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Category Archives: Media analysis
‘Brands, stock markets and traffic are the wilderness of today …’
‘Nature used to be an unpredictable place of mystery … Now, man-made cultural constructions are becoming increasingly autonomous and slipping out of our control. ‘Wild systems such as brands, stock markets and traffic are the wilderness of today. Nature has become culture and … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Media analysis
Tagged Brands, Karl Grandin, Nature, Shopping, Stock market, Wilderness
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1914, 1939, 1964, 1989, 2014 … war and generational change
All these dates are important – aren’t they? – bar one. Two world wars started, and one – 1989, the First Cold War – finished. I’ll leave 2014 till the end, but 1964 is the most interesting because most obviously the … Continue reading
Posted in Film criticism, HIstory, Media analysis, Politics
Tagged 1960s, 1964, 1968, 1989, 2014 anniversaries, Cold War, Counterculture, Cuban Missile Crisis, Harold Wilson, Karl Marx, Marshall McLuhan, Modern history, Red Army Faction, Saving Private Ryan, Second World War, Steven Spielberg, Student revolt, Thoughts of Chairman Mao, Tony Judt, Vietnam War
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Science, publishing and writing style
Two examples of each today, and some ideas about outreach, power and sustainability: 1. Cambridge, UK, home of Propagandum Towers and a university or two, every year hosts an excellent science festival. For two weeks thousands of people teaching and learning heavy-duty … Continue reading
The mystery of the covered-up book cover …
Wandering into my local bookshop the other day, I was shocked to see this: W – as some people say in cyberspace – TF? What’s going on here? How can you buy a book if you can’t read what it … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Media analysis, Publishing, Typography
Tagged Amazon, Books, Commercial, Cover design, Creativity, David Pearson, George Orwell, Marketing, Meaning, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Penguin Books, Publishing
5 Comments
‘Only superficial people do not judge by appearances’: type, design and the spirit of the age #2
What do commercial or designed things tell us about the age we live in? And how do they do this? Writers and artists have brilliantly created a reality distortion field where we expect them to give us the benefit of … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Media analysis, Typography
Tagged Body image, Creativity, Graphic design, Jeremy Tankard, Spirit of the age, Type design, Typeface, Typography, Zeitgeist
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‘Only superficial people do not judge by appearances’: type, design and the spirit of the age #1
Wandering round Hereford Cathedral last week during a welcome few days away from Propagandum Towers, I found a display case of fine ancient books. They weren’t hidden in any way, but it wasn’t obvious what these books do for the … Continue reading
Life of Pi: orange, blue, white and burning tigers
The tiger in Life of Pi eats a whole film. In other words, our wish to believe in stories is so strong we gobble them up whether they’re true or not. Those who think of themselves as hard-headed realists probably prefer … Continue reading
Posted in Film criticism, Media analysis
Tagged Aravind Adiga, Avatar, Cats, CGI, Film criticism, Film review, Life of Pi, Realism, Richard Dawkins, The Tyger, White Tiger, William Blake
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Leonardo da Vinci: Philosopher and scientist? #2, People in landscapes
What does ‘philosophy’ mean when we look at paintings? Perhaps it’s a way of making sense of our place in the world – I’m thinking about places and worlds as painters might, specifically as landscapes. I’ve assumed painters see (literally) … Continue reading
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