The concepts that eventually led to the creation of the Panopticon prison may have had their origins in the era of the black plague. When the plague was seen in a town, the residents would be forbidden to evacuate – with the consequence of death if disobeyed. Besides that, the residents would often be subjected to a lockdown, in which they were not allowed to go outside their own homes. Syndics kept watch over every street, and anyone they caught trying to venture outside their house was killed. The syndics may not have been on constant guard during these lockdowns, but the townspeople could not risk taking a step out of their homes for fear that a syndic would happen to be watching.
This strategy of basing fear on the notion of being watched is exactly how Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon prison worked. The prison was designed so that the levels of cells ran in a ring around a large tower where the guards were. The prisoners would be clearly seen from the tower, but, using backlighting, the effect was created of the prisoners being unable to see clearly whether or not anyone was actually in the tower. As Foucault states in his essay “Panopticism,” the prisoner “is seen, but he does not see; he is the object of information, never a subject in communication.” The prisoners, in this position, became very conscious of a lack of personal power. In the Panopticon, the prisoners never needed chains, bars, or heavy locks to keep them docile and in their cells – the threat of being watched was enough. This, along with a decreased need for guards, made the Panopticon prison very efficient.
The Panopticon design relates to today’s society in that people often are under some kind of surveillance. With today’s technology, cameras have gotten smaller and more precise, and images are heavily relied upon. Our computers act also in a way that is similar to the Panopticon; most of us have been warned that our activities online are being monitored – we all see this when we get pop-up adds on our computers advertising items that we had previously searched for.
Is this surveillance causing a similar response as that in the Panopticon prison? Would people behave differently if they weren’t reminded that their actions may be recorded? There are positive benefits that come out of the knowledge that people are being watched. Stores that set out security cameras where people are sure to see them tend to have fewer shoplifters – the cameras remind the customers that they are seen. But, are there negative consequences, also? Our country places much emphasis on being seen. Most U.S. citizens carry at least one form of identification with their picture on it. In a way, it seems like your picture proves your existence as a citizen. Authorities frequently use pictures to identify people; at routine traffic stops, the police officer will first ask to see a driver’s license, and will then check the picture to make sure you are who you are supposed to be. As a citizen, your face is in various records so that you can be identified. This is not as extreme as the Panopticon prison, but sometimes it is disconcerting to know that you are always seen.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Wikipedia the Network
In Radan Martinec and Teho van Leeuwen’s article “The Language of New Media Design: Theory and Practice”, they lay out the five website structures that are often seen on today’s internet. They include the given and new, ideal and real, star, tree, and network. Though some are more commonly used than others, certain websites may even choose to use one or more of these layouts together to create a complex and visually interesting site for their visitors.
The network is the most complicated of the designs, though it may incorporate some of the other layouts within its links and informational pages. It is designed to present the view with as much information as it can, which is not always centralized around a starting point and does not always follow linear hierarchies. It instead connects bits of information that are related to one another via links, which connects that information to still more related content, in an seemingly unending web of linked connections.
Wikipedia, as we discussed in our webcam lecture, is a good example of the network layout. It consists of not only the network models, but also the star model on its opening page, which features a fractured globe surrounded by language links for the viewer to choose from. This centralized image surrounded by the links forms a bond between the image and the things around it. It represents the site itself and all the languages it can be accessed in, even without explaining this connection.
When someone accesses a piece of information on the site itself, say they are researching ponies and horses, a linear model page is brought up, with words highlighted in blue. These are the links that define a network. They connect the immediate search page to other related information that may be explained further on another page. For example, one may research ponies and find a link to a certain sport in which ponies are participants such as polo. From the page on polo, a link may appear to the British Monarchy who are avid polo players, and take the viewer to a page about the British Monarchy. This is the essential function of the network, to connect pages to display the greatest amount of information in not always a linear, centralized or hierarchical structure.
The network is the most complicated of the designs, though it may incorporate some of the other layouts within its links and informational pages. It is designed to present the view with as much information as it can, which is not always centralized around a starting point and does not always follow linear hierarchies. It instead connects bits of information that are related to one another via links, which connects that information to still more related content, in an seemingly unending web of linked connections.
Wikipedia, as we discussed in our webcam lecture, is a good example of the network layout. It consists of not only the network models, but also the star model on its opening page, which features a fractured globe surrounded by language links for the viewer to choose from. This centralized image surrounded by the links forms a bond between the image and the things around it. It represents the site itself and all the languages it can be accessed in, even without explaining this connection.
When someone accesses a piece of information on the site itself, say they are researching ponies and horses, a linear model page is brought up, with words highlighted in blue. These are the links that define a network. They connect the immediate search page to other related information that may be explained further on another page. For example, one may research ponies and find a link to a certain sport in which ponies are participants such as polo. From the page on polo, a link may appear to the British Monarchy who are avid polo players, and take the viewer to a page about the British Monarchy. This is the essential function of the network, to connect pages to display the greatest amount of information in not always a linear, centralized or hierarchical structure.
Reality Isn't Always Real
In Norman Bryson’s “The Natural Attitude”, he quotes an old anecdote, which says:
“The contemporaries and rivals of Zeuxis were Timanthes, Androcydes, Eupompus, Parrhasius. This last, it is recorded, entered into a competition with Zeuxis. Zeuxis produced a picture of grapes so dexterously represented that birds began to fly down to eat them from the painted vine. Whereupon Parrhasius designed so lifelike a picture of a curtain that Zeuxis, proud of the verdict of the birds, requested that the curtain should now be drawn back and the picture displayed. When he realized his mistake, with a modesty that did him honor, he yielded up the palm, saying that whereas he had managed to deceive only birds, Parrhasius had deceived an artist” (Bryson)
This, in essence, sums up his article very nicely. He focuses on how painters, like the two rivals in the story, long strove to outdo each other by presenting the world as we saw it in everyday life, and whoever could paint reality the most perfectly was often yielded to by their rivals as the best painter. But, as the centuries stretched on, an emphasis was placed on painters such as Picasso, who didn’t paint reality, and if he did, it was a skewed view which made interpretations of the image different from that of a painting presenting a landscape.
All of this adds up to how, if images are credited with attempting to present reality, how we often give them great sway in society, how we take what we see as what we get. This is especially prevalent in tabloids or gossips magazines. If a celebrity is seen with a sweatshirt that perhaps has a bulge in the front, they are determined to be pregnant, even without finding out the facts, because images are credited with representing reality. There can be a lot of issues with seeing images as total reality, as one can imagine. And there is also the artist or journalist’s influence to be considered. Perhaps the photo was taken from a specific view to get across the message the taker wanted the viewer to see, not the actual reality.
Though the artists of the renaissance, like those in the anecdote, strove to outdo one another by presenting reality as real as they could reproduce, images today do not always strive for the same ideal. They are often influenced by the motives of the creator, and though are credited with presenting reality, they more than often do not.
“The contemporaries and rivals of Zeuxis were Timanthes, Androcydes, Eupompus, Parrhasius. This last, it is recorded, entered into a competition with Zeuxis. Zeuxis produced a picture of grapes so dexterously represented that birds began to fly down to eat them from the painted vine. Whereupon Parrhasius designed so lifelike a picture of a curtain that Zeuxis, proud of the verdict of the birds, requested that the curtain should now be drawn back and the picture displayed. When he realized his mistake, with a modesty that did him honor, he yielded up the palm, saying that whereas he had managed to deceive only birds, Parrhasius had deceived an artist” (Bryson)
This, in essence, sums up his article very nicely. He focuses on how painters, like the two rivals in the story, long strove to outdo each other by presenting the world as we saw it in everyday life, and whoever could paint reality the most perfectly was often yielded to by their rivals as the best painter. But, as the centuries stretched on, an emphasis was placed on painters such as Picasso, who didn’t paint reality, and if he did, it was a skewed view which made interpretations of the image different from that of a painting presenting a landscape.
All of this adds up to how, if images are credited with attempting to present reality, how we often give them great sway in society, how we take what we see as what we get. This is especially prevalent in tabloids or gossips magazines. If a celebrity is seen with a sweatshirt that perhaps has a bulge in the front, they are determined to be pregnant, even without finding out the facts, because images are credited with representing reality. There can be a lot of issues with seeing images as total reality, as one can imagine. And there is also the artist or journalist’s influence to be considered. Perhaps the photo was taken from a specific view to get across the message the taker wanted the viewer to see, not the actual reality.
Though the artists of the renaissance, like those in the anecdote, strove to outdo one another by presenting reality as real as they could reproduce, images today do not always strive for the same ideal. They are often influenced by the motives of the creator, and though are credited with presenting reality, they more than often do not.
The Three Levels
Advertising relies heavily on not only the images it presents, but the connotation of those images and how well the receiving audience is to perceive them. In Roland Barthes’ “Rhetoric of the Image”, he argues that images have more than just spontaneous meaning. There are, in fact, three levels to the image which can be broken down and analyzed to find what the image is truly saying, or its creator is trying to get us to see. They are linguistic (connotation and denotation), coded iconic, and non-coded iconic.
The linguistic meaning is simply thus, the text in or on the image, such as a brand name in an advertisement or a slogan on the bottom of an image. For example, in the Panzani advertisement, it is the labels on the products and the text on the image which evokes a number of different perceptions. First, it helps the reader to understand that it is an advertisement for a specific product, and in order to understand only that much, all the viewer requires is “a knowledge of writing and French” (Barthes). This is true for ads in all different languages, as long as you can read the language, you are essentially able to understand the basic message. But though the ad is in French, the word Panzani itself gives “by its assonance, an additional signified, that of ‘Italianicity’” (Barthes). The ad, through the use of the brand name and the text, is trying to persuade their viewers to buy their product on the basis that it speaks of “Italianicity”, or authentic Italian cuisine.
The second meaning is coded iconic. That is to say, that depending on the target audience and the context, the image holds “icons” which help people form connotations within the image. Following the Panzani advertisement, someone in Italy would brush off the ad, noting its French brand and creators, and also not get the connotation perhaps that a working American parent would. As they have authentic food in Italy, the scene of a string sack tossed among fresh ingredients would smack strongly of stereotype and hold no real meaning, as they eat actual authentic Italian food for most of their lives. A busy American parent, however, may see the image as a representation of a company’s products which are authentic and provide a well balanced meal as the product is depicted with fresh vegetables.
The final level is the non-coded, or, to put it simply, that it’s the literal image. That what you see is essentially what you get. That all the messages combined, that of the linguistic and coded, come together to form the overall perception of the image, which allows the viewer to truly understand what the creator was trying to present to them.
The linguistic meaning is simply thus, the text in or on the image, such as a brand name in an advertisement or a slogan on the bottom of an image. For example, in the Panzani advertisement, it is the labels on the products and the text on the image which evokes a number of different perceptions. First, it helps the reader to understand that it is an advertisement for a specific product, and in order to understand only that much, all the viewer requires is “a knowledge of writing and French” (Barthes). This is true for ads in all different languages, as long as you can read the language, you are essentially able to understand the basic message. But though the ad is in French, the word Panzani itself gives “by its assonance, an additional signified, that of ‘Italianicity’” (Barthes). The ad, through the use of the brand name and the text, is trying to persuade their viewers to buy their product on the basis that it speaks of “Italianicity”, or authentic Italian cuisine.
The second meaning is coded iconic. That is to say, that depending on the target audience and the context, the image holds “icons” which help people form connotations within the image. Following the Panzani advertisement, someone in Italy would brush off the ad, noting its French brand and creators, and also not get the connotation perhaps that a working American parent would. As they have authentic food in Italy, the scene of a string sack tossed among fresh ingredients would smack strongly of stereotype and hold no real meaning, as they eat actual authentic Italian food for most of their lives. A busy American parent, however, may see the image as a representation of a company’s products which are authentic and provide a well balanced meal as the product is depicted with fresh vegetables.
The final level is the non-coded, or, to put it simply, that it’s the literal image. That what you see is essentially what you get. That all the messages combined, that of the linguistic and coded, come together to form the overall perception of the image, which allows the viewer to truly understand what the creator was trying to present to them.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The Network
"The Language of New Media Design," a book written by Radan Martinec and Theo van Leeuwen describes the different types of simple non-linear models in terms of website layouts. The types consist of given and new, ideal and real, the star model, the tree model, the table, and the network. These models structuralize the website layout and impact how the reader will take in the information presented there.
The most complicated web layout, when speaking of simple non-linear models, is the network. Networks strive to present as much information as possible. Unlike the star and tree models, the network is not centralized or set up by hierarchies, but rather it resembles a web - with related pieces of information being accessed by links. However, models of star, tree, table, etc. can be included in a network, but they do not dominate.
An good example of the network layout is the website http://wikipedia.com. Wikipedia also features non-linear models, for example the first page displays different language options situated around the Wikipedia logo. This arrangement of a center element (Wikipedia logo) surrounded by other elements (the different language options) demonstrates the star model.
Once a search item is typed in, the next page features a given and new layout. On the left side of this page, there are links that navigate back to the main page, to the contents, etc., and it also features the box to type in a new search item. All of the search results appear on the right side. This vertical splitting of material where the info that the audience expects, or the given info, is on the left and the info that is unknown to the audience, or the new info, is on the right signifies the given and new model.
When one of the search results is chosen a new page comes up that could be described as partly following the tree model, which puts different pieces of information into a hierarchy of sorts, because of the table of contents near the top of the page. This page is also where we see the network layout. Interspersed in the information on this page are links that are relatable to the topic. Each link will bring up its own page of information, which will have its own links that will lead to other pages. This design is like a web because there is no linear direction that the links take, and certain links can bring you back to previous pages.
This network model is very useful when looking for a wide variety of information because the links can any kind of relation to each other. For example, if the search topic is the actor Haley Joel Osment, the page of information that would come up would include links to movies he has appeared in, links pertaining to personal characteristics (such as featuring a link to information on a vegetarian diet in describing Haley's eating habits), and links to different geographic locations found in describing Haley's place of birth, etc. The network model allows you to move very quickly through a lot of different information. If you start out with the search topic Haley Joel Osment you might end up on a page with information on an evergreen after a mere five links.
The most complicated web layout, when speaking of simple non-linear models, is the network. Networks strive to present as much information as possible. Unlike the star and tree models, the network is not centralized or set up by hierarchies, but rather it resembles a web - with related pieces of information being accessed by links. However, models of star, tree, table, etc. can be included in a network, but they do not dominate.
An good example of the network layout is the website http://wikipedia.com. Wikipedia also features non-linear models, for example the first page displays different language options situated around the Wikipedia logo. This arrangement of a center element (Wikipedia logo) surrounded by other elements (the different language options) demonstrates the star model.
Once a search item is typed in, the next page features a given and new layout. On the left side of this page, there are links that navigate back to the main page, to the contents, etc., and it also features the box to type in a new search item. All of the search results appear on the right side. This vertical splitting of material where the info that the audience expects, or the given info, is on the left and the info that is unknown to the audience, or the new info, is on the right signifies the given and new model.
When one of the search results is chosen a new page comes up that could be described as partly following the tree model, which puts different pieces of information into a hierarchy of sorts, because of the table of contents near the top of the page. This page is also where we see the network layout. Interspersed in the information on this page are links that are relatable to the topic. Each link will bring up its own page of information, which will have its own links that will lead to other pages. This design is like a web because there is no linear direction that the links take, and certain links can bring you back to previous pages.
This network model is very useful when looking for a wide variety of information because the links can any kind of relation to each other. For example, if the search topic is the actor Haley Joel Osment, the page of information that would come up would include links to movies he has appeared in, links pertaining to personal characteristics (such as featuring a link to information on a vegetarian diet in describing Haley's eating habits), and links to different geographic locations found in describing Haley's place of birth, etc. The network model allows you to move very quickly through a lot of different information. If you start out with the search topic Haley Joel Osment you might end up on a page with information on an evergreen after a mere five links.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Ideal and Real Bucks.com
There are five structures used for website design discussed by Martinec and van Leeuwen in The Language of New Media Design: Theory and Practice. The five website structures include the given and new, ideal and real, star, tree, and network. Some websites will decide to use one of these structures, while others will combine more than one structure to create a complex website.
The Milwaukee Bucks website (http://www.nba.com/bucks/) is a perfect example of the ideal and real structure. This particular structure is a top down information system where the top information (i.e., ideal) is general or broad. Then, as you move down the website, there is more specific information (i.e., real). Martinec and van Leeuwen state that “the company logo is usually found in the top-left corner of the web page, indicating the importance of the company’s image and elevated status in the mind of the company’s executives, and consequently designers” (p. 22). The Bucks website follows this guideline of the ideal and real by having the logo and simultaneously the link to the home page in the top-left corner.
The ideal information, or the general, is located at the top of the Milwaukee Bucks website. There are links to Tix, Team, Stats & Standings, Schedules, News, Digital, Bucks 2.0, In The Community, and Fan Fun that never change. Each and every day, these links are the same because they are same broad information the Bucks want to have available. Moving down the website, there is the real, or more specific, information. Daily news stories including past scores, injury updates, and upcoming games are all real information that is more specific. These stories change from day to day.
Further down on the website, there is even more specific information and links. There are links that include specific ticket sales (e.g., single game tickets, promotions, groups and discounts), follow us links (e.g., bucks mobile, facebook, twitter), game night links (e.g., hoop troop, energee, rim rockers), archives (e.g., press releases, features, game recaps), teammates links (e.g., bucks buddies, bucks radio network, sponsorship site), and general information links (e.g., roster, front office, careers, parking, maps). All of these links are the most specific information available on the website.
Therefore, the Milwaukee Bucks use the ideal and real structure of website design to appeal to a basic audience who may not want to read about press releases or the Bucks on twitter. The more average fan and reader of the website will see the general information first such as past scores, injury reports, etc. first and then can find more specific information if necessary. Overall, the Bucks website designers chose a very good structure for the average audience that visits their website.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)