COP3 Evaluation & Statement of Intent

Evaluation

Statement of Intent
Withing this document is an explanation as to why my title changed from the original. 

The Dissertation

Dissertation

Week Plan: W/B 13/01/14 - A Comparison

On 20/12/14 (approx. 1 month before hand in) I made a plan to structure the last week in an emergency situation where the dissertation and other hand in items were not printed and bound.

In the interest of comparison and planning for the week ahead beginning Monday, I have updated the plan below.

 
Original plan 1 month ago (original post)
The dissertation aims to be finished by the week prior to this, however I am making a back up plan for the week of the hand in. The blogging entries will not change, it is a plan to blog something everyday anyway.

Monday
Compile all files ready to print
Print all research documents
Begin binding research documents
Blog

Tuesday
Bind research documents
Print and bind Dissertation
Blog


Wednesday
Print all exhibition items
Print beer labels & affix them to the bottles
Bind
Blog

Thursday
Complete Evaluation
Blog

Friday
Blog
Hand in all work
(have a craft beer at home)

New Plan

Monday
Finish looses ends on the essay
Print posters and flyers
Affix labels to the bottles& photograph on location
Emboss the printed mats
Blog

Tuesday
Print 1 copy as a proof
Compile digital mock ups of website
Ammend anything
Blog


Wednesday
Print 3 copies of dissertation
Read again and re-print if needed
Compile all materials to hand in
Blog

Thursday
Blog
Assess all work to hand in
Evaluation
 
Friday
Hand in

Blog
(have a craft beer at home)

Revisiting Petra Loffler

I first discovered Loffller and her theory on distraction in September with an interview (original blog post here), however I have now found that several months ago, at the start of 2013, Loffler talked at a conference.

I decided to revisit the theory and see if it can be applied to aesthetics again as I once attempted originally. 


When discussing a Robit's views on attention, Loffler concludes quite literally that attention is an abnormal state of mind. Although Löffler talks about modern mass media such as cinema I can relate the gawker theory that she discusses in terms of  applied graphics in packaging design. There is a lot of brain science and academic thought in Loffler's theories, much of it irrelevant to my investigations into craft beer sales, however I feel that there is much to be said about how the brain can process "several streams of attention".
It is possible that when looking at several pieces of design in context such as a crowded bar, something which distracts the mind towards it can become the focus of a spontaneous decision to purchase a product, such as a bottle of beer. If Loffler interprets Robit's ideas of attention to be abnormal states of consciousness then perhaps macro produced products are bought because they are always bought. They are mass produced, and therefore by nature consumed en-mass. Something that is produced at a smaller scale which more care and consideration can be harder to sell to the wider public because they simply do not see it. 

I have Harvard referenced this video below, for the purpose of using it in the dissertation.






Unlike Us #3 - Petra Löffler: A History of Distraction From a Media-Archaeological Perspective from network cultures on Vimeo.

Still image of video

Original video link (here)

Harvard Reference

Network Cultures. (2013). Unlike Us #3 - Petra Löffler: A History of Distraction From a Media-Archaeological Perspective. [Online Video]. 22 March. Available from: http://vimeo.com/64056087. [Accessed: 31 December 2013].

First Chapter: A lot of restructuring

Looking at my first draft for chapter 1 from around 5 days previous has allowed me to hit it with fresh eyes. This has helped to discover several restructuring possibilities to make it much more legible and add the quotes into the places I set out for them originally.

Time Management: Self Evaluation update

Self evaluation

At this point in time I feel that what writing I have can form strong foundations for further research. Currently I have a lack of journals in the dissertation but have found several videos and a lecture series which I was lucky enough to get tickets for. My investigation can't rest on mainly primary or secondary research, it must be supported equally and I feel that I must cite several more sources in the chapter on brand theory to be able to triangulate efficiently. 

The practical element is further behind where I want it to be, I have underestimated the complexities in organising and curating an exhibition on even this, a relatively small scale. I have put together several timetables for certain periods of the module and for the most part, I am succeeding in meeting my deadlines.

For my investigation to be as concise and informed as I want, the primary research of three breweries and at least 50 members of the public is key. A range of primary insights into the way in which the industry is formed from a consumer and brand point of view will push my essay to a point where it can work with the theory on branding and marketing. 

My time management for the design of the practical element has put this part of the response behind by 7-10 days, this is not ideal but can be rectified easily by being more efficient with scheduling resource times such as screen print.

Final Lecture

Where am I now?
What have I done so far?
How is my time management?
What am I worried about?
Have a Plan B (see previous ideas in this blog post)

Losing Focus

Dont lose sight of original questions
Dont obsess over how things look
Prioritise
Write something to be happier



Write down the aims of the project

Aesthetics of dispersed attention. An interview with Petra Loffler

When attempting to look into aesthetics as distracting us from the content in which it packages, I came across a theorist, Petra Loffler. I hoped originally to uncover any theory that suggests that aesthetics actively enable us to be distracted by visuals and cause us to pick up something which we did not originally intend to. 

Petra Loffler has written a vast amount on distraction theory, this interview is my first reading of her insight into the topic. 

This text proved to be a long read in places so I have cut snippets of the article which I have found interesting and then highlighted the very key points that I personally took an interest in.

The link to original article is (here) 




Aesthetics of dispersed attention interview with Petra Loffler

Geert Lovink: How did you come up with the idea to write the history of distraction?  How did you come up with your angle?

Petra Löffler: That’s a long story. Around 2000, with my colleague Albert Kümmel, I was working at an anthology about ephemeral discourses dealing with media dating back to the second half of the nineteenth century.  One of the topics was ‘Aufmerksamkeit’ (attention). Later I reviewed the material, much of it was unpublished, and came across a collection of related texts, which focussed on ‘Zerstreuung’ (distraction). Another motivation was that in the tradition of the Frankfurter Schule, which is very influential until now (not only in Germany), distraction has a bad reputation. I had to go back to the early reflections on modernity in the 18th century and to cross very different discourses from philosophy and pedagogy to psychiatry and physiology to optics and aesthetics. There was not a single constant discourse, but various discontinuous propositions that could not easy be summarized into a respectable object of knowledge. I owe Foucault’s discourse analysis and archaeology of knowledge a lot, but for my research object stable systems of propositions didn’t exist, and the gaps between discourses were evident. May be that’s why, for a long time, distraction seems to be only an ephemeral side product of discourses on attention––or better a bastard, that has to be hide.

GL: You don’t seem to be bothered by distraction, is that true?

PL:  I have been living in big cities for decades and I accept a certain level of noise as normal—just because I also estimate the various leisure time distractions every metropolis has to offer. Following philosophers like Kant or psychologists like Ribot I belief that a certain level of distraction is not only necessary for a life balance, but also a common state of body and mind.

GL: You got a fascinating chapter in your habilitation about early cinema and the scattering of attention it would be responsible for. The figure of the nosy parker that gawks interests you and you contrast it to the street roaming flaneur.

PL: Yes, the gawker is a fascinating figure, because according to my research results it is the corporation of the modern spectator who is also a member of a mass audience––the flaneur never was part of it. The gawker or gazer, like the flaneur, appeared at first in the modern metropolis with its multi-sensorial sensations and attractions. According to Walter Benjamin the flaneur disappeared at the moment, when the famous passages were broken down. They had to make room for greater boulevards that were able to steer the advanced traffic in the French metropolis.

No wonder movie theatres were often opened at locations with a high level of traffic inviting passers-by to go inside and, for a certain period of time, becoming part of an audience. Furthermore many films of the period of Early Cinema were actualities showing the modern city-life. In these films the movie-camera was positioned at busy streets or corners in order to record movements of human and non-human agents. 

Today to view one’s own face on a screen is an everyday experience. Not only CCTV-cameras at public spaces record passers-by, often without their notice. Also popular TV-shows that require life-participation such as casting shows once more offer members of the audience the opportunity to see themselves on a screen. At the same time many people post their portraits on websites of social networks. They want to be seen by others because they want to be part of a greater audience––the network community. This is what Jean Baudrillard has called connectivity. The alliance between the drive to see and to being seen establishes a new order of seeing which differs significantly from Foucault’s panoptical vision: 

GL: What is it with this period around 1800? You studied at least two centuries of material. Which period did you think is the most interesting?

PL: This formulation of a distributed or distracted attention can be considered as an effect of the dynamics of modernity, its drive to economize every part of living, even the human body. What we used to declare as phenomena of our time such as multi-tasking can be already found in discussions about distraction two hundred years ago. So it seems that changes in our media environments regularly provoke discussions about regimes of attention and questions the role of distraction.

Today, with the ubiquitous use of information technologies, discussions about distraction or distributed attention, the balance between stress and relaxation arises again, and philosophers like Richard Shusterman again consider the body’s role for that purpose. For me, Kant’s quest for distraction as an art of living is resonated much by such accounts.

GL: There is an ‘attention war’ going on, with debates across traditional print and broadcast media about the rise in distraction, in schools, at home. On the street we see people hooked on their smart phones, multitasking, everywhere they go. What do you make of this? 

PL: Your description addresses severe debates. Nothing less than the future of our Western culture seems to be at stake. Institutions like the educational systems are under permanent critique, concerning all levels from primary schools to universities. 

Nonetheless, I would not signify distraction as a metaphor. It is in fact a concrete phase of the body, a state of the mind. It’s real. You cannot deal with it when you call it a disability or a disease and just pop pills or switch off your electronic devices.

GL: Building on Simondon, Bernard Stiegler develops a theory of attention that might be different from the US-American mainstream polarity between dotcom utopians and social media pessimists. His ‘pharmacological’ approach is different, less polemic, in search of new concepts in order to leave behind the known clichés and dichotomies. His book Taking Care of Youth and the Generations from 2008 contains pretty strong warnings about our loss of concentration to read longer, complicated texts. What do you make of this?

PL: Bernard Stiegler’s approach combines different arguments––the clash of generations, the rise of marketing and entertainment industries.

Think only of the invention of printing, the development of the mass press in the 18th century or the invention of the typewriter one century later. It’s hard to imagine that these epochal events should not have had any influence on how to learn reading and writing. You read the columns of a newspaper or a picture book in a different way than the pages of a printed book filled with characters only. This was common knowledge even then.

Techniques such as a quickly scan and scroll through a text (‘Querlesen’) had become widespread, and newspaper layouts support this kind of reading. The actual hype of a deep-attention-reading is, seen from a media-archaeological perspective, not simply nostalgic. It forgets its ‘dark side’ as it was seen in the civil cultures of the 18th and 19th century, when especially bored middle-class women were accused of being addicted reading novels and were condemned because of escaping in exciting dream worlds. Deep concentration was then regarded as dangerous, because it leads to absentmindedness and even mental confusion making individuals unusable especially for a capitalist economy. Civil cultures have an interest to control their populations, their bodies and desires, for the sake of normalization. In this perspective, a ‘too much’, of what quality ever that can destabilize the public order has to be refused.

My sneaking suspicion is that Stiegler or Türcke are focussing only to small cuttings of media history, because their interest is to construct almost apocalyptic scenarios of a great divide. Not surprisingly Türcke, in his actual book on hyperactivity, criticizes newspapers for having reduced the length of articles and at the same time having advanced number and size of pictures. But other changes are more important––unnoticed by these philosophers. With the rise of personal computers and multi-media devices using touch-screens tactility has become again a major human faculty. Media based on haptic operations change the interplay of the senses and create new habits—and insofar writing and reading have to amplify their dimensions.

GL: There is (the New Age cult of) mindfulness. And there is Peter Sloterdijk. What do you make of such calls to exercise, to save attention through training? 

PL: I guess, the training of our senses and the experiments of losing self-control belong to the same regime of taking care of oneself. It occurs to me that one major difference between the self-experiments you name and what I’ve analyzed is the isolation of the persons experimenting with drugs to enter altered states of body and mind. 

Chapter 1: A first Draft

Sharing a brew :

What is a craft brewery and where do they sit in the alcohol market?

There are several distinct aspects to a craft brewing business that defines it as a specific type of brewery when measured against the beer brewing industry as a whole. There is much debate over a finite set of rules and guidelines for a “craft” beer in the U.K, as well as the arguments about the use of the word “Craft”. The Brewers Association in America defines a craft brewery as a one that has annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less, the Brewers Association also states the following when discussing what defines a craft brewery.

·       Craft brewers have distinctive, individualistic approaches to connecting with their customers.

·       Craft brewers tend to be very involved in their communities through philanthropy, product donations, volunteerism, and sponsorship of events.

·       The hallmark of craft beer and craft brewers is innovation

Brewers Association | A Passionate Voice for Brewers. 2013. Brewers Association | Craft Brewer Defined. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.brewersassociation.org. [Accessed 27 October 2013].

Perhaps the American beer industry can lead the way in defining craft beer as it was they who were pioneers of craft beer, stemming from the era of prohibition. By the end of the 19790’s however there was an industry wide shrink to only forty four breweries across the states. Twenty years later, there began a resurgence of brewing with an annual volume growth increasing from 35% in 1991 to a high of 58% in 1995. Brewers Association | A Passionate Voice for Brewers. 2013. Brewers Association | History of Craft Beer. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.brewersassociation.org. [Accessed 27 October 2013].

Regarding the definition of a craft beer in the U. K. both the public and the industries verdict is still out, the breweries are taking note of which side of the fence their competitors sit on and judging the audience reaction to the the routes each brewery is taking. It is an important time for the craft beer industry as by nature, craft breweries are small businesses, they operate as efficiently as possible in order to survive the economic climate. Audience opinion helps the success of breweries by being fanatics and advocates, they are the influencers. Breweries are aware of this and therefore plan, listen, analyse and then they can engage once more in reply. This type of marketing works very well within the industry, however when the general public who are not usually part and parcel to craft beer are taken into consideration as a separate target audience graphic design could be considered to play a role in the success of a bottle being picked up and taken to the till.

“…they may very well be awesome beers inside the bottle, but they’re being totally let down by the labels. On the outside they look dated and some just plain weird and unappetizing” http://www.robot-food.com/beer-oclock/ accessed 21/10/13

Growth of the craft brewing industry in 2012 was 15% by volume and 17% by dollars compared to growth in 2011 of 13% by volume and 15% by dollars.

The craft brewing sales share in 2012 was 6.5% by volume and 10.2% by dollars.

Brewers Association | A Passionate Voice for Brewers. 2013. Brewers Association | Craft Brewing Statistics. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.brewersassociation.org. [Accessed 27 October 2013].

The British industry is showing similar positive growth signs also, a recent study has shown that “Industry revenue has been forecast…to reach £8.6 billion in 2018-19.” UK beer production market to be worth £8.6 billion by 2019 - Yahoo Finance UK. 2013. UK beer production market to be worth £8.6 billion by 2019 - Yahoo Finance UK. [ONLINE] Available at: http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/uk-beer-production-market-worth-000000498.html. [Accessed 27 October 2013].

Over the past five years in the UK, consumption of lager has fallen but in response to this craft beer and real ale has grown, showing a shift from the mass produced to the finer and smaller productions and suggesting that with the economic climate (stats) , people have begun to seek quality over quantity in their weekly food shops.

“A wave of celebrity chefs…and TV healthy-living programmed have prompted the public to ask questions about what they eat and how they should eat”. Davis,M. 2009. p146

In London specifically, there is over 50 independent breweries which counts towards the highest number of breweries in the UK in over 70 years.

Bill Hacket, President of Crown imports whose brand umbrella includes Corona states that “We must compete against “craft brands”” which shows that the premium brand is no longer king, smaller, local and artisan craft based companies are offering alcohol in a new way, which is appealing to consumers who are growing tired of the same marketing tactics used by bigger brands.

As far as the general target audience for the bigger brands were concerned, if they were told that something is the best, they believe it, an educated niche of alcohol drinkers has shifted the image of beer towards making it seem like the mature mans product packaged in a lifestyle for the young professional. Emma Cole of The Craft Beer Co based in the capital sums this point up perfectly.

“People don’t have as much money so they go to the pub less…but when they do go out, they want something different and better than the usual. Our clientele is aged 25 to 45, settled down but with a bit of money to spend. They’re the kind of people who think about what they buy, especially when it comes to food and drink.”

The rise and rise of craft beer - Food - ShortList Magazine. 2013. The rise and rise of craft beer - Food - ShortList Magazine. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.shortlist.com/instant-improver/food/the-rise-and-rise-of-craft-beer. [Accessed 09 October 2013].

It is perhaps the allure of obscure terminology and descriptions for small-scale crafted beer that has given it appeal. Craft beer has now got a status of quality that wine and fine scotches have been holding onto for decades.

Craft beer has built links between all creative industries and formed communities of like minded individuals in separate fields such as music, art and story telling. Every month in these communities there are events and curated nights which are supported and encouraged by the craft breweries, they automatically become part of the creative fabric in the calendar and are able to sell beer on a bigger scale. “Could it be that microbreweries are able to build better, more engaged communities that their bigger, richer rivals” Unmetric Guest Blog: How Craft Breweries Are Schooling Big Beer Brands on Social Media | Useful Social Media . 2013. Unmetric Guest Blog: How Craft Breweries Are Schooling Big Beer Brands on Social Media | Useful Social Media . [ONLINE] Available at: http://usefulsocialmedia.com/measurement/unmetric-guest-blog-how-craft-breweries-are-schooling-big-beer-brands-social-media. [Accessed 09 November 2013].

Within any industry where there is considerable money to be made, companies at both end of the financial scale will want the same thing, to drive custom their way. The way in which companies on opposite ends of the sector do this is different however. Greg Koch, founder and CEO of Dog Fish Head brewery talks at length at the aims of breweries both large and small in Brewing up a Business,

“The big companies wish to obfuscate and confuse. It is to their advantage. http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/defining-craft-beer accessed 21/10/13

 The craft brewers wish to be open, honest and straightforward as it is to our advantage.” http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/defining-craft-beer accessed 21/10/13

His bias towards the smaller brewery is obvious, he made his mark, and still does to this day in brewing at a small scale. Interestingly though Koch predicted sales revenues of $50 million in 2011, in which Dog Fish Head became the 25^th largest brewery in the United States. Koch discuses the industrialisation and commercialisation of beer over the past 30 or so years whereby beer has become a low cost commodity which can be sold through creating a falsified demand for the product. This until recently worked very well, with less than 5% of the beer market taken by small scale brewers, with craft beer in the minds of the working class, his comments perhaps seem most poignant,

"Craft beer…is a revolution against the insult of the industrialized notion of beer that has been preying on the populace for decades.” Koch, G. http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/defining-craft-beer accessed 21/10/13

Notes and ideas for questionnaire

General Notes

Identity: Small brands in a crowded marketplace: how small companies separate themselves visually. A look a how small brands build a visual uniqueness in alcohol industry and why it is important. 

Brand Focus: How branding and identity helped shape the success of 3 small breweries.

(talk about crowded marketplace, 

Evaluate how companies in the beer industry use the lo-fi "trend" based graphic design to provide longevity to small businesses.'

Trends are often shortlived and alter many times over the course of months or years

(alter company if Brewdog prove too hard to study)

Odell Brewing Company: The role of branding and marketing plays on influencing a consumer in a lo-fi trend market.

how odell keeps up with all of the smaller 

CONSIDER- WRITE ABOUT THE ETHICS OF FOOD AND DRINK COMPANIES- CASE STUDY OF INNOCENT SMOOTHIES. HOW DOES BEHAVIOUR AND THE IDENTITY OF A COMPANY INFLUENCE THEIR RETAIL PROFIT AND GROWTH WITHIN THE INDUSTR

Write about the identity of a drinks company - A case study of Odell brewery, how does its visual behaviour and the identity of a company influence their profits and growth.

The effect of brand image and its adaptation to a consumer trend.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/16355275/Thesis-Branding-Its-Impact-on-the-Consumer-Decision-Making-Process-iTunes-Case-Study-Dec-2005

 A BREADTH OF SOURCES (Exhibitions, films, galleries, books, internet, journals, magazines, newspapers).
// DO ALL OF YOUR RESEARCH OVER SUMMER- photocopies, leaflets, cuttings, disks of information.
// HOW YOU HAVE SELECTED EVIDENCE FROM THESE SOURCES.
// ACADEMIC QUALITY OF WORK (NOT PERSONAL).

You can't begin to write without the information to base it upon!
GOOGLE SCHOLAR for references

Spend 30 mins a day (for around a month or two) collecting information and sources towards my Dissertation- breaking it up will make it far easier to digest.
Write letters/contact companies who can help with information

First ideas on a questionnaire

Do you regularly drink alcohol?

Yes

No

How often do you choose to drink beer?

I only ever drink beer

Mostly, but I do drink other forms of alcohol such as spirits and wines

interesting how many small companies survive with so many other companies competitng for shelf space.

provide information of how many registered breweries in the U.S and Europe there are. 

What factors persuade you to purchase a specific brand.

Online presence.

Ratings from apps such as "RateBeer" and others.

Shelf Presence.

Word of Mouth.

Brand Identity

Other (explain)

When going back to a specific brand, what stands out about that particular identity?

Thinking of your top 3 brands of Beer, what are the reasons you buy into that brand?

What brands do you feel rival your top 3 choices and why?

Do you feel that the current trend of craft beer will last?

Why do you repeatedly choose one brand over another?

Online presence.

Ratings from apps such as "RateBeer" and others.

Shelf Presence.

Word of Mouth.

Brand Identity

Other (explain)

Do you find yourself seeking bottles because of their similarity to a beer that you have tried and appreciated?

When you disregard all of the big selling mainstream brands, what companies are you aware of?

If none of the big selling brands of beer were available, on what basis would you choose an alternative at the bar?

Ratings from apps such as "RateBeer" and others.

Shelf Presence.

Ask the staff behind the bar

Word of Mouth.

Other (explain)

Chapters ideas

The rise of craft beer as a social experience.
History of craft beer
is the US better at craft beer branding than the UK?