Design studies assignment 4

So for the 4th design studies assignment we had to practise our interviewing techniques. We were given a list of topics and asked to choose one of them to base our interviews on. I chose the topic 'How do magazines influence peopleʼs ideas of design and taste?' Below is a list of questions I asked random people.

What magazines do you read?

Do you read them occasionally or regularly?

Are you aware of the cost of the magazine/magazines you buy or do you buy them anyway?

What is it about this magazine/magazines that attracts you? Why do you choose this particular magazine/magazines? What features in this magazine/magazines do you pay most attention to and why?

Do you enjoy looking at the adverts in magazines? If so do you actually take note of what is being said? Do you ever think about it?

If a magazine has a feature on a particular item or outfit would this make you go out and buy that particular item or outfit?

Would you say your dress sense is influenced by what you see in magazines? Or are you influenced in some other way or do you prefer being more individual?

I tried to ask an equal number of women and men in order to make a comparison. The men I interviewed mostly read factual magazines such as the economist and new scientist where as the woman tended to go for gossip/fashion magazines.
What I thought was interesting was that the women said that they were aware of the cost of magazines but would buy them anyway so the cost really wasn't an issue. The men also said that they were aware of the cost but unlike the women they said that they would not buy a magazine if they thought they were too expensive.
Both the women and men I interviewed said that they didn't really pay attention to the adverts and mostly skipped them.
I was surprised however that the women I interviewed said that their style wasn't particularly influenced by the magazines they read. I thought it would have been the opposite way round. However they did say that they bought magazines for the fashion which leads me to believe that maybe they are more influenced by the fashions they see in magazines than they care to let on.
I think the results from these interviews definitely indicate that people tastes, both male and female, are influenced in some way by the magazines they read whether they realise it or not.

Design Safari

Our latest design studies assignment involved observing people. So we had to go to a public place and observe people going about their everyday business. In our cause we went to the Overgate shopping centre. So we grabbed a coffee and sat in a place we thought was a good spot for people watching. We'd just started to observe people when a girl in her mid twenties approached us and asked if we wouldn't mind answering some questions about what we would do if we won the lottery. Turns out she works for the local paper. Was kinda funny seeing as we were supposed to be observing people and we end up getting interviewed.

So whilst people watching we noticed at that particular time of day (around 11am) The majority of people were middle aged couples or young mothers with pushchairs.One in particular had a furry boot on one foot and a regular shoe on the other which we thought was a bit odd! Anyway most people didn't seem to be really shopping instead they seemed to be using the mall as a thoroughfare to where ever it was they had to get too. Kinda makes you wonder where exactly all these people are actually going. One thing we did notice though the people who were carrying shopping bags were mostly carrying a Debenhams or Primark bag. We figured that the reason for this was that Debenhams had a 25% off sale and well Primark is pretty cheap so people in the Overgate obviously like a bargin.

We also went to the Wellgate shopping centre to see if there was any difference in the type of people we observed at the Nethergate and there was. The Wellgate has a totally different atmosphere. First of all it's not as modern, most of the shops are bargin shops and the place has a 'stuck in the 80's' feel about it which kinda , without being to harsh, reflects on the type of people we observed there.

This assignment was quite interesting although to be honest when I'm out in a public place I tend to do a bit of people watching anyway. It can be quite entertaining at times.

Design studies assignment 2

For our 2nd Design Studies assignment we were asked to select 3 random images and then ask a selection of people to look at them and come up with a story linking the photos.Above are the 3 photos I chose.

Here are a selection of some of the stories I collected.

Christopher Caraher, 36, Scottish Power engineer

There was a problem . a problem of monumental proportion
in this day and age information is passed between nations at the blink of an eye .
but with the amount of data being transferred in 0 and 1's sometimes you get a three.
this happened in Blackwood estate.
miss smith checked the weather forecast and was glad to see that sun was predicted for the day .
she got her things together and set to make for a shopping trip .
she called her best friend and patted her on the head . her pet dog Vader was her only company in that Old run down house deep in the estate .
She ushered Vader outside and told her " be a good girl and stay near the house" . the hound would wait in the front garden for her master to return .
it was a 7 mile walk into the village at the 5 mile mark there was a public house and with it being a hot day miss smith stopped for her little dram .
6 hours later miss smith blamed the company she had kept and stepped out side to find that the weather had changed and her poor Vader was out side her ramshackle house .
but the worst was to come .
the clouds parted for a moment to her shock there was a full moon . the next full moon was 3 weeks away . she checked online each and everyday.
she panicked and started to run for the safety of her ramshackle house and her best friend Vader .
this must mean the data had been changed .
who ? had done this ?

After doing this we then had to select another image and ask some people again to make up a story about the picture although this time hopefully they would all more or less come up with a similar story.

Ethyl Smith, Alternative therapist

Yesterday while Murphy my dog and I were walking in the wood we came across and tiny old house almost covered by branches. It must have been there for years and yet I'd never seen it before. There was one window with a metal cross piece and no glass and somehow I imagined it like some kind of prison and shivered. Maybe I felt like that because it was such a dark cloudy day and then suddenly the clouds parted and the sun came out and when I looked again the strange house had gone...vanished.

Robert Smith, retired mechanic

Unhappy dog sitting on leaves and the clouds above seem to indicate a storm coming but me and the dog have no intention of sheltering in this strange old building.

Vicky Montgomery, 30, Sales assistant/buyer

My name is Mittens, I am a spaniel. Yes, I know, Mittens is a cat name. But unfortunatley my owners don't care that the other dogs laugh at me. Not that I really know other dogs, because where I live is quite remote. Rural is what the owners call it, I don't like it, Its old and musty smelling, with alot of trees around, and bushes. The bushes scare me though because I can't see whats behind them. One time a smaller kind of animal jumped out at me and chased me, I think it was a squirrel. The owners thought it was cute, but I swear I saw its teeth! They were sharp very scary looking.....That night, when we were back home, I lay looking out of my window, it was quiet. I felt better, because there were no scary animals chasing me, or bad dogs laughing at me. Then I looked up and saw the most bright thing I had ever seen. It was a ball, a big bright and shiny ball. The best looking ball in the world. I stared at it until I fell asleep.


It was quite interesting seeing what people came up with. Some of them went into great detail over the photos and some not. However I was surprised that some of them came up with similar things, such as naming the dog, or commenting on the picture of the house calling it strange.

For the 2nd part of the experiment I had to choose another image but this time see if the people I asked came up with more or less the same story.
I chose an image of a man riding a bull. As predicted most of them came up with the same story. I think the image is pretty self explanatory.