OUGD603: Extended Practice - Brief 1: Subliminal Messaging Exhibition, Brief Development

In order to begin the practical aspect of the design process for this brief I decided to devise a name for the exhibition. This would be a vital aspect of the brief as it would form the basis of the branding for the  exhibition and would be used on any supporting promotional material I felt would be appropriate to the brief.

As a context for the brief, I have decided that the exhibition would act as a proposal for the upcoming 60th anniversary of Vicary's original 'experiments'. 

From initial research I have already decided that the exhibition would a take a scathing perspective not only on subliminal messaging itself but the 'experiment's Vicary conducted which he later admitted where a hoax. Therefore I like the idea of the name of the exhibition tying into this, some of the ideas I had where 'hoax' or 'expose' which both have quite negative connotations.

I also began thinking about what I wanted the exhibition to cover, subliminal messaging is a vast subject with several arguments for and against it effectivity. Although I already knew my exhibition would take a negative stand point I felt it important - as I was designing for a educational exhibition - to cover all aspects of the subject.

EXHIBITION CONTENT:

• Historical Examples - War-time propaganda, examples of emotional manipulation to entice people to help with the war effort, early examples which weren't necessarily to sell but persuade or influence a attitude.
• Implications of Subliminal Messaging - George W. Bush's attack against Al Gore, not only can subliminal messaging influence buying habits but also politics, who we like, who we don't like
• A World of Subliminal Messaging - Everyday examples we don't even notice, what our world could be like, will we just end up like brain washed zombies?
• The Future - Product placement, famous tv shows which use it, the rules 
• James Vicary's Experiments - What he did, when he did it, why he did it, what were the results, how was the general public effected?

One of the main aims I set myself when devising the original brief was to design and produce something that put a particular emphasis on how the audience would interact with it.

Therefore once I had decided on the relevant content for the exhibition I set about creating a proposal for the exhibition space which would be the most effective and interactive way of displaying this information.

I devised a proposal for a pop-up subliminal messaging exhibition in which four presentation boards would be set up in order to create a pentagon shape, in the centre I proposed to have a mock-up up cinema which would show the film Picnic - which Vicary supposedly used as an outlet for his subliminal messages - with Coca-Cola and Popcorn available for visitors of the exhibition.

I decided there would be one entrance and one exit for the cinema, upon leaving the cinema the audience should proceed anti-clockwise around the pentagon to see more exhibits on the historical examples, implications of subliminal messaging, a world of subliminal messaging and the future of subliminal messaging.

When devising the proposal for my pop-up exhibition space I wanted to be as creative as possible without limitations in order to achieve my main aim of interactivity with the audience. However designing without limitations or consideration to cost etc. itself became an issue.

As we are in our third year of the degree programme we are expected to instead of just proposing an exhibition we are expected to actually produce the exhibition. With the proposal I had designed I felt attempting to produce this exhibition would be unrealistic especially in the timeframe available, therefore I began to rethink the brief.

REFINED BRIEF:

Design and produce a educational exhibition book(s) for a proposed subliminal messaging exhibition in order to commemorate the upcoming anniversary of James Vicary's infamous subliminal messaging experiments, the book(s) should give the audience a feel for the interactive exhibition and all it's exhibits.

Instead of producing an actual exhibition I have decided to produce two exhibition books for my proposed exhibition which I believe is a more realistic outcome. The idea is I will produce a high quality hardbound book which will include photos and information about the exhibits in order to give the audience a feel for the pop-up exhibition itself, this would be something that was sold at the exhibition as a keepsake by someone who had visited or possibly as a gift.

As interactivity was a main aim of the original brief I had also decided to produce a children's activity book also based upon the exhibition and it's content. The idea of this outcome is that I have an opportunity to be really creative and experimental to create a really interactive publication.

I also like the challenge of interpreting the research I will gather as the content of the exhibition in two separate ways; one to make it relevant and appealing to adults and one to make interactive and engaging to children.

Along side these two outcomes I will also propose the exhibition I was planning to produce originally.