Meeting with David - Proposal Form Feedback

Today I had a meeting with David regarding the feedback I was given on my proposal form. I mainly wanted to discuss how I can create a more theoretical methodology which is not just based on the appearance of my project as well as explain that I do not want to base my topic too heavily around the idea of the critique of social media - as it is more about the effects of using the advanced technology on the users.

We discussed any issues we felt necessary and I was able to explain my idea more in depth to David for further feedback. As I will be creating a campaign I explained my ideas for my posters and moving image ad from which David was able to suggest 2 artists for me to look at which can help influence the theme and overall look of my campaign - who are Barbara Kruger and Ken Lum.

For my methodology I will complete primary research by interviewing technology users and asking them a series of questions regarding changes they made have made to their general behaviour due to the technology use. This is to get an idea of how many people it affects and what ways it affects people. I may also create a survey for anonymous completion for other accurate results.

I will also follow someone around for 2 days - one day with all the technology they use and one day without it - to see how they do things differently - and use this research to create a moving image sequence to show the differences.

I will be completing secondary research also to find published articles and books which are to do with this same subject and evaluate the research I find to create a successful campaign which gets the message across - which is showing people how much technology really does affect user's lives.

After this meeting with David I felt any queries had been cleared up and I felt confident I had addressed the critical points in my feedback of my proposal form.

Feedback on Proposal Form - Version 1

Today I have received feedback on my first proposal which I submitted. The feedback is from David and the main points are as follows:


- Interesting area of research should provide rich material for a creative project.

- Methodology is more concerned with the overall appearance of the project, does not seem well designed practically, to make the discoveries I am looking for.

- How does giving my project a brand identity help achieve my results?

- Contradiction between the idea of a brand identity and forming a critique of social media. Resolve this contradiction.

- Create a brand identity within social media which somehow functions to question the processes of social media and how they affect the way we interact with each other.


After receiving this feedback I feel like talking to David in person to discuss how I can resolve this contradiction in a professional way and progress my idea.

Proposal Form - Version 1

This is my proposal form, which I have submitted today. Within this document, it explains my overall idea for my project and covers an outline of my research question and also my methodology. 

My project is about the advancements in technology and how it affects general human behaviour and social interaction.
I will be creating a multi-media campaign to represent my findings and create awareness for this topic.

My Research Question is: How does the advance in new technology (specifically smartphones) affect real life social interaction and general human behaviour? (Or it will be something very similar to this).

I will be using practice based research as well as creative (testing) research to answer my question which is explained more in depth within my proposal document above.

Powerful Images - Smartphones

These are some very strong and and dynamic images which I came across, again on social media. I believe they are extremely relevant to my topic and give off very powerful messages about how smartphones 'are taking over your life' and harming people. 

The first image could be classed as slightly unpleasant or distressing, however I very much like the concept of this image. It shows a woman with a phone by her ear, with legs or claws either side of it, I think to look like a spider or some kind of insect - with the idea that the phone has its own features or a mind of its own which can cause harm to its user. This example if quite extreme but most definitely shows the great concept behind it.

The second image shows a man looking down at his phone with a broken / snapped neck. This is over-exaggerated but I definitely think this metaphorically gives off a strong message about health which is how you can seriously damage your neck by constantly looking down at a device.

The third image is based on one of the things that can be accessed via the use of a smartphone which is social media. Although the idea of the image is that the phone is wired in to someone's arm like the information is immediately going straight in to the users body and like it cannot be removed. This image highlights the addiction to technology. 

I like all of these images but will most likely not use something like this for my campaign as it could be seen as a bit extreme or intense.

Inspiring Images - Smartphones

These are 2 images which I have come across via social media, which I think are very strong and powerful images and represent the addiction to technology in 2 completely different ways.

These images will inspire me in development of my topic and idea and influence decisions I may make in regards to my visual campaign.

The first image metaphorically portrays how people are so addicted to using their smartphone and having it in their hand constantly its as if it has been chained to them like they can never put it down. This image is very simple and looks like a sketch however has a very powerful meaning to it.

The second image is of a queue of 6 different people who are all looking down at their mobile phones. This reinforces the idea no matter what age or gender a person is, every single one of them are still using a phone in the exact same situation rather than doing anything else other than this.

Advanced Project - Ideas for Topic / Proposal

This is my idea for my topic for my Advanced Project. It will be about Advancements in Technology & Addiction to Technology. 

Here I have brainstormed firstly what my idea should be - a relevant social issue, and how I will present my work at the end of the project.

Secondly, I have brainstormed what sort of people technology affects in different way and the general effects technology has on people. 

In the top section I have brainstormed what sorts of things you can do mainly on a smartphone as this is a piece of technology which most people seem to have and would be the main object I would use my project around.

I have also briefly touched on the media platforms I have considered using for my final outcome.