Before a designer can complete a clients project they have a variety of jobs to do before the final outcome. It is a big misconception to think a designers only role is to create the look of the project. This year I gained various design tools that can be used individually or as a team, through connecting with people and resources to come up with more valuable information.
In Semester 1 we were to expand from an initial topic derived from a chapter in the book “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell. I decided to use “Chapter 4: The Power of Context : Bernie Goetz and the Rise and Fall of New York” which Gladwell discussed how a few small but influential changes in the environment of New York city allowed a major reduction in crime. He cites the fact that a number of New York City agencies began to make decisions based on the “Broken Windows theory”, meaning to stop un-attending to things that need changed which are right in front of you such as graffiti and drug abuse. Next, through various techniques such as brainstorms, mind maps and reading secondary information it led to the discussion of Americas large number of varied cultures ( mainly blacks and white) and divides. Also their laws on accessing a firearm and the roots behind Americas organised crime. This would be the basis of my final assignment of Semester 1.
Now for this assignment I have to develop Semester 1s work into a research proposal using one or more of the four methods I have used in completing this Semesters assignments. It could either be through an interview, analysis of images and what they mean, using the concept of Ethnography by experiencing environments which are designed for others or the analysis of someone’s personal environment such as their bedroom.
The problem for me trying to include a brief reference to the research from Semester 1 would be the difficulty in gaining access to valid first-hand information from a relevant person or environment. Also, the nature of the topics I researched could be rather dangerous to use when approaching someone of relevance. For example, interviewing an ex-gang member who has previously been involved in organised crime. Thus, I believe the main method in my case would be using relevant found images and showing why you should not judge something by the way it looks and discarding the story behind the image. However, I believe there is a way around most of the methods in proposing an expansion on my research, some being more appropriate than others. In this case, looking at my research in a broader scale, not just looking at America but Britain too. This will mean first-hand information will be easier to access and adding a depth into my investigation, looking at the relationship between American and British crime cultures.
My proposal is using a combination of the “what images mean” and “interview” methods. Firstly I would show, to a neutral candidate, images that relate to the varied cultures of America and Britain. The images will portray subtlety the crime and violence in these cultures. Throughout the procedure I will record their thoughts and feelings . The reason I chose to use this as my main method is because it builds a good initial starting point before the interview. I believe this because I found from my “What Images Mean” assignment in Semester 2 that usually an image can create instant emotions and feelings towards the subject without usually knowing the story behind it which is a major problem when discussing crime and culture. For example, a lot of Hip Hop album covers subtlety suggest the cultures inside a black society and shows the crime within it. Also, movie advertisements can be used for the same purpose. Obviously hiding any texts or connotations that help the viewer.
I think this part of the proposal would be more of a general learning experience to gain an understanding of common views of the society. Also, it will be difficult to find images that are truthful of what actually goes on and not just how they are wanting to be perceived.
The next stage would be to find a suitable candidate to interview who relates back in some way to your chosen image. You would use the information gained from your first candidates reactions compared to the real stories of whoever you are interviewing. Creating a mind map based on the main question and idea your first candidate built from the images, expanding into more in-depth personal questions. For example, the person you are interviewing could be a black person who has experienced racism, a police officer who has dealt with scenes of cultural violence or if you have links to someone in America or Britain who has experienced areas that are effected by problems such as gun crime. Organising an interview through an online tool such as “Skype” could be used if the candidate lives at an un-reachable distance.
However, I feel due to the fact that I could be interviewing someone who may be reluctant to give out information regarding criminal activities that I should approach the whole procedure carefully. I found from previous assignments, a slow build up of questions is needed before asking anything too personal, using key words to trigger the right kind of answers. Most importantly, gaining trust from my candidate.
These two techniques will be of main use to my research. However, the other method I have also previously tested might be used in a later stage. Using the method of Ethnography could be used as a further expansion. For example, my hometown of Glasgow suffers from a great deal of sectarianism between the two football clubs “Rangers” and “Celtic”. Each team having their own unique society and culture. Visiting either of these two teams stadiums during a match would give insight into what its like to be part of the team and how they work. Possibly witnessing some of violence connected to these two teams. This would act as a good comparison to the sort crime America experiences, as they rarely have this problem within sport.
I plan to carry out my proposal within two months after finalizing the questions that will be asked. Adding to this, I think my main difficulty will be finding the people I would talk to and how I would contact them, with a further month to review the information, finding balanced links between American and British cultural crime. I believe most of this project would be done alone due to the seriousness of the topics. Over crowding the research could cause problems when gaining relations with the people I will interact with.
