There is a chronology to everything and exploring it can ensure that I make informative decisions in my practice. Making connections and establishing between knowledge from the past and present will help to strengthen my understanding of what came before and what I can create for the future. This was the last of the lectures where I would be looking at lineages, histories and chronologies.
The digital world is part of my everyday life as a young person living in the 21st century. Information is a significant part of the human condition. Embracing and using technology has been the single biggest step forward we have made. There has been a moderate development over the past 7,500 years through the creation of language, written language, recorded concepts and ideas, through to the alphabet. In the last 100 years our development has escalated and in the past 10 years even more so. Technology has moved beyond anything we could have imagined; we have new ways of working, new ways of organising and new tools to help us with this.
Before we even had the internet and world wide web, Marshall McLuhan had realised the idea of a global culture and connectivity across the globe; a global village where we can barter, discuss, exchange dialogue between people. His theories were very forward thinking and progressive to further to human condition in relation to the development of industry and science. It formed the basis of how we engage with technology. Once we start to develop and use these tools to help live our lives they ultimate begin to shape us and we become dependent on them. Our point today is not the end point and things will keep developing and improving. Aesthetic judgements, society, culture and a historical context have all played a key part in why we now have accessories such as the iPhone, iPad, social media, and so on. Our developments have not finished yet and as it continues to evolve it will have an impact on culture and society who use these tools. What McLuhan suggested was the relationship between the medium and the message - in a Tetrad of media effects - elements of technological progress and the impact on society as well as its use. What does it enhance? Improve? What does it reverse and make obsolete? In technology going forward what has been retrieved from history?
In 1990 the low-priced Mac Classic was released, presenting an affordable access to digital production. In regards to type and what is allowed us to do was that we could now investigate and explore a range of ways to use typography. It enhanced productivity meaning we could work quicker and more effectively. There were very slow methods of production before but now we could correct mistakes within seconds without wasting materials. What did it retrieve? Typography became a mechanical and corporate process but the Mac brought back individual creativity, not just a standard set of fonts.Where there were only the methods of traceable type, letraset and hand-made methods we now had a graphic interface instead. What happened when pushed to its limits? Problems came down to speed, access, cost, memory. So the Tetrad works in relation to the introduction of the Mac Classic and type design and can be applied to most things.
34 years on we now have touch screens, smart phones, iPads - all enhancing individual experience in a learning context. People can learn in different ways and develop interactive approaches to learning. Old work stations, laptops, taking notes with pen and paper and large scale computers aren't necessarily needed anymore to connect. What happens when the iPad is challenged? Access. cost, limited space, memory, iOS apps only. From an educational aspect you are able to record and document your own learning. From the Gutenberg printing press to the Mac Classic has been a slow and arduous process; but the Mac Classic to the development of the iPad has been much quicker.
The shift of analogue into digital in terms of aesthetic has been considerable. New aesthetic has grown out of production and design and a whole shift in visual language. Technology has it's own visual language. It is very much about seeing the world and how we associate that with how we see technology. When looking at the digital clock, the way the interface looks and how that layout works we associate with technology. Likewise, virtual reality creating environments, websites, film sets; creating an aesthetic around digital processes. When we see the clock on the right, we associate it with precision, accuracy and science. The clock on the left is far more visual and provides a cognitive response. For most people, the clock on the right will be easier to read as it shows a map of what has come before, what will come next, a sense of consequence and is cyclical. Visual cues and seeing the dial physically affects how we interpret the time. The digital clock only shows what is, not what will come next.
From my own individual standpoint, I much prefer the digital clock and everything it represents for me as a severely sight-impaired person as opposed to the analogue clock which is far too visual and, when displayed on a wall, impossible to read. Because of the advancements of Apple technology specifically, I have the ability to partake in the aforementioned 'global village' and have the same even footing as everyone else with the plethora of accessibility options available to me. From zoom, VoiceOver and a Braille keyboard I am able to read the time, blog, document, shop, socialise and browse at my own leisure and I sometimes prefer the online landscape to the real world; where obstacles are far more prevalent in day-to-day life. While other tech manufacturers are catching up in terms of accessibility, I will remain true to Apple as they have provided so much for me in the past 16 years - right from owning my very first desktop iMac in 2000. While I was being made fun of at school for not being able to see the time - and had to set aside time with my mum to puncture holes into a wall clock so I could physically feel what the hands were pointing to - I was ahead of everyone else in the virtual reality.
Before we even had the internet and world wide web, Marshall McLuhan had realised the idea of a global culture and connectivity across the globe; a global village where we can barter, discuss, exchange dialogue between people. His theories were very forward thinking and progressive to further to human condition in relation to the development of industry and science. It formed the basis of how we engage with technology. Once we start to develop and use these tools to help live our lives they ultimate begin to shape us and we become dependent on them. Our point today is not the end point and things will keep developing and improving. Aesthetic judgements, society, culture and a historical context have all played a key part in why we now have accessories such as the iPhone, iPad, social media, and so on. Our developments have not finished yet and as it continues to evolve it will have an impact on culture and society who use these tools. What McLuhan suggested was the relationship between the medium and the message - in a Tetrad of media effects - elements of technological progress and the impact on society as well as its use. What does it enhance? Improve? What does it reverse and make obsolete? In technology going forward what has been retrieved from history?
In 1990 the low-priced Mac Classic was released, presenting an affordable access to digital production. In regards to type and what is allowed us to do was that we could now investigate and explore a range of ways to use typography. It enhanced productivity meaning we could work quicker and more effectively. There were very slow methods of production before but now we could correct mistakes within seconds without wasting materials. What did it retrieve? Typography became a mechanical and corporate process but the Mac brought back individual creativity, not just a standard set of fonts.Where there were only the methods of traceable type, letraset and hand-made methods we now had a graphic interface instead. What happened when pushed to its limits? Problems came down to speed, access, cost, memory. So the Tetrad works in relation to the introduction of the Mac Classic and type design and can be applied to most things.
34 years on we now have touch screens, smart phones, iPads - all enhancing individual experience in a learning context. People can learn in different ways and develop interactive approaches to learning. Old work stations, laptops, taking notes with pen and paper and large scale computers aren't necessarily needed anymore to connect. What happens when the iPad is challenged? Access. cost, limited space, memory, iOS apps only. From an educational aspect you are able to record and document your own learning. From the Gutenberg printing press to the Mac Classic has been a slow and arduous process; but the Mac Classic to the development of the iPad has been much quicker.
The shift of analogue into digital in terms of aesthetic has been considerable. New aesthetic has grown out of production and design and a whole shift in visual language. Technology has it's own visual language. It is very much about seeing the world and how we associate that with how we see technology. When looking at the digital clock, the way the interface looks and how that layout works we associate with technology. Likewise, virtual reality creating environments, websites, film sets; creating an aesthetic around digital processes. When we see the clock on the right, we associate it with precision, accuracy and science. The clock on the left is far more visual and provides a cognitive response. For most people, the clock on the right will be easier to read as it shows a map of what has come before, what will come next, a sense of consequence and is cyclical. Visual cues and seeing the dial physically affects how we interpret the time. The digital clock only shows what is, not what will come next.
From my own individual standpoint, I much prefer the digital clock and everything it represents for me as a severely sight-impaired person as opposed to the analogue clock which is far too visual and, when displayed on a wall, impossible to read. Because of the advancements of Apple technology specifically, I have the ability to partake in the aforementioned 'global village' and have the same even footing as everyone else with the plethora of accessibility options available to me. From zoom, VoiceOver and a Braille keyboard I am able to read the time, blog, document, shop, socialise and browse at my own leisure and I sometimes prefer the online landscape to the real world; where obstacles are far more prevalent in day-to-day life. While other tech manufacturers are catching up in terms of accessibility, I will remain true to Apple as they have provided so much for me in the past 16 years - right from owning my very first desktop iMac in 2000. While I was being made fun of at school for not being able to see the time - and had to set aside time with my mum to puncture holes into a wall clock so I could physically feel what the hands were pointing to - I was ahead of everyone else in the virtual reality.
Paddington Bear is another good example of analogue and digital processes. With the 2014 film, the real world was green-screened into hyper-real character development, blurring the lines between the cyber world and the real world. Realistic hair and fur created the basis of Paddington who was super-imposed into filmed footage. It develops a sense of nostalgia mixed with the transference and visual attributes to a human being; associations with reality even though it is super real. Digital aesthetics grown out of and in response to the digital age we are living in. Minority Report, Blade Runner, The Matrix, Iron Man, Star Trek - all impacting on the way we see the real world aesthetically, digitally, technologically. Shaping the environment we live in and the way we develop products. This creates new technologies. The ear pieces from Star Trek have become our bluetooth headphones, their clam-shell communicator became the flip phone, Iron Man's suit interface has become Google Glass, Minority Report's shopping centre personalising itself to a customer has influenced the virtual Dior store in the States. A key factor in digital production isn't just about what something does - but what something looks like. We have to engage with and consider the relationship we have with technology - physically, emotionally and technically. Rather than just a straightforward acceptance of something, we go through psychological changes as humans to train ourselves to use and implement these tools.
The mechanical aesthetic of the past has similarities to the digital aesthetic of today. Our current / present will change. The next generation of digital natives are now coming through. Who are they? How is that going to affect technological development and how will that affect me as an illustrator and visual communicator and, ultimately, citizen of the world?
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