CommunicationTodayAmbiguity and the Collective Conscious

Daniel FrancavillaOCAD University 2329381

Project 2: Area of Interest Visual EssayResearch Methodologies for Graphic DesignersGRPH 3A02 | Section 1Instructor: Patricio DavilaNovember 30, 2010

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Executive Summary

This proposed thesis concept explores the non-linear way of thinking and various communication methods, with a focus on Generation Y. Previous generations were raised in and around nature and mailed handwritten letters to others to communicate. However a huge shift has taken place and many of today’s youth have never mailed a letter or used a rotary phone - instead they each have their own personal cell phone and communicate through instant messages.

This shift in communication has a drastic impact on the way individuals socialize and live their lives. The communication trend is Ambiguous, Random, and Organic. The Collective Conscious is growing and minds are being filled with content at an incredible rate.

The Internet is a place where “an infinity of subjects can be followed at the same time”. People are all over the place. Ambiguity when searching for scientific or healthcare details is problematic - however ambiguity is a beautiful and desirable characteristic when it comes to browsing videos and photos, and using online micro-blog services like Tumblr.

Messages are short, quick and are often as clear as they are unclear or vague. Think MSN chat, texting, and Twitter messaging. A lot is left up in the air and conversations are, in many cases, left incomplete. Design of these systems; software, technology, advertising and beyond; affects and is affected by this communication style and new forms of communication.

Zeitgeist, the spirit of the times, also refers to the trends and general thoughts a generation experiences. Design and communication should have a progressive impact that pushes culture forward. Although communication has opened up Globalized Consumerism for example, it also encourages Open-Source development and Crowd-Sourcing which break away from strict, boring boundaries.

With methods range from Emailing to Tweeting to chatting on BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) or even randomly posting on one’s personal Tumblr or Blog, communication has changed from an analog and linear to non-linear, ambiguous and instant. More | Share | Bookmark | RSS

Communication

Today

Ambiguity and the

Collective Conscious

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#christmas #churchsigns #decemberwish #design #dragonsden #earthday

#education #fcee10 #ff #fitc #fixreplies #followfriday #g20 #giving #gocanadago

#google #googlewave #gov20 #haiti #house #idothistoo #ipad #iphone

#iranelection #ita #itunes #jerseyshore #leafs #logo #mac #michaeljackson #mississaugatransit #mj #montreal

#music #ned #nonprofit #nuitblanche #ocad #oneto #os3 #quote #readcast

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access actually amazing apple art awesome best better big blog brampton bus ca canada canadian centre change charity check christmas city class come cool course crazy danielfrancavilla day design did does doing downtown early email facebook favorited finally follow free getting going good google graphic great haiti home hours interesting internet ipad iphone know life live logo lol long look looking looks love mac make makes making man media million mississauga morning need new news nice night ocad online ontario open people photo post read really right rt saw says school site sleep social st start stop store student students stuff summer thanks thats theres things think time today tonight toronto try trying tumblr tweet tweets twitpic twitter university use using video wait want watch watching way web website week weekend whats work working world wow www year yes youre youth youtubeTwitter, a real-time information network that connects users to the latest information about what they find interesting, has been rapidly gaining membership and is accessed around the world via the web and mobile devices. Left: hashtags I’ve used. Above: words I tweeted most, overall.

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Can’t get enough.Always connected.

Drawn to digital.Paper is so passé.

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are we runningout of culture?

Culture.Not so diverse anymore.

Being more “global” as a society has its benefits. But there is also the huge lack of diversity among different cultures. Youth can grow up in different countries yet be influenced by many of the same brands and celebrities. There are now global trends in retail and communication, for example; online stores like Amazon showcase most-sold products worldwide and networks like Twitter display trending topics by region. In many cases this information is generic and impersonal. Many friends may follow similar brands, celebrities and others online without even knowing them well or at all in-person.

Many students only explore the very tip of the iceberg when it comes to assignments, and are becoming less thorough in their research and reports. Some students struggle with essay-writing or even expressing thoughts in a presentation or paragraph. This is in part because of the fast-paced culture and the tiny, brief bits of information they are used to posting and reading on social networks and mobile devices.

“The information we consume is increasingly flat and homogenized. Designed to reach millions, it often lacks nuance, complexity and context. Reading the same factoids on Wikipedia and watching the same viral video on YouTube, we experience a flattening of culture.”- Kalle Lasn and Micah White

Cafe chalk board

remains on the wall

but customers are

in a digital world

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Multi-tasking. Everywhere.

One click.Where can it lead?

Many people start their days communicating or browsing for news and enterntainment online. Whether it be opening up an Email Inbox or checking a Twitter account, wherever it starts, it rarely ends there!

iPhone alarm rings to wake-up.

Text message from the night on-screen.

Read and reply by opening up SMS app.

See unread email total. Open inbox and read.

Link sent in an email. Click on it to open.

Read article, find link to another of interest.

Browsing around the website. Interesting article.

Open Twitter application. Tweet link to the article.

Skimming tweets in timeline. View photo posted.

Distracted by all the tweets. Click a link. Love it.

Found something to share. Compose email. Send.

Email from office comes in. Reminder to get up for work.

With all of this access to information, entertainment and both personal and work contacts, there is a lack of focus and plenty of distractions to keep people “always on”, even they do not choose so consciously or purposely.

Wonder where all of the content comes from? Where do people come across these things? What is the source of their blog posts or tweets? What makes friends continue one text-message conversation and abandon another? Why are ads becoming sharable content? Why are some unable to finish reading a newspaper article? Which blog posts to share, email, or bookmark?

Content Consumption

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ambiguous random organic

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Share. Post. Be Random.

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Communication MethodsVerbal Phone Cell Phone Skype/iChat In-Person Music (Vocal)

Online Emailing Text Messaging Instant Messaging (IM) Social Networking (Facebook, Twitter) Social Bookmarking + Sharing (Delicious, Digg, StumbleUpon)

Expression Poetry Blogs, Vlogs Graffitti, Public ArtPrint (Flyers, Signs)

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Gerritzen, Mieke. Everyone is a Designer in the Age of Social Media. Amsterdam: BIS Publishers, 2010-. Print.

This book discusses communication of the present and future, and the role of the designer in such methods. Although a printed book, recently released in 2010 it covers a variety of relevant technologically, economically and socially accurate details which are displayed with effective graphics and diagrams. Sterling explains that we are designing our social lives, making our own choices, and creating this together online (relating to the concept of the collective conscious). Claiming to present the “Choice Generation of 2010”, the book also discusses how the current generation is about collaboration, which is represented visually by everyone - which has lead to the democratization of the design world.

Long, Priscilla. “What is Consciousness?.” Adbusters. July 2010: 5. Print.Featured in Adbusters Magazine’s Whole Brain Catalog, this essay looks at how the brain’s neurons and cells interact and asks what electrical or chemical transaction gives us culture. How culture forms and becomes popular curious is curious, random and ambiguous which is very relevant. “Anything can happen in the strange cities of the mind.” - C. D. Wright

Siegler, MG. “Gmail Lite: If You Build It Google, We Will Come.” TechCrunch (2010): n. pag. Web. 27 Nov 2010. <http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/27/gmail-lite>.

The future of messaging. The article references Facebook’s changing messaging system that now allows for quick personal messages without even a subject line, and also assigning users with an @facebook.com email address as an expanded form of communicating through their platform. The article also addresses the need for a “Gmail Lite”, which would essentially be a version of email where replying would be very easy and less work, where Siegler claims the “response rate in general would be higher”. Looking at the future and improving, the idea aims to solve the fundamental issue as inboxes grow: the “lame legacy formalities of the system” and to eliminate the subject line and send button, what the writer classifies as outdated ideas. Future communication will be more organic.

Three Sentences. Web. 26 Nov 2010. <http://three.sentenc.es>.A free online service called three.sentenc.es promotes and allows email users to adopt a personal policy that all email responses (regardless of

recipient or subject) will be three sentences or less. The service provides a solution to the problem of it taking too long to respond to emails (resulting in continuous inbox overflow for those who receive a lot). The proposed solution is to treat all email responses like SMS text messages maintaining a limited number of letters. This is very relevant to the new patterns of communication today and also adds to the ambiguity of communication through shorter, less detailed messages.

“We All Want to Be Young.” Web. 25 Nov 2010. <http://vimeo.com/16638983>.

Focused on the Millenial generation, this video explores what it means to be young, and references classic 1960s and 1980s films (as a comparison to Generation X and Baby Boomers). This film is a result of studies by a behavioural science and consumer trends research company, BOX1824, over the past 5 years. Today, due to the internet and information age, the collective consciousness has grown enormously and many more global and personal connections have been formed. However, this huge amount of information and the need to constantly stay connected is leading to anxiety, blurred definitions of self, shorter personal relationships, and a difficulty maintaining balance between work and pleasure.

White, Micah and Lasn, Kalle. “Ecology of the Mind: The birth of a movement.” Adbusters. July 2010. Print.

Humanity has developed and evolved with the nourishment and support of nature and the Earth’s resources, yet recently the natural world has been abandoned and is no longer a driving force in people’s mental environment. Mental illness has increased and the daily visual and audio noise such as alarms, thousands of TV ads, email spam and more are increasing as infotoxins and infoviruses. This crowds the collective conscious as well. People are becoming more apathetic, the commercial media is aggressively crowding minds and content is suffering from a loss of invodiversity - making everything more generic and ambiguous. Design plays a huge role in the expression and organization of this information and to help maintain culture.

Photo CreditsImages contained in this document are from two sources:First Light Associated Photographers (Pages 6, 9, 10, 14)

Daniel Francavillawww.atdesignschool.comdaniel@danielfrancavilla.com

Annotated Bibliography

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