A Summary of Graphic Agitation 2 by Liz McQuiston

Graphic Agitation 2 by Liz McQuiston is a key text that encompasses a relatively broad range of political events and scandals that have occurred since the 1990s. McQuiston covers socio-political events ranging from the 2000 US presidential election controversy to the Greenpeace vs McDonalds libel case in the 90s. She presents the information in a format and style that is much more akin to a global political text than one related to graphic design, which is of course sensical - it's a political text on the subject of graphic design, and graphic design's place within the political and cultural arena. McQuiston goes lengths to find links between graphic design movements and political events, such as the role of graphic designers in recent US presidential elections: 'The American Institute of Graphic Arts encouraged graphic designers to help get the public out to vote'. As well as covering the immediate link between graphic design and socio-political change, Graphic Agitation also makes broad references to long term cultural and social phenomenons and trends such as 'Culture jamming', which she describes as 'creative resistance on many fronts, [one that] can take many different shapes and forms and keeps evolving as time goes on.'

Reading and Understanding a Text

“Discuss the role that Graphic Design can play in periods of political/social upheaval”

A survey of Graphic Agitation 2

1) Tone-of-voice: What can you deduce about the authors position in regard to the subject matter from their tone-of-voice?

The author has an academic tone of voice reminiscent of the tone of voice used by historians and political scientists. Quite aggressive and sharp words are used, especially those with negative historical and political contexts, such as "resistance", "global corporations or multinationals", "invasive", "creeps", and "stealth". It sounds almost ominous and pessimistic. 

3) 5 key quotes from the text?

"Culture jamming - as 'creative resistance' on many fronts - can take many different shapes and forms and keeps evolving as time goes on."

"A major battlefield has been declared over the years by campaigns against the fast food corporation, McDonald's."

"The American Institute of Graphic Arts encouraged graphic designers to help get the public out to vote, and Adbusters appealed to young voters" 

"After the overwhelming experience of Margaret Thatcher, John Major's relatively bland appearance (and politics) had cartoonists resorting to wonderfully far-fetched depictions of him."

Fred's Lecture 01 - Visual Literacy

The signs below represent male and human females in almost no way, and yet we all recognise that they designate male and female toilets. This is because we all have a high level of visual literacy. 

The warning sign below gives instructions on how to use a certain type of medicine. We know from the symbols that it's a medicine for adults to take 2 pills with water every morning, evening and night, and that it must be kept away from children and toddlers. We know this without reading any words at all. 

The crosses below are fundamentally the same shape, but their meanings are all very different. Some refer to religion or mathematics, some look like assistance or first aid markers, and some represent whole countries. All that's changed is the colour or the dimensions. Images can be made to form part of our language - things that stand for something else. 

The gender symbols here confuse us because the Mars symbol is pink and the Venus symbol is blue. We generally tend to associate the colour pink with females and the colour blue with males, so it's an inconsistency to see the two contrasting like that. 

Visual Semiotics 

Study Task 01 - Image Analysis Exercise

The above image is an advert made for a cooking range produced by the Abendroth Brothers. It is probably aimed at middle class Americans who are instilled with ambition and patriotism, intent on living the "American Dream" and furthering American prevalence and superiority. As an image it's rife with hyperbolic American visuals, positioning Uncle Sam as the superior character in the room, showing off food being made to serve to the rest of the world. The type used is a block serif that conveys power and faux-history, attempting to situate America's identity as powerful and significant. Interestingly, the clock in the image has two years on it: 1776 and 1876, alluding to the 100 year anniversary of the "birth" of the US. This leads us to believe that the advert is riding on the coattails of patriotic jubilations that would be commencing at the time of publication; at a point where Americans were feeling particularly American and proud of it, marketing this range using America in a positive light makes sense. Our contemporary reading, though, is perhaps more sinister. The role of women evidenced within the image is that of a servant to Uncle Sam; similarly, the only black person is also acting as a servant. This is a great contextual insight into the historical standing of women and ethnic minorities, and comparisons can be drawn with it and the images below. The images below were published by the Empire Marketing Board, in what we see as an attempt to present the British Empire as a body that brings about positive change, and then ultimately through doing this they'll attract investment. It was probably aimed at rich colonised people who were becoming more sympathetic with their imperial colonisers than their kinsfolk. It is in many ways a piece of propaganda - it appears to claim that pre-British invasion, Africans were having an awful time migrating by foot, whereas post-invasion they are enjoying a life of technologically enhanced transport via bridge and truck. Technological infrastructure and enhancement is presented in a positive light in both the Uncle Sam range and the East African images - it is very much a case of 'more technology = better lives'. Additionally, in both of the images the roles of women and ethnic minorities is touched upon. In pre-Empire Africa, a woman appears to be leading the way, however in Empire Africa only men are present, and the image is dominated by a powerful, idealistic male figure. Moreover, black people in the pre-Africa are seen to be free and self-led, whereas post colonisation they're working under the apparent command of a white man. This corroborates our pre-existing understanding of the elements of social construct during that epoch: patriarchal ubiquity and white race dominance.