Research

Researching Triptychs and their History:

What is a Triptych?

'A triptych is a picture in three parts. The triptych is a very popular format in the arts for a range of reasons and they're designed to be displayed together as a single piece.

Triptychs may be large or small and they may be hinged for a standing display or hung separately on the wall. It can be used in any art medium, including paintings, drawings, and photographs to create a compelling piece of art or to tell a story.'

When researching triptychs the main use is in religion. For example, Christianity uses it to represent the holy triumvirate and is used as altarpieces. The word triptych originates from the Greek work 'triptykhos' meaning three-layered. simply, that means an image printed or painted on three separate panels. 

Reasons to use triptychs in Art:

The reason behind why an artist may choose to represent their images in a triptych format will vary. Sometimes they may be one image separated to form a single unified piece. Typically, they will be three different images but there will be a strong sense of visual coherence. 

Artist may use a triptych for any of the following reasons:

• 'To give the art a narrative in the beginning, middle, and end sense of a story.
• To continue a theme along three pieces.
• To examine a subject from multiple perspectives or with varying techniques.
• To show the progression of a subject, such as its growth or decline.
• To showcase three separate elements that are related and complement each other.
• To break up a very large piece for easier transport, storage, and display.'

You can choose to display a triptych in any format you want. the panels can be nay shape and size and can be displayed in any order. The criteria for a triptych is three separate panels. The rest is up to the artists creative boundaries! 

Researching the Issue:

What is the issue?
The issue I am raising is domestic violence. When researching the issue, the main reoccurring problem was that people are embarrassed or ashamed to speak out about their experiences and the problems in their relationship. I found out that 1 in 4 men suffer from domestic violence.  Interestingly, the main issue was how domestic violence is handled in different cultures and relationships. For example, domestic violence against men is overlooked in many religions as men are meant to hold the control and power within the household so faithful men are forced to suffer in silence. 

What is your message trying to communicate?
To break the silence around domestic violence in relationships. The definition of love is ‘a strong feeling of affection or great interest in someone or something.’, however in society we find acceptable to twist and bend these definitions to suit our own needs. I feel as if the silence around this issue needs to be broken and sometimes actions speak louder than words so I think this triptych will be effective in conveying this message in a sensitive way.

Who do you want to take notice? Who is the target audience? 
I want males to take notice of my triptych as I want to tackle issues surrounding men being abused in a relationship. I also want to put this message out there to tell people it’s OK to speak up and voice the problems in their relationship.  

What is the context?
I have to ensure that my message will make an impact wherever it is. Sometimes some pieces of media will get ignored so I need to be forceful but sensitive at the same time.

What do you want to find out or verify? 
My end result would be to change the opinions of people who think that it is easy to leave an abusive relationship. Also, help people who find it hard to speak out and let them know there is a support group and always someone to speak to. 

What research can you conduct?  
In terms of primary research, possibly carry out questionnaires to see an overall public opinion. In terms of secondary research I need to find campaigns that have previously tackled the issue in a sensitive way. For my primary research, I made the following questionnaire to see the opinions of my selected focus group of 10. You can find the results of my questionnaire and an explanation on why this information is useful in my production process in the reflective log section of this blog. 

I kept my questionnaire brief and to the point to ensure I only gathered information that was relevant to my research and my triptych message.

Researching Campaigns and Charities:

These were the main two charities and organisations that constantly reappeared when researching the issue. Alongside were some mental health charities such as Mind which helped but didn't specialise. 

Standing together (against domestic violence): This charity works closely with the victims and helps them find there way back to normality. Something that was very clear with this charity was that they wanted people, both male and female, to know that they were safe with this charity and it's OK to speak out. The reason researching this charity was useful is because my triptych comes from the same angle, so I can base my ideas off of the ideas of this charity which changes lives. 

This is the statistics for Standing Together. It shows that they actually spend more than they make. But it does show to someone donating that all the money donating and more is given to the people who are in desperate need of it. 

National domestic violence helpline: This charity is more just the helpline for people to speak out. Although they didn't have a huge amount on the website, they did have pictures and sometimes visual aids are more effective than words. When researching the use of this charities income, there were no clear statistics and if there were some they were unavailable. 

Overall, I made the inference that more people would be willing to donate to Standing Together as they have more information available to the general public. Additionally, the easy access of financial statistics means that people will donate knowing where the money is actually going. Whereas, with the National domestic violence helpline there were no figures that were easy to access, making the public more reluctant to donate. 

My Influences: I want to focus my triptych from a Standing Together point of view so I will be taking my Influences from their website and previous successful campaigns. For future reference, I will also bare in mind the importance of easily accessible online financial statistics.  

Audience Theories:

Hypodermic Needle Theory: This theory essentially feeds the audience their opinion and feeds them influential information to change their opinions on the topic presented. However, within this theory there are two different audience types. This explanation applies to a passive audience: They do not question the information being presented to them. however, there is also an active audience: These people are more opinionated and strong-willed and will question the information put in front of them.

Two Step Flow Theory: 

This theory emphasises this idea that the media targets their messages to opinion former. By doing this they will influence and persuade the general population to follow their lead. This means that the message reaches a wider audience. As you can see in the diagram, the media is put out to the ‘Opinion Leaders’. These people will form a strong-willed opinion on the media. They will then pass that opinion on to the general ‘masses’ or the general population. Most media companies will use celebrity endorsements as their opinion leaders as they have a better influence on the masses.   

Uses and Gratifications: This means that the audience receives certain pleasures from the text and/or use it for a specific purpose.                                                                                          Media consumers choose texts that fulfill one or more of these needs:

·         -The need to be informed and educated

·         -The need to identify

·         -The need to be entertained

·         -The need to use the media for social interaction or discussion

·         -The need to escape.  

     

     The Tipping Point: This is where a piece of media becomes very and unpredictably popular for a certain amount of time. The law of the few: ‘80% of the work is done by 20% of the audience.’ This is normally considered as a refinement of the two- step flow. Most persuasive media content is aimed at a smaller audience. The ‘useful’ 20% is divided up into:

·    -Connectors: People who link groups if people together.

·    -Mavens: experts or knowledge people who guide and advise people’s opinions, the ‘aficionados’.

·    -Salesmen: People who attempt to persuade and change people’s opinions of certain products and  consume certain texts.  

The Stickiness Factor and Context: There is also the ‘Stickiness Factor’. This essentially mean how memorable the message is to the consumer. ‘Advertisers will use rhyme, imagery, shock, repetition.’ to boost the memorability of their message.

Context is also important to realise that one company’s message maybe really effective in some areas but ignored in others. This is why it’s important for the advertisers to always make sure their message makes sense in all contexts.  

Describing the audience:

           -Core audience: The main audience that the media/ text is reaching.

-Demographic:This is a measurement of the population in terms of age, sex, religion, income, ethnicity .etc.

Demographic Hierarchy: 

Psycho-graphics: 

The definition is 'the study and classification of people according to their attitudes, aspirations, and other psychological criteria, especially in market research.' This mainly focuses more on the audience’s attitudes, beliefs and values more than their income. Unlike Maslow's theory, this theory says you don't have to be wealthy to all enjoy the same aspects of media. It's based on what you want from the piece of media, not what the media has to offer to you based on your income. 

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs: 

A theory of human motivation. Maslow's theory states that in order to reach the top you must achieve all of the bottom sections. For example, a family car will be advertised with the basic first level of the hierarchy. However, after that it will be advertised with the subliminal messages of safety and security. A man of the house should put his money and trust in this car and he can keep his family safe with the added features offered. The advert will then move on to show this conventionally perfect family laughing and that will encourage the love needs of the hierarchy. Then they will move on to shoot the car in a long shot and from a lower angle to show power, status and prestige provided with this car. With all that achieved the advertising company has already reached the top of the hierarchy, which is all about self fulfillment. That is an example of how Maslow's theory works. 

RESEARCHING THE DESIGNERS:

Sagmeister and Walsh: Sagmeister and Walsh is a creative agency based in New York City. They mainly specialise in brand identities, campaigns and producing media that will make a difference and open people's eyes. 

I chose these three images as they were the ones that I was automatically drawn to. I like the idea of perspective in the second image. The third image is like a surreal and alternative world which was something that intrigued me. However, it was the first image that influenced me the most. It highlights how people hide behind a facade. 

Saul Bass: Saul Bass was an American graphic designer and Academy Award-winning filmmaker, best known for his design of motion-picture title sequences, film posters, and corporate logos.

I really liked the way Saul Bass presents his work and has a common theme to all his work. The last image is probably my favourite as it highlights an everyday real life situation. Whereas, the other two are interpretations of film posters. 

Tomato: Tomato is an award winning company. Tomato creates and delivers cross platform, multi-media art and design projects: both commercial and research based, for national and international clients.

The main reason I liked Tomato was because it was a modern interpretation on art. I think I favour the last one as it is a take on a Levi advert that we have not seen before. However, I found the first one to be my main influence as it follows the format of a triptych so it helps me when it comes to my triptych.