I was unfortunately unable to present my Petcha Kutcha slides in person due to illness on and around the time of my slot. I did however make an effort to complete my presentation and record voice over to give a solid impression of what I would have said and how I would have presented my subject on the day.
I had trouble uploading my completed presentation with my audio to this blog post, therefore below are the individual slides broken down into their visuals and notes:
Slide 1:
Notes: Title page. No audio. Quick appearance and transition.
Slide 2:
Notes: For my Context of Practice subject, I have been researching into the effects of advancing technology on society. From my initial research, I began to focus specifically on the impact of smartphone technology and how this is having a profound effect on our every day personal lives, our relationships, our mental health, learning and over all well being.
Image: My own 'world smartphone map' illustration
Slide 3:
Notes: Adapted from the generic mobile phones used predominantly for calling and text messaging, smartphones were originally created solely for business use to help aid in company growth and increase communication across continents. However, since hitting the consumer market in the early years following the turn of the century, smartphones have rapidly worked their way into society on a much larger global scale, changing the way we live our lives day to day.
Slide 4:
Notes: As we all know, smartphone technology has become a portable ‘in pocket’ tool specifically designed for all things communication. As well as texting and calling, the promise of speedy connectivity and access to the Internet means we can now email, social network, blog and do business on the go with ease, as well as increase our learning and shop to our hearts content. Advancing application technology has meant that those all important basic human tasks are also taken care of, such as waking up in the morning, helping us get from A to B, storing important contact details, notes, reminders and memories, as well as helping us to predict the weather and stay healthy.
Image: My own 'distraction app' paper-cut illustration
Slide 5:
Notes: With so much on offer at the accessible touch of a screen, it is not surprising that more of us are spending increased amounts of our time using our smartphones. The 2014 Deloitte Consumer Survey found that in the UK alone more than 2 in 3 adults (the equivalent of 35 million people) now own a smartphone. The survey also found that a massive 83% of these smartphone users check their phone within the first hour of waking up (not including switching off alarms), with 11 million users checking their phone within the first 5 minutes of consciousness.
Image: My own 'always checking' illustration
Slide 6:
GIFs:
Notes: For many of us it is easy to relate to these statistics no matter how shocking in scale, as our smartphones are the first thing we think of checking when waking, and the last thing we switch off at night. We mindlessly scroll through vast amounts of information and although this may seem to be improving our rate of productivity and ability to multitask – research shows we are devoid of deeper thought in the process, failing to intake quality knowledge and decreasing our ability to problem solve effectively. After all, as long as we have Google to give us all the answers we need, why do we need to truly learn anything? We live in this digital bubble of answers at our fingertips, but are failing to come up with good questions and we are at risk of becoming a society unable to think for ourselves.
Slide 7:
Notes: While constant connectivity may on the surface seem like a helpful and harmless addition to our busy modern lifestyles and create the illusion of control, research by scientists and psychologists suggest a darker reality is beginning to emerge. The more of us that connect digitally, the more we feel the demand, pressure and increased anxiety to stay connected. We are impatient and lacking in quality of thought, concentration and becoming sleep deprived as a consequence, feeling detached and isolated from our neglected but much needed physical human contact and sense of reality around us.
Image: My own 'mobile consumer' paper-cut illustration
Slide 8:
Notes: This image called ‘Digital jailhouse’ by illustrator Felipe Luchi conveys a really strong and current message. A sense of being trapped within the screen, alienated from the real world. The illustrated outdoor recreational area of the smartphone device within the image suggests that smartphones may provide us with entertainment and occupy our time and attention, however stop us from interacting physically and mentally with the outside world, thus serving as our imprisonment. The image screams of the bleakness and isolation caused by overuse of this technology and similar to actual jail, ‘Digital Jailhouse’ suggests we have put ourselves behind bars due to our own actions, and that we are unable to escape.
Slide 9:
Notes: With digital connectivity playing a massive role in how we live and communicate, actual fear of being out of reach of our phone is also on the increase. Some psychologists now address this fear as Nomophobia – the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. Studies have shown that on average 53% of UK smartphone users experience high levels of stress and anxiety if their phone is lost, stolen, broken or simply out of battery with 9% feeling genuine discomfort and unease if their phone is switched off for any period of time.
Image 1 (left): My own watercolour illustration depicting the frustration/panic when one can't find their mobile phone
Image 2 (right): My own digital 'broken smartphones' illustration
Slide 10:
Notes: Nomophobia can on the whole be treated in similar ways to any other phobia, using cognitive behavioural psychotherapy to integrate undesired scenarios into a person’s daily routine and expose them to the reality of the situation. The phobia can also be helped by way of drug treatments specifically created for the cause, but despite these treatments, the problem still remains in society and will continue to grow if our actions do not change. This poses the serious question – are we really becoming unable to live without our smartphones?
Image: My own paper-cut illustration depicting how people can hide behind their smartphones and act insensitively, separate and out of touch from their actions/consequences and real feelings/emotions.
Slide 11:
Image: My own watercolour 'emoji addiction' image
Slide 12:
GIFs:
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Notes: What links the fear of being without a smartphone and smartphone addiction is the sense of dependency, reliance and obsession. As the Deloitte Consumer Survey found, one in six of UK smartphone owners (the equivalent of six million people) check their phone in excess of 50 times a day. We continue to feel the need to check our phones in boredom with or without any need to or notification from the digital world, in hope of some kind of connection.
Slide 13:
Notes: Whilst researching into the subject of smartphone addiction, I have come across the findings of neuroscientist Susan Greenfield. Made clear in her book ‘Mind Change’, Greenfield’s research explains that levels of the chemical neurotransmitter dopamine increase in the brain when we are feeling excited or aroused as a result of action and subsequent reward, giving the sense of happiness and satisfaction.
Slide 14:
Notes: The relevance of dopamine is that this key chemical is also produced when taking drugs such as heroin, cocaine and nicotine, known to help strengthen and enhance the overall addiction of these substances. Greenfield has made the key connection, suggesting that the use of smartphone technology to communicate freely and frequently via social networking sites and text messaging is also triggering the release of dopamine in the brain, helping to make the action and anticipating reward and response experience highly addictive.
Slide 15:
Notes: Seeking and receiving reward for our actions helps to strengthen our feeling of acceptance and is nothing new in society, however using our smartphones in seek of this recognition is changing our identity, as shown in this image 'Social' by illustrator Luis Quilles. Our communication via social media is becoming ego based, as conveyed by the self-gratification in this image and more often than not, we use our online presence to increase our popularity no matter how inappropriate sometimes, with the thumbs up likes and comments giving us the quick fix we need to feed our addiction and spur us on. The graphic nature of this illustration also signifies the increasingly uncensored environment of social networking, as we continue to battle and shock for the most attention.
Slide 16:
GIF:
Notes: For the practical part of my project, I intend to create an illustrated diagram which clearly shows the problems smartphone usage is causing in society and the damage this is doing to our personal wellbeing. I feel that Nomophobia and smartphone addiction both stem from the same issue – that we as a society have misplaced our attention. We rely too heavily on technology for our every day human needs to the point where it is damaging us and our progression and that moderation, as well as small changes undertaken often, can really help us to get more from life in the long run. I want to bring to light the question: “What is living if being stuck in a fabricated world is outweighing our contact with realty?” I feel that bringing this social issue to light for the audience is the first step in solving it, therefore I would like the artwork to be clear and striking in its message.
Slide 17:
Notes: My first idea for my illustrated diagram is in line with the notion of smartphone addiction - treating the problem as if it were a drug with consequences and negative side effects. My idea is to possibly create an illustrated list of side effects almost as a warning for over using our smartphones; similar to the paper guide you get in a box of drugs or antibiotic treatment. While this could be a good way to exaggerate and possibly create comedy in my illustrations, I feel this solution may be too obvious for my diagram, with many info graphics already out there outlining the statistics and negative impacts of this subject.
Slide 18:
Notes: My second idea, and one I feel more confident about, has the possible title “A Guide to Smartphone Rehab” – how to overcome your addiction, taking on an illustrated approach with a list of self-help techniques. It is a more positive and proactive look at the problem I am trying to convey in comparison to my previous idea, with information regarding specific problems to inspire the audience to make a change and Illustrations centred around simple solutions, checklists and tasks to complete such as leaving your phone at home when venturing out to the shops, writing letters to distant loved ones instead of emails or spontaneously visiting a friend instead of 'WhatsApping' them.
Slide 19:
Notes: In terms of ideas for the style of my diagram, I like the way in which info graphics are clear, concise and informative which will help me to convey my message and information. Info graphics can be quite visually striking when bringing to light the enormity of statistics, which I hope to include as an motivation for the audience to take action against the smartphone addiction issue outlined in my diagram.
Slide 20:
Notes: In keeping with the anti-digital theme of my subject and what my diagram is about, I think it would be contradictory to generate artwork via digital means such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, despite how well this media works with info graphics and how clear it could convey my message. With this in mind, I would like to go analogue and create delicate watercolour illustrations throughout the diagram, hopefully generating a calming and positive aesthetic while still being informative and clear.
Slide 21:
Slide 22:
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Thanks for watching!
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Successes
Having re-thought my subject (a little late than most) and narrowed my focus down to smartphone technology in particular, I feel that my Petcha Kutcha did its job as an introduction to my subject, giving useful information, facts, statistics on areas which many wont have heard about considering this is such a widely discussed topic in society currently. I really enjoyed researching into my subject and I really feel I know a lot of new and interesting information about such a popular topic amongst us, that I definitely did not have a clue about before.
I am really glad that I managed to put some of my analysis of other practitioners work into the presentation. I feel this is important in putting across my own opinions and opinions of other on my chosen subject and shows a deeper level of my understanding. The addition of relevant GIFs within my presentation adds another interesting dynamic, hopefully keeping the attention of the audience, while conveying the importance of the subject at hand.
Failures
I found it extremely difficult to create unique and interesting visuals for my presentation. I really struggled to turn the information I had discovered into aesthetically pleasing illustrations, which I feel has let down this task overall as my own visuals could have been a little cleverer / more satirical. This is something that I wish to develop further in my future practice. I am in need of my own tone of voice and need to be more brave in what I wish to say/how I wish my work to be perceived. TAKE RISKS JESS! Don't just speak the obvious - imply, insult, shock, provide humour and make a statement for a more dramatic impact and to reach a wider audience.