Design Context

man·i·fes·to 

In class, we were split into pairs to work with our class tasks. We were given some paper and had to split it into four categories: Politics, Society, Culture and History.

First of all we had to list the first 10 words that came into each of our heads to do with either Politics, Society, Culture or History, on our own. Then we compared.


Then on a separate piece of paper, we were asked to write 10 positives and 10 negatives for each category in one word, working together.


Then on the third and fourth pieces of paper, we had to work separately once again to write five positive statements and five negative statements for each category. We wrote the 5 positive statements first, then swapped paper with our partner and wrote the 5 negative statements underneath. We then compared our results.




The aim of these tasks was to show to us that designers must be influenced and motivated by at least one of these categories. When stronger viewpoints are held within a certain category, you can often see this reflected in the design.

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At the end of our lesson, we were asked to write 4 positive statements for the next lesson on our views and thoughts in terms of political, social, cultural or historical orientations.

Politics
Even though a lot of Britain don't like they way that we are run, it can't be said that all politics is a sham. The fact that political changes in the past have resulted in positive improvements for our country, for example introducing rights to vote and integrations of race, shows that the government can often get things right, even if it does take a few changes in the parties and elections for new Prime Ministers to allow public wants and needs to be met.


Society
The word society is a hard topic to write a statement about, as there are all sorts of different societies throughout the country and the rest of the world. The area of Leeds in which I live in, and the university that I attend everyday is what contributes to the part of society in which I am involved in currently, and it is extremely influential on my day to day life. If it wasn't for the group of people that I live with in halls and for the friends that I made at university supporting me in my decisions, I think that my life in Leeds would be different. Society has a big impact on how we live and how we grow as people as you learn from all of the other persons within the society that you live in. A group of people living in the same area, and taking part in similar activities every day together is what makes a stronger society, as even though you may not talk to everyone in your society, you will still all want what is best for that area as the place in which you live is the common interest for everyone in that society.


Culture
I feel that cultural aspects around the world are extremely important and influential on how I have grown up and how I have become as a person. I think that most cultures are very accepting of one another, which allows people to experience new cultures and traditions that they may have never even seen or heard of in their life so far. Culture is also a huge influence on art and design, and being a design student, I feel that cultural changes throughout Britain have helped me to learn how to be a designer and has also improved my design techniques, as I can learn from the different design methods that have been produced in the culture that I live in.


History
As much as I hated learning about history in school, I have come to learn how important historical events are and how much they have influenced how we live in the world today. I find it more interesting, now that I have matured and grown up, to learn about different changes in history and I especially find design history fascinating. I think that history is a big contributor to the way everything works, and definitely shouldn't be ignored or forgotten about, as we ourselves will soon be part of the history that someone else will learn about and discuss in the future.