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Cultural Blocks

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Some months back there was a discussion on the subject of 'Associational Block'. As with this subject of blocks there can be considered other aspects of the thinking process that can also create blocks. Many of these aspects are subconscious and hard to even notice, but do exist. The process by which 'Cultural Blocks' affect us not only reside in us due to long exposure to their influential promotors, but also as a deep seated passion that is based on many aspects of the culture we have come from. It should be pointed out that these blocks are not a controlling factor in our decisions on every aspect of our choices. If fact they are rare to spot, but at the same time do exist, and can exist in such a way that you are not aware. Due to the natural process of cultural development we tend to take things for granted. Many of these things can include music, art, food, and fashion. All of which by the way can be considered forms of design. However, when the notions of cul...

Subject Two: Human form

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Second subject to discuss. The human form is something that is the most natural part of our life. We are in fact born naked and then for some reason of climatic need, or social obligation required to don clothing. This was the point of one of Toscani's first and most shocking photos for Benetton. To highlight the public repulsion to our own naked form. Many things have happened over the centuries that have driven or modeled the way we see ourselves as a form, but it was only in the beginnings of the advertising era that the human form took on a new angle. A device for selling. One of the things that has become apparent over the last few decades of advertising this form, is that our liberation toward it has in some aspects become reflective to the forms shown in the utopian view on billboards, etc. However, there is a great deal of distaste seen in the way the human form is used ( even if to good affect ) in some advertising and graphic forms. It is questionable whether advertisin...

Subject Four: Hard Sell

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The last theme in this two week stretch. Thanks for all who have viewed, if not commented. Thanks to Panagiotis for his contribution. Strange thing is I see him in class, and therefore could have had this debate off the computer, but never mind. For the final subject I wanted to start the notion of 'to what levels would a piece of graphics go' to sell its message. I am a great admirer of the author Marshall McLuhan and his book 'Understanding Media'. If you are interested in Creative and Lateral Thinking with relationship to the medias then this is a book you should read. Several of the chapters he talks in have many aspects to the values of the visual medias and in particular he talks on the 'medium is the message'. This whole philosophy is a little deep and hard to add to a short blog post, but basically it is the notion that our society has devised ( consciously or subconsciously ) the methods by which a combination of words and structures have moved from t...

Brain matter

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Have you ever really sat down and thought about your brain? The strange and funny process is that you very rarely do. You can sit and think about your other extremities, but rarely do you consider the one part of the machinery network that actually makes it all function. Maybe, if you have a headache you will feel bad through over drinking of tiredness, or some other ailment. However, because this two pound lump of gray matter sits behind all of your sensory receptors it gets ignored. The brain is in fact a miracle of evolutionary magnitude. The actual fact that it is capable of doing what it actually does is a technical marvel. Scientists for example have been trying to figure out these aspects and recreate them in such a way that computers could have, what we call, artificial intelligence. That we could build a robot that functions in the same way as humankind. the sad truth is that this seems like it will never happen. Reading Steve Pinker's book on the subject has shown some ...