Individual Topical Review Report Outline

Topic: Evolution of Visual Communication (New Media Design)

Executive Summary

This paper seeks to explore the development of visual communication since prehistoric times to the modern world and where it might head in the future in forms of new media designs. The paper examines how the economic, technological and social development of societies have always been changing the way we receive visual messages, and how new media designs and consumer behavior can connected to benefit the modern society and economy at large.

Why I chose this topic

Today’s modern world is bombarded with visual stimuli and sensory overload. It becomes harder for marketers/ visual communicators to capture our shortening attention-span. I would like to investigate on how new media designs are changing the way we receive visual messages and call for a revitalization of visual communication in our seemingly noisy world. This will be a good opportunity for me to reflect on how far innovations in visual communication has developed and shaped the way we receive visual messages as consumers now.

Background

• How do we receive visual messages now?
• What is New Media Design in Visual Communication?

Historical perspective

Brief History of Visual Communication (different eras)

• Innovations in Visual Communication in each era
• Impact of innovations to people of each era
• How effective were these innovations in serving their purpose in each era?

How technological development now helped to overcome limitations people faced in the past?

Current situation

• Introduction to various digital innovations (New Media)  in visual communication
• Why New Media?
• Advantage and disadvantage of such digital innovations
• How has it affected the way we perceive and receive messages
• Impact on social patterns, especially in Singapore (Examples in local context) and how it can help to benefit us.

Future Consideration

• What does the future of New Media Design entail for us? Will digitalization of visual messages add on more noise to the visual clutter we now endure?
• Potential shifts that digitalization may bring about for communication – economically and socially.
• Will New Media Design replace all other older forms of media?
• How might New Media Design evolve from here?
• How consumer behavior might change with the future evolution of New Media Design (Smart ads?), and how communications agencies can harness this evolution to reach out to more people.
• Personal recommendation

Conclusion

Bibliography

TWC Session 3

Sustainability has become quite the IN thing in the commercial world in recent years because we are beginning to witness the negative impact of capitalism to the environment and developing nations. More people are educated of the concept of sustainability, preservation of our earth’s resources, and innovation to find alternative energy. We cannot ignore the signs of our ailing planet and the opportunities that sustainable energy can bring us, because we all know the earth resources are increasingly depleting. According to the lesson, the US has 5% of the world’s population but uses 30% of the world’s resource and produces 40% of the world’s waste and it is mentioned that should the world adopt similar consumption patterns, we would need 3-4 Earths worth of resource and land to sustain this.

The notion of yielding profit for the sake of economic progress at the expense of the environment is outdated because we now know that industrial development and sustaining the world can go hand in hand as more organisations are embracing the green-movement. Through the readings and today’s lesson, we are taught that policies and measures are brought in placed to encourage innovation in sustainable development and to promote sustainable industrial practices.

In a reading published by European Commission, the EU is dedicated to ensuring high level of environment protection and sustainable economic growth. It does so by implementing the Integrated product policy (IPP) which seeks “to
minimise environment degradation by considering all phases of a product’s lifecycle in an integrated way and to take action where it is most effective.” I feel that the IPP toolbox is a effective framework to involve everyone (consumers, governments, corporations etc) to take responsibility of the environment. Firstly, economic and legal framework can be implemented by the government to ensure that corporations adhere to legislation (like the Best Available Technique) and to fund the R&D of environmental technology. Secondly, encouraging corporation to set good examples and apply lifecycle thinking in their production and operation can reduce impact on the environment. Thirdly, consumers can be educated to look out for products labelled as environmental-friendly and thereby taking responsibility for the environment. A well-rounded scheme I think our local government and enterprises can adopt.

As industrialisation is an intrinsic part of development of a nation, it must be better managed with greener options, because making money now doesn’t necessarily means degradation of the environment. So who’s responsibility is it to ensure that production and consumption are sustainable? In the presentations and debates by our classmates, it seems that sustainability is a collective effort and everyone should be responsible for the earth. To me however, consumers need to be more aware of where their products are coming from and what goes into so that we can all make informed purchasing choices like supporting products that come from socially-responsible companies.

The second portion of the lesson talked about Technology and Innovation Management, introducing the valleys summits and clouds model. We were taught that to remain at the the top, companies will have to constantly strive to be at the “summit” where there are high investment prospects and the focus there is to capture value proposition. It can be done by the RDA process and the management of innovation is as important as the innovation itself. I cannot agree more because different people with different skill sets (marketers, managers, researchers etc), if put together, can achieve so much more by taking a piece of invention into further heights and influencing more people (and establish market dominance). In the case of Apple iPhone, no body knew they needed a smart phone until the innovative product itself opened a whole new market.

I would personally rate the lesson 8/10 because of the insights given by Prof and fellow classmates, they are more useful in allowing me to understand concepts that may be hard to comprehend from solely the readings.

TWC Session 2

Any form of technological advancement has its inherent danger as well as benefits to the world at large. This is the most compelling takeaway from the lesson and presentation by fellow classmates today. Throughout history, it seems to me that who ever was more advanced in technology (and innovation) had the advantage to dominate over those who wasn’t.

In my reading of “The Colonial Holocaust and its legacy” and the viewing of the teaching materials regarding the dominance of the British Empire over their colonies, it all demonstrated the essence of the expression, “Survival of the fittest”. In the conquest for more land, more resources and more wealth, the weak was brutally exploited and systematically destroyed. In that respect, humans were no different from animals

The info-graphics video earlier in the lesson presented by Hans Rosling illustrated the fact that countries which suffered from the colonial rule previously had had a tough time picking up in terms of making a difference in their growth and overall life-expectancy. It shows that, it is only the free that can make good decisions for themselves and their development.

In today’s context, violence and violation of human rights are also prevalent with the aid of technology. These take forms in wars, crimes, forced labour, exploitation etc. It seems like, where there are humans, there will be struggle for power and wealth. It got me thinking whether it is necessary to exploit others (or the environment) for our own gains in order to progress because history and current situations have shown that technological advancement is driven by our selfish desire to dominate, whether in the battlefield or market place.

That aside, it is heartening to know that developed countries have pledged to bring developing countries to the forefront and help ease the issue of poverty in those places through the Millennium Development Goal. As I learned today, especially after watching the video “History of the world in 7 minutes”, the rate of innovation is increasing exponentially and knowledge changes rapidly as the world progresses. Then what will happen to the countries that have not kept up to date? I foresee that they will be left even further behind leading to more suffering and deterioration of these societies.

It is up to us, ones who are privileged and have the freedom to make choices, to make the world a better place for the less fortunate. Even if we don’t help them, at least we can make the choice to not harm them. As Dalai Lama said, “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”

I think technology should advance in a direction where there is a focus in benefiting the world at large and imparting know-hows to the ones in need. With that in mind, as we  progress economically, there will also be a progress in our humanity and awareness. This is what today’s lesson is about – Human Development.

I was hoping for the lesson to cover more about how technology can be harnessed to enable a more well-balanced world not just growth of countries in economic power, but also growth in spirituality (not religion) and humanity (awareness of the plight of the world). These issues deserve more air-time for discussion because the world seems to be fixated on innovation for the purpose of benefiting economically and keeping up with global competition. Maybe in the lessons in the future, such areas would be covered. I will rate the lesson today to be 8/10  for the thought-provoking and enlightening content shared with and amongst the students.

TWC Session 1

My expectation prior to this class was that I would be learning a lot about applying technology-related skills into our work; mostly the methodological and inanimate things that involve the internet, gadgets and whatnots. After having a preview of the course during the first lesson, I knew that whatever assumptions that I had with regards to the term “technology”, I had to put them aside. This class is about people.

I realised that I am attending a highly interesting and intellectually stimulating class that covers topic from history to anthropology to social science. I foresee every lesson to be a story telling session where we will be transported through time and space to learn from the historical perspectives of technology, the current advances in technology and the impact future technology will bring to our civilisation.

This course is basically for us to investigate how our human race has evolved over time with our shifting demands and innovations. This course is also about predicting technological trends and identifying strategies that modern mankind has designed to meet our ever-changing and complex needs. Shift really happens and change is the only constant in life, and when one decides that he knows everything about the world, he is bound to be left behind.

An example brought up in class was during the medieval times (dark ages), intellectual, scientific and economic regression took place because people were hung up over religion and superstition. People almost never questioned the church and they seldom innovate, which led to a decline of the arts and sciences, thankfully until the renaissance period where revolutions were made in the fields of art and science. Another example brought up by Prof Shahi was the decline of China in the 19th Century because of their closed-doors policy which separated itself from the rest of the world. The Manchu people thought that they were invincible and did not have the mindset of innovation. When fighting against the westerners who had guns and explosives, the Manchu people were still using ancient cannons and outdated weapons. This mainly brought the fall of the Qing Dynasty. My first take away was plainly, “To stay hungry”, and never be satisfied with the status quo.

We watched a video on the the book, Guns, Germs and Steel where we were probed to think of why have some societies been able to come up with great technology and wealth while others remain relatively backward. There could be several reasons for this (evolution of mankind, geographical location, advancement of ancient civilisation), but what struck as most compelling to me is that while innovation and technology can be used to benefit mankind by realising our needs, it can also be used to take advantage of others and enable destruction.

Fire can be used to cook our meals and keep us warm, but can also be used for arson and crimes. Similarly, what can be used to help mankind might just be the thing that can destroy us. So, is technology good or bad? I think this question deserves airtime for debate. In my opinion, innovation is inevitable because of our ever changing landscape and demands and is good as long as it brings about a well-balanced and progressive society.

Our intention to innovate should come from the place of wanting to help people through a eco-friendly and sustainable manner, not to victimise others and exploit the earth’s resources. Hence, balance and moderation are essential in this respect to prevent waste and destruction.

All in all, lesson was engaging and thoughtful, my curiosity for the changes of the world was piqued and Prof Shahi had successfully kept us interested in this topic by his story-sharing. I look forward to the subsequent lessons and hope to learn just as much, or even more.

Rating 7/10