So here's the initial designs for the 'setting the scene' and research analysis pages.

It is important to note that I am still working with a temporary master slide design.

I would also like to state that I know my 'setting the scene' slide has far too much writing on it and not enough pictures- I will change that as soon as I can.

Comments appreciated.

So, for this project I have to produce a 'setting the scene' slide. Part of that entails addressing the wider issues that are concerned with graffiti art. I began writing an intro to this slide and found myself starting to rant - I realised that not all of this rant may be able to appear in the final draft of the slide, but wanted to hear people's opinions on the topics and ideas I'm talking about, so I posted it here. Comments appreciated.

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To have identity is to have responsibility.

To have responsibility is to be inhibited.

To have anonymity is to have no inhibitions.

To have no inhibitions is to be free to be truly human.

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What I am saying, I suppose, is that it is an odd paradox that, while most would say that a requisite of being human is having identity, having identity conversely prevents people from expressing their human nature. This is because, in having an identity you become accountable for your actions.
It is human nature and instinct that drives us, and human conscience that restrains us. Our instinct is genetic: Our conscience, conditioned. By culture.
Without culture-conditioned accountability very few people would have conscience.
This is where the graffiti artist comes into play: granted anonymity, the artists can express themselves without accountability. It was Francesca da Rimini who said: “The few remaining truths are graffiti, suicide notes and shopping lists”.

It is desirable to many to discern that taking marker pen to bathroom wall and joining the ranks of crude witticisms does not make you a ‘graffiti artist’. People would have you believe that makes you a vandal. I would argue that, as long as the message has worth, what is the difference? This argument is parallel to that age-old question of “what is art?”
Is there a difference between the words, surrounded by pictures of doves carrying grenades and bombs exploding into flowers, beautifully emblazoned on a street wall that read “violence is not the road to peace” and the scribble on the inside of a toilet stall door that reads “fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity”? Certainly one message has taken more time and has been more artistically achieved. But how much does that add to what it really means? Really.
My point here is that graffiti is a completely free voice that takes many forms and delivers a message that the artist believes to be important. One picture may be better than another, but the message may mean less, who’s to say?

Just as with any art form, stand back, take it in, think about it, feel the awe.

Watch This Space

Within this post I'm going to be putting up jpgs of some of the key slides in my presentation, as they come into fruition. I'll probably be updating it once a week, or thereabouts. So watch this space.

The Product I Should Never Have Bought

A little longer than a year ago, Sony did Microsoft a favour; they released the worst gaming platform the mainstream shelves have seen since the ‘Dreamcast’. The ‘Playstation 3’ was predicted to sell like hot cakes, but, it would seem, that that dog has had its day.
Microsoft saw this failure as an opportunity and has since been barraging the homes of X-Box 360 owners with more and more useless tricks and trappings for our consoles.
Around 6 months ago, I was misfortunate enough to purchase one such product; the ‘Wireless X-Box 360 Headset’. You see, the normal, wired headset plugs into the back of the controller (which the user would hold in their hands) and rests on the user’s head (as you might expect from a headset) and the wire that connects these two essential components is changeable from five, to about one metre in length.
So, for an extra £5, you can purchase a wireless version of this product, but the question bothering me is “why?”
Unless you are at least seven metres tall and are playing a game with the controller at arms length (which you’ll agree, seems slightly stupid, as well as veritable thaumaturgy), this product is painfully useless.

Willing to give Mr Gates the benefit of the doubt, I set out to devise a few situations in which you may need that wireless capability… I could think of none. Instead, all that came to mind were situations where the wired alternative seemed better suited:
What if you needed to break into your apartment on the second floor, through an open window? Well, this product would make a brilliant grappling hook.
What if a friend of yours has fallen overboard and is drifting out into the big blue? The headset makes a great life ring; you can reel it in, and return your friend to safety.