I started the visual development by thinking about different outcomes and what I want to communicate. I just wan to show that these assumptions are annoying and I want to raise awareness to these as its a boundary between us. Most create negative assumptions due to things people see on social media. I thought about where do people see these assumptions mostly are online some believe these stereotypes as they have never been and usually its people who never been there that ask the worst ones as they see an image or a meme on internet and believe it. You can see these stereotypes on movies such as on netflix, the turkish character is probably dark tanned tall has a beard. The visuals created for each culture and these are imposed on the viewer. These are common for other cultures as well such as British the actor will usually be tall very blonde no hair. We can also see them on advertisements to represents groups of people. These stereotypes represents and generalise a large group of people which can be very risky and problematic.
The outcome can be a book cover which has the title “everything (not) about Turkey” and just list of stereotypical objects places which people always assume. I think this could be interesting and easy to communicate. I felt like it wasn’t strong enough as it was too simple and the I need a stronger visual to communicate my purpose. The second idea I had was a instagram feed page which has everything stereotypical, as most of these are seen on social media which I could link to other and a page which is more humurous and not so serious as people tend to share things that when you make fun of it. I thought this could be fun to do and a different perspective. But I wanted to keep thinking about what I can make, the other idea was focused on post cards. The idea is that when people think about post cads its always linked to holidays, Turkey is a very popular holiday destination thats what people think of as mentioned in one of the tutorials. One of the girls in the meeting said that when someone say turkey she just thinks of a holiday. I thought it was so interesting and that the material is different I never really created an outcome as post card as the project is suppose to make us try new things I wanted to go with it.
I thought about what are the cultural stereotypes and started to research some as I already know a couple from speaking to my friends. One of my course mates suggested focusing on post cards as she said she thinks of holidays when turkey is mentioned which she said post cards could be a good idea. Some of the stereotypes I found or was asked was “do you speak arabic” or “can you read Arabic”. This is due to Turkey being an islamic country which people assume we all speak Turkish but Turkey moved from ottoman Arabic to latin alphabet in 1928. I read an article about a guy talking through about turkish alphabet and how its diffrerent to other keyboards. I found it so ineterstung and learnt new things that I never knew or thought baout. I was interesting because I didn’t know these myself and if someone wouldve asked i wouldnt know. I thought about doing something focused on typography and alpahet to show the difference but I feel like crtical design needs to be more challenging and powerful. It needs to be about an issue which is bigger or the visuals should be as well. Another stereotype is assuming all Turkish people are dark tanned men has beards and women wear turbans. Many people in turkey do have dark facial features however many people also don’t. So when people would meet me as a fair skinned Turkish person they always question as i don’t fit into the stereotype or the “image”of a Turkish person. These images are created through different sources mainly through internet such as social media, television, movies, adverts. Movies, adverts such mediums always generalize a group in society using stereotypical features to represent a group. Is this is an issue in representation image which I have also touched in my dissertation. I had a chapter which focuses on how in advertisements and other elements in graphic design representation is very important as it effects the way people see themselves and their position in society. The other stereotypes about Turkey as that we ride camels or camels are just everywhere. In the articles, people also assume that men can have more than one wives which is also related to religion. I realised these assumptions or questions are really frustrating. I want to raise awareness and get people to think about their assumptions. Gulmen’s work has been a huge inspiration to me and she has experienced similar issues. As I mentioned in earlier post, I want to focus on something I have experienced and show my frustration so I started to think about visuals.
The next stage was find post cards which is related to Turkey and different most popular destinations to draw peoples attention. I started to do the first initial designs as I have a tutorial with theo and carol.
first draft.
Once I decided on the idea ,I still feel unsure how the visuals will look but it will be the first draft and I do need some guidance. I felt quite lost as I was adding these questions which were asked so commonly onto these post cards but like there was no meaning I could see it myself I didn’t know what the messsage was yes they are stereotypes you hear but what was I trying to say whether are they right or wrong, or what am I disrupting or criticizing. the visuals were weak and I knew I needed some guidance. I like the post card idea and as its a different outcome which I never made before it was different to social media feeds or posters or booklets. The question such as you don’t look Turkish didn’t fit well with the post card image, I had to find a clearer message. I had a meeting with Theo and Carol and they were really helpful especially Theo, Carol thoughts the message wasn’t clear and she knew what I was trying to do but the questions and image didn’t link well together. Theo said he really likes the post card idea its different medium and work well with the turkey logo. However, he adviced me to decide on what am I trying to do what is my message he asked are you trying to show how frustrating it is and make people think or are you trying to answer these questions. I knew it would be raise awareness and show it is frustrating when people assume and ask these things which they can easily find out if they look at other things other than memes. Theo said he really likes the doner image and he said you can show your frustration with humor, manipulate and add things onto the image.These can be completely weird objects such as fruit or other products which don’t really make sense. I remember in Dunne and Rabys website they talked about importance of humor and how powerful it can be to challenge something. I liked the idea of editing the image, it was different and very simple. I believe I was trying to create something complex and several outcomes which was the wrong way to go with the project. Looking at the examples in the lecture it showed to communicate something I just need a simple visual and a clear message. I felt more motivated and carried on working on just one visual which was the doner shop.
Visual development
I started working on new images, the image below was the first attempt, I tried to add ice creams onto the doner meat to replac it. I added a cone to finish off the image I think it works well and it looks quite odd as you know its not an ice cream but i am playing with people and manipulating images to show this. I think the only issue is the color of the ice cream is too much like doner meat very similar colours. I think once I change this it would work much better. I think its a very simple idea but it works and communicates much clearer than using words. As theo mentioned why don’t you show it rather than telling us with words. People assume that I eat a lot of kebab etc so why don’t I show you don’t or use another product related to Turkey which not many people know. One of my memories was having ice cream in summer so I wanted to place it as thats my favorite as it doesn’t make sense next to a grill.
I then developed the image by using a different colour so it stands out much better and I think I like this version much better than the first one. It works well and in your face as its so much of it. Im not going to words to tell anything so people can question what this means and what im trying to say. I want to make few more examples so i can see where it goes.
The next photograoh I was working on was the phtograph below. I really liked this image as it just showed an essense and I knew I could add few elements onto it. The first draft is below on the right I added some fruits to over the meat and as if its hanging down and the man is cutting it. The second bar is holding a wedding cake as if its meat. The image shows two products and I think it looks good. The cake section is my favourite as the bottom part really looks real as its it hanging. I want to try other variations and show these to Theo to meeting tomorrow see what he thinks about it.
The next version I was I was cutting on parts but I just liked it this way, it was like you already know what is it with the context of the background and the guys standing around but this simple version was also effective to show. I feel like i want to try on words as well as the it will be easier to communicate. Maybe add some quotes or phrases used by many people.
This version as I liked the cake on the second section as it was thinner and fitted perfectly so I cut the images and swapped them around. I think this works well but I do prefer the original image as you can clearly see the action. I think the next part is add some text and see what kind of effect it has on the image.
This was the version which I liked a lot, from the cut ours I added some phrases and sayings which were frustrating but also trying to educate and give some facts. I like the way the image looks and it communicates clearly.
meeting with theo
earlier I had a meeting with Theo and he said the three versins are good and I said Im struggling to decide on which one I want to use. he said he really likes thecake version and the cut out texts. So he suggested I should merge the two images together as he suggested people read left to right so the cake would make them think and kind of shock even laugh so then they can read and realise what its about. This makes it easier to communicate what Im trying to do. HE also suggested i should print these post cards out and send it in real once lockdowns over. He said once I do this and they can send it back and I can photograph for my final portfolio I think it would complete the project.
merging ideas
final outcome
These are the final outcomes on both front of the post card but also the back. I didn’t do much development as I did some research on how post cards are suppose to look. I used the same style of working on my ipad and hand written type to make it look more realistic. I like the simple layout at the back and I added the note and made a comment to emphasise “they think we have kebab for breakfast” I think i was exaggerating the issue to get people to think about it. When its exaggerated it makes you aware and question do people actually say these kinds of things. I was kind of making fun of the assumption which I think works well.
evaluation.
I believe this project was an eye opening project which showed me different ways of working and how I cant always or need loads of outcomes to create a project. I was over complicating thinking about serious of posters etc whereas I realised other people in the course kept it so simple and clear. I think it was hard being away from studio not having much contact with other peers which felt disconnected. However, it was really good to try something different a different approach and I realised I was quite lacking in this type of design. I think for future I want to research more into critical design as its a new concept and develop my knowledge and work. In addition, hopefully with feedback from Theo and Carol I can develop my outcome for the final submission. Overall, i learnt new ways of thinking and pushed my comfort zones with this project which I believe was the aim.
References:
https://theistanbulinsider.com/know-your-doner-kebap-history-overview-and-selected-dishes/
Busra Yildiz 