Study Task 05: Writing and formatting correctly - exercise

Write a blog entry for this task - discuss 3 things that you have learned, observed, noted about the dissertations that you looked at and how this will help when addressing your own written piece.


The first dissertation I looked at was 'A historical and theoretical Analysis of the concious use of white space. Its changing interpretations and influence on Graphic Design.' I was drawn to it because I was interested to see how they had written over 8,000 words on white space. The first thing I noticed was the amount the author had used the word 'I'. This is unprofessional and I am surprised that it has been used in a dissertation. Not only had they used 'I' but also written it when talking about a pieces of work "I feel that..." I was always taught never to use feel or other such words when talking about a piece of work especially in a dissertation. I've noticed that he has also laid his work out in chapters, this is a good idea that I will use when writing my dissertation as it is a great way of breaking up such a heavy amount of content.

The second dissertation I began reading was 'An analysis of how supermarket brands use socio-economic subcultural differences to build a consumer base and how is this reflected in brand identity' I chose this one because of my interest into supermarket design and brand identity. The structure of the dissertation is good, one thing I noticed which I didn't see in the last dissertation was triangulation. The author has included different arguments to help shape his main points but also linked them.

By looking through these two dissertations I have been able to see a difference in writing standards. I will take on board what I have learnt from each dissertation and make sure that when I write my own I do not fall into the same problems. Equally I will take away what I have learnt and apply it to my future dissertation. 

Practical Idea From Essay

After writing my essay on the key characteristics for successful package design I want to create a final outcome which uses these techniques to brand something which you wouldn't normally buy.

NYC Garbage 

I decided to look into NYC Garbage because it is a good example of a product people buy solely for the way it has been packaged. If you offered someone some rubbish they would turn it down however the packaging here clearly works as people are buying it even though it is $50 per cube!

NYC Garbage was created by Justin Gignac who began to package garbage to show the importance of package design. He did this by finding something no-one would ever buy and packaging it so they would. Over 1,400 NYC Garbage cubes have been sold.