Assignment 3

Dissertation Proposal Meeting and Workshop

Before the dissertation workshop took place we were asked to once again meet up with our groups this time to discuss our dissertation ideas, unfortunately only 4 of us attended the meeting. However we had each created a mind map of our initial dissertation ideas, which we discussed during the meeting. Most of us had no clear idea of what we wanted our dissertation to focus on but numerous directions in which it could go. Which I think was a good start, as lots of ideas and sources of inspiration are better than none.
Below are some images of our meeting:

Please note my initial dissertation mind map can be viewed in a separate post.

Before today’s workshop I had numerous ideas and interests, which I have come to realise as a result of the workshop, were mostly centralised around the environmental impacts we have as designers. I still have a lot of thinking and research to do but I am currently in the process of filling in part 1 of my dissertation proposal. I will add more detailed thoughts and ideas regarding my dissertation to my blog in the near future.

Assignment 2: Fair Trade & Design

Definition of fair trade

Fair trade is “trade that supports producers in developing countries by making sure that they receive fair wages” (Allen, 2002, p310). This means that hard work often in the form of manual labour is recognized and workers are paid accordingly, they earn enough to live on and continue to produce goods sustainably as a result of fair trade. Fair trade producers must adhere to strict economic, environmental and social standards set by the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) in order to be certified fair trade. For example, “the environmental standards set aim towards helping farmers to work towards using more sustainable farming practices. These standards include minimising the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and where practical working towards organic production” (People & Planet, 2010). Companies buying and selling fair trade produce must ensure respectable, sustainable prices, which are never less than market price. Fair trade aims to not only alleviate poverty but generally to improve the standard of living for disadvantaged workers and their families. This can be achieved in numerous ways. For instance healthcare and education system can be improved with the provision of scholarship and pension schemes. Any fair trade scheme should be sustainable locally and insure comfortable working conditions as is explained on The Fairtrade Foundation website (2010). Fair trade should lead to gradual and constant improvement in developing countries.

A brief history of fair trade

The concept of fair trade has arguably been around for at least the past 40 years but an official labeling scheme was not created until the 1980s. On The Fairtrade Foundation website (2010) it is explained that the first fair trade label was launched in 1988. The label was branded 'Max Havelaar' who was known to be a fictional Dutch character against the exploitation of coffee pickers. The first fair trade coffee was also branded ‘Max Havelaar’. The Fairtrade Foundation was created 4 years later in 1992 but it was not until 2 years after this that the first fair trade certified product Green & Black’s Maya Gold Chocolate was launched (The Fairtrade Foundation, 2010). The Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) was established in 1997 to standardize worldwide labelling and certification of fair trade goods. 5 years later in 2002 FLO created the International Certification Mark in order to make fair trade products easily recognizable (The Fairtrade Foundation, 2010). In the United Kingdom a fair trade certified product displays the fair trade mark, this “is an independent consumer label which appears on UK products as a guarantee that they have been certified against internationally agreed Fairtrade standards” (Fairtrade website, 2010).

This is the Fairtrade International Certification Mark. The image was sourced from (Harrogate Borough Council, 2010).

1994 saw the launch of the first fair trade certified product but now “the popularity of fair trade is growing swiftly in many parts of the world. As the fair trade market has grown, new kinds of participant have emerged and the field has become increasingly commercialized” (Laine, 2009). We know this is true as in 2003 there were only about 150 products with the fair trade mark, this increased to 700 products by 2005, more than 1,500 products in 2006 and now there are over 4,500 products with the fair trade mark currently for sale in common high street stores (The Fairtrade Foundation, 2010). Lush and Boots are examples of high street stores that now stock fair trade beauty products, Tesco stocks fair trade clothes (manufactured using fair trade cotton), food and drink products and even fair trade flowers.

This image showing fair trade produce for sale in a typical supermarket is from The Fairtrade Foundation website (2010) and the photographer is Marcus Lyon.

Another organization, which plays a part in the history of fair trade, is known as the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO). This is the global authority of fair trade. The WFTO is limited to organizations that are 100% committed to fair trade and must abide by the 10 principles of fair trade as outline by the WFTO (2010). The organization now operates in 70 countries and has been in place for around 20 years.

The relevance of fair trade to design

Since the creation of the Fairtrade International Certification Mark in 2002 it has been found, based on a study of small scale coffee producers in Central America and Mexico, that the introduction of “certifications provided a higher price per pound and higher gross coffee revenue than non-certified coffee” (Mendez, 2010). However “certifications will not single-handedly bring significant poverty alleviation to most coffee-farming families” (Mendez, 2010). This is because not enough people choose to buy fair trade produce and more money is needed to create sustainable livelihoods, develop conservation, provide health care and education. Most producers are currently unable to sell their entire production at certified prices due to lack of demand.

This is where design comes in. Design is a broad term and has numerous different meanings but for this purpose it will be defined as “to create or execute according to a plan” (Allen, 2002, p232). The plan in this case would be to use design to increase the consumption of fair trade products. By doing so, more producers and workers would benefit from fair trade and therefore have the financial sustainability to help alleviate poverty and enhance the standard of living in their community.

Design and designers have the potential to influence people and their actions. Small changes can make a significant difference to those in developing countries, design can be used to persuade and encourage people to make these changes. For example media and graphic design could be used to emphasize the differences that individuals in this country could make to the lives of others by simply swapping to fair trade tea, coffee or hot chocolate. Highlighting the poor living and working conditions as well as the overall poverty, poor education and healthcare systems in such areas with posters, product labels and advertisements could also persuade people to think again when deciding whether to buy a well know brand as opposed to fair trade. Product placement within films and television shows could be used to raise the profile of fair trade produce. Another option that could increase sales is creating advertisements, which lead the consumer to associate fair trade with popular celebrities. For example Gary Lineker is used to advertise Walkers crisps.

Textile design and designers can also help to alleviate poverty in developing countries through the use of fair trade cotton for example. Currently there are websites such as http://www.fashion-conscience.com/ and www.peopletree.co.uk, which sell fair trade clothing, and there is a fair trade range called 5g that is sold by Debenhams. This range includes Sir Steve Redgrave’s designs. As well as this there is an annual fair trade fashion show known as ‘The Fairwear Fashion Show’ where Harry Potter actress Emma Watson showcased her fair trade range (WFTO, 2010). However more can be done. If one or two top fashion designers decided only to design and create fair trade fashion this would generate a lot of publicity and would undoubtedly gain public support of fair trade products. Making fair trade fashionable to numerous social groups can mean peer pressure works as an element of persuasion to buy fair trade, this is suggested by Doran (2010). Designers could also design T-shirts, bags and other similar merchandise to promote fair trade. These methods are a selection of the numerous ways in which design could be used in relation to fair trade, to address the problem of poverty, poor working and living conditions, lack of education and healthcare in developing countries.

Word Count: 1,274

Bibliography

Allen, R (ed.) (2002). The Penguin English Dictionary. London: The Penguin Group

Doran, CJ (2010). Fair Trade Consumption: In Support of the Out-Group. Springer

Harrogate Borough Council (2010). Fairtrade in the Harrogate District Available from: http://www.harrogate.gov.uk/harrogate-3926 [Accessed: 3rd October 2010)

Laine, EL (2009). Finnish World Shops at a Crossroads in the commercialized Fair Trade Market. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mendez, VE (2010). Effects of Fair Trade and organic certifications on small-scale coffee farmer households in Central America and Mexico. Online: Cambridge University Press 4^th Jun 2010.

People & Planet (2010). About Fairtrade. Available from: http://peopleandplanet.org/fairtrade/about.php [Accessed: 2^nd October 2010]

The Fairtrade Foundation (2010). What is Fairtrade? Available from: http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/what_is_fairtrade/faqs.aspx [Accessed: 27^th September 2010]

The Fairtrade Foundation (2010). Fairtrade labelling international history and Fairtrade Foundation chronology [Online]. Available from: http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/what_is_fairtrade/history.aspx [Accessed: 2^nd October 2010]

The Green Planet (2009) Will Fairtrade ever expand into the fresh produce segment? Available from: http://en.greenplanet.net/food/fairtrade/994-will-fairtrade-ever-expand-into-the-fresh-produce-segment.html [Accessed: 2^nd October 2010]

WFTO (2010) Harry Potter star Emma Watson’s designs at Fairwear 2010 fashion show. Available from: http://www.wfto.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1127&Itemid=314 [Accessed: 2^nd October 2010]

WFTO (2010) Welcome to the source of authentic Fair Trade. Available from:

http://www.wfto.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=889&Itemid=290

[Accessed: 2^nd October 2010]

Assignment 1: The 2nd Group Meeting

Below are some photographs of our second meeting which i wrote about in an earlier post.

Assignment 1: Mind Maps + Another Meeting

I produced these 2 above mind maps (click to enlarge) prior to the meeting with my group on Wednesday in which we discussed how we were all getting on with the assignment. I found it easier to organize my thoughts using 2 mind maps. One based solely on fair trade and the other linking design to fair trade. Everyone had produced a relatively thorough mind map, which may be developed and added to as new information is found. All the members in my group have now also set up and are using a blog. Now we are all continuing to write about our chosen topic for the deadline next week.

We also discussed the previous lecture and our views towards branding. With one graphic design student very much in favour of branding and another against very commercialised branding such as McDonalds and Starbucks preferring small restaurants and cafes to chain restaurants and stores for example. I was surprised to find that another member of our group chooses to completely avoid numerous brands such as Coca-cola.

Assignment 1: Design Futures and Professional Practice

Eventually I have got to the end of a somewhat hectic first week back at university. During the week I have been busy with numerous lectures and tasks. As well as this my class visited Arbroath on Tuesday on a drawing trip, which will hopefully help to prepare us for a project, which we are beginning on Monday. I also visited Tentsmuir and Tayport on Friday with some friends to collect relevant drawn information and photographs.

In design studies we have been put in to interdisciplinary groups in which we will have assignments to complete. This week we were asked to meet with our group and discuss a list of topics on which we will each write a 1500 word Wiki entry. Below are some photographs taken at the meeting we held on Thursday afternoon at 1.30pm in the graphic design studio.

Everyone attended the meeting and we discussed the topics. We could each choose our own topic but no 2 people in the group could write about the same topic. I think we all struggled to decide what topic we wanted to do and some people were very indecisive and had 2 or 3 options. This is probably because we had little time to research the options prior to the meeting. After some brief discussion we settled on the following topics:

Samantha: Fair trade & design

Natalie: Design process & design (also interested in Culture & design and Art & Design)

Sarah: Gender & design

David: Interactivity & design

Robert: Co-design & design

Sean: Mass production & design

Sophie: Corporate identity & design

Collette: Branding & design

We finished the meeting by swapping blog addresses, and deciding that those who don’t have a blog will need to create one by our next design studies lecture on Wednesday and provide the other group members with the address. We also agreed to mind map our selected topic and perhaps begin gathering sources before our meeting next Thursday.

Moving on...

Over the summer I created a new blog using WordPress and from now on I intend to use WordPress to document my textile design work, inspirations, photographs etc. Please find my new blog at: http://samanthacleminson.wordpress.com/

I will continue to use this blog (http://samantha-textiledesign.blogspot.com/) solely to record my Design Futures and Professional Practice (Design Studies) assignments whilst at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.

A little update

My summer so far has been pretty hectic with numerous long shifts at work, lots of family gatherings to attend and moving in to my new house. Unfortunately I have had very little time for my textile design work and blog and still I am unable to decide if I want to specialise in knit, print or weave next year! It is going to be a difficult decision.

During the holidays I have managed to decide that my summer project is going to be inspired by ‘nature’ as I like to be outdoors in the countryside, which I miss whilst at university. I don’t really intend to look at flowers in great depth, as this is something I have done quite a lot. Instead I wish to focus on berries, leaves and wildlife. I have been taking my dog for a lot of long walks and taking photographs of everything that has caught my attention from caterpillars, to flowers and reflections cast by trees on the water. I have also had chance to do a few sketches… particularly of a duck and her ducklings on the river by my house. As well as this I have also pressed some flowers and leaves. Those, which have been partially eaten and are full or holes, seem to catch my attention.

I have also managed to teach myself how to knit. I am still very slow and can only manage basic plain knitting, but it’s a start and something I can continue to work on in the future. Recently I have also been researching natural dyeing, which is not only related to my summer project but something that interests me as it seems to be a much ‘greener’ way to create coloured fabrics and yarns. I am unsure as to how useful the results will be but I am eager to give it a go. I have read numerous blogs, websites and a book entitled ‘Natural Dyes’ by Linda Rudkin and think that I am ready to begin experimenting. Whilst waiting for materials such as mordants and undyed fibres to arrive, I am busy collecting flowers, leaves, herbs, spices, nuts and fruit to use as dyes. This could be a disaster or it could be a lot of fun and the results could be fantastic, only time will tell.

I have tried to add photographs but for some reason i cannot get them to load today, i will try again later.