Week 7

Research and theory

Lecture material:

Martin Hosken

“If you had to decide, would you say research is a science, an art or even a craft? Do you consider it primarily an academic exercise or is it an activity of life? Apart from this course, when was the last time you had to engage in what you would term ‘research’?”

Research is a science. I believe there is a particular approach that involves a combination of factors to result in beneficial research to drive an idea. The individual elements combine as one, which is then presented in a final.
Research is an activity of life. Research applies in many areas throughout a person’s lifetime. Research can be undertaken in health, lifestyle, career, finance, social, study etc. It’s everywhere – research for me lies underneath the categories of experience and knowledge. In order to gain experience and knowledge, research is required.
I have to do research for my daily role in work. It’s always necessary to keep learning throughout a career, and in order for me to become the best at what I do I need to learn about what already exists, and how I can evolve this through process improvements.

The room around me: what do I see?
If the room were to be painted dark, that would change the atmosphere of this study room entirely . It’s currently painted cream with a large window allowing light to flood in, if this window was not there the room would feel quite claustrophobic when full of study materials. It’s welcoming and acts as a blank canvas for all of my inspiration – the walls are covered in postcards, artwork and a stationery holder grid system. This room would feel very dark and uninviting if painted red, for instance. The contents of the room match the purpose – if this was moved around things would be made difficult for working, and even the walls painted.

From doing this task I have learnt something in a short space of time about my surroundings – why I have set up the room in this way and why it works so well as a study space. I did not know subconsciously why I have arranged the room in this way until I sat and thought about it. A space that is inviting, light and a blank canvas is entirely fitting to what I need to focus.

Phisophical CateGorisations:

Metaphysics – asks questions around our ultimate sense of reality. It deals with ontology, the nature of being. In this way, it asks the big questions – man, God, what’s it all about, and can there ever be an objective truth?
Aesthetics asks questions of the nature of beauty. It deals with judgement and perception, order and proportion.
Ethics asks questions of how we should conduct ourselves. It explores ideas of morality, judgement and importantly, the desired or appropriate relationship between the individual and the state.
Epistemology engages the theory of knowledge itself, especially with regards to its origins, methods, validity, limits and scope, and the distinction between justified belief and opinion. Epistemology investigates the nature of human knowledge and is of much concern when we start to approach the methodologies and research.

Qualitive and Quantative:

Qualitive – exploratory research i.e. opinions, views, impressions etc.
Quantative – organised numerically i.e. statistics, categories, rank order etc.

webinar:

Laura Gordon

Cultural Preserves:

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From the above series of Rebranding Britishness, there is one titled Cultural Preserves that I’m particularly inspired by, and the use of colour in the branding is subtle and calm. I also appreciate how clever the text is on the jars to generate a deeper contextual understanding of the history and meaning of this project. There is a simplicity about these jar labels, and the little embellished logo completes the design. I really love the typeface and how it provides an insight into geography and relationships in cultures.

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Gill Sans is an interesting choice of typeface for this project, and I wanted to learn more about why this typeface was used for the project so I did some research:

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