of information, never a subject in
communication. The arrangement of his room opposite the central tower, imposes
on him a line of visibility; but the divisions of the ring, those separated
cells, imply a lateral invisibility. And this invisibility is a guarantee of
order.' (Foucault, 1977:200).
What is happening here? The sovereign has
diminished and dissipated, social contract rule has it that each and every one
of us has a role to play in social management. Police and military authority
are made up of and run by people who are also citizens. As citizens, we are
encouraged to exercise good ethics by condemning illicit activity; criminality
is to be reported to the appropriate authority. We are aware of this, and we
are aware that we are being watched in the same way that we are expected to
watch others. In doing so we have become participants in the panoptic
framework.
We collect and give information about
ourselves and that of others but really we are just instruments for the machine
and are not aware of its knowledge and powers.
We remain segmented, as are the inmates of Bentham's
imagined prison; yet, we are not physically separated from our fellow
prisoners. We move around in society and interact with each other, apparently
with no obligations placed upon us. We still, however, carry with us our own
cell, that of mistrust, modified/concealed behaviours,
and the awareness that we are embodied in
the gaze of others as
objects of information as well as observation towers focused upon them. Minute social interactions create profiles of
us and constitute us as individuals within a much larger, almost
inconceivably complex network from which we cannot escape (lest
we resign from the social contract of our community and move into the
wilderness as hermits).We are the
panoptic mechanism; yet, we do not control it. We enable it, yet it does
not truly control us. It is at this point so diffuse and disparate, yet
deeply embedded in our societal discourses that it cannot be comprehensively run
by any one person or group of people in order to "keep us down". The
panoptic model causes us to control ourselves, and it runs without our conscious manipulation. It is this society in
which we are living.
Foucault uses the panoptic prison designed by
Bentham to show us how effective these ‘disciplinary projects’ can be. He
states that the panoptic prison was ‘the perfect method of control; a ‘diagram
of mechanism of power reduced to its ideal form’ (Foucault, 1977: 205). The
design was of a circular building, the outer walls lined with prison cells, all
which could be seen by a supervisor from a central tower due to backlighting
from a window or light on the outside wall of the prison cells. ‘Each
individual, in his place, is securely confined to a cell from which he is seen
from the front by the supervisor; but the side walls prevent him from coming
into contact with his companions’ (Foucault, 1977: 200). The prison is designed
to trap the prisoner by sight. The only interaction he is involved in is as an object
in the supervisor’s gaze; however he cannot return this gaze. He sees only the
tower and knows that the supervisor may be residing in it. The prisoner is
described as the ‘object of information’ but never a ’subject in communication’
(Foucault 1977: 200). The effect of the panopticon is that it guarantees order
almost automatically. As long as the inmate knows he may be being watched,
whether someone is watching or not, he will as a result ‘behave’. After the
first introduction of the inmate to the prison maintaining control requires
minimum and possibly even no effort by the authority. The panopticon induces
‘the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the
automatic function of power. So to arrange things that the surveillance is
permanent in its effects, even if discontinuous in its action’. (Foucault 1977:
201).
Therefore once the machine of power is in
place ‘the inmates should be caught up in a power situation of which they are
themselves the bearers’ (Foucault 1977: 201). This means that the inmates will
start to control their own behaviour; exerting power over themselves without
the need for anyone to be making an effort to control them.
The reasons proposed in ‘Discipline and
Punish’ for these kinds of ‘disciplinary projects’ was a need to move away from
seemingly inhuman methods of punishment. ‘The rite (punishment) that ‘concluded
the crime’ was suspected of being in some undesirable way linked with it...it
accustomed the spectators to a ferocity from which one wished to divert
them.....the executioner resembles a criminal, judges murderers, to reverse
roles at the last moment, to make the tortured criminal and object of pity or
admiration’ (Foucault, 1977:9).
Foucault is stating that the ruling class had
realised that they could be deemed just as bad, if not worse than the criminals
they were torturing. Furthermore killing in front of a class that they depended
on to stay in the lower hierarchy could result in a revolt. Public execution,
as Foucault says, ‘did not re-establish justice; it reactivated power’
(Foucault, 1977: 49) Foucault backs up this theory up with a quote from
Beccaria ‘the murder that is depicted as a horrible crime is repeated in cold
blood remorselessly’ (Foucault, 1977:9)
Panopticism exists
through segmentation, divisions, surveillance and self-regulation in all of
society. It is believed that power infects everything and is everywhere. It is important to consider Foucault’s
analysis of the architecture of the panopticon itself.
Foucault begins with a description of
measures to be taken against the plague in the seventeenth century by
partitioning of space and closing off houses, constant inspection and
registration. Processes of quarantine and purification were operated. The
plague is met by a system of order. Lepers were also separated from society,
but the aim behind this was to create a pure community. The plague measures aim
at a disciplined community. The plague stands as an image against which the
idea of discipline and order was created. The existence of a whole set of
techniques and institutions for measuring and supervising abnormal beings
brings into play the disciplinary mechanisms created by the fear of the plague.
All modern mechanisms for controlling abnormal individuals derive from these.
"The plague is met by order; its function
is to sort every possible confusion: that of the disease" (Foucault
1977.197)
The plague can be compared to the rush of the city
or traffic congestion in the modern society, this became a problem that needed
to be resolved and the government picked up on this, they saw this as an
opportunity to step up and enforce some form of control to the traffic chaos.
The introduction of surveillance, traffic control, traffic lights and signage
bring society to a ‘stand still’ and society conforms to it. This is seen as a
form of panoptic control where the masses are controlled into uniformed and
regulated conformity although an annoyance; this not only makes the road
network work as a machine for productive traffic flow but also enhances the
public safety.
Post 9/11, Discipline and Punishment in the twenty-first century
is characterized by various forms of self-regulation, surveillance and
disciplinary individuals, but what will be the basis of authority for the following
century. The consensus of thought is that surveillance will still be the
preferred method of choice, but the focus will shift from individual to global
discipline. With technologies like drones and GPS monitoring, an entire country
is now on constant watch, what Foucault refers to
as “universally widespread coercion.” The ability to watch every calculated move our foreign neighbour’s make is the pinnacle of penalty, “an interrogation
without end, an investigation without limits.” Drones have ushered in a new era of knowledge and its manifestation is indefinite discipline in the form of imperialism.
as “universally widespread coercion.” The ability to watch every calculated move our foreign neighbour’s make is the pinnacle of penalty, “an interrogation
without end, an investigation without limits.” Drones have ushered in a new era of knowledge and its manifestation is indefinite discipline in the form of imperialism.
The development of society, introduction of
new technologies, growing urbanization and complexity of life resulted in the
increasing need of brief but clear informing people about the direction they
have to choose to find places they are looking for. In such a situation, the
development of signage for public way finding became a natural process that
accompanied the development of the modern civilization.
It should be pointed out that the need in the
development of signage to improve and facilitate way finding increased
consistently with the growth of large cities and growing migration of people to
urban areas. In the result of the growth and development of infrastructure and
complexity of architecture and design to find the right way became a serious
problem and the use of signage could be the best solution of this problem.
Often, it could be a big problem to find the right way even in a building, such
as public library, for instance.
Taken a step further signage can be used to
great effect in urban, industrial and retail organisations. One example which
clearly demonstrates this discipline is Ikea. This company make effective use
of signage and way finding to maximise the potential retail output of the
store. The public are
systematically directed around the massive store making use of the stores ‘way
finding system’. These can be seen clearly in the shop by a line on the floor
and signage, controlling the flow from sub partition to sub partition. The
public are ‘docile bodies’ who follow the way finding systems through each sub
partition rather than going straight to the check out. All though this system
creates order and makes the store runs smoothly, it also has its commercial
benefits, herding the public through displays that they would not have normally
visited. This increases sales and is a clear example of how Panopticism is not
only used to make the perfect flowing system but is also used to the benefit of
suppliers. The signage is designed
to not only direct visitors around the various sections but to also communicate
IKEA as a fun and family location, further boosting its brand image.
IKEA wants customers to stay longer in the store and
shop more. In an attempt to achieve that they use different methods to do that
such as, the shop window, length and design of the walking path increases the
time spent in the store, every time the path takes a turn products are exposed
straight in front of you.
These methods obviously make customers stay longer,
but do they actually shop all that more?
If they find it tedious, difficult and frustrating
they might not be in a good shopping mood. It could be that the new service
makes the customers stay for a shorter period in the store, but that has yet to
be proven. It is also not certain that this makes them shop less. Perhaps they
are in a better shopping mood if they find it effective and well organized, and
maybe they will even stay longer just because of that.
Within
Ikea the directional symbols were inspired by the toys and toy boxes that were
sold there, with each toy sitting above a box giving direction in different
perspective. The symbols for the different sections were inspired by the three
dimensionality of the furniture’s at there.
This again represents how panopticism is deceiving
as it has modernised an extended with technology a great example of this is how
the way finding systems have been used to now manipulate customers IKEA is a
great example of this.
Way finding is the process
of using spatial and environmental cues to navigate through an environment. In
its most literal sense, way finding is the ability of a person to find his or
her way to a destination. It can also be defined from the standpoint of the
designer or owner who is seeking to improve the function of a particular
environment.
Way finding is not separate from traditional
signage design, but is a broader, more inclusive way of assessing all of the
environmental issues that affect our ability to find our way to a given destination.
A comprehensive way finding system can greatly
improve your subject’s ability to not only finds areas of the environment they
are seeking, but to direct guests and others to these areas as well. A clear way
finding system can add to the accessibility and friendliness of the establishment’s
buildings. Here are a few tips on way finding: Focus people on buildings by labelling
them, avoid long directional signs that slow people down, divide the campus
into distinct zones, use colour and landmarks to create bread-crumbs, make room
numbers make sense and develop a simple map.
Further comparison can be
found in the road network, herding vehicles and pedestrians into the city
centres using ‘ring roads’, contra flow systems, single way systems and massive
use of signage herding the population like ants in these concrete jungles. This
creates a controlled and non chaotic but most of all controlling the chaos and
creating order is the dream of the government a city of utopia that is self-exercising
and hundred per cent productive, getting rid of all chaos.
"Today
information technology is the backbone of almost all areas of public life:
Traffic, administration, electricity, and water supplies the media, the army
Knowledge of these technologies and their uses is what gives power to and
individual or as Foucault says power over those who don’t know."( Lewis
Baltz ,1992)
Information technology is all around us the fact
the public know this then produces
docile bodies that are self-regulating due to the fact they know that
everything they do is monitored. The public are monitored by an omniscient
power that they cannot see this is an extension of the panopticon
"Baltz also shows a central figure (12
cibachrome prints mounted on aluminium 99x472' ) in his work here; however it
is the monumental, computer generated countenance of Satan surrounded by
technical equipment"
Another view on panopticism is the negative side,
some see that the constant control and surveillance and the fact the public
follow these orders is work of Satan. That it is evil that the public are controlled
and manipulated as docile bodies. This is shown in this piece of work as the
face of Satan is represented as beauty, the modern cables to me represent the
way it has developed with technology and how retail have grasped the
controlling techniques and used it to their advantage to sell products as seen
in everyday shops etc.
"Into the virtual reality of data hell while
giving it a deceptive but seductive, feminine beauty." (Lewis Baltz
1992)
Further measures were
introduced to monitor the systems that were already in place by way of CCTV.
"Satan not only watches solicitously over
human life but also controls and commands it. People become marginal alongside
him the endless circular nature of modern surveillance techniques becomes
tangible here both in the technical process of taking and reproducing the
photographs." (Lewis Baltz 1992)
This panopticon was able
to exercise its machine without being manned this was all down to the fact that
a panopticon does not allow those who are being exercised, to see the hidden control
that is looking over them, a great example of this in the modern society is the
CCTV cameras. These cameras monitor the public’s every move and assist in
making the public conform to the ‘way finding systems’ that are in use in the modern
society. Some argue that it is too controlling, Big Brother like and we should
be free to move how we want but however the others believe it’s about safety
and the productivity of the public. “The plague stricken town, the
panoptic establishment- the differences are important. They mark, at a distance
of a century and a half, the transformations of the disciplinary program. In
the first case there is an exceptional situation: against an extraordinary
evil, power is mobilised; it makes it everywhere present and visible; it
invents new mechanisms; it separates, it immobilises, it partitions, it
constructs for a time what is both a counter city and a perfect society.”
“The panopticon may even provide an apparatus for
supervising its own mechanisms.”(Foucault 1977)
Bibliography:
Michel Foulcault, Discipline and Punish (1977)
Editorial. Surveillance Studies: Understanding
visibility, mobility and the phonetic fix. David Lyon .1
http://www.surveillance-and –society.org/articles 1/editorial.pdf
‘Cam Era’ the contemporary urban Panopticon. Hellie
Koskela 1
http://www.surveillance-and
–society.org/articles1(3)/camera.pdf
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