Iconography

This is the Starbucks symbol.  This relates to the concept of iconography, cultural appropriation, and global flows. Iconography refers to an interpretation or visual images or symbols.  An icon is a representative symbol of a person, place, or thing.  By this definition, the Starbucks  symbol is the perfect example of an icon.  Starbucks started as a small local coffee shop in Seattle, Washington in the early 1970s.  Starbucks became known for their coffee flavors and creations.  As Starbucks’ popularity grew, so did the popularity of the interesting symbol on their cups.  When Starbucks became a chain establishment, the symbol on the cups became the representation for Starbucks.  Now, Starbucks is a world wide known company.  There are Starbucks establishments all over the world, from the United States, to Europe, to Asia. No matter where you are in the world, if you see the symbol on the cup of the building, you know it’s Starbucks.  Starbucks has taken advantage of this.  Starbucks often offers holiday cups or limited time cups with a new design as an advertising strategy.  As long as they have the emblem, regardless of the change in cup design or color, everyone will still know they are going into or getting Starbucks.  This is important considering Starbucks are found all over the world.  This solves the issue of a language or cultural barrier.  If an American is traveling in Italy, or China, as long as they see the symbol, they will know they are walking into a Starbucks.

The use of the symbol has been positive in the United States,  However, the image on the symbol is often criticized as objectifying towards women.  The symbol portrays a nude mermaid.  Many find this offensive and objectifying to women because nudity it being used to represent and advertise a product.  Why does she have to be nude?  If the symbol has to be nude, why can it not be a man?  Starbucks has been under scrutiny several times for the actual image. It has evolved several times over the past 40 or so years and still receives criticism.  However, it is so iconic that if Starbucks were to change the symbol now, Starbucks would probably see a decrease in sales all over the world.  Personally, as a female, I do not have an issue with the cup, because at the end of the day…it’s a cup holding a cup of coffee.    I think that something that would be more culturally accepted in the United States would either glorify American values, or would be more central to the birthplace of Starbucks.

Arjun Appadurai is most closely related to this assignment.  His view of culture activity and specialization in globalization included ethnoscapes, mediascapes, ideoscapes, and technoscapes.  This fits the assignment because he  explained these ideas and related it back to iconography.

In this assignment, I learned more about iconography.  I also learned about how places or things that are iconic in the United States use symbols to expand their popularity across cultures.

May 2, 2016May 2, 2016 by krispoli849 Categories: Comm 265 Leave a comment

Brain / Pharma Ads

The brain simulations were quite interesting.  It was very interesting to review the different parts of the brain.  However, it did not particularly persuade me to change how I live my life in order to have better functioning.  It is important to me to exercise regularly, eat healthy, and sleep a healthy amount (even though this might not always happen).  I do not use drugs and my alcoholic intake is extremely low.  I always make sure I am not glued to my television or phone (unless I’m texting someone or calling someone).  I read a significant amount simply for pleasure and I believe this gives me a healthy brain functioning.

I enjoyed the healthline.com site.  I enjoyed it because when you click on a part of the brain, it gives you a summary of what that part does for the brain and body function.  I thought this was extremely interesting.  I did not enjoy the other site as much because it did not explain the parts of the brain or what the did.  It was like looking at an image without receiving any context.  The image would have been more powerful if it offered an explanation.  Without the explanation it was boring and seemed somewhat pointless.  I learned more from the other site, which was something I really appreciated.  However, while it was informative, it was still not persuasive enough to make me want to change my lifestyle.  In order or it to be persuasive, it would have had to tell me how to improve my brain function and what harms brain function.  I do not really understand a much more than I did before.  I would not say that this would go along with the idea of “the truth made visible.”

 

Pharmaceutical companies advertise their medications through Direct to Consumer Pharmaceutical  Advertisements. This is an ad for Lantus.  Lantus is a drug for diabetics looking to better manage their diabetes.  It depicts a person runniny on top of clocks balanced on a lake.  This advertisement does not have a checklist of symptoms that interpellates the viewer.  The side effects include tremors, headaches, low blood sugar, trouble concentrating, and seizures.  Considering there was not checklist of symptoms, one would not know if the list of side effects is longer than the list of symptoms the drug treats. Overall, the drug promises to help treat diabetes.

This assignment relates to the idea of mediascape. Mediascape refers to the way visual imagery impacts the world.

From this assignment I have a better understanding of how medicines and drugs are advertised to consumers.  I think it is interesting that in this particular ad, the image has nothing to do with diabetes.  I think it is interesting how the advertisements emphasize certain words such as the list of symptoms the drug treats, or what the drug is supposed to do.  The ads almost seem to hide the parts of the ad that would turn the consumer away from the product.

 

 

 

Image

https://www.google.com/search?q=pharmaceutical+advertising&biw=1222&bih=698&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwj_6Pv-iqvMAhVHQiYKHeeEAXYQ_AUIBygC#imgrc=kDx8GET6PPqVJM%3A

 

April 25, 2016 by krispoli849 Categories: Comm 265 Leave a comment

Poster Session

This is the last poster session I attended.  This poster presents research on the Lotka-Volterra Predator-Prey Model and Solution.  The presenters were Erin Barbee, Dave Cartwright, and Samantha Siebert.  This data was collected for a math class (I’m cannot recall what the name of the class was called).

The group was presenting in GHH during a very crowded poster session time.  Therefore, their audience was a mixed group of people with different level of knowledge about their topic.  One issue I noted they had is that they had trouble garnering attention of others.  Also, I noted that as they presented they would lose their audience.  This is challenging to present information with confidence.  I noticed that as this continued to happen, the group seemed to not really care any more about presenting their data.

Their learning objective was to study, analyze, and be able to inform others about this specific model and its solution.  I honestly did not understand what they were saying.  While I understand that it is hard to present in an extremely crowded room, to people you do not know, it would have been a more engaging presentation if they had explained their data and reasoning in a more in depth way .

Something I did not realize right away was that there were three people in the group presenting.  I had originally thought it was only the two girls pictured above.  However, only when I finish taking the picture that there was another group member.  It took me a while to realize that the guy standing near them, but not saying anything was part of their group.

I like their poster.  Their poster was my favorite out of all the posters I’d seen.  It was the easiest to read and most aesthetically pleasing.  They separated their poster into an introduction, methods, calculations, applications, drawbacks and reference section.  Something I thought set their poster apart from others is that they were the only group who explained how the formulas they used applied to their experiment and either enhanced or took away from their data.  While I may not have understood any of what they said, I did appreciate that they explained how and why the formulas and calculations mattered.

Their poster was easy to read.  The spacing was excellent.  Nothing was too far apart or too close together.  Successfully creating flowing spatial relationships between sections or images or words can be challenging.  Their graphics were visible and a good size. I also really liked the color of their poster.  It was professional poster, but still cute and set it apart from other posters.

Overall, I liked their poster but did not like their presentation.  Their presentation felt awkward and was hard to follow.  In the past posts I summarized the data each presenter explained.  However, I felt so lost in this presentation that I do not think I could accurately regurgitate the information and explain what they explained.  I will not fully blame this on the presenters as it was quite loud in GHH.

April 25, 2016April 25, 2016 by krispoli849 Categories: Comm 265 Leave a comment

Poster Session 265

To start off this assignment, I must apologize for the awful lighting in this picture.  This was taken in GHH where windows are quite abundant and sunlight is fierce.  This is the poster of Michaella Petrucci. This is her business plan and model for her business enterprise class.  All business majors are required to take this class and in order to pass the course, students must come up with their own innovative business.

Michaella’s business plan is for an ice cream shop.  She explained that the ice cream shop will be different than others because unlike your traditional ice cream shop, hers will be technologically advanced.  What sets this ice cream shop apart is that when someone goes to order their ice cream, they submit their order on an iPad.  They can select their flavor, toppings, and size of their ice cream.  Also instead of the price being based off of the amount of toppings like most stores, there is one fixed price based off of the size of the order.

Michaella’s rhetorical situation was to explain her business model and why it would be successful to people who would normally not have any background knowledge about creating a business.  However, considering the massive audience attending the poster sessions I would argue that everyone that listened to her presentation had a different background in their knowledge of business and creating a business.  I also must note that there were several presentations going on at this time and therefore, it is hard to focus or gain an audience.  Considering I am not a business major, minor, or core concentration, I do not have a business background.  I understand business as much as the next person.  Therefore, watching her presentation was very informative and I learned a lot.  Overall, her presentation was good.  She was clear and explicit and organized with her explanation of her research and her idea.  It was very easy to follow her plan.

Her learning objective was to have a better understanding of business, how business works, and how to start a business.  She said she had a considerable amount of trouble trying to iron out all the little, yet important details of her business model.  She said there are so many factors to consider when creating a business from scratch.

Something that could have been better was the organization of her poster.  I found it hard to follow the information on the poster as she spoke. I think there was a lot going on at once. I think she should have considered better spacing options between the sections on her poster.  I also think she could have done a nicer job with cutting the paper so that it had straight edges.  I think it would have looked more organized.  Lastly, Michaella, while extremely well informed on the subject of her presentation, did not present with confidence.  She was extremely shy and not sure of what to say.  However, I will say that I would not be able to stand up in front of strangers and talk about my business plan.  Overall, she did extremely well.

 

April 21, 2016 by krispoli849 Categories: Comm 265 Leave a comment

Pastiche

Sturken and Cartwright define pastiche as, “a style of plagiarizing, quoting, and borrowing from previous styles with no reference to history or a sense of rules” For this assignment I chose a reworked version of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.”  The original “Mona Lisa” portrays a Renaissance era woman with a neutral expression.  The background is filled with a landscape portrait.  This, however, portrays the “Mona Lisa” through Legos.  In place of the woman in the original painting, there is a smiling Lego with a wig.  The background is made of Legos and features a blurry version of a nature landscape.  The image is amusing and funny to look at.  Therefore, it parodies the original.   The original is historical and iconic.  Everyone knows the image and its historical importance.  Therefore, when it was recreated with Legos one would still automatically be able to tell what the image is of and what it parodies.

This is a meme from graphjam.com.  Graphjam is home to a plethora of memes.  For the most part, they are pretty funny.  Memes are a distant cousin of pastiche as they usually parody an original idea of something.  For example, the meme above parodies a pie chart.  It also parodies a very common phrase from the show “Game of Thrones.”  It provides comic relief to both viewers who do not know the show and to viewers who do know the show.  As someone who has seen Game of Thrones, I thought this was hysterical.  It is funny because it is true.  The line “winter is coming’ has been parodied by countless memes.

Graphjam is very interesting.  It has countless of memes with different content, featuring different images, charts and ideas.  Honestly, as I was searching for a meme for this assignment, I found myself getting lost in the site, looking at several memes that were amusing and made funny comments about every day life.  It was hard to choose just one meme for this assignment.  Additionally, you can make an account to create and vote for memes.  It is a community.  The site is an example of pastiche as it offers comic relief paired with traditional graphics. The website creates content users relate to.

The theorist that best fits this assignment is Richard Dryer, who spoke about bringing together parts and elements from other words to imitate an original work.  This is very similar to the definition of pastiche.

I enjoyed this assignment and feel confident that I have a better understanding of pastiche.  I thought it was interesting to learn about how memes relate to pastiche.  I love memes and I love looking at them, therefore, this assignment was very pleasant and informative to me.  I also think I have a better understanding of what a parody is.  Overall I found the assignment informative and think it may even help  me write our term paper about iconic images.

 

 

Link to the Lego image

https://www.google.com/search?q=the+mona+lisa+lego&safe=active&biw=1235&bih=698&tbm=isch&imgil=0UZN_wRTsXEomM%253A%253BV1DKKOlSOUVMbM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%25252Fnews%25252Farticle-1140942%25252FBrick-Art-The-Mona-Lisa-masterpieces-Lego.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=0UZN_wRTsXEomM%253A%252CV1DKKOlSOUVMbM%252C_&usg=__s8pCRuytESw6TIxGBJwhVtYntzk%3D&ved=0ahUKEwjq6JDj5ofMAhUGVyYKHf3RCwQQyjcIKQ&ei=3DsMV-qKCoaumQH9o68g#imgrc=0UZN_wRTsXEomM%3A

Link to meme

http://cheezburger.com/6636734208

 

April 11, 2016 by krispoli849 Categories: Comm 265 Leave a comment

Culture Jamming

Original Ad

For this media jamming assignment, I chose to do a Chipotle advertisement.  Chipotle is a fast food restaurant chain that specializes in tacos, burritos, and burrito bowls.  Think Subway but with a Spanish twist.  Chipotle advertises fresh and locally grown and produced food.  It is an extremely popular fast food  chain that has gained popularity in recent years.  This Chipotle advertisement is a play on the burrito making process by saying “usually when you roll something this good, it’s illegal.”

Reworked Ad

Recently, Chipotle has experienced several closings due to so many customers experiencing food poisoning.  This has lead to several restaurants closing to retrain their staff on proper food management and handling, or closing for good.   This totally contradicts the advertisement that Chipotle is so good it should be illegal.

I reworked the original advertisement.  I changed it to say “usually when you roll something this good, it’s food poisoning.”  I thought this was a cynical way of spreading the reality of the potential health risks of eating Chipotle, or anywhere that boasts that their fast food is different than other establishments because they are more natural and healthy.  However, if anyone has every been to a Chipotle, they’d know that food that sits under a heating lamp for a couple of hours is not healthy or safe.  At the end of the day, fast food is fast food.  It will always be a cheap meal that lacks in nutrition no matter what.  It will always be less healthy than simply making a meal at home.I wanted to bring to light the recent controversial issues surrounding Chipotle.

I chose this particular ad because prior to the controversy and food poisoning outbreaks, I was a frequent customer of Chipotle.  Since the food poisoning and food handling issues have surrounded the company, I have ceased going to Chipotle.  I also chose this particular ad because I thought my way of reworking it was natural.

I think the theorist that best fits this assignment is Kalle Lasn.  She spoke about detournement, which rerouting messages to create new meaning.  For this media jamming assignment, I played around with the words to create a new message to viewers.

I really enjoyed this assignment.  I though it was fun to look at advertisements and add some truth into the message.  I found it to be incredibly easy to come up with an idea.  The only issue I had was choosing a well known company as there are so many famous advertisements from huge companies.

This assignment connects to what we did in class because during class we observed images and came up with words associated with logos and pathos that came to mind when viewing he images.  It was an extremely interesting way to connect our class to our blog assignment.  By doing this assignment, I learned about media jamming.  I also learned more about the manipulative, (both positive and negative) nature of advertising.

If I had more time, I would try to find a font that matched with the rest of the ad.

April 4, 2016 by krispoli849 Categories: Comm 265 1 Comment

Media Tracking

 

Over a 48 hour period, I have found that I use Twitter the most over any other social media app on my phone.  I like using Twitter because it is an easy way to find links to news articles, get short 140 character updates from friends, and a constant way of always being fed information from everything and everyone you are interested in.  I spent an embarrassing amount of time on Twitter.  This is because I traveled home.  On the long car, and train ride, Twitter was my source of entertainment.  I probably spent around five hours total on Twitter within the 48 hours I observed my social media apps.  I also used Netflix before bed quite a bit.  This was not surprising to me at all.

The media form I used the least of was the television.  Considering my family was watching March Madness the whole weekend, and I am not it was unsurprising to me that television was my least used media platform.  However, while at school, I barely watch television as well.  This is because of two factors- one, being that Netflix has everything I could possibly want to watch, and two- my television only has one channel.

I spent a lot of time in contact with people over media.  This is pretty normal for me because since I go to school three hours away from home, my phone is my main source of communication with family and friends.  The same happens when I go home and want to contact my friends from school.  This past weekend I probably spent a total of three hours messaging others over social media.

I barely used monologic media.  Monologic media is one sided and includes television and radio.  The only time I used the radio was when driving in my car for a short distance.  And, as previously stated I barely watched television.

I was not surprised by my media use.  When I go home for weekends, the amount of texting I do naturally increases.  I usually browse my social media sites at night before bed.  Again, I noticed I use Twitter the most.  This was not surprising.  However, what did surprise me was the fact that I would think I was on Twitter for 10 minutes and then all of a sudden it was close to 2am and I had been scrolling through it for a couple of hours!

This assignment has made me more aware of how lost I get in scrolling through Twitter.  I think I would probably make sure from now on that I don’t end up wasting my precious sleeping hours on Twitter.  Other than this, I think my social media usage was fairly normal.  Media use in general does not surprise me.  It is a constant in our lives and constantly feeds us new information every single time we check it.

I think the theorist we have discussed in class that best fits this assignment was Emile Durkheim.  He believed that media has an influence on how people think and their opinions.  This is very true because media is a very relevant part of our society today and is often extremely biased.

March 28, 2016 by krispoli849 Categories: Comm 265 Leave a comment

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a California based non-profit organization that specializes in copyrighting licenses.  It is a free service that allows users to creatively build and expand on works legally.  Copyright laws were put in place to protect a person’s rights to their original work.  Creative Commons modifies this idea by allowing users to use a copyright license tailored to what they would like to share with others and still keep the rights too in order to expand the creative process.  Users can choose from six licenses.  These licenses can allow people to decide if their work can be used commercially and if they would like allow adaptions of the users work to be shared.  The site allows users to share music and pictures and if you are the owner of that work, you can customize the rights you give people in order to share your work.

The reason Creative Commons is so innovative is because it breaks the traditional mold of copyright laws.  Traditional copyright laws use an :”all or nothing” approach.  In short, every aspect of a work is protected from being shared and expanded on.  Creative Commons bends these rules because of the customization aspect.  I think this creates less tension when dealing with the creative process or developmental process because the rules are not as rigid.  If anything it allows for more innovative ideas and creations rather than hindering creative advancement due to fear of copyright laws.

“Gone With the Wind,” a novel by Margaret Mitchell, published in 1936, was later turned into a film in 1939 after major success.  It was directed by Victor Fleming.  Considering Creative Commons was founded in 2001, “Gone With The Wind,” was written well before the flexible licenses offered by Creative Commons were available.  Therefore, it was subject to the strict copyright laws of the era.  It cannot be shared, expanded upon, or altered.  It also prohibits any possibility of a sequel or spin off.  It Creative Commons had existed at the time, Margaret Mitchell would have been able to customize her own restrictions, allowing it to be altered and shared.

Bela Lugosi, a Hungarian actor, was famous for his role as Dracula in the 1931 film of the same name. Lugosi was very invested in his character and felt that he connected with the character of Dracula.  This led him to want to pursue the rights of the personality of Dracula on the grounds of them being similar.  Creative Commons would not have been able to assist in Bela Lugosi’s case as the company does not protect or have copyright licenses regarding a character or personality.

I think the thinker that goes with this assignment is Walter Benjamin.  He spoke about how images are reproduced.  If an image is reproduced too many times, it decreases the aura and authenticity of the image.  Considering Creative Commons allows users to share and alter images, Walter Benjamin would be critical of this idea.

From doing this assignment, I learned a lot of the Creative Commons.  I am more well informed about copyright laws as well.

February 29, 2016 by krispoli849 Categories: Comm 265 Leave a comment

Self Portraits

For this assignment I decided to use a selfie as my base picture.  After choosing my picture, I decided to draw a self portrait of myself while incorporating symbols I feel describe myself.  I started off with coloring my face as the Italian flag.  I am Italian through and through.  Both of my parents are Italian, and I speak Italian. My core concentration is Italian and I am actually traveling to Rome this summer.  I grew up experiencing Italian culture and family life.  It is the foundation of who I am, therefore, I decided to make it my symbolic foundation-my skin!  I then drew a cleft note in place of my nose.  I thought this was kind of clever because live and breathe music.  I would not be able to fully function if I did not have music in my life.  I have played piano for several years, taught myself guitar, sing, and composed music.  One of my favorite hobbies is playing or searching for new music.  I then decided to draw a pencil where my mouth is.  I decided to do this because I often express myself better in writing than I do verbally.  I am passionate about writing.  Part of the reason I am studying Communications is because I love writing and blogging.  I am able to understand and convey my thoughts and feelings better when I write, than anything else.  I am passionate about it.  I then decided to put the Deathly Hallows symbol (a symbol that appears in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)  in place of my ears.  One of the first stories I remember my mother reading to me was Harry Potter. Listening to my mother read the series to me created not only an overly obsessed Harry Potter fanatic, but also an avid reader.  I love to read.  I feel placing this symbol where I did conveyed a fond memory, a franchise I am passionate about, and one of my favorite things to do.  Lastly, I placed a flower in my hair.  I love nature.  I also love spring and warm weather, which is normally when flowers are able to thrive.

The empirical representation of me is the selfie I took.  It offers no information about me, other than what my appearance is.  The symbolic portrait is a representation of me.  It shows what I love and what I am passionate about.  It offers information about me that only those close to me would be knowledgeable about.  It offers a deeper insight into who I am as a person, not just what I look like.  I think the signs that are more symbolic are the Italian flag, pencil, and the Harry Potter symbol.  The cleft note and the flower are more rational because they are easier to understand why I put them in the portrait.

This connects to the explanation realism and perspective we have learned in class.  In class we learned that realism is the realistic depiction of a subject.  The artist simply paints what they see, without any symbolism.  Perspective refers to the messages an individual can gain from the image.  I think the selfie is an example of realism, while the picture I drew is an example of perception because it is how I see myself.

February 22, 2016 by krispoli849 Categories: Comm 265 Leave a comment

Spectatorship and Power Relationships in Advertising

I chose cosmetic and perfume advertisements for the two advertisements I plan to compare.  The first one is a Covergirl advertisement featuring Drew Barrymore.  My second advertisement is for the Calvin Klein perfume “Eternity,” featuring two models.  For the Covergirl Advertisement, it is pretty obvious that Drew Barrymore knows she is the subject of the photograph.  She is looking right into the lense of the camera and into the spectators and slightly smiling.  The spectator, of course, being the audience, viewer, or consumer of the product.  The advertisement says “find your skin twin.”  This is important considering the advertisement aims to market a new foundation.  When it comes to shopping for a foundation, most women would like the foundation to be the same shade and tone as their natural skin.  The words, paired with natural and nude colors, makes the advertisement effective.  The nude tones are relaxing to the eye.  This pairs excellently with the picture of Drew Barrymore.  She is featured with glowing, perfect skin and very natural but pretty makeup.  She has a girl-next-door look in the ad.   The size of her image in the photograph makes her the focal point, inevitably giving and making her a powerful presence.  Ultimately, the ad suggests that if you use this foundation, not only will it totally match your natural skin tone, but it will also give you the natural, pretty, and flirtatious look of Drew Barrymore.  This directly correlates with gaze.  Gaze refers to how an image or text can convey or invite a certain response.  The image invites spectators to believe that if they use the product they can be pretty, have beautiful skin, and exude confidence.

The second advertisement is for Calvin Klein’s “Eternity” perfume for men and women.  In this advertisement, two models, one male and one female, are the subject.  The models are featured in a black and white photograph on a beach, laying on top of each other.  The female model knows she is the subject of the advertisement.  She is looking contentedly into the camera.  However, the male model does not know he is the subject of the advertisement as his face is turned away as he kisses the female model on the forehead.  This gives the woman photographed more power in the image, inevitably making her the stronger figure.  One interesting thing about the ad is the use of black and white.  I feel it almost takes some of the attention away from the models due to the fact that the product is placed in front of the models in the picture and has a bright green color.  Similar to the Covergirl advertisement, the image directly correlates with Gaze as it invites a certain response from the spectator.  The response conveyed is that if you use the perfume, you can be beautiful, sexy, and powerful and that men or women will want to be with you.

One thing that I learned from the assignment is how the definition of Gaze can be applied to real world situations, more specifically, advertising.  It gave me a better understanding of the term we studied in Sturken and Cartwright’s “Practice of Looking.”  Ultimately both advertisements are marketing towards a certain consumer and are aiming to convey or invite a certain idea or response.  I think the thinker that best goes with this assignment is Barthes as he firmly believed that everyone takes away their own meaning from a presented image or idea.

February 15, 2016February 15, 2016 by krispoli849 Categories: Comm 265 Leave a comment