Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION	Level	04
OUIL401 Context of Practice	Credits	20
End of Module Self Evaluation

NAME	Christopher Cooper

1.  What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
The main skill I have developed is my essay writing and extract information in an academic manner from a series of varying sources such as images and essays. Given that I haven't written an essay since sixth form I felt a little rusty in terms using the academic process therefore I found it highly useful if not stressful at times putting together a fully referenced essay with an underlying and coherent thesis.
2. What approaches to/methods of research have you developed and how have they informed your practical outcomes?
Given that there was no final outcome I have developed an approach whereby I let research and think take me down various different avenues, some unexpected and useful others of which are complete dead ends. This allows for a more over arching visual exploration of I given theme and for connections to be drawn between different areas that you otherwise would not have been able to make.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
I think the relationship between my intent for studio brief 2 that and the work itself was probably my strongest point. This is because I feel it very clearly and effectively communicated my underlying theme of conformity that I had set out in my visual response proposal. This was partly due to the variety of different methods I used with a reductive process of repeat image making being the most successful. Furthermore the research I conducted into different forms of conformity and the scientific thinking behind it greatly informed the images which no doubt led to their effective communication of the given theme.
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
My main weakness was my lack of consistent blogging coupled with a lack of varied and in depth research for studio brief 2. For example, although I read and referenced a fair amount of material for studio brief 1 had a blogged all the different sources as I went along I think my final result would have been far better constructed and thoughtful in its argument. In a similar manner had I undergone a wider variety of research for studio brief 2 I think the successes that I did achieved would have been furthered and led to a much more interesting and varied visual response.
5. Identify five things that you feel will benefit you during next years Context of Practice module?
Blogging more consistently and in particular blogging any academic sources and any subsequent deconstruction of them on my part. Being more varied and ambitious in my forms of research which will lead to more interesting and excting results with stronger factual grounding. Better spread the work load over the year so that it isn't as stressful and in turn can allow me to better think through what it is I am trying to achieve with this module. The importance of choosing a subject you are interested in. Although I could have researched it more effectively I was genuinely interested in the underlying theme of conformity in studio brief 2 which resulted in me being able to immerse myself in the process of a visual response much more effectively. The academic process, particularly deconstructing and analysing texts effectively to support your argument through the use of triangulation, paraphrasing and close reading as these are the fundamental skills required to produce an effect and coherent academic thesis.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas: (please indicate using an ‘x’)  5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
	1	2	3	4	5
Attendance				X
Punctuality				X
Motivation			X
Commitment		X
Quantity of work produced		X
Quality of work produced		X
Contribution to the group		X
The evaluation of your work is an important part of the assessment criteria and represents a percentage of the overall grade. It is essential that you give yourself enough time to complete your written evaluation fully and with appropriate depth and level of self-reflection. If you have any questions relating to the self-evaluation process speak to a member of staff as soon as possible.

Studio Brief 2 - Visual Response Presentaion

Resolved images

Given the problems faced in achieving the sense of visual uniformity that I wanted from my images I decided to further develop and ultimately resolve my Japanese commuter images digitally. Initially I did this by creating them using vectors as given my images up until this point have been fairly reductive and shape based I felt the process would fit well. Furthermore contextually the cold, mass produced feel that vectors so often have I felt would further reinforce my themes and ideas for this module.

I feel that, despite the initial designs in being better for the bellow image and worse for the top two, the reverse is true for the final outcomes. This is because it feels so much flatter given that it doesn't have the same sense of depth/space. I Tried to resolve this by adding a row of passengers with their backs to the viewer to give the impression of a full train car, however I still don't think it has quite worked.

Although it was intentional, I think the images feel perhaps a little too boring and monotonous, looking back at what worked within my visual journal I tried to keep this feeling but create some interest by adding texture on photo shop to the vectors. To do this I created various ink and paint textures, scanned them in and converted them using the half tone bitmap tool as I felt this would give a more digital aesthetic which would better tie into the underlying themes of the images.I think this has successfully added a bit more interest to the images due to how the textured shapes alongside the flat vectors break up and add another level of contrast to the images. However I still feel the top two are far better than the bottom one as it still feels some what boring even though I think it is much clearing in communicating the subject matter or people sleeping on trains.Although aesthetically it's my favourite the first image feels perhaps a little too surreal and isn't quite as clear as the other two in communicating its intent. I think this is in part because the other two use motifs that clearly reference and relate to the ideas of the commute and the daily gring of a nine until five job.

Visual Response: Japanese Commuters

After my further researching into communicating and the 'daily grind' I decided to do I series of images based off of the idea of commuters sleeping on trains in Japan. In All the images I wanted to use a very minimal pallet consisting of primarily greys and black with the only colour being used to describe the skin. This was so that, when coupled with the use of repeat imagery, it would create much more monotonous and dreary images that better reflect the theme of conformity.

I think I have managed to achieve this feeling in these images although to varying degrees of success. I think the best is the image above, this is due to the process of collage used which, as I have said before fits in to the theme of conformity given how it allows for more accurate duplicates of the individual figures to be created. Furthermore I like how the use of Texture on the figures arms and faces add some interest two and break up other wise flat shapes.

Although I like the basic composition of them, particularly the bottom one's use of a vanishing point to create a sense of depth, the bottom two images are far less effective than the first one. This is due to the lack of accuracy between each duplicate within the individual images. Therefore I want to recreate these, and similar images digitally using both Photoshop and Illustrator in order to achieve more uniformity within the images. 

Artist Research: Eleni Kalorkoti

I decided to look into more illustrator and designers with a reductive approach to creating figurative images. I was drawn to Kalorkoti's work, particularly her 'Glitch' due to her use of a drab, dreary grey scale pallet as well as the use of repeat/cloned motifs and figures. The sense of monotony this creates within the images is something I want to harness within my resolved images and which I will hopefully achieve through the further use of the more reductive shape based figures I have been creating up until this point.

Commuting: Further research

Taking in to mind what was said in the crit I decided to further my research into and visual exploration of commuting within modern societies. When I revisited this topic I became fascinated with the culture of sleeping during commutes in Japan. Although you may see some people asleep on trains or buses in England it is not very common given that most people would be far too fearful, both of those around them and missing their stop. Whereas in Japan it widespread and not uncommon to see whole train cars of sleeping passengers.

After looking online more thoroughly I discovered a few reasons, all of which link back to ideas of social compliance and conformity, for why this is such a common place thing in Japan.

Firstly crime rates are extremely low in Japan, therefore there isn't the same sense of fear that one might feel when sleeping on a train in England. This relates back to ideas of compliance as it implies that the law is taken much more seriously by more or less all members of society.

Second is the fact that many, particularly within Tokyo, commute and work very long hours and subsequently are so tired that it only makes sense they fall asleep. Therefore this shows how far people are willing to go, in this case the point of losing sleep or time at home, in order to conform to the notion of stable job and active place within society.

However I have also seen it suggested that, with the above point in mind, it is not just something practical in terms of gaining lost sleep but now something of a social convention in that if you are not seen to fall alseep during your commute you won't be considered as hard working or dedicated as other members of society. This final point more than any links back to the notion of conformity and compliance given that it makes individuals act in a irrational manner due to social pressures and expectations.

Final Crit

The general consensus from the final crit was that the use of repeated visual motifs was very successful in communicating the intent of my visual response to Studio Brief 2. In particular I was told the reductive approach to figure and form is something I should further explore and refine with regards to creating some more resolved images.

As I have already mentioned in the previous post, it was also suggested that I try achieve this digitally given the precise uniformity I would be able to achieve with it. Also with regards to final, resolved images it was suggested I work in monochrome/grey scale to achieve this dreary sense of monotony.

Conceptually it was argued that my most interesting tangent, even though it is only briefly touched upon is the one exploring the notion of commuting and working a nine until five job given its direct relevance to us and just how accepted a notion it is within society.

Visual Response: Does Non Conformity exist?

Given my focus on conformity and and compliance I thought it would be worth exploring whehter or not truly non conformist behaviour given how strong the evidence is that we inherently pre disposed to conformist group behaviours.

It has been argued that as you age you become less conformist which makes sense as when you are younger, particularly during teenage and adult years, there is for most an on going anxiety relating to fitting as well as an ongoing fixation with notions of what is or isn't cool. 

The part of this I find interesting is that, despite the conformity which it results in, many people belonging to this age group choose to adopt and comply to certain lifestyles and cultures in attempt to give themselves a unique or conformist identity. This irony is explored in both a Nation of Rebels by Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter as well as by Naomi Klein in No Logo, both of which argue that this desire of the youth to rebel and be different is now some thing which brands can directly market and appeal to.

Therefore I created a series of figures that, when put next to each other appear very different and unique, as would many teens belonging to particular sub groups and niches. However to highlight how this in itself can be a form of social compliance I then created several images compositing of the just one of the supposedly unique figures repeated again to demonstrate this.

However I wasn't overly pleased with the aesthetics of these images and felt that the meaning was some what convoluted. Therefore I decided to bring my approach back to the idea of reductive image making that I have highlighted both in my artist research and previous visual responses.

With this in mind I created a series of collages, two of which were figurative, although very reductive in their description of the human form, with the rest being much more abstract. Although I prefer how the abstract ones look due to their much more balanced compositions as well more interesting textures I feel that the above figurative images communicate the idea of an individual trying not to conform and instead stand out from a crowd a lot better. Although as a metaphor I do quite like the idea of one shape breaking the mould and not fitting in with the uniform squares in the bottem image.

I felt this process much better firtted the theme conformity as it alowed me to create exact replicas of the motif I wanted to repeat given that I could simply draw round the first image, cut it out and repeat the process. I could see this process transferring well onto screen through the use of, for example, vectors.

Artist Research: Reduction, repetitive imagery

Given my previous visual explorations and various different themes and feelings I am trying to achieve through curating a certain aesthetic I wanted to look at other artists that work in a reductive manner often using repetition to create graphic pattern like images despite being primarily figure based. Immediately the work of Adrian Johnson cam to mind as well as that of Geoff McFetridge. I really like just how graphic both, are in describing the human form reducing it down to its most basic elements. This is something I have already been trying within my own work but feel could be taken further. 

Although I think Johnson's subject matter is perhaps a bit more cheery and positive than what I am exploring I feel McFettridge's work fits in a lot better thematically. This is due to the weird uniform tasks often being under taken within his images as well as a focus on areas of structured order and compliance such as classrooms and school yards.

Adrian Johnson



Geoff McFetridge

Visual Development: Change in approach

Given my previous developments I decided to produce a series of images in a much more reductive and shape based manner depicting large scale crowds of individuals conforming to the activities of others much like in the various sourced images. This has resulted in a series of much more uniform and hypnotic images with a more abstract, pattern like visual aesthetic which I had outlined in my previous post. 

I think it was also effective conceptually to make the images very monotonous in there appearance, depicting very mundane every day tasks that solely tasks such as queuing that are utterly reliant of social compliance. This monotonous feel I tried to further exaggerate by using mainly greys and blacks as well as further abstracting the images to basic shapes and leaving negative space to describe certain features. This I feel has once again furthered the idea of individual thought/independence and in essence autonomy being over ruled by our pre disposition to conform to a group.

With all this considered I then desired to explore other mundane activities as the every day commute to work/education. I think this in particular could be a good avenue to explore as, despite its dreary, monotonous nature than many complain about, it is something that more or less or members of  society engage. Therefore it is interesting to how, despite the importance we give it, the idea of a 9-5 job is some thing once again based upon ideas of both compliance and integration given our inherent needs to both fit it and be accepted as well as have our own place and function within society.

Further Visual Development: Contemplating a new approach

Given the points highlighted in my last post I decided to further explore the use of repeat motifs/characters to explore the theme of conformity. I tried in some way to reconcile the two sets of images I produced before by depicting a singular figure splitting in two over and over again until a whole crowd of identical clones are present. I also intentionally excluded certain features form them, such as the eyes. This was both aesthetically so as to create something simpler and bolder as I had found that was far more effective in my previous images and conceptually I think it helps play into the idea of individuals' 'blindly' following the masses.

Although I think they're successful in communicating the themes of my visual response I think the the need for simplicity I highlighted in my previous post could be taken to much further and more graphic extremes. I think much simpler, shape based image, coupled with the use of repeated elements would be a lot stronger visually and would also reinforce the conceptual themes as the idea of something 'human' and individual would be lost to a more abstract, repetitive pattern.

To furhter my ideas with this I decided to gather together a collection f images exploring large scale, uniform groups of people engaging in activities that require some level of conformity through compliance.

Initial visual responses

My initial visual responses focused mainly on the findings of Asch's experimented coupled with some of the themes of my essay that explored how young adults and teens seek trends in order to fit in and establish and excepted identity both of which are examples of compliance in action.

Therefore I went about creating a series of characters that have all merged into one homogeneous form due to how each member of the group has adopted the the thought, actions and appearance of the other in order to fit in and be accepted. Visually I think they are successful in communicating the main themes of my visual response. However I think the top two, particularly that on the right are much more successful aesthetically, as they are simpler in there constructing and bolder in their use of contrasting tone which has resulted in much more balanced images.

Ralph Steadman

Given his reputation as something of a maverick often prone to satirising and attacking various cultural and political institutions that are present within western society I decided to take out the book: Gonzo The Art by Ralph Steadman. Visually I felt it fitted with the looser more comical style of ink based drawing I had used for my initial responses. However it was his images relating to conformity and consumerism, particularly those using repeat motifs that I was drawn to. I think this is something that I could bring into my own work as it very strongly conveys the theme of conformity and compliance. 

 

With this in mind I did some very quick drawings incorporating the use of repeat motifs, however here rather than just try and show a compliant group of conformist as I had previously done, I wanted to try and show the individual being pressured to conform. Therefore I did one figure in each image in colour with his eyes open to signify him as an individual that is 'awake' with some sense of independence. However I purposefully gave them both panicked/confused looking expressions so as to try and convey that he is being pressured into the dull monotony of the others.

Scientific Evidence of Conformity

Although it is reasonable to say that most, if not all of us, conform to societal expectation, beliefs and behaviours in some form or another I though it would be good to find some actual scientific proof of the various different forms in action.

Compliance has been noted in action during the Asch line experiment. This was where a individuals were put into a group, the other members of which were aware of what was going on in the experiment, and told to match lines on a left card with that of a right. For certain cards the majority of the group purposefully gave an incorrect answer, the aim of which was to see whether or not the participant would follow the group given that answers were given out loud. The results found that roughly 75% of all participants would give an incorrect answer at least once in order to conform to the rest of the group despite it being clearly wrong (an early and similar experiment Sherif had sought to find a similar answer but it was considered to ambiguous in what it got participants to answer).

The Stanford prison experiment can also be seen to prove both compliance theory and integration theory, where by one conforms in order to create a defined social standing and role within society. Despite participants agreeing to the experiment and knowing it was only make believe, it was carried out as much like that of an actual prison as possible with all the normal procedures for arrest and incarceration such as fingerprinting, being strip searched and deloused all taking place.

The aim was to see whether or not the problems of brutality and corruption found in many prisons were a result of a few individuals with sadistic tendencies or simply a result of conflicting personality traits, eg lawless and disrespectful prisoners vs domineering guards, coupled with societal expectations. The study found that participants, particularity the 'guards', quickly and easily took to their assigned roles and that within hours the guards were acting in cruel and often sadistic ways towards the 'inmates'. In much the same way prisoners also adopted behaviours expected of them such as a strictly obeying the rules, regarding them as being there for their own good, as well as telling on other prisoners and siding with guards when rules were broken. As the experiment progressed it found that the 'guards' readily became more aggressive where as the 'prisoners' became more submissive.

It concluded that people will readily conform to social roles, however its over all credibility has been debated given its situational rather than dispositional subject matter.

What is conformity?

Conformity is a form of social influence behaviour why by an individual alters, either consciously or unconsciously, his beliefs or behaviour so as to match that a wider group due to the various different physical or psychological pressures, such as social expectations, that may arise from it. 

There are four major types of conformity as set out by the psychologist Herbert Kelman:

Compliance: This a public form of conformity cause by fear of rejection or a desire to fit in, differing private beliefs may still be held.

Identification: Conforming to someone who is liked or respected.

Internalization: Accepting and adopting a wide spread belief or behaviour due to a belief of its credibility/legitimacy.

Similarly to compliance there is a fourth but often less emphasised form of conformity: Integration. This is where by one changes there behaviour to seek the approval of others not out of fear of rejection but need for social rewards.

It is usually seen that compliance is the weaker of the three where as internalization is the strongest and often the hardest to break away from. However despite this it is compliance that I find the most interesting. This is due to how widespread and pervasive it is in all forms of society, particularly our consumer based one, where as, given its nature, internalization is usually limited to more totalitarian societies/cultures.

Furthermore after looking at theories of philosopher Hannah Arendt I found it fascinating and to be honest quite frightening, just how powerful this public need to confirm can be. This is due to the fact that she argued that in Nazi Germany the key reason behind how so many atrocities were able to take place was not due to the common Nazi citizen having psychopathic tendencies or truly believing in their cause, although arguably this was the case with younger generations who had been internalized to some extent, but rather due to overwhelming pressures to conform socially. This theory is now widely excepted and has been further confirmed by the Milgram experiment whereby participants were told to shock others, who were in fact actors, if they got a question wrong, even to the point where the volts were powerful enough to kill a person, although they had not been informed this. The experiment found that, despite it causing them considerable stress, many participants would still issue the supposedly lethal shocks simply because they had been told to by an authority figure.

Where as in my essay I primarily explored how brands manipulate the individual, resulting in conformist actions and habits, I am going to use this visual response to explore how in fact humans have a deep rooted tendency and need to conform. In his article, You Are a Conformist (You are Human) Noam Shpancer argues this is the case stating: 

'Human beings are herd animals. We survive in highly coordinated groups. Individually, we are designed to pick up social cues, coordinate and align our behaviour with those around us. Recent research has shown that social disapproval provokes the brain's danger circuits. Conformity soothes.'

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/insight-therapy/201012/you-are-conformist-is-you-are-human

It is this line of thinking that will be underpinning my subsequent visual research and exploration.

Project Proposal

The main underlying theme of my visual investigation will be that of conformity and social cohesion versus ideas of the individual within modern society. To investigate this I will research various different theories relating to and examples of conformity within our society which I will in turn explore visually through a variety of different image making processes documented in my visual journal.

In order to research these themes in depth I intend to look into the main theories surrounding conformity. This will include looking at ways in which conformity manifests itself in the individual through two distinctly different phenomena known as informational social influence, or social proof, and normative social influence. Furthermore I then intend to look at the consequences this has on group dynamics specifically exploring whether or not it is a positive thing through strengthening social cohesion or whether or not it can actually have negative affects such as those associated with the theory of 'groupthink'.

I am particularly interested in looking into the how conformity effects people differently according to age. Many past studies have suggested that, as the individual ages the less likely they are to conform to the views and actions of others. Therefore I want to explore exactly why this occurs although finding a definitive answer to this will be difficult as studies have highlighted a variety of different reasons such as fear of rejection, desires to succeed through conforming to those higher up the social ladder as well as it, particular yin the 1-9 age brackets, being a way through which children can learn from there elders.

In order to visually investigate this content I will focus primarily on ideas of repetitious and monotony within my images. Initially this will be more figurative work so as to reflect the theme of people within society, however eventually I would like to move it towards something more abstract, possibly focussing on shape and geometry. I intend to explore these images through a variety of different processes, both analogue and digital.

Study Task 4: Triangulating and Harvard Referencing


1: Triangulation:

All three texts highlight how modern society and its its culture is primarily consumer based due to the fact that creative minds are being used to further  and reinforce consumerism due to the fact they '...have been brought up in a world in which the techniques and apparatus of advertising have persistently been presented to us as the most lucrative, effective and desirable means of using our talents.'(Garland, K, 1964). Furthermore all three agree that this is misdirected energy on the part of creative and that it should be used for more '...useful and more lasting forms of communication.'(Garland, K, 1964). However both Fuck Committees(Kalman, T, 1998) and First Things First 2000(Adbusters, 2000) are much more condemning in their view of popular culture and militant in their proposed reversal of creative priorities. For example, arguably due to the almost 40 year gap between First Things First(Garland, K, 1964), the other two sources both agree that the public has been warped and dulled by branding and marketing arguing that it has led to a '...reductive and immeasurably harmful code of public discourse.' (Adbusters, 2000) and that Corporations have ',,.become the sole arbiters of cultural ideas and taste...'(Kalman, T, 1998). Furthermore they claim that this reversal is urgently needed as 'Consumerism is running uncontested...'(Adbusters, 2000) and that the '...cracks in the wall.'(Kalman, T, 1998) need to be found in order to achieve this where as in contrast to this the original First Things First (Garland, K, 1964) does not  '...advocate the abolition of high pressure consumer advertising...'(Garland, K , 1964).

2 : Image Analysis:

The above image can be seen as an example of how creative culture has been appropriated in order to create effective market campaigns through which consumerisms is enforced. The images, styles and cultural significance of the figures, all creatives operating within the field of music, have been used in order to give Adidas products these same cultural associations in order to make them more appealing to the consumer, Therefore this can be seen as an example of the priorities that need to be reversed, as set out in the three texts, given that the artists in question have chosen to miss use their own image through product endorsement in order to further them selves, as well as Adidas, financially rather than focus on more creative or productive endeavours. 

3: Evaluation:

The underlying argument of The First Thins First Manifesto(Garland, K, 1964) is that creative such as designers, photographers illustrators etc. have their priories wrong in that they use their skills primarily for marketing purposes as opposed to more '...useful and more lasting forms of communication.'(Garland, K, 1964) which further the creative arts, culture and society as a whole. Furthermore it argues that it isn't simply creative that feel this way but also members of the public and that the reason this has occurred is that creatives are persistently told that marketing is the '...most lucrative, effective and desirable means of using our talents.'(Garland, K, 1964). However despite this it doesn't completely condemn consumerism or mass marketing stating that it doesn't '...advocate the abolition of high pressure consumer advertising...'(Garland, K , 1964) partly due to the fact it doesn't see it as feasible but also due to the suggestion that to do so would take '...the fun out of life' (Garland, K, 1964).

4: Paraphrase, Summarise

Fuck Committees(Kalman, T, 1998) theorises that modern creative culture is a 'struggle between individuals with jagged passion in their work and today's faceless corporate committees...'(Kalman, T , 1998). Furthermore it states that today's creatives, such as designers, writers, directors photographers etc. have '...been relegated to a role of corporate servitude..'(Kalman T, 1998) by corporations that '...claim to understand the needs of the mass audience...'(Kalman, T, 1998). What it means by this is that profession creatives are no longer putting their talents to furthering culture or expressing them selves but that the idiosyncrasies have been removed by corporate committees who instead want to produce '...thought-free, passion-free, cultural mush that will not be hated nor loved by anyone.'(Kalman, T, 1998). Instead all creative independence on part of the creator has been lost and that now corporations are now the sole pushers of culture and taste with an aim of appealing to the lowest common denominator.

Study Task 3: Planning and structuring an essay

For my my essay I have chosen the question 'What is the relationship between branding and the consumer self?'. More specifically I my essay will be confirmed with how various marketing techniques and ideas of brand image to play upon the ego in order to establish a strong relationship between the brand and consumer self. 

Initially I had wanted to also explore how this leads to conformity within society and whether or not this creates tension due to the opposing notions of the individual self and group dynamics. Furthermore I had wanted to explore whether this tension is unique to or simply a cause of consumer based society or whether or not it is something much more pervasive and ever within human society no matter its particular philosophical or theological form. 

However after the group tutorials I have decided to focus on only the first aspect of my question. This is because the general consensus that I got from moth peer and tutor feedback was that if I included the latter two parts it would be too overarching in its themes and, given the word count would leads to a incoherent and sloppy essay. 

With all this in mind I have devised an initial plan and structure to my essay.

Thesis: Do marketing techniques and brand identities subvert and manipulate 

Intro: Explain briefly how ego drives marketing and brand image and touch upon the ways in which it does this. Define key words such as brand and ego that are of fundamental importance to my essay.

Paragraph One: Focus on the nature of branding and marketing particularly how it appeals to an emotional rather than rational level. Suggest that this is due to brands playing into certain aspects of the ego rather than simply subverting them.

Paragraph Two:  In contrast to the first paragraph explore the argument that branding and consumer society actively creates these traits within the ego in order to successfully sell products.

Paragraph Three: Explore in depth the various techniques, such as those highlighted by Vance Pakard in The Hidden Persuaders, used to market products and create strong brand identity through various inherent traits of the individual within consumer society. 

Paragraph Four: Close reading of Naomi Klein's No Logo exploring how brands seek to target younger age groups due to their lack of, and subsequent need to define self identity. Like with the first two paragraphs explore whether or not this something created by marketing and branding or something inherent to that age group.

The various sources I will use include:

Benson, A.L (ed), I Shop therefore I am, Compulsive buying and the search for self, Oxford, Rowman & Little field Publishers

Freud, S, Society and Its Discontents, London, Penguin Books Ltd

Heath, J, Potter, A, Nation of Rebels: Why counter culture became consumer culture, New York, Harper Collins

Lasn, K, Culture Jam, New York, Harper Collins

Lee,  M,J (ed), The consumer society reader, 2 ed, Blackwell Publishing Ltd : Marx, K, Estranged labour, Marx, K, The Fetish of Commodity and its Secret

Klein, N, No logo, London, Flamingo

As well as the images: 

http://www.hiphopmovie.com/2013/08/26/run-dmc-adidas-commercial/

http://about.virginmedia.com/press-release/9380/bolt-takes-on-blot-in-new-virgin-media-ad-campaign

http://www.vintag.es/2013/04/bizarre-tobacco-advertising-from-1920s.html