Monday 14 April 2014

Week 2 Research

Image of my survey I handed out
Author's Own 2014
Survey Feedback
In order to understand my target audience I have created a survey given out to people aged within my target audience. I did not do a multiple choice because I feel it is better to let participants write as much as they want. And ultimately the more diverse questions the more possible ideas I get and information back. I asked nine question which were:

1. Age?
2. Have you donated blood?
3. Would you ever give blood?
4. Why haven't you given blood?
5. When and where was the last time you saw anything about donating blood? (i.e. TV, Internet, article, etc.)
6. Do you know what happens when you give blood? (The process)
7. What would make you give blood?
8. Do you think the NHS campaign to give blood should be updated?
9. How do you think the NHS campaign could change to appeal to you?

After getting the  surveys back I got a lot  of information and as I wanted all the surveys provided me with different outcomes which I could think about. (I am going to summarize all the surveys feedback.) Question two basically confirmed my initial prediction that the younger generation have not donated blood. only one participant had which goes to show all recipients were within age range of being allowed to give blood yet no one had. Question 3 was asked to see if participants were just completely against the idea of giving blood or if they would give blood.  Near enough everyone (accept the few who was scared of needles or sight of blood)  said they would give blood. This is a really positive response because it gives me so much potential to inspire people to donate especially as they said they would one day donate.

 The fourth question basically is to really understand what has stopped people from given blood or why haven't they done it. The majority of the people I ask were adamant they had never thought about it and they don't know how to do it. Reflecting on this it is clear the information NHS is providing isn't reaching people and potential first time donators. This leads on to question number 5 which asks participants when was the last time they saw anything to do with giving blood. This question span from  my idea that I never see anything about  giving blood, the reason I decided on doing this project and that giving blood  was prevalent in my mind is because my mum gives blood regularly. However I personally believe campaigns by the NHS are not reaching the younger generation. My prediction was again right because near enough everyone stated the same fact that they could not remember the last time they saw something or that they saw it on my Facebook that I was giving blood. Just this could  equate to a lack of young people donating blood and is something I really need to consider when designing an effective campaign.

Question 6 was asked to see if participants of my survey knew about the process of giving blood. The lack of knowledge of the process was obvious with many missing out steps or just admitting they did not know anything. Another contributing fact to why young people may not give blood-because of the lack of information. "The fear of the unknown". The next question was to understand how I could motivate young people, there was a lot  of varied answers but my favourite and the most common answer was saving people's lives and knowing more information. I think this is a really beautiful result because it goes against the stereotype of young people and shows that they care just as much as everyone else and want to make a different. Emphasizing the fact people save lives  is already present but perhaps doing it at a different angle could be interesting.

Question eight was adamant everyone agreed with the fact the NHS campaign should be updated; which in my eyes is weird as there is already a current campaign running. This  goes to show two things. 1. That the campaigns are reaching young people. 2. The campaigns are not appealing to the younger generation. It is up to me to really attract the young people of Britain to donate. The last question asks the recipients personally how could the campaign attract them.  There was again a range of different answers some asks for the campaign to be fun, more visually exciting, emphasize your saving lives and producing more information. I think all of these suggestions are really helpful and will help me when designing ideas next week.

Overall the survey will allow me to bare in mind what my target audience feel about current and future campaigns. This is vital for me to make a campaign which will attract young people. The whole experience of giving out surveys has been a success and people after even told me that I have inspired them and that they want to give blood now. This is such a positive thing because people have been influenced just by a survey. This is because the idea never occurred to them which is what my survey allowed them to do was question why haven't they something important. 

Pay it forward- 2000






www.dieselsc.com
Accessed on 11/04/2014
Pay it Forward is one of those films I personally think should be shown to everyone. The story is incredible and has real meaning to it. As a brief summary of the story is about a family unit and specifically the son's actions for a school assignment. The assignment as
ks students to change the world. It is how the eleven year old Trevor comes up with a solution that moves the story forward. He comes up with the idea of Pay it Forward. In which he helps three people, but help them in a big way- something they cannot do on there own. Once he has helped them he does not ask for anything back he only asks them to pay it forward to three more people. The whole circumstances are really beautiful and really makes you think. After this film all I wanted to do was Pay it forward. There are so many beautiful quotes used in the films that are beautifully written. One which really stood out to me is when Trevor says:

"I think some people are too scared, or something. I guess it's hard for people who are so used to things the way they are- even if they're bad- To change. Cause they kind of give up, and when they do, everybody kind of loses. "

I really love this quote, it is summarized so perfectly. In fact  I think that everyone can relate to this quote. Change is something everyone is scared of be it a new school, trying new food or even donating blood. We fear the unknown because we are vulnerable, we are not prepared- unlike our structured routine life our stability is taken away from us. I think the main thing to reflect on is the fact that change is scary and in order to make people want to change is to show them something which shows them what they fear is not scary.

Pay it forward shows me more than anything the good in people, and the yearning for good in the world. This film has really helped me think about my project and applying the concept of changing people's lives and how this effects me emotionally. After the film ended I was crying; even though this film is fictional I was emotionally connected with this story and it therefore helped me change perspectives. There are people in hospital now, little children suffering from blood diseases and spending there days listening to life of  machines where here I am in the comfort on Uni writing about it. If you could save people's lives like this would you? Only 4 in 100 people donate blood who can. I feel like people do not even realize how needed it is- they just expect it on tap. People need to know.



(Image above Author's Own 2014)
After arranging everything I was finally able to give blood for the first time. Above are two images the one to the left is the back of my head donating blood and the one next to it depicts me with my bandage. Sadly when I asked the nurse if I was able to film myself donating blood she said I was not allowed due to the needle or some other reason. This would just mean I would need to really remember the process to document here. When I first arrived I was entered into the computer and then was asked to  take a pint of water and consume it. The nurse who I spoke to on arrival was really nice and made me feel very welcome allowing me to feel more comfortable.

ericajean06.tumblr.com
Accessed on 14/04/2014
Considering my FMP is campaigning for young people to donate blood It was really interesting to see how many young people were waiting to donate blood. And as I predicted there was a lack of young donators in the community centre where I was about to donate blood. There was around 3 other young people aged at 21-23. All together waiting to give blood there was around 30-40 people; other than the three the ages ranged from 40-60. After I drank my water I waited for my name to be called out. After ten or so minutes I heard "Miss Victoria Geary", I followed the very tall nurse, Bill into a private area. The nurse was very extremely friendly, he looked over my questionnaire I was asked to bring with me (the questionnaire basically asked me about my medical history etc). After this he told me he was going to prick my finger and see if my iron levels were alright. Using a weird mechanism he pricked my middle finger and took the blood to test. I was told my iron levels were perfect and he finally said to wait near the wall to get my blood taken.

My mum was called, my sister was called and then finally I was called up to give blood. I took my ipod with me so I could listen to some music. I was asked what arm I wanted drawn - I said left- and relaxed as the nurse got everything ready after preparing the arm with alcohol wipes she eventually pushed the needle in. I though this would hurt however it was uncomfortable for a millisecond and then there was no pain at all! After 6:19secs the 475ml (just under a pint was drawn) and I was able to go get some refreshments.

Above you can see a GIF of Sleeping Beauty pricking her finger on the spindle, I think this is a really fun way to show my process. But also it shows fear and how it is represented- something I need to avoid in my motion graphics. The dark and dingy colour palette is something which emphasizes pain and anxiety.

After the donation I don't know why I was even worried? I don't want to be cliche but the process was quick, friendly and not painful. In conclusion now that I have donated I am even more enthusiastic to campaign for young people to donate! Furthermore I will 100% donate again.

www.dezeen.com
Accessed on 14/04/2014

Morag Myerscough
Morag_myerscough_no_guts_no_glory
www.itsnicethat.com
Accessed on 14/04/2014


Morag Myerscough is someone who have I looked at many times before  during this foundation year and I am really in love with the studio. All the work is mostly typography based however more than the typography I love the vibrant colours that just make there work fresh and so exciting. These intense colours really remind me of the anatomical figure in my sketchbook- perhaps this could be something I pursue in the development stages of my work.

 What I love more than just the type is the way the work is applied to not just paper but on furniture, huge signs, walls etc. This reminds me of an artists I saw in Berlin called Dorothy Iannone who also applies her incredibly detailed work onto furniture as well. I think that Myerscough will influence my work as I feel the vibrant bold colours is something I feel will be amazing to apply to my work. It keeps the work more appealing to younger people and stays away from a clinical feeling campaign.

During the second week of research I was lucky enough to visit Berlin, a place where contemporary design is famed for. It was interesting and the whole atmosphere Berlin was completely different the UK and London in particular. It was weird sitting on the train and see abundant of gravity covering all walls and giant paintings of side of buildings. These factors were actually really rewarding for my eyes and gave me a  new outlook on gravity something I don't necessarily always agree with. We visited three exhibitions the Museum of modern art, Photography museum and the holocaust museum. All three were actually really different from each other. The first we visited was the museum of modern art. Below are some photographs I took whilst at the Museum.

[All Images below unless stated is Author's own 2014)








Dorothy Iannone was one of my favourite sections of the museums (all her work seen above.) Her work was so illustrative and colourful that the playfulness of it really spoke to me! I think perhaps it was the honesty of her subjects and showing the truth about sex in some ways. I think this is something to pick up on because in my campaign I want it to be as honest as possible so that people are not lied to. I think that there are many things which I am going to pick up on-the first being the vibrancy and the second the way Iannone projects are work onto furniture or large walls alot like Morag studios. 

I really like the above and below images that play with colour and turn it into something visually interesting. I think I  like the closeness of the lines above as it gives of some weird illusion. 


These design show various imagery but what caught my attention was the play with red and the tones, although I don't want to use red within my work I think its refreshing to see how red can work really nicely onto some designs. Applying solely red to any design reminds me of blood which is probably why I decided to photograph the above images. 

This piece caught my attention because it visually is a really appealing piece- by this I mean i really just wanted to touch it and feel it. This piece was created by numerous wooden podiums that created a really nice textured piece. It also reminded me of blood cells in a disk- an image I photographed at the science museum. (To the right shows a similar image). Seeing these two images together really shows how I could translate the blood cells onto the top image. The image below was taken from:
                                                www.shutterstock.com Accessed on 14/04/2014



Above is only a small section of a huge wall of artwork. The piece really caught my attention because of the size as well as the amount of work on the wall. The artist gathered pieces of dust or dirt and separated the work so it was put in catergories. The work strongly represented some sort of scientific test. This reminded me of some of the work I wanted to perhaps look into ad felt it would be important to photograph. Perhaps the only thing which I think it could lack is colour? But the way the artist chose different varieties of brown is effective is a subtle way. 

Above you can see some of the notes I took at the museum which really shows my intial ideas and thoughts from the different exhibitions I visited. 


The Holocaust museum was very sad and really showed the pinacle of humanity. I think this was something to really discuss on my blog. The holocaust shows humanity at its worst and it faces you with the question would you have helped the people if you could? I think questioning something like this you begin to emphasis for the victims and consider your own humanity. I think donating blood is similar it defines the people who want to save others lives and humanity I guess. - Not that not donating blood is comparing people as Nazis but just the consideration of others who are on the verge of death and in need. Another thing about this muswum was the notes written to the families from the victims which really made me tear up. It was so sad and you begin to really connect with the victims, you want to help.  

  
Accessed on 14/04/2014
Above is a photograph I viewed whilst I was at the photography museum and it really made me think about the two arms connected. This is something I would like to perhaps develop in the development stages the link between the donor and recipient.. I do love the idea of dance and somehow showing the donation of blood through dance in some sort of cinematic way. The image is very strong above this is because of the harsh shadows and well directed interlocking between the two models. 
Rex and Gregory By Greg Gorman ,Circa 1998



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