Primary Research Methods

Ethics
- Any research you do that involves 'human participants' needs to be approved (by a tutor) in advance.
- Any research using vulnerable people (children or people with certain disabilities) must be approved by the ethics sub-committee.
- Research involving human participants must be anonymous and you must obtain informed consent in advance.

Empiricism vs. Rationalism
These are the two main approaches to 'knowledge'.
Empiricism: something that is only 'true' if it is experienced using senses.
Rationalism: truth can be grasped intellectually using logic and reason.

Empirical research is about primary research, observing things at the source. Eg. people and their thoughts, feelings, opinions.
Rational research is about secondary research, what you find out and how you apply that knowledge to context and your research question.

Qualitative/Quantitative Data
Quantitative data is organised in numerical form.
Qualitative data is found in language - written or oral forms.

Data Collection
Focus Group: A focus group is a gathering of deliberately selected people who participate in a planned discussion about a particular topic.
Survey: Interviews (qualitative)/ Questionnaires (quantitative)
Interviews - Structured/semi-structured/unstructured
Questionnaires - Should be multiple choice, easy to complete, easy to read and understand without leading questions
Ethnography: (study of people and cultures) Participant observation/ direct observation
Content Analysis: (extracting quantitative data from qualitative sources) Measures the frequency of pre-specified items within a particular context
Creative Explorations: (Gauntlett, 2007) Using creative techniques as a means of gathering subjective data, eg. Lego building, collage, film making etc.

Data Analysis/ Organisation
Quantitative (numerical data) - In order to analyse numerical data you must start with a hypothesis, what you expect to be able to prove using the data. The data should then prove or disprove your hypothesis.
Cross Referencing - you may have basic personal information (eg. gender) that you can cross reference with other trends (ie. 30% of men prefer red 70% prefer black; 55% of women prefer red 45% prefer black)
Statistical significant - how you decide if a result is significant? This needs to be asked early on in the process and should have some logical or rational justification.

Qualitative (written or oral data) -
Coding - making sense of numerous qualitative responses from the same/similar questions won't happen without some coding. Coding means organising your data into common themes/concepts. Coding can be long and iterative.
Deductive Analysis (top down) - using a general rule or theory to find specific data in support of the rule.
Inductive Analysis (down up) - using the data and your analysis to establish new generalisations about the subject.

Study Task 05 - Essay Structure

Introduction
- What is Graphic Design? What is Architecture?
- The connection between the two.

Paragraph 1 - Egyptains
- hieroglyphs
- tombs/ burial grounds

Paragraph 2 - Romans
- roman propaganda
- roman columns/ fighting buildings

Paragraph 3 - The Middle Ages
- Romanesque/Gothic Architecture
- Stained glass windows
- the spread of religion

Paragraph 4 - 19th Century

-        Architecture was greatly influence by earlier architectural movements and foreign, exotic styles, which were adapted to the new technologies of the early modern age.

-        used motifs inspired by past empires and cultures to stimulate national nostalgia.

-        Development of new materials as a result of new industrial needs and mass production was introduced (glass, cast iron, steel)

-        Metro station at Porte Dauphine, Paris by Hector Guimard

-        “art-nouveau styled station entrances for the Paris underground railway system have become timeless symbols for the city of Paris”

-        “standardised formed metal elements…their distinctively sinuous and organic lines…inspired by the work of French type designer George Auriol, provided graphic vitality and identity that is stull an integral part of the Paris metro visual brand”.

Paragraph 5 - 20th Century

-        Invention of electricity, introduction of the telephone, automobiles, modern art

-        “twenties century innovations and inventions transformed the potential for graphic design in the built environment in the modern world more rapidly and widely than in any previous century”

Bauhaus

-        ‘Bauhaus’ is the common term for the ‘Staatliches Bauhaus’ art and architecture school in Germany, which operated from 1919 to 1933.

-        A rejection of the popular bourgeois style, and instead welcomed practical, honest and contemporary design.

-        “The Bauhaus school placed equal value on all areas of arts and crafts and stressed design for design’s sake” “its concern was for good design without regard for the design’s ultimate purpose” (GD on the desktop book)

-        “the Bauhausian ideal – a union of art and science fully realized by modern technology and materials” (GDAbook)

-        “art and technology – a new unity” “form follows function” (GDAbook)

-        “the outcome of this radical, new philosophy paved the way for a unified visual language that would eventually resonate throughout the design disciplines, including modern graphic design and architecture for the remaining decades of the 20^th century”(GDAbook)

Art Deco

-        Popular design movement from 1920 until 1939, affected ‘decorative arts.

-        Many design movements have political or philosophical roots or intentions, but Art Deco was purely decorative.

-        Elegant, functional, ultra modern, glamourous

-        “characterized by linear symmetry, geometry, sleek forms, and design motifs derived from machine age aesthetics”

-        “represents the opposite of simplicity and shows a concern with decoration and geometric shapes” (GD on the desktop book)

-        Empire State Building: art deco architectural style “evident in the stylized carved and aluminium letterforms appearing leafed above the entrance”(GDA book) “the building’s silhouette and façade lettering both stand out from their immediate surroundings” (urban book)

-        Chrysler Building: “simplified graphic abstractions of hubcaps and fenders are realized in the glazed-enamel, white and grey brick cladding of the building’s façade – all symbolizing the machine age of the 1920’s” “beacon yo American industry” (GDA book)

Paragraph 6 - 21st Century

-        New technologies, software, internet, social media and etc, hugely impacted the way both graphic designers and architects work.

-        “Popular culture, graffiti, and new non-traditional forms of visual communication such as film, video and digital media all began to have a tremendous influence on not only graphic design, but also on how graphic design could be realised in the twenty-first-century built environment.”

-        “New and innovative technologies were quickly embraced, inevitably empowering graphic designers and architects to gain more control over the realization of their ideas.”

-        “Coupled with the rapid development of new electronic, computer, and digital technologies, the distinction between graphic design and architecture has now started to evolve into one singular and impactful point of view.”

The Cooper Union

-        2010. “sign programme… is an essential and fully integrated component of the building’s innovative and dynamic architecture”

-        “typography throughout has been manipulated and dimensionalized in different ways, engaging multiple surfaces, appearing cut or extruded across corners, and extended through varied building materials.”

-        “This bold, iconic building, as well as its integrated graphic design elements, embodies the values of an institution well known for advanced education in graphic design and architecture”.

-        The Cooper Union (by Pentagram) “The signage typography has been physicalized in different ways, engaging multiple surfaces of the three-dimensional signs, appearing extruded across corners, or cut, extended and dragged through the material.”

-        “Pentagram’s graphics for the new building establish a dialogue with the older structure.”

-        “The building canopy features optically extruded lettering that appears “correct” when seen in strict elevation, but distorts as the profile of the letter is dragged backwards in space. The cut outs in the lower half of the letterforms echo the transparency of the building’s surface “skin” or perforated stainless steel.”

MOMA QNS

-         2003. From 2002 to 2004, Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) underwent renovation and expansion, during this two year period, a portion of MoMA’s collection were displayed in a former staple factory in Long Island City, Queens, and this place was dubbed MoMA QNS.

-        “The building exterior was treated like a large-scale canvas with painted MoMA QNS supergraphics covering the rooftop and building façade.”

-        “The economical and distinctive typographic feature appeared on a bright blue façade and communicated the museum’s visual identity in a consistent manner with its permanent home.”

-        “These large-scale monumental letterforms made it easy for vistors to locate MoMA QNS in the dense cityscape of Long Island City from a distance”

-        MoMA QNS (article)” Supergraphics painted on the rooftop fixtures and on the building façade communicate a visual identity consistent with MoMA’s home building in Manhattan.”

On an elevated subway line, there’s a 15 second window where the building can be spotted.

-        “Through this aperture the Museum’s new identity appears: first as a series of abstract patterns across the rooftop’s black boxes which then combine to form a legible reading of the MoMA logo before dissolving again.”

Conclusion

- sum up and link back to research question.

- identity and impact

Study Task 04 - Identities and Cosumption

Having read the excerpt from Cathrine Jansson-Boyd's Consumer Psychology write a short summary for each of the following concepts: What is meant by multiple identities? When a person adapts and acts differently in different situations in their life."The number of identities an individual has depends on how many different types of social situations they frequently find themselves in." An example given in the text is the different behaviour of a woman, when she is at work as a lawyer, and when she is at home as a mom. How are identities formed? Identities are formed through an individuals acceptance of many different aspects into their lives. "Once people reach adulthood, they tend to incorporate their feelings, what motivates them, political beliefs, religious beliefs, physical appearance, group memberships, age and the material possessions they own to describe themselves". What is social categorisation? It is when individuals categorise others in relation to themselves, and place them into groups based on their impression of them. "...we tend to focus on the groups people belong to and the type of possessions they own, we view them as a representation of what the groups and possessions stand for rather than as individuals in their own right."

Study Task 02 - Male Gaze Theory

'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' by Laura Mulvey

Paragraph Breakdown:
1. Her use of psychoanalysis as a feminist critical tool.
2. The opportunity in contemporary cinema for more radical forms that break away from patriarchal influence. ... Emerging from classic Hollywood cinema.
3. Explanation of scopophillia ... how it relates to cinema.
4. Explanation of narcissistic pleasure ... how it relates to cinema.
5. Summary of the two forms of visual pleasure, and a discussion of the castration threat.
6. The roles that men and women play in cinema and spectatorship - active/male, passive/female.
7. The constant threat of castration and how the male unconscious relinquishes it.
8. 2x case studies - Stenberg and Hitchcock.
9. Summary.

'Psychoanalytical theory is thus appropriated here as a political weapon, demonstrating the way the unconscious of patriarchal society has structured film form.'
- psychoanalysis is a reason why patriarchy exists.

'cinema has not sufficiently brought out the importance of the representation of the female form in a symbolic order in which, in the last resort, it speaks castration ad nothing else.'
- women have not been represented enough

'Woman's desire is subjugated to her image as bearer of the bleeding wound; she can exist only in relation to castration and cannot transcend it.'
' woman still tied to her place as bearer, not maker, of meaning.'
- women are all tied to their role, whilst men are free.

'The magic of Hollywood style at its best ... arose, not exclusively, but in one important aspect, from its skilled and satisfying manipulation of visual pleasure.'
'film coded the erotic into the language of the dominant patriarchal order'
- original Hollywood

'analysing pleasure, or beauty, destroys it.'
'scopophillia (pleasure in looking)'

On Freud.
'he associated scopophillia with taking other people as objects, subjecting them to a controlling and curious gaze'
- what film does to women
'voyeuristic activities of children, their desire to see and make sure of the private and forbidden'
'scopophillia is essentially active'
'relationship between the active instinct and its further development in narcissistic form'
'at the extreme, it can become fixated into a perversion, producing obsessive voyeurs and peeping toms'
- how the voyeuristic instinct can lead/grow into perversion

'the moment when a child recognises its own image in the mirror is crucial for the constitution of the ego' - ego is born at a young age
'recognition of themselves is joyous in that they imagine their mirror image to be more complete, more perfect than they experience in their own body'
'misrecognition: the image is conceived as the reflected body of the self, but its misrecognition as superior projects this body outside itself as an ideal ego, alienated subject which, re-interjected as an ego ideal'
- recognition is misrecognition.

'the cinema has structures of fascination strong enough to allow temporary loss of ego while simultaneously reinforcing it'
'likeness and difference (the glamorous impersonates the ordinary)'
- losing and reinforcing the ego

'The first, scopophilic, arises from pleasure in using another person as an object of sexual stimulation through sight. The second, developed through narcissism and the constitution of ego, comes from identification with the image seen.'
'one implies a separation of the erotic identity of the subject from the object on the screen (active scopophillia), the other demands identification of the ego with the object, on the screen through the spectator's fascination with and recognition of his like.'
'The first is a function of the sexual instincts, the second of ego and libido'.

'Desire, born in language, allows the possibility of transcending the instinctual and the imaginary, but its point of reference continually returns to the traumatic moment of its birth; the castration complex. Hence the look, pleasurable in form, can be threatening in content, and it is women as representation/image that crystallises this paradox'.
- desire vs. unconscious castration fear

'pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly'
'mainstream film neatly combines spectacle and narrative'
- male for narrative, female for spectacle
' the presence of woman is an indispensable element of spectacle in normal narrative film, yet her visual presence tends to work against the development of a story-line, to freeze the flow of action in moments of erotic contemplation'

On Budd Boetticher:
'What counts is what the heroine provokes, or rather what she represents. She is the one, or rather the love or fear she inspires in the hero, or else the concern he feels for her, who makes him act the way he does. In herself the woman has not the slightest importance.'
- women are an accessory.

'the woman displayed has functioned on two levels: as erotic object for the characters within the screen story, and as erotic object for the spectator within the auditorium, with a shifting tension between the looks on either side of the screen'.
- women are there for the male character or for the male audience
'a woman performs within the narrative; the gaze of the spectator and that of the male characters in the film are neatly combined without breaking narrative verisimilitude'
- the women are there for both the male character and for the male audience

'the male figure cannot bear the burden of sexual objectificatio'
'Man is reluctant to gaze at his exhibitionist like'
- men do not wish to gaze upon themselves

'Stars and Audiences' by R. Dyer.

'[Mulvey] argues, using a psychoanalytic framework, that classic narrative cinema continually organises looks which centre on the woman as spectacle'
' the effect of this way of looking is that the moviegoer is positioned according to the pleasures of male heterosexual desire' -Mulvey said this cannot happen.

'Steve Neale argues that looks between male characters on film are made obviously threatening and aggressive in order to divert their erotic potential'
- keeping male characters as narrative, so they don't become 'spectacle'

'Holden/Hal is placed in a position conventionally coded as feminine.'
'However, Holden's image as 'a red-blooded American boy', his ambivalent attitude to acting and anecdotes about his reckless stunts when showing off to acquaintances are read by Cohan as constructing a star profile which attempts to counteract Holden's objectification and authenticate the 'reality' of his masculinity'.
- fighting against the 'feminine' as much as possible

Male Gaze Theory:

Male gaze theory is the idea that within cinema, the storyline and presentation of different genders is catered towards the male perspective. Laura Mulvey, in her essay 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Film' describes woman on screen to have two functions: an 'erotic object for the characters within the screen story, and as an erotic object for the spectator within the auditorium'. What this suggests, is that in mainstream film, women are placed within a storyline not for substance, but for decoration. They are their either as an accessory for the main character, or as a visually and erotically stimulating object for the audience. Mulvey also mentions how mainstream film 'neatly combines spectacle and narrative'. The spectacle is the women character used as decoration, and the narrative is the male character that leads the story. This idea is supported by Budd Boetticher, who states that 'what counts is what the heroine provokes, or rather what she represents... the love or fear she inspires in the hero ...makes him act the way he does'. What Boetticher is saying is that women by themselves hold no importance within the narrative, they are only significant as long as the male character is present. This reinforced the idea of women being seen simply as spectacle and decoration. The male gaze theory towards male characters in different. As the male characters hold the 'narrative', there is a fear in shifting objectification and the idea of becoming 'spectacle'. Steve Neale states how 'looks between male characters on film are made obviously threatening and aggressive in order to divert their erotic potential'. In other words, the interaction between male characters within film are strictly controlled to be only masculine, as there is the fear that feminine attributes would jeopardise the narrative. In the cases when the male character is given feminine attributes, those are almost instantaneously contrasted and defended by an array of 'masculine' attributes. Richard Dyer looks at this fact in his discussion of the film 'Picnic', where the main character 'Holden/Hal' is placed shirtless and in a feminine position. This scene is defended by Holden's 'image as 'a red-blooded American boy', his ambivalent attitude to acting and anecdotes about his reckless stunts'. This behaviour demonstrates the need to showcase 'masculinity' in an attempt to get rid of 'feminine' attributes he was displayed with. As Richard Dyer puts it, he 'attempts to counteract Holden's objectification and authenticate the 'reality' of his masculinity'. Overall, the male gaze theory is one that is present throughout cinema, in cases subtly and in some cases obviously. It can be viewed as sexist and de-humanizing, however, it is part of 'original Hollywood', which is outdated and unacceptable in this day and age. The male gaze and its theory will always exist, due to the primitive nature of the different genders and their interaction with one another, however, the way Hollywood and cinema portrays gender roles is ever changing and evolving, so hopefully the term 'male gaze' will soon become forgotten.

Study Task 01 - Setting a research question

Graphic Design and Architecture

Design Discipline: Building graphics? Supergraphics? Murals/typography?

Open Question: How does graphic design and its use of patterns, colours, symbols and icons help create the personality of a building? OR How does graphic design affect the personality of a building?

Theoretical Research : link between architecture and graphic design
Visual Exploration: existing buildings that incorporate graphic design

Contemporary Graphic Design Practice: Supergraphics, Signage, Wayfinding

Preliminary Research: Book 'Graphic Design + Arhcitecture, A 20th Century History: A Guide to Type, Image, Symbol, and Visual Storytelling in the Modern World' by Richard Poulin
Article 'The Architecture of Graphic Design's Discourse' https://designobserver.com/feature/the-architecture-of-graphic-designs-discourse/39694/

Primary Research Methods: Interview architects? Interview graphic designers who work with architects?

Study Task 03: Studio Brief 1 - Visual Analysis

Ebay

Descriptive Analysis:
Colour - brand logo colure used limitedly around the site, only to 'highlight'. otherwise grey and white, simple and clean
Type - consistent typeface throughout the site
Layout - clearly structured and boxed off where appropriate. attention placed on important features.
Message - attention to products, principle of sell,sell,sell.
Subjects - products
Logos, icons etc. - limited use of icons, more text based as the service is so complex.

Contextual Analysis:
Time - modern and up to date design
Place/Geography - worlwide audience, neutral interface
Industry - internet, e-commerce, focused on product
Client/Audience - sellers and buyers, giving opportunity to all
Culture - online shopping/e-commerce, convienience
Class/Race/Gender - all
Technology - modern interface design, appeals to all audiences, fast software

Theoretical Analysis:
Consumerism - e-commerce/online shopping, 'Help & Contact' easily found/accessible on homage, good/easy communication between buyers/sellers
New Media Theory - accessible on all appropriate digital devices, users can share reviews and opinions about products/sellers

EE

Descriptive Analysis:
Colour - bright teal and yellow, feels juvenile and overwhelming, intended to be eye-catching
Type - inconsistent and confusing, hierarchy of information is lost
Layout - distorted, no specific grid system, images are different sizes so the audience doesn't know where to look, inconsistency in negative white space as they are attempting to show too much all at once
Message - wants to sell and be attention grabbing/memorable, selling too much all at once, attempting to be youthful and playful but simply looks juvenile and unprofessional
Logos, icons etc. - main logo fairly small and not noticeable, limited and unclear use of icons, "My EE" feature twice on the homepage so it is confusing, some image features could be confused as navigation icons

Contextual Analysis:

Lecture Programme Summary

Theory, Practice and Professionalism is at the core of our undergraduate studies (Cop, Studio Practice and PPP Modules). 

Experiential Learning is cyclical.

-->>> Knowledge: You recall or recognise information -> Comprehension: You make quantitative and qualitative judgements relating to established criteria -> Application: You solve problems by using appropriate knowledge and generalisation -> Analysis: You separate information into component parts -> Synthesis: You solve problems by combining information through original and creative thinking -> Evaluation: You change information into a different form, format or media -->>>

We are here because ...

...it is our job to communicate.

...we solve problems of communication through type, image and/or motion.

...we are interested in words, language, message and meaning.

...we need to be able to effectively communicate ideas, concepts and content to different audiences in a range of contexts.

Visual Communication:

- is a process of sending and receiving messages using type and images.

- is based on a level of shared understandings of signs, symbols, gestures and objects.

- is affected by audience, context, media and method of distribution.

Visual Literacy:

- is the ability to interpret, negotiate and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image.

- is based on the idea that pictures can be read.

- all that is necessary for any language to exist is an agreement amongst a group of people that one thing will stand for another.

- visual communication is made up of presentational symbols whose meaning results from their existence in particular contexts ... the conventions of visual communication are a combination of universal and cultural symbols.

Western Visual Cultural History:

- The Bauhaus (1919 - 1933)

- Introduction of Apple Macintosh (1990)

- Invention of the worldwide web (www.its-all-yours.com)

"Process is more important than outcome.

When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may end up where we have not yet been."

What happens from here? - Context of Practice 2:

- exploring discipline specific content.

- developing individual areas of interest.

- formulating research questions.

- developing practical and contextual research skills.

- writing research project proposals.

- research informed practice and academic writing.

Theory (Knowing that...) + Practice (Knowing how...) = Synthesis

Study Task 05: Studio Brief 2 - Research

Contextual Research

Characteristics of Successful User Interfaces

Clear - The whole purpose of user interface design is to enable people to interact with it by communicating meaning and function. If the audience is uanble to work out how the application works they will get confused, frustrated and become unsatisfied. 

Concise - Although clarity is great, it is important to not over-clarify. If too many definitions and explanations are added, the interface will become over-crowded, so the information needs to be clear but also concise.

Familiar - An ‘intuitive’ interface means something that can be naturally and instinctively understood and comprehended. So, to make something intuitive, it needs to be  ‘familiar’. When the audience is familiar with something, they know how it behaves and know what to expect, which makes their user experience more comfortable and pleasant.

Responsive - Responsive means fast. The interface as well as the software behind it, should work fast. Seeing things load quickly, or even at least, an interface that loads quickly imporves the user experience. Responsive also means that the interface provides some form of feedback. ‘Pressed’ state in buttons, “Loading...”, a spinning wheel or a progress bar are all examples of ways to communicate responsiveness to the audience.

Consistent - Consitent interfaces allow users to develop usage patterns. The audience are able to learn the different buttons, tabs, icons and other elements and can recognize them and realize what they do in different contexts. They also learn how things work, which enables them to adapt to new features quicker, extrapolating from those previous experiences.

Attractive - This is making the usage of an interface enjoyable. When the software is pleasant to use, the audience will not simply use it, but look forward to using it. What looks ‘good’ for any particular audience will vary, so it is important to adapt to the different audiences. ‘Aesthetics’ should only be used in moderation and to enforce function.

Amazon  

Amazon.com, also called Amazon, is an American electronic commerce and cloud computing company that was founded on July 5, 1994 by Jeff Bezos and is based in Seattle, Washington. It is the largest Internet-based retailer in the world by total sales and market capitalization.

Since June 19, 2000, Amazon’s logotype has featured a curved arrow leading from A to Z, representing that the company carries every product from A to Z, with the arrow shaped like a smile.

Amazon Video

Amazon Video is an Internet video on demand service that is developed, owned and operated by Amazon.com. It offers television shows and films for rental or purchase and as part of Amazon’s Prime subscription, selected titles can be viewed exclusively to full Prime or Prime Video members, in which video membership allows viewing without full Prime. Like competitors, Amazon has pursued a number of exclusive content deals to differentiate its service, including a multi-year licensing deal with HBO in the United States.

The service debuted on September 7, 2006 as Amazon Unbox in the United States.[8] On September 4, 2008, the service was renamed Amazon Video on Demand.

On February 22, 2011, the service rebranded as Amazon Instant Video and added access to 5,000 movies and TV shows for Amazon Prime members.[11][12] On September 4, 2012, Amazon signed a deal with pay-TV channel Epix to feature movies on their streaming service, in a move to rival their competitor Netflix.In September 2015 the word “Instant” was dropped from its title in the US, and it was renamed simply Amazon Video.[21] In November 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon was pursuing streaming rights to U.S. professional sports leagues to further differentiate the service.

Netflix (Competitor)

Netflix, Inc. is an American entertainment company founded on August 29, 1997, in Scotts Valley, California,[7] by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph. It specializes in and provides streaming media and video-on-demand online and DVD by mail. In 2013 Netflix expanded into film and television production, as well as online distribution. As of 2017 the company has its headquarters in Los Gatos, California.

Netflix entered the content-production industry in 2013, debuting its first series, House of Cards. It has greatly expanded the production of both film and television series since then, offering “Netflix Original” content through its online library of films and television.[10] Netflix released an estimated 126 original series or films in 2016, more than any other network or cable channel.

Amazon Video vs. Netflix

- Netflix support is significantly better in some areas. For example, Netflix has been available for Chromecast for ages now, but we’re still waiting to get an official Instant Video app. However, you can use the Chromecast’s browser cast function to throw Amazon Prime Video from your laptop or smartphone browser onto your TV.

- There is an Amazon Video streaming app for both Android and iOS, and both now allow you to stream video over a mobile network connection (which the iOS app didn’t used to support). However, you need to download the Android app from the Amazon Appstore, not Google Play, and for some reason need to have the Amazon store app installed too. Given that you pay for Instant Video, needing to have the whole Amazon app suite on your phone seems pretty rich.

- One standout feature of Prime Instant Video is the ability to download certain films and TV shows onto your Fire tablet, Fire phone, and Android/iOS devices for watching offline. While not all titles are available, there’s a good amount of content which you can download. This is something that Netflix doesn’t currently offer.

- Netflix tries hard to make sure its apps are fairly consistent across all platforms. It looks fairly similar on a PS4, a Sony TV or an Android phone.

- All of Netflix’s apps take a “lean-back” approach, designed to be idly thumbed through in a pretty carefree fashion. You scroll up and down to flick through themes or genres, and left/right to check out movies or TV series within that sub-set. One of Netflix’s cleverest elements is that these little subgenres will depend on your preferences. While the basics stick around, other categories are determined by the films you’ve picked previously.

- Netflix has made its apps far more image-led and seamless than before, with information panels developing on the same page rather than switching to whole new one, and in some cases, with videos effectively starting automatically in the background.

- Amazon has evidently taken notes from the Netflix school of media streaming interface design. The Amazon Video apps of today are far heavier on the curation side of things than they used to be. Amazon seems to be gradually bringing its various apps closer together in terms of look and functionality, but they’re still not as uniform or as strongly defined as Netflix. 

- You can tell you’re in Netflix as soon as you glimpse one of its apps, but Amazon’s various offerings often seem to lack a clear identity. However, what used to be a big problem for the service, i.e. the confusing mixture of content belonging to different payment structures, is no longer an issue in Amazon’s latest apps. What you see is what you can watch for free.

- Amazon’s apps still aren’t as clean and intuitive as Netflix. Amazon’s service is simply too sprawling and multi-tiered by nature. But its mobile apps in particular borrow heavily from its great rival, and there’s no longer a massive usability gulf between the two services.

- One way in which the Amazon apps are notably superior to the Netflix ones is in the aforementioned offline support. It’s possible to download Instant Video content for later viewing.

- Neither service has come up with a perfect way to relay thousands of bits of content, both services are generally strong. Netflix wins for the clarity and consistency of its UI, but Amazon has improved massively in this regard. Amazon has its reason to boast with its offline feature. The sooner Netflix adds this, the better.

Amazon Brand Guidelines (applies to Amazon Video and other Amazon brands)

Colour: Amazon Orange HEX #FF9900 RGB 255/153/0

Colour: Black HEX #000000 RGB 0/0/0

Colour: Amazon Blue HEX #146EB4 RGB 20/110/180

The Amazon logo must be no smaller than 1” wide for print or 72 pixels on screen.

Clear space around the logo is based on the letter ‘o’. Horizontal space required is the full width of the ‘o’ on either side. Vertical space required is half the height of the ‘o’ above and below.

Logo/Colour Combinations

If background colours other than black and white are used, the background must provide adequate contrast for the logo.

Target Audience Research

Demographic

- age 8-80 approx.

- new parents 

- young adults developing shopping habits

- 45% of online buyers in the age group of 35-49

- increased focus towards the younger audience

Geographic

- all over the world

- selling digital where physical is difficult

Psychographic

- focus on personalisation and customer loyalty

- website is updated/re-designed often to keep it modern and dynamic

- quality customer care to develop long term relationships

- recommends/suggests similar products that a customer has liked/viewed before

- online purchasing is more convenient for business people, new parents etc.

A demographic target audience are consumers of a specific gender, age group, income level and educational level. Amazon’s demographic target audience are consumers of all genders, all ages, all income and all educational levels. This is because Amazon provides the opportunity to purchase almost anything, and has products available that would attract and satisfy any demographic segment. Statistically, however, 45% of Amazons online buyers are 35 to 49 years old. Therefore, there is an increased focus towards the younger audience, with features like ‘Amazon Student’ hoping to attract students, and ‘Amazon Mom’ hoping to attract new parents, so the young adults can develop e-commerce shopping habits.

A geographic target audience are consumers within a certain location; town, city, country etc. Amazon’s geographic target audience are consumers worldwide. They have a range of international sites such as amazon.fr, amazon.de, amazon.at and others, all of which are easily accesible through the main amazon.com and amazon.co.uk sites. As for the countires without a separate site, the main amazon.com and amazon.co.uk sites provide international shipping, with the principle of selling digital where physical is difficult, therefore driving Amazon’s popularity and profit.

A psychographic target audience are consumers that have certain attitudes, values or lifestyle. Amazon’s psychographic target audience are consumers of various attitudes, values and lifestyles. Amazon’s seemingly infinite range of products allows the business to provide for the needs of all type of consumer groups, but only if they are accustomed and comfortable with e-commerce. Online shopping overall doesn’t seem as reliable as physical in-store, as you cannot touch or see the product before you buy it. However, one of Amazon’s main focuses is quality customer care and developing long term relationships with the customers. By responding quickly and effectively to customer problems and inquiries, they are able to build trust and comfort in the brand. E-commerce is hugely seen as convenient and time-saving, so a big part of the psychographic target audience are people who are busy; with demanding jobs, newly born children etc. Amazon Prime is another feature for time-savers, with a paid annual membership allowing 1/2 day shipping for anything ordered. Amazon often also has deals and offers being advertised, such are aimed at a psychographic audience of those wanting to save money, such a single moms/dads, newly weds, new parents etc.

Related Visual Examples

In order to effectively re-design ‘Amazon Video’ it is logical to look at the current user interface (Figure 1). The service is accessible within the main ‘Amazon.com’ site, and although this is resonable as ‘Amazon Video’ is part of the main brand, for a user wishing to use just the single service this may feel as a hassle and a distraction. Because of this, the re-design will feature ‘Amazon Video’ as a separate url website. The interface at present also feels very chaotic, with a lot of advertisements and seemingly no grid structure of content. This could become annoying and an eye-sore for the user, so the re-design will attempt to utilize more grid guidelines and pay more attention to content quantity and size. The navigational links are small and get buried within the rest of the content, so they may go unnoticed by the user and cause frustration if they cannot find where they wish to go. Because of this, the re-design will focus more on navigational ease and guding the user throughout the interface without confusion. As the brief requires the re-design to be an enhancement of the service, not a complete re-brand, the logo, brand colours and content groupings will stay the same. The current hierarchy of visual information will also be taken into consideration. 

‘Netflix’ is the evident biggest competitor for ‘Amazon Video’, so a look at their interface can help to identify what makes them so succesful. The interface (Figure.2) is very much image-led, with a large focus on the content, with significantly less non-content related advertisements than ‘Amazon Video’. This, along with the signature horizontal strips of content browsing, is what ‘Netflix’ is known for. In response to this, the re-design of ‘Amazon Video’ can undoubtedly benefit from less advertising, as well as a more distinct content browsing layout. The navigation throughout ‘Netflix’ is clear and succint, information panels for selected TV shows or movies develop within the same page, allowing the user to browse content with less hassle and feel free to be more decisive. The re-design for ‘Amazon Video’ should also pay greater attention to the user expierience, and make content browsing easier and more streamline. 

‘Vudu’ is an alternative for ‘Amazon Video’. The service is slightly different as it is Rent/Buy only, however, it’s interface (Fugure.3) is well structured and effective for its purpose. The content is presented as the focus of the interface, with a clean and specific grid system that allows the user to easily differentiate between the titles. Re-design of ‘Amazon Video’ should also adapt a fixed grid system that could allow attention to be drawn to the content without it becoming over-whelming. User navigation within the design is very clear and distinct, especially with the use of large text size, the use of a ‘moving tab’  to reflect which section of the content the user is accessing and the accompanied use of bright yellow to further highlight that. The ‘Amazon Video’ re-design should also explore design elements such as text size and colour, in order to enhance user navigation and give the website as a whole a more comprehensive and cohesive image. 

‘Itunes’ is yet another alternative to ‘Amazon Video’ with a Rent/Buy option only. The service is part of and available through the ‘Itunes’ music app, similarly to how  ‘Amazon Video’ is available through ‘Amazon.com’. However, where ‘Amazon Video’ is buried within the multi-layered functions of ‘Amazon.com’, within ‘Itunes’ the finite yet precise options of music, TV and movies all work cohesively and are distinctly presented. The re-design of ‘Amazon Video’ also needs to edit down on the numerous options provided to the user, and draw together the scattered content groupings. The interface layout of ‘Itunes’ has an evident grid system which enables them to place a lot of content into a smaller space, however, due to the smaller size that the app initially opens up to, the content can become lost and difficult to differentiate. When re-designing ‘Amazon Video’ content size should be considered in relation to size of the platform; where website access can afford to fit more and smaller content without losing clarity, other platforms such as mobile app would have to utilize bigger content windows and navigation.

Study Task 04: Studio Brief 2 - Defining the brief

Research Focus

- The focus for this project will be on the theme of technology, and how user interface and user expierience design can help grow a brand.

- I will be exploring and working with the graphic disicpline of ‘design for screen’.

- Research Question: What design decisions/specific features make for a successful user interface and user expierience?

Design Problem

- The problem I will be exploring/resolving is: an online business requires a re-design of interface for their online on demand entertainment service.

Client Needs/Requirements

- The hypothetical client I will be working for is Amazon.com, on their ‘Amazon Video’ feature. 

- The needs/requirements they have is for me to design the user interface for ‘Amazon Video’ as a seperate website to the main Amazon.com page, as well as a coresponding app for mobile.

- The website and app would still need to have design aspects that associate to the Amazon.com brand.

- The audience should be able to recognise that the website and app is part of Amazon.com, but still be able to differentiate and consider it as a seperate service. 

Audience

- The project is being designed for current ‘Amazon Video’ users to ease their interaction with it, as well as for potential users, to make the service more appealing and accessible to them.

Studio Brief 1 - Triangulation and Referencing Online Sources

http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/pictograms-symbols-branding-visual-language-digital-age-lee-coomber-lippincott-opinion-010616

https://stickybranding.com/make-your-brand-iconic-the-power-of-symbols-in-branding/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/online-businesses-are-really-user-interface-businesses/

https://www.usertesting.com/blog/2015/08/04/user-friendly-ui-icons/

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/reasons-small-business-needs-online-presence-27742.html

https://medium.com/blu-mint-digital/ui-design-vs-ux-design-whats-the-difference-af97c2ff052a

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=whQWBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA135&lpg=PA135&dq=poor+online+presence+offline+businesses&source=bl&ots=D4mxwcL0Bo&sig=YEFVrpUgcnWzpR9750UCuSX-tOs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwie2bPN_pzTAhVFOMAKHSAwDWsQ6AEIUTAJ#v=onepage&q=poor%20online%20presence%20offline%20businesses&f=false