So far I am pretty stuck with an idea for my publication, I am quite interested in the design work produced from within different subcultures. Such as:
- Punks
- Skaters
- Mods
- Rockers
- Hip Hop
- Skin heads
- Surfers
I think I am going to look at how design is influenced within different subcultures. How fashion and beliefs are transferred into pieces of design. I recently read something on Semiotics which was quite interesting explained how objects meanings are changed by different subcultures. This is quite interesting how people perceive objects to be ascosiated withe something different to its actual meaning or use. For instance the safety pin which might originally of been associated with parent hood, nappies and babies, which indicated rebellion and anarchy with the punk era.
I came across this article online from http://globaldesignstudies.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/design-subculture.html
Design & Subculture
Culture
is involves large groups of people who share languages, beliefs, or
values. Subcultures are smaller groups within cultures. Those
subcultures are only connected through the same values. You can think for example of the subculture of surfing. Surfers all share similar interests but they may be
located in many different places, in many different cultures around the
world. Normally we think of subcultures as opposed to mainstream
culture and it is true that people can be part of more than one
subculture.
In his book Subculture: The Meaning of Style, Dick Hebdige discusses the groups of individuals in London who went against the style of the establishment – teddy boys, mods, rockers, skinheads and punks. He suggests that the tension between the power and less powerful groups are represented on the surface expression. There are certain aspects of clothing and decoration that represented these groups such as safety pins, motorcycles and boots.
Hebdige emphasizes the sign of refusal as an important part of divergent groups. The sign of refusal is apparent in graffiti for example. Refusal is against the “hegemony” a term that means the powers that be and their system of rules. An important part of hegemony is the framing
of ideas within a particular context. For example: The political power
may acknowledge a punk group but do so through police wanted ads, or
negative news stories. While a subculture wants to appear separate with
enough negative framing a negative stereotype will form.
Graffiti artist Banksy
The problem for designers is that different groups have different definitions for the same signs. The meaning of signs is manipulated through style. Hebdige
writes, “our task becomes to discern the hidden messages inscribed in
code on the glossy surfaces of style, to trace them as ‘maps of meaning’
which obscurely re-present the very contradictions they are designed to
resolve or conceal.”
See footage of the London punk scene in 1979: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IABnsIDer-0&feature=fvsr
The idea of cultural sign reading is called “semiotics.” This theory was started by French theorist Roland Barthes. In the 1960’s Barthes created a book called Empire of Signs followed by The Fashion System
in which he decoded clothing. Barthes suggested that all meaning in
fashion is within closed systems of meaning. You understand the codes of
a fashion group by being part of the group.
In the The Official Preppy Handbook writer Lisa Birnbach
uses semiotics to de-code the preppy subculture. She takes a typical
family den and recognizes the value system that is represented. She does
the same thing with a dorm room. She then summarizes her findings by
suggesting 10 underlying fashion principles of prep. Her ability to sign
read and summarize makes the book more than comical and raises the
question of how subcultures and stereotypes overlap.
Many companies try to reach subcultures through niche marketing using
signs of the subculture. However, because people in a subculture are
not unified beyond shared interest or belief, there is lack of
understanding of individual differences. Stereotypes
are broken when you meet particular individuals who belong to many
subcultures such as punks who play golf or preps with motorcycles. As designers, we can consider the cross-cultural aspects as
more interesting, especially with the emphasis on identity in
post-modernism. Niche categories are only partial understanding of lived
experience.
In his essay “The Bachelor Pad as Cultural Icon”(http://jdh.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/18/1/99.pdf) Bill Osgerby discusses the representation of mid-century private interiors. During the 50’s and 60’s the American magazine Playboy spotlighted bachelor pads. Esquire
was another magazine that emphasized the lifestyle of leisure.
Sleekness, streamlining and luxury electronics like clock radios, built
in cigarette lights and pedal lighting created the aesthetic.
There
were examples of control panels, allowing the man to relax and simply
supervise the house. These ideas go with mid-century modern trends in
general but even today the bachelor pad emphasizes ease of maintenance and technology. Osgerby suggests that Playboy set
the high standard in the end for the most innovative mid century
spaces, in combination with the establishment of the club design which
resembled a bachelor pad. He concludes by stating that the bachelor pad
can be understood as a signifier of America’s petit-bourgeois, making class into a sub a subcultural style.
The essay analyzes the bachelor but in contemporary culture we also use the word pimp. The word pimp first appeared in English in 1607 in a Thomas Middleton book entitled Your Five Gallants. It is believed to have stemmed from the French infinitive pimper
meaning to dress up elegantly. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the term
was commonly used to refer to informers. The term can now also be
applied to a person who is considered a ladies' man.
Watch a pimp video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOvaCV6uQp8
Comparing Punks, Pimps & Preps
How is it a legitimate subculture, with real people? how is it a style?
1. Subculture personality traits
2. Visual design style characteristics
3. Media persona examples
4. Brands or products that connect to the subculture/style
Punks
1. Subculture characteristics and personalities
rebellious, expressive, challenge status quo, misunderstood, loud, present, independence
2. Visual design style characteristics
safety pin, tattoos, boots, black, worn out clothing, British flag
3. Media persona examples
Sex Pistols, The Clash, Ramones
4. Brands that connect to the subculture/style
Doc Martens, Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier
Preps
1. Subculture characteristics and personalities
Conformity, conservative, traditional, polite, social
2. Visual design style characteristics
plaid, pastels, leisure-sports wear, pearls, family heirlooms
3. Media persona examples
The Kennedys, Gossip Girl, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Martha Stewart
4. Brands that connect to the subculture/style
Brooks Brothers, J Crew, Ralph Lauren
Pimps
1. Subculture characteristics and personalities
Bachelors, partiers, criminals, ladies man, suave, metro
2. Visual design style characteristics
expressive, flamboyant, street wear, gentleman’s tux
3. Media persona examples
Blaxploitation films, Flava Flav, Snoop Dog, Hugh Hefner, P Diddy
4. Brands that connect to the subculture/style
Axe cologne, Jameson Scotch, Astin Martin
Another good example of this semiotic process is the safety-pin as used by punks in the Seventies. Punk subculture, especially in England, was a group of young people who opposed political, social and aesthetic values of mainstream culture. Punks excorporated the safety-pin, for whatever reasons, from the dominant culture. Instead of signifying the dominant culture’s connotations like babies, diapers, parenthood, safety pins now, through the excorporation by the subculture and within the subculture, signified, anarchy, opposition, punk. This is a form of semiotic guerilla warfare and a very different set of connotations. Then designers incorporate and mainstream the safety pin into their designs and safety pins now become a fashion statement available to anyone who has the time and money to go purchase a shirt or skirt with safety pins.
Another good example of this semiotic process is the safety-pin as used by punks in the Seventies. Punk subculture, especially in England, was a group of young people who opposed political, social and aesthetic values of mainstream culture. Punks excorporated the safety-pin, for whatever reasons, from the dominant culture. Instead of signifying the dominant culture’s connotations like babies, diapers, parenthood, safety pins now, through the excorporation by the subculture and within the subculture, signified, anarchy, opposition, punk. This is a form of semiotic guerilla warfare and a very different set of connotations. Then designers incorporate and mainstream the safety pin into their designs and safety pins now become a fashion statement available to anyone who has the time and money to go purchase a shirt or skirt with safety pins.
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