Year 1

PROJECT SUMMARY: (Brief description or overview of the project, include research topic and research question)

“Have commercialism and societal expectations damaged our self-esteem so much that we rely on makeup as a necessity rather than an accessory?”

RESEARCH SUMMARY: (Include your research sources in a separate sheet—working list):

• “Cosmetics”. 2010. In The American Beauty Industry Encyclopedia. Westport: Greenwood.
• Clay, D., Vignoles, V. L. and Dittmar, H. (2005), Body Image and Self-Esteem Among Adolescent Girls: Testing the Influence of Sociocultural Factors. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15: 451–477. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2005.00107.x (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2005.00107.x/full)
• Richins, Marsha L.. 1991. “Social Comparison and the Idealized Images of Advertising”. Journal of Consumer Research 18 (1). Oxford University Press: 71–83. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2489486.
• “Cosmetics History and Facts.” History of Cosmetics. Accessed March 15, 2016. http://www.historyofcosmetics.net/.
• Woman putting on her lipstick in a park with union station behind her, Washington, D.C., 1943. (Courtesy of Library of Congress)
• https://www.tinkercad.com/things/jTVlO06M10t-copy-of-iphone-6-blank-case-for-free-download-93014-for-3d/edit

PROJECT OBJECTIVES: (What are the main goals of the project? List the key goals of the project—most projects will have 3-5 objectives. List any requirements that must be incorporated)

1.  I want to create a personalized phone case for people, well specifically for me in this project so I can use it. One that has a mirror for makeup application and has a quote at the bottom (something cheesy but motivational) like “you’re beautiful.”
2. So its a reminder to appreciate your natural beauty but also makeup is a huge part of most girls lives and if it gives one confidence than why not use it?
3. My paper for Seminar is more focused on specifically the topic of make-up and how it ties in with the not just the psychology of being effected and why but also with the trends and current perceptions of beauty.
4. My Thesis (so far):

   We are constantly surrounded by advertisements and social media which inform us of the current trends and what is considered “beautiful.” However we’ve reached a point where these standards are simply unrealistic and we begin to see how this has a negative affect amongst the youth. In this essay I am going to focus specifically on the topic of make-up and it’s over-usage. Yes, wearing make-up boosts a ones confidence but so much so that they can’t seem to accept their natural beauty anymore.

PROJECT SCHEDULE: (List the milestones and critical dates for the project)

Finalize overall sketch + visit 3D printing lab (April 4th week)

Get the materials required (physical + make the graphic) (April 12th week)

Go to 3D Lab (April 19th week)

April 18th – Go to 3D Lab after class, get the phone printed.

April 19th – Try to finalize design on the phone case.

April 23rd – Buy materials (Plexi glass) needed for the design from Canal Plastics. Get any sort of engraving done.

To view the model click here

I conducted a survey and made a selective selection of girls to ask, ranging from the ages of 17-19, 4 girls of every race (western, african american, asian, southeast asian) However these are extreme generalizations and the girls I classified as south east asian some of them picked “asian” so that skewed my data a bit for that question. Also only 3 african american girls filled out my survey which also skewed my data because it wasn’t an even number of each race.

My Sketch plans:

Final Infographic:

I used the color pink to appeal to my demographic of girls. I used makeup products to help with data visualization. I used a face chart that makeup artists use as well to help with some more data visualization.

For initial research click here

I’ve decided to focus on the topic of make-up.

_______________________________________________________________________

Initial Questions:

How does a beauty trend come to be?

How does the current perception of beauty get defined?

How have the uses of makeup changed over the years?

Is the usage of make-up due to its long history of perceived beauty or merely commercialism and societal expectations or both?

_______________________________________________________________________

1. “Is the usage of makeup due to its long history of perceived beauty or merely commercialism and societal expectations or both?”
2.  “Has commercialism and societal expectations damaged our self-esteem so much that we rely on makeup as a necessity instead of an accessory?”

I decided to choose to focus on number 2.

effects of advertising on young women (psychology reports, past cases of teenage depression, pressure to be perfect)

– Secondary Sources: scholarly articles on how advertising affects us (specifically research done by Behaviorists)

makeup uses for a general teenage girl (annual spending, obsessive nature)

– Primary Sources: conduct surveys?

– Secondary Sources: Look at other people’s surveys.

current trends on makeup (what girls choose to achieve)

– Contouring (Primary Source: observation based off YouTube beauty gurus/girls in general)

– Extreme cover-up (desire for perfect skin)

– Eastern vs. Western trends comparison (Secondary Source: magazines like Cosmopolitan/ Vogue that determine beauty trends.)

big make-up companies (drugstore versus designer)

– slogans/ ideals/ the way they advertise (Primary Source: looking at their advertisements, from the past to now.)

It is general knowledge that advertising can have a negative impact on a teenager’s self-esteem. This paper is more focused on specifically the topic of make-up and it ties in with the not just the psychology of being effected and why but also with the trends and current perceptions of beauty.

I’ve previously made a magazine for my senior project where I’ve created “natural” makeup looks for different ethnicities that takes into consideration their cultural ideals of beauty and emphasizing their features that they’re blessed with. (http://www.a-subs.com/cakeface) I want to go deeper into the topic with this final project.

_______________________________________________________________________

I could perhaps use this to highlight different ethnic girls and their daily make-up usage. What they can’t leave the house without?

_______________________________________________________________________

Precedents:

Overall, I did get to experience a lot of nice galleries, a lot of them weren’t on the map but just in the general area. It was a lot of walking though because there were galleries everywhere around Chinatown, I tried to follow it based off the ranking but I ended up going to whichever one came first/in the same area. I think perhaps if it was focused on a smaller area in Chinatown or a specific genre of art it might have been more successful to navigate through.

Also for two of the galleries, the floor wasn’t specified so I had a hard time finding the gallery. And two of the galleries were closed by the time I got there, so perhaps include opening times?

BridgeProject2_Seminar

Design Problem: Finding a creative way to make a map specifically designed for the people in the area or who have an interest/purpose to visit.

My area is the Financial District, tourism is very minimal I wanted to target the people who worked in that area.

Google Maps is the most convenient way my audience would navigate around the area, or anyone for that matter.

Any map that I would make would have to be electronic because no one carries a physical map anymore especially not businessmen or anyone working in finance.

Linked to my essay from Seminar, where I have my observations of the target audience and how there is a constant need to “promote productivity.” In my observations the stereotypes of business people always in a hurry, always working, constantly trying to be efficient is all 100% true. So I decided to focus on areas in the Financial District where one can sit down and work, so that would include bakeries/ cafes/ coffee shops where there are seats, Wi-Fi, outlets and of course good coffee because caffeine promotes productivity.

Secondary Research:

“Our Economy Is Obsessed with Efficiency and Terrible at Everything Else.” Harvard Business Review. 2016. Accessed March 04, 2016. https://hbr.org/2016/03/our-economy-is-obsessed-with-efficiency-and-terrible-at-everything-else

Donovan, Aaron. “If You’re Thinking of Living In/The Financial District; In Wall Street’s Canyons, Cliff Dwellers.” The New York Times. 2001. Accessed March 04, 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/09/realestate/if-you-re-thinking-living-financial-district-wall-street-s-canyons-cliff.html?pagewanted=3..

“3 Scientific Links Between Coffee and Productivity at Work.” Redbooth. 2015. Accessed March 04, 2016. https://redbooth.com/blog/coffee-and-productivity-at-work.

Process:

Pictures I took (Put them up in the previous blog post + other research):

\

Final Project: https://invis.io/KN6CFMNSA

Theres’s something “romantic” about the idea of studying in a coffee shop. It’s idealized in movies and books so of course we are all swayed by the idea of it. However coffee shops can really promote productivity, not just because of the caffeine but because of the environment that the shop creates.

“Teahouses are the oldest of the three. In ancient China, the rich might spend all day in tea houses, socializing and passing the time by playing parlor games. These activities would be possible at someone’s home, but a change of setting (especially somewhere where you will be catered to, as an important client) was valuable. The cost of the teahouse was an accepted part of maintaining their place in society and, in fact, the ability to spend so freely on something non-essential was a demonstration of wealth.

Cafes came into vogue around the time of the French Revolution. Cafes were a space where thinkers (i.e., people with enough excess wealth to be able to afford to spend all day drinking coffee as opposed to working) could gather to discuss philosophy, politics, sociology, or whatever other ideas might be in vogue. The caffeine stimulated discussion.”

“Why Do People like to Sit in Cafes Drinking Coffee and Using Their Computers, Rather than Just Doing That at Home?” – Quora. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-people-like-to-sit-in-cafes-drinking-coffee-and-using-their-computers-rather-than-just-doing-that-at-home

I sat in Gregory’s Coffee on Wall Street and tried to work there, I actually got a lot of accomplished I sketched and I finished a digital drawing and I had an amazing Caramel Latte. There were two people on either side all working by themselves. One was working on her LinkedIn profile and the man was working on some web design coding. Coffee shops attract all different types of people, doesn’t matter where you work you can still take it and work in a coffee shop.

Then I left and went to Le Pain Quotein, it was a bakery/coffee shop and restaurant. You can definitely work there if you wanted, theres ample amount of space. They have outlets on almost every table which is helpful for anyone working with their laptops or other technological devices.

I don’t know how to describe it but it just felt good to work outside the dorm, away from the clutter and distractions.

Is the usage of makeup due to its long history of perceived beauty or merely commercialism and societal expectations or both?

Strengths:

• I get to look into the history of makeup, how eyeliner/blush/other products came to be which links to years of idealized beauty.
• “Perceived beauty” I can look into western versus eastern perceptions of beauty.
• I get to also compare that to what is considered beautiful currently. Look a little more at how commercialism plays a significant role into what is considered beautiful.

Weaknesses:

• Its like a lot of different topics to focus on
• It doesn’t really focus on the topic of makeup and it focuses more on psychological and historical perceptions of beauty.

Has commercialism and societal expectations damaged our self-esteem so much that we rely on makeup as a necessity instead of an accessory?

Strengths:

• This really focuses on the topic of makeup and how we tend to rely on it to change our features instead of enhance our features.
• I also get to talk about how makeup is advertised and how it plays on our societal idealizations.

Weaknesses:

• I don’t get to touch on the cultural aspect of beauty (Western vs. Eastern)
• It’s hard to talk about self perception because it’s so different for everyone.