Keynote Speaker: Steve Connor, Creative Concern
- He believes that global advertising is basically 'selling shit to sleepwalkers', therefore his specialist field is creating ads for good causes through reclaiming creative communication
- Biggest influences include the adbusters, and Antonio Gramci
- Previous works include being campaigns director for Britain's Vegetarian society; created shocking adverts e.g. "its much easier to cut out meat" in relation to removing cancerous tumours (unfortunately I couldn't find an image of the ad)
- Sustainability is the largest drive within his practice
Some of Creative Concern's clients:
- ASDA
- BBC
- Forestry Commission
- NHS
- University of Manchester
- UNESCO
Examples of work: Focus-Behaviour Change
- Student switch off
- Fast lane/fat lane (fig.1)
- Instillations
- BBC North campaign
- Leeds Uni Sustainability Website (fig.2)
- MAG
- Foster Care
- Brockholes nature reserve
- Green heart hospital energy
- Tourism campaigns
- Manchester city of trees
- Call of nature (sewage)
Fig.1
Fig.2- IT'S ILLUSTRATED!!!
European Network:
- Brussels: Springtime
- Rome: Silverback
- Berlin: Tipping points
- Copenhagen: Goodvertising
- Istanbul: Myra
- Paris: Sidiese
#wearetheclimategeneration
Approach:
- Use of happiness
- Avoiding guilt as it 'shuts people down'
- Implying intrinsic values
- Establishing a common concern to change peoples minds
That was just a basic summary of the talk given by Steve earlier, which was brilliant. I introduced myself to Steve in the cafe afterwards and asked him a few questions regarding the devices in which were most effective to change consumer behaviour.
Mini-Interview
Mini-Interview
Do you base the structure of your practice and the company as a whole on any traditional theories/theorists? If so, who and why?
We mainly structure our company on the foundations of good values, as that is the core principle of our ethos. To name a few, we appreciate the theories of Chris Rose from his website www.campaignstrategy.org as well as Simon Anholt's theory about the 6 P's of place branding.
What are your most effective methods of research?
Focus groups are a brilliant way to discover what works, and what doesn't work. Engaging closely with the specific communities that we are designing for gives us a clearer insight into how we are going to tackle the problem visually. Also, have a look at the Cabinet Office's reports on behaviour (gov.uk)
How do you view illustration as a tool to persuade certain groups?
Illustration is becoming more and more popular within advertising. A lot of directors feel as if they have exhausted every area of using photography and are going back to traditional hand crafted routes as a medium to sell products and raise awareness. For example, we are working on a national campaign to recruit GP's, as there is a national shortage. We have decided that including narrative in the form of comic book illustration will add more value than just dragging in a stock image of a doctor.
____________________________________________________________________
After speaking to Steve, I attended parallel discussion to do with how sustainability can be introduced into the curriculum and methods of learning, as well as a live Skype conversation with professor Terry Irwin about transition design. All of the speakers reflected upon the importance of understanding interconnections of systems within long horizons of design, and how partaking in small projects and collaborating with designers from all disciplines can form a successful piece within a large intervention.(Notes are included towards the end of the post)
The second speaker that I really took not of was Eleanor Snare, a business marketing consultant from the University of Leeds. I have written a more detailed post on my thoughts from her talk on my linkedin page, but I was really inspired by her talk on sustainability within personal careers. She talked about a Japanese concept called an 'ikigai', which translates to 'the reason for being', i.e. what makes us get out of bed in the morning and what is our ultimate driving force in life to achieve a sense of self-fulfilment.
A lot of what Eleanor talked about related to my research into self-idealisation, and achieving a level of self actualisation at the top of Maslow's pyramid. This talk sparked an episode of self reflection and re-evaluation of a few personal theories, as well as research theories. Here are some notes that I took:
We mainly structure our company on the foundations of good values, as that is the core principle of our ethos. To name a few, we appreciate the theories of Chris Rose from his website www.campaignstrategy.org as well as Simon Anholt's theory about the 6 P's of place branding.
What are your most effective methods of research?
Focus groups are a brilliant way to discover what works, and what doesn't work. Engaging closely with the specific communities that we are designing for gives us a clearer insight into how we are going to tackle the problem visually. Also, have a look at the Cabinet Office's reports on behaviour (gov.uk)
How do you view illustration as a tool to persuade certain groups?
Illustration is becoming more and more popular within advertising. A lot of directors feel as if they have exhausted every area of using photography and are going back to traditional hand crafted routes as a medium to sell products and raise awareness. For example, we are working on a national campaign to recruit GP's, as there is a national shortage. We have decided that including narrative in the form of comic book illustration will add more value than just dragging in a stock image of a doctor.
____________________________________________________________________
After speaking to Steve, I attended parallel discussion to do with how sustainability can be introduced into the curriculum and methods of learning, as well as a live Skype conversation with professor Terry Irwin about transition design. All of the speakers reflected upon the importance of understanding interconnections of systems within long horizons of design, and how partaking in small projects and collaborating with designers from all disciplines can form a successful piece within a large intervention.(Notes are included towards the end of the post)
The second speaker that I really took not of was Eleanor Snare, a business marketing consultant from the University of Leeds. I have written a more detailed post on my thoughts from her talk on my linkedin page, but I was really inspired by her talk on sustainability within personal careers. She talked about a Japanese concept called an 'ikigai', which translates to 'the reason for being', i.e. what makes us get out of bed in the morning and what is our ultimate driving force in life to achieve a sense of self-fulfilment.
A lot of what Eleanor talked about related to my research into self-idealisation, and achieving a level of self actualisation at the top of Maslow's pyramid. This talk sparked an episode of self reflection and re-evaluation of a few personal theories, as well as research theories. Here are some notes that I took:
- More students than ever are accessing mental health services due to stress
- David Harvey (2010) 'increasingly individual isolation, anxiety, short-termism and neurosis'
- Job- money and power (not fulfilling/sustainable)
- Kigali: finding meaning in life
- Employment should be about preserving and developing HUMAN CAPITAL, not just about economic gain
- Long term affects of sustainability eradicate an essence of 'repayment'
- Much more holistic, new paradigm to look at work
- Work isn't just simply to make money; look at what you need to live and evaluate finances from that point
- Human capital- broader, more opportunities because it is self-fulfilling
- Hedonic pleasure
- Udaemonic pleasure- it never meets its limit and is much more sustainable
- Education systems prioritise linearity, managed perceptions acceleration
- Isolations are a big killer
- We need peer and community support
- Model sustainable behaviour (teachers)
- Be aware of pastoral care
- What do you want to achieve
Conclusion
I'm so glad that I went along to the symposium today, it has broadened my prospective on how creativity and design can have a positive impact on sustainability as a whole as well as from a personal point of view. It has given me a lot to think about in terms of the direction of my research too, whether to work towards achieving a sustainable future through illustrative processes? I will have a good think about this before my next tutorial on the 25th October, where I will have (hopefully) come to a conclusion about the direction in which my research is taking.
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