OUGD601 - Dissertation Chapters

In order to help create a structure to my essay, it would be best to form chapters and sub-chapters to my dissertation, allowing me to correctly place all related content in an organised fashion. Below is my structure (subject to change):

1. Introduction

- Context behind the subject
- Methods of research and reasoning

2. Chapter One: Why do cultures/subcultures form and how?

- Mainstream culture vs rebel subcultures
- The need for human connection through values
- Individuality vs conformity

3. Chapter Two: Culture in the context of Graphic Design

- Consumer culture and the rise of marketing
- Cyberculture: How has it changed contemporary society?
- The use of design from a political standpoint

4. Chapter Three: Riot Grrrl

- The rejection of cultural norms
- The birth of web-based subculture
- 

5. Chapter Four: 

OUGD601 - An Overview

How have subcultures and culture as a whole influenced contemporary graphic design?

This is the working question I am using for my dissertation this year. I have changed my mind on my question since submitting my proposal at the end of the second year as I felt my question was far too generic and the research I carried out didn't leave me feeling fulfilled as something I was particularly interested in would. This means extra research would have to be carried out around the subject, but it will be an interesting challenge.

Subculture exists within our society as a constant. Where there is a culture formed, a subculture will follow as it is with human nature's need to rebel and individualise ourselves. What is particularly interesting to me is the trends of design that form around these subcultures, and how there are countless isolated design styles and/or conventions around different subcultures no matter how big or small the following is. For example, old school Hip-Hop album covers make use of bold, stylised typography in the foreground of an image of the artist. These covers reference heavily the backgrounds of the artist and where they grew up, concentrating on the roots and backstory behind the artist. On the other hand, electronic album covers are far more abstract commonly making use of abstract shapes with subtle meanings, with the artist rarely being in the forefront as much as that of Hip-Hop. Who decided these conventions? How were these formed? Do different subcultures have links to each other? These are questions I want to investigate for my dissertation, asking individuals from a range of different cultural norms for their input.

Book Loans

Popular music and youth culture: music, identity and place.  /  Bennett, Andy  (2000)

Babbling corpse: Vaporwave and the commodification of ghosts.  /  Tanner, Grafton  (2016)

Inside subculture: the postmodern meaning of style.  /  Muggleton, David  (2000)

Pop: how graphic design shapes popular culture.  /  Heller, Steven  (2010)

Cultural theory and popular culture: an introduction.  /  Storey, John  (2009)

The culture of design.  /  Julier, Guy  (2008)

In the culture society: art, fashion and popular music.  /  McRobbie, Angela  (1999)

Originals: how non-conformists move the world.  /  Grant, Adam  (2016)

The new media theory reader.  /  Hassan, Robert (ed.)  &  Thomas, Julian (ed.)  (2006)

Power: essential works of Foucault 1954-1984, volume three.  /  Foucault, Michel  (2000)

Resistance through rituals: youth subcultures in post-war Britain  /  Jefferson, Tony (ed.)  &  Hall, Stuart (ed.)  (1975)

Inside subculture: the postmodern meaning of style.  /  Muggleton, David  (2000)

Fads, fashions & cults: from Acid House to zoot suit - via Existentialism and Political Correctness - the definitive guide to (post-) modern culture.  /  Thorne, Tony  (1993)

The graffiti subculture: youth masculinity and identity in London and New York.  /  Macdonald, Nancy  (2002)

OUGD601 -