Up my street

In a recent lecture www.upmystreet.co.uk was mentioned to us as a means of locating and targeting a certain group of people. I decided to use the website to have a look at the street I will be living on from July. I was interested in the accuracy of the website as I know having spoken to the landlord that the occupants of the street is relatively mixed. Only 30% of the street can be occupied by students (I think this is due to HMO licensing), I also know that our neighbors consist of a family with two young children on one side and on the other side is an old lady, who is perhaps in her 80’s.

The information below written in black is taken directly from www.upmystreet.co.uk and the blue text is my own comments.

Family income	Medium
Interest in current affairs	High
Housing - with mortgage	Low
Educated - to degree level	High
Couples with children	Low
Have satellite TV	Low
I think that housing with a mortgage will be low as much of the property I imagine will be rented, the rent is also relatively cheap which would perhaps suggest that many people are not that wealthy and hence cannot afford satellite TV? I am unsure as to how many families with children there are on the street although I know in some of the gardens there were swings etc which would suggest that quite a few families may live on the street so perhaps that is not so accurate.

• Often, many of the people who live in this sort of postcode will be cosmopolitan sharers or students living in flats. I think this is true although much of this street is actually terraced houses rather than flats.
• University towns such as Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh are the main geographical locations for these types, which are also found in places such as Brighton, Plymouth and Dundee.
• These are cosmopolitan areas of shared flats and bed-sits. Households tend to be young single people renting small one or two bedroom flats, which may be purpose built or converted. Again the street I will be living on consists mainly of terraced houses, similar to mine with a front and rear garden as well as parking. I think they are all also at least 3-bedroom properties and some of the larger properties may even have 4 or 5 bedrooms. I’m not sure that they were specially built for students or even converted to suit students. To me our house appears like any other house, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, large lounge and kitchen??
• Around a third are student households. I think this will be correct 30% are occupied by students/could be.
• This is a fast changing environment with a high turnover of occupancy. I think this is likely to be very accurate as families are likely to look for larger properties as their children grow up and also students will move if they find a property which is better value for money, they are also likely to move once they graduate.
• Living close to places of work and study, travel is mainly by foot or public transport. Relatively few of these people own a car. 
This is quite true, the old lady who lives next door to us is likely to walk or use public transport. Students are also likely to walk in to town/university as the property is well situated. However I think most people will have a car or at least 1 car per property. This is because although parking is only on one side of the street the street is always lined with cars and a lot of the properties also have cars parked in their drive. This year I may bring my car to uni and my flat mate will definitely be using hers. This is because it makes food shopping easier, you don’t need to carry heavy bags or pay for delivery. The cinema, ice skating and other out of town amenities are also more easily accessible. A well as this traveling home is more convenient and you have more freedom.
• Although many cannot afford to purchase a PC, this is the computer literate generation. They use the Internet through college or work to make various purchases and book holidays. These people have plans and aspirations. They wish to embrace the latest technology - digital cameras, DVD players and so on - but don’t yet have the financial means to do so. The more prudent plan to pay off their debts. I imagine this is very true, however I do think the majority of students do own a laptop/PC. I sort of see my laptop as an every day essential that I couldn’t live without!
• Their phone bills are large and their credit card limits low. 

Lifestyles are active, socially and physically. Exercise, dance and sport are popular. This could be true, I play hockey and squash, I also swim and go to the gym regularly. I also intend to bring my bike up in the summer, however I do know a lot of people who don’t do any exercise other than walking around town now that they are at uni.
• They frequent coffee shops and in the evenings go the theatre, cinema or clubbing.
• More relaxing moments are spent listening to music or reading books and magazines.
• Some will eat healthy foods and take vitamin supplements, but many choose to eat fast foods and take-aways for convenience. 
I think this is true, however I think fast foods, although popular are only consumed when students have the money to buy them, most people tend to cook and live on own-brand produce. I also think most families will try to encourage healthy eating and perhaps only have fast foods as a treat or occasionally and I doubt the elderly residents of the street will eat much fast food at all.
• These people are interested in current affairs.
• While news may be followed online, they are also readers of The Guardian, Observer, Independent and The Times.

I think much of this information is quite useful although obviously not everything would apply to every property and its occupants. I can see how the information could be very useful not only to help you decide whether a street is suitable to live on but it could also be used to locate people interested in sport or people who frequently use coffee shops or public transport fro example. You would then know the areas to target if you wanted to carry out a questionnaire or send out information to a specific group of people.

Lecture 4: The Disneyfication of Culture

A recent lecture by Hamid van Koten looked at Disneyfication and Disneyization. In general I found the background behind the creation of Disney very interesting. I also learnt that there is a Disney cruise ship and a town in Florida built by Disney called Celebration. If you live in Celebration you cannot have a camper van, you have to paint your house only one of the colours from the set colour palette, your lawn has to be kept at a specific length and you can only hang your washing out in your back garden on certain days of the week.

Below: The Disney cruise ship and an aerial view of Celebration, Florida

Disneyfication describes a global phenomenon that affects a whole range of things from retail to entertainment and travel. Disneyization refers to structural changes in society as exemplified by principles associated with the Disney themeparks.

The 5 principles are:

Merchandising: Branded souvenirs, gifts, toys, games etc (Mickey Mouse monopoly)

Theme: Importing ‘else-where’ and ‘else-when’ looks

Performative labour: Staff convey emotions as part of a job. For example set vocabulary has to be used by the staff at Disneyland The staff are also known as ‘cast members’, this seems a bit strange, being paid to behave in a specific manner.

Control + Surveillance: Applies to people, products and environments

Hybrid consumption: Bringing together retail and leisure

The main part of the lecture focused on the Disney movies and the hidden meanings behind some of the aspects of the films for example it was suggested that perhaps the movies are sexist as female characters are continuously rescued by a male characters for example in Sleeping Beauty. In this film Aurora is rescued by Prince Philip, he breaks the spell with a kiss. Again in Snow White and Cinderella, the male character rescues the female character. The women are to some extent portrayed to be quite pathetic and dependant on male characters. This could be interpreted to be sexist however I certainly don’t think it is offensive to women and I think it is simply a theme that is present in many films whether Disney created them or not.

The appearance of the leading female characters was also discussed, the women all have big breasts and a small waist and that this could have a negative affect on children who aspire to look like this when they are older. Similar to Barbie this unrealistic image of ‘beauty’ could add greater pressure to ‘how women should look’. I think how the women in the films look will have little affect on children watching them. I think its not until children get older that they start to want to look a certain way, I think this is more likely to be because of celebrities, models etc which are beautiful, successful and wealthy than films they watch as children.

Another film, which was mentioned, was Beauty and the Beast. Does Beauty and the Beast promote domestic violence? I understand why this could be suggested although I doubt that young children will grow up to be violent as a result of the film, as a child I don’t think I was affected by the film and I don’t think I would even of thought of such implications of Disney movies had they not been highlighted to me in this lecture. I can see the concerns that some people may have however I think children are more likely to be violent or alcoholics for example if their parents are, rather than as a cause of watching a Disney movie.

After the lecture I watched Bambi with my flat mate and was surprised that even though I have never watched the film in a very very long time I could of said most of the words before they were spoken, so may be the film is more influential than I think since it is actually a lot more memorable than I realized. Despite all the negative aspects of Disney that were highlighted in the lecture in Bambi children are encouraged to eat their greens, "Eating greens is a special treat, It makes long ears and great big feet. But it sure is awful stuff to eat" and it is also said that ‘if you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all’ which teaches against bullying. Bambi is also told to respect his elders as they are very old and wise. On the other hand the female characters definitely chase the male characters and seem much more confident than the males. Feline the female deer, the female skunk and rabbit all blush, preen, giggle and flutter their eyelashes. The female characters to some extent appear to be over sexualized and quite pathetic. How the characters are portrayed are perhaps unrealistic and could potentially be offensive to some people if interpreted in a particular manner but I doubt children see this when they watch the films or are influenced by the negative hidden meanings within the films.

Lecture 3: Design and Terrorism, Rip + Mix

The lecture this week by Lisa Creswell was quite interesting and I thought it was very relevant to what we are currently doing in Design Studies. Seeing how Lisa has used lots of different skills since she has graduated has made me realize how necessary Design Studies is in order to help us develop skills such as mind mapping, researching and reading around relevant subjects.

As a result of this lecture I began to see that as a Textile Design student I might never work in my chosen field. I need to be flexible and able to apply the appropriate skills when necessary. I should also be able to communicate effectively with people who I may never of met, and who may have a different background to me. It is likely that I could end up working with people who have very different skills and knowledge to myself but somehow we have to find a way to adapt and work collaboratively. There may also be language barriers to work around.

Within the lecture Lisa described some of the work she has carried out since graduating with a masters degree in illustration. She has been involved with people from other universities and government agencies working on a project to help understand and so design against terrorism. Lisa spoke of spaces such as the London underground, which can make people feel unsafe. A lack of staff presence can make people uncomfortable and wary as in the event of an emergency or even if a member of the public has a query or concern there is often no member of staff situated on the platform for example to help. Surprisingly CCTV can also raise concern as it suggests safety is perhaps a worry, cameras could be more discrete to reduce this? Poor communication can also lead people to feel unsafe, it is a problem in the underground as there is no phone signal and in many cases the signage is unclear.

After the lecture it was suggested that we considered some public spaces and what makes us feel safe or unsafe. Recently I have been making a mental note of things or places that have made me feel slightly unsafe/wary. Places that are unfamiliar, dimly lit, grotty and run down tend to make me feel less safe. I tend to wonder what sort of people I may be confronted by. Will I get mugged? Is it safe to be on my own? I have also started to pay more attention to security cameras, if there was little likelihood of any crime being committed why would there be cameras? This is similar to police presence I can’t really decide if police presence makes me feel safer or less safe. For example I often wonder why police are sometimes at railway stations, just standing watching. What are they watching for? Is something going to happen? Should I be worried? I think it is difficult to get a balance between making people feel safe and making people question their safety so that they are aware of potential dangers without being worried.

After Lisa’s talk Fraser Bruce went on to tell us about one of his projects entitled ‘Rip + Mix’. Students were encouraged to come up with totally new designs, concepts and ideas in a short time period, this meant that a lot of ideas were generated quickly. The ideas were not necessarily feasible or realistic but could be used to inspire future work. For example an etch-a-sketch newspaper was suggested, the idea was to see the next article you would shake the paper!

The second part of Fraser Bruce’s talk I found less interesting, he explained how it was possible to analyse communication and the effectiveness of communication through diagrams. The diagrams could show processes and paths between different people/parts of a company for example. In some cases it was discovered that if one or two people were to be removed from the process the whole system would fall apart and communication would stop.

Both speakers made it clear that skills we are only just developing now could be very useful in the years to come, its also essential that we are able to communicate effectively and be able apply our knowledge and skills where necessary.

Lecture 2: Service Design

Our second lecture this semester was by David Townson, who now runs his own consultancy. He spoke to us about his career, how he got to where he is today and some of the projects he has done along the way. For example he talked about work he carried out for Orange and also about a community project based around encouraging car sharing. His work seemed to be based a lot on research, investigation, thinking, new ideas, trial and error and designing with others in mind.

After this lecture we were asked to consider the different types of service we use from refuse collection, to restaurants, the university Cantina, health care, energy providers, emergency services, public transport etc. A service I use quite regularly is the train. Mainly for traveling relatively long distances. I think the majority of the service is ok for example the trains in Scotland are normally on time, the seat reservations are accurate and the staff are polite (in most cases) and very helpful. However I do have two problems with using the trains, which I think, need to be addressed. The first is luggage. Last summer my sister was traveling to Newquay and had her suitcase stolen, from the luggage rack on the train. The insurance company refused to pay out, as she was not constantly watching/checking on her case. She was unable to do this as the train was very busy and her seat reservation was for a window seat with her back to her luggage. Having spoken to numerous people since this occurred I have come to realize this is a significant problem. Often there is not ample storage for luggage and people seem to be able to steal luggage quite easy.

The other problem I have is with the tickets. As a student searching for the cheapest way to travel I have come to learn that sometimes booking tickets past your destination and getting off at your destination is cheaper than booking tickets to your destination (this only works if there is no ticket barrier). Sometimes breaking down the trip in to say 3 parts and buying 3 tickets is cheaper than buying 1 ticket. Also the tickets don’t always work at the electronic gates so you have to wait for a member of staff to check your ticket before allowing you to leave the station. And when I book one journey online I am sent lots of tickets. For example I have just booked one return journey and have been sent 11 tickets! 4 of which I can throw straight in the bin as they are useless- 2 tickets clarify it cost me £1 to book my tickets online, one ticket displays the address the tickets were sent to and the other clarifies I paid using a debit/credit card. Of the other 7 tickets 2 are the actual travel tickets and 5 are seat reservations. I also have to show my railcard whilst getting my tickets checked on the train. Surely the purchasing of tickets could be improved and the number of tickets needed for one journey reduced?

So what ‘keeps’ me using the train? It’s much faster and cheaper (when you know how to get cheap tickets) than driving and fortunately my town has a railway station. The bus is also not an option as there is no service available from university to my hometown for example.

A service designer needs to find out who the target audience is and assess what they need or want, in order to improve a service. They may need to take in to consideration lots of people’s opinions and decide what will be most suitable. This in a way is quite similar to textile designers. Textile designers may often need to design for someone who may have different ideas or tastes to themselves, they have to be able to communicate effectively with a client and please a client in order to gain a good reputation.

Lecture 1: Follow up work

After ‘The Canon’ lecture last week I read the handbook and came across the suggested follow up work. I decided to answer the following questions: How did I end up studying design? Who influenced me? Who inspired me? Why do I like the things I like? And is taste and artistic ability genetic? This is because I quite often get asked why did I choose to do art at university. Another question that has come up on numerous occasions in the past is whether i get my artistic ability from my mum or dad.

Firstly how did I end up studying design?

I think I eventually got to study design because that is what I wanted to do and I got my own way in the end. When I first got to choose my subjects at school and I selected art my teachers told me not to, my friends told me not to and my parents weren’t so keen. My dad especially didn’t want me to do art as he thought ‘I could do so much better for myself’. But since I only saw my dad on weekends and he knew little about my school life I gave his opinion little consideration. I did what I wanted to do and my mum was supportive of my decision. I went to a grammar school and everyone was pretty intelligent. Having had to pass an exam or interview to get in. Only 11/120 in my year group did do art, it was sort of frowned upon. Mathematics and science were strongly encouraged with many students aiming to become lawyers, accountants, vets and doctors. The art department had little funding as a result of this and we spent most of our time drawing from life with basic medium, we also had the option to attend a life drawing class at a local school. I really enjoyed art but despite this I knew I had many other options and often worried I was making the wrong decision choosing to do art. I really don’t want to get stuck in a dead end job and that is what everyone kept saying would happen! I was ‘closing doors’. Despite this I chose to do Art because it is what I have always enjoyed more than anything else and I have always wanted a career that would make me happy, rather than rich and successful. Initially I wanted to go to Reading University to study fine art but I didn’t really know that fine art is what I wanted to do so it was my mum who helped me with the decision. She thought I would be better doing a foundation or general course so I chose to come to Duncan of Jordanstone to do the general course. I think that is probably one of the best decisions I made as I realized fine art is not for me! So here I am doing textile design and so far I love it!

I have already touched on Who influenced me? And Who inspired me?

I was influenced a lot by my family when I was younger and especially my mum. The compliments from friends, family, teachers and members of the public on open days for example inspired me as people appreciating my work made me realize that may be I was good enough for art school and why shouldn’t I do what I want and enjoy. ‘You only live once’ was a phrase I used a lot whilst arguing my case! My art teacher was also particularly inspirational always suggesting what I could do at university what I could do as a career, he sort of allowed me to dream of what I could do with my life. I was influenced by artists, particularly local artists from a very young age as my mum used to take me to the art mart at my first primary school every year, even then she said I used to tell everyone what I liked and what I didn’t like and why. My mum said she soon began to realize what things I would like. Many artists have inspired me over the years but there is no one name that particularly strikes me as most inspirational, I don’t really have many favorites. I don’t have a favourite song, a favourite colour, a favourite designer or a favourite film. Being a very indecisive person I have lots of favourites!

Why do I like the things I like?

I normally tend to like bright coloured things, things that are perhaps a little unusual, that not everyone else will like. For example my flat mate, Lisa, hates my clothes and I hate hers! Lisa wears mostly blue, black, green and grey. She wears heels for a night out and occasionally a dress or leggings and long top, but otherwise it’s always trainers, jeans and a t-shirt. Lisa doesn’t like my black ankle boots covered all over in brightly coloured flowers, my electric blue jeans with a black print on and my irregular choice shoes I just got as a present for my 20^th birthday, which are probably 3 of my favourite items of clothing! Perhaps i like bright colours as my parents used to dress me in bright clashing colours rather than pastel colours when i was little. I also like to stand out a little but not too much. I don’t think my tastes are very unusual I dress quite similarly to most people I think, but even at school my friends used to say I dressed ‘arty’ because I perhaps did wear slightly more unusual shoes, scarves and jewellery to customise our otherwise dull smart trousers, shirt and jumper uniform. I think I am definitely drawn to bright colours and things a bit different but anything too way out makes me feel uncomfortable. I don’t like to be stared at walking down the street, I probably care a bit too much about what other people think to be honest. I like artists and designers whose work interests me and that I know the background behind, i don’t like to be told who is good or not good I like to make my own opinion of someone. In terms of music I like a lot of artists but I don’t buy much music, I tend to listen to the radio and what friends are listening to, I am probably quite greatly influenced by others and they influence what i like. I enjoy films I understand and those which I don’t get bored of half way through! I am willing to watch anything once, same with books I am happy to read any recommended book but I am not sure why I like the things I do.

Finally do I think taste and artistic ability are genetic?

I can definitely see some similarities in taste between my mum and grandma. They often have very similar clothes, in fact they once both bought the same dress, without knowing the other had bought it. I also think if it was solely up to my grandma her home would be very similarly decorated to ours, quite neutral and modern. Both my sister and me ‘borrow’ clothes, makeup and accessories from my mum so I guess we must in fact have similar taste. Although we all have our separate styles, I like colour, clothes that are practical but a little different, unusual scarves and shoes. My mum like reds and browns and good quality, my sister is very unpredictable she did the ‘goth’ look a few years back but she soon grew out of that. I think now she just tends to follow what’s in fashion. We share clothes now and again. We also have a very similar taste in music and my mum is always hovering in our doorways listening to what we are playing. When it comes to artistic ability my mum is adamant she cant draw and never has been able to and is not even slightly artistic, my dad thinks he is quite good although I have only even seen him doodle or draw a cartoon swan and he does think he can do anything! My sister I think does have the ability to be very good at art but she is just not interested. My grandma is however quite creative, she sews, knits makes lots of cards and decorative things inspired by the craft classes she goes to at the town hall. So may be she is quite artistic and I get that from her?

Answering these questions has made me think about how I dress, what I buy and what I like in comparison to my friends and family. Often I have been stuck for answers for example what is my favourite song?! If I don’t know how does anyone else? I think it is true to say I am a very indecisive person and what I like does vary and change over time as I imagine many peoples tastes do. I have found it interesting to think about how actually I did end up doing design. It would perhaps be interesting to find out why other people have chosen the same course at university, who influenced them? Was it an easy decision? I also like looking at what people wear and why they wear it.