WHAT IS GOOD?// The Websites that have guided me.

http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency
The UKSA official website, a great source of knowledge as to how the organisation is run, however looks like a website for kids. Not an internationally recognised space agency. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Space_Agency
The Wiki entry for the UKSA, not much is actually here which is sad, but they give away a few more details about future plans and interesting links to articles here too. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylon_%28spacecraft%29
Wiki entry for the Skylon spaceplane, a project by British company Reaction Engines Limited that I have gotten very excited about. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2003/feb/06/spaceexploration
List of things that space exploration has done for us. Pretty badly written and with some glaring omissions, still a good place to start.

http://www.skepticink.com/tippling/2013/03/22/space-vs-prayer-what-has-space-exploration-ever-done-for-us/
Another list of examples of things that space exploration has done to further humanity as a whole, this time from a new atheists perspective.  

http://planetsave.com/2009/07/26/top-5-reasons-why-space-exploration-is-important-for-the-world/
A more concise list of  benefits, could still be much longer but goes into a bit more detail.

http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_weapons_and_global_security/space_weapons/technical_issues/what-are-satellites-used-for.html
List of what satellites are used for, something I did not really fully appreciate before and they one thing humans are always putting more of into space. Note especially the usefulness of weather satellites saving hundreds of thousands of lives every year.

http://www.stmary.ws/highschool/physics/97/SATELIT1.HTM
How to satellites benefit society, designed for high school kids in America but still useful for me and my public facing booklet.

http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/142/economics/what-does-the-government-spend-its-money-on/
List and graphs about what the British Government spends all of its money on. Looks at everything critically, I used this to show the value of the UKSA against other organisations. How we aren't wasting any money on space exploration at all.

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/ground/orion_recovery.html
How NASA recovers people from space, an example of the benefits of using a space plane that could land on a runway as well as a good bit of research about how space agencies conduct themselves.

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20110015353_2011016245.pdf
PDF about Nasa's plan to strap rockets onto the back of 747's to help them get into orbit for cheaper. This is the American version of the British Skylon project.

http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/culture/2013/01/meeting-our-makers-britain%E2%80%99s-long-industrial-decline
Article about industrial decline in Britain, as part of my public info handbook about the UK space industry I will claim that a growth in the sector could provide jobs.This research was to find out more about industrial decline.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3868997.stm 
BBC article about UK industrial decline during labour years, and about shift to market and services. 

http://www.asktheexperts.org.uk/uk-spaceplane-skylon-come-good-in-report.html
Article about tests for Skylon moving on nicely. Proves its efficiency and that the technology is all ready to be assembled with the correct funding. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12924060
BBC article about the formation of the UKSA and its creation back in 2010. Positively written about great goals and aims. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/jonathanamos/2010/09/it-is-one-of-those.shtml#
BBC article about Skylon space plane and its funding decisions. This article focuses on funding as well as benefits of project.

http://www.aerospace-technology.com/projects/skylon-vehicle/
Informative but short article about Skylon Spaceplane.Written by Americans.

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2010/09/22/uksa-reviews-skylon-sabre/
Talks about the meeting in Harwell for the use and future of the SKYLON and its engine the SABRE. 

http://www.reactionengines.co.uk/index.html
The Reaction Engines Ltd website, builders of the SABRE and SKYLON. Very interesting and pretty well designed too.

http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/05/hms-ark-royal-no-astronauts-yes-britains-spending-priorities-are-lost-in-space/
Poorly informed article about the sort of thing that the UKSA are up against, that we cant afford to run a navy, but can afford to send someone into space. The two are not connected.

http://www.spacefoundation.org/media/press-releases/space-foundations-2012-report-reveals-122-percent-global-space-industry-growth
Report about huge growth in space industry despite downturn else where, proves that market wants space exploration and that we could exploit that here if we had the right sort of people to do that. 

OUGD 501 END OF MODULE EVALUATION

What skills do you think you have developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?

I have continued to improve my essay writing skills throughout this module, however I do feel that I am not 100% happy with the triangulation methods I have used. As usual the most important things I have learnt from this module has been from the contextual study through the lecture program, which has genuinely changed the way I think about a graphic designers role in society. The lecture program has also introduced me to new philosophical ideas and the thoughts of great thinkers, that I now refer to frequently in my evaluation of design and contextual work. Certainly in terms of my publication for this module I can see how the concepts of panopticism and the gaze have heavily influenced my work whilst I was also able to apply these theories to the subject of religion, something I am deeply interested in.


What approaches to methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?

On this module the first step of design production came from a contextual and theoretical understanding of my subject. As I made up the story of my subject from scratch I thought this would give me free range to produce a crazy range of products. However upon writing the content for the publications I was clear that I should reign in the presentation of my Ideas so that the reader does not get confused or lost in them. It was to this end that I decided to go with two publications, these would allow me to present unusual ideas in a usual way; hopefully making them seem more believable and understandable. I stitch bound the publications along the spine and inkjet printed them on a range of three stocks. I did not fully experiment with new ideas in terms of production but the unusual theory of the content was the reason behind this. Saying this these are the first stick bound books I have made, and the results are pretty good so I am pleased that I understand how to create this type of publication now.


What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?

The main thing I have enjoyed about this particular module has been the ability to choose a subject I am really interested in and really analyse it in a new way. What the module has given me is a deeper understanding on how, for example, the church uses a panoptic gaze to control an individual, which is an angle which I had not examined religion from before. This new knowledge is what has improved my work over the last few months and given me a new skill to analyse the meaning behind my work in a new way. In the future I can continue to use topics that we covered on panopticism and the gaze and apply it to new areas of design like brand identity, advertising and possibly even public relations or art direction.


What Weaknesses can you Identify in your work?

I have a weakness to generally ignore a lecture if its content is largely a list of photographers, with no real theoretical grounding in the subjects we are studying towards. This isn't a criticism of any lecture, just that I should pay more attention to the different contextual applications of the things we learn about and not focus solely on my own discipline. Gaining a greater understanding of a subject like photography will probably greatly improve my work overall, however this year I have often wished for a few more design focused lectures and a few less about photography.

Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?

- Follow up lectures with my own ideas and notes that I can refer to for a more personal understanding of the topic. For example we could receive a lecture about the gaze, I could write about the gaze in the context of computer gaming and have a deeper understanding from this. This would how have to be long winded, but just a note of my own ideas.  

- I would have liked to have started the publication over Easter instead of when we got back. The most important thing that I need to improve is time management and the ability to say no to things that will take my eye off the ball. 

- Blog studio sessions and the discussions we have had in them. Basically I would like to bring my laptop to these sessions in the future and blog about them then and there so the notes I make aren't lost and the ideas I generate in these sessions are not lost with them. 

- I would like to expand my knowledge of other designers and bring their work into the contextual studies module. I can gather a lot of other examples of work and ideas that are floating around out there from a range of sources and interests of mine however I find it hard to find many designers that I can talk about in any great detail. I think this will improve the way I think about the design industry in general and give me a more contextual grounding in design itself.

- 

STUDIO BRIEF 2// Photos and SB2 Evaluation

The Freethinker Zine

The Freethinker Magazine allowed me to expand the theory and lore behind the cult to new levels. By giving myself a platform to analyse the cult from a skeptics point of view I was able to invent history and practices for the cult that would have been impossible if I had worked from a Servatologists point of view. This unbiased review of the cult can ask questions about topics and practices that Servatology deals in from an informed distance, and It was a very strange exercise to criticise ideas that I had to make up myself only a few days before.  At the same time all of these ideas and concepts are based off the back of real religions and cults, so the Magazine can satirically criticise these real world beliefs as well as the more exaggerated ones found within Servatology.
In terms of the final product I am very pleased with the Freethinker publication. The Magazine explores a range of topics that are related to my theoretical and contextual understanding of this module, for example panopticism, the subconscious, commercialism and propaganda. The way in which it deals with these topics is not direct, and the zine, and cult idea as a whole, has allowed me to cover these topics without being so obvious.
During the production of this zine I was faced with one or two problems. Firstly in printing the zine; as the way the printer produced the duplex meant ink was smeared across a few of the image heavy pages. This effect is not as pronounced in the final bound version due to trimming and the way the pages have been collated but it is still noticeable in some lighting conditions. I ended up printing the final version with an inkjet on a yellow stock. I thought that printing on white may allow the readers to become confused between the Handbook and the zine, this stock choice really allows readers to differentiate between the two, and I am a big fan of solid black on yellow aesthetically. The binding went smoothly, it really ties the whole thing together. I was initially concerned with the choice of stich binding the spine with black threat because this is exactly the same process used on the Handbook, however at the end of the day the binding is hardly noticed and the black thread fits nicely with the black print.
I will evaluate the Cult Handbook below...

The Cult Handbook

The Cult Handbook has allowed me to express beliefs and opinions from the Servatologists point of view. This gave me free reign to make up a set of values which I thought the Cult should have, given its nature, rather than having to adapt or copy an existing religions tenets. The views and beliefs in this booklet are completely insane however no less so than any other cults or religions texts if taken literally.  It was important to make sure that this Handbook was not just an addition to the zine and that it could stand as a criticism of religion on its own. To achieve this the Handbooks tenets are all inspired by real beliefs and actions and put into the context of Servatology. The Handbook is also contradictory, the illustrations are satirical of the tenets they represent and the demands made are impossible and often completely morally unjustified.
The Handbook is very simple to follow and read, I produced a pictogram for each page so that the handbook can be read by anyone, although the true interpretation of the tenets meanings may become lost or confused if only the pictograms are used. I chose to gold foil the logo into the front of the handbook, I took this from old bibles I remember seeing at school and other generic religious texts that seem to always have a black leather bound cover with gold embossed foiling. Had I had more time to complete this brief I would have liked to beef up this handbook and given it a leather cover. An accidental aesthetic that has turned out fairly well is the way the foiling has torn away from the page and left a slightly broken up logo on the handbook. It gives the symbol a bit of age and wisdom as well as a rougher texture.

Together

One of the most important things I needed to do with this project was make sure the two publications work together as a pair. The way the two interact with one another was the most important thing to get right. It was my concern that the Magazine may over-shadow the Cult handbook in terms of theory and actual contextual work and therefore make the later pointless. However by adding pieces about the handbook within the magazine, without revealing too much, I am able to convince the reader to look at the handbook to find out about the rest of the Cult. The handbook also provides a narrative to the cult and creates an actual product for the Magazine to criticise rather than just banging on about an idea on concept I just made up out of nowhere.
Visually the two also work as a pair whilst retaining separate identities. They contain the same cult symbolism yet by appearing in different sizes and stocks the user can understand that the two contain contrasting opinion and styles.

STUDIO BRIEF 2// Book Binding

Today I took the printed pages of my publications and used black tread to stitch bind along the spine. The binding process is fairly simple and I used the same technique for each booklet.

The results were pretty successful, the books open alone the spine very easily and the pages don't shuffle or hang at all. I will take a few pictures of these books and evaluate them In another post. One problem I did encounter was that the inkjet ink runs fairly easy, and during crafting it was a huge challenge not to smudge the pages during the process. Overall the quality is good, I used a sharp craft knife to trim the edges straight instead of the big book cutter, which appears to be broken.

WHAT IS GOOD?// Visual Research

Enterprise

SKYLON

As part of my What is Good? Module I have been looking at a few space related pieced of fiction and non-fiction, what I have enjoyed about my research has been that the two are becoming closer and closer. For example the SKYLON is the closest thing we have at the moment to the USS Enterprise, in that it could theoretically take off fly about in space and return to earth in just one single stage. The Sylon will be capable of about mach5 or 3,800mph in earth atmosphere and its this sort of amazing information that I want the UKSA visual identity stuff to be identified with, as Nasa is with the space shuttle. I have also been looking at other space related fiction like the Kubrick film 2001, which was utterly visionary for the time and still pulls of a sense of distant future even today, way after the real 2001. I would love to take the visual clues that are liked to space and use them im my own designs, this is what made it clear to me that the UKSA logo needed to be circular and white and blue. These seem to be visual identifiers of space, any film shot about space or the future will use a lot of blue lighting and its this that I want to transfer into the graphic design element of this project. 

STUDIO BRIEF 2// Freethinker Zine PDF

STUDIO BREIF 2// Useful Links

http://listverse.com/2007/09/15/top-10-cults/
-Little bit of a hypocritical list however was a good starting point for research into a wider world of cults. Also helped me understand how far I could push the beliefs of the cult without going to far for a short uni project.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%ABlian_beliefs_and_practices
Beliefs and practices of the Raelian movement. Contains a lot of useful links to articles and their own websites.

http://raelian-truth.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/bad-astronomy-and-raelism.html
Explores Raelism in a more critical light. Points out obvious factual errors in an obvious way but was a good way to understand some of Raelisms more secretive beliefs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology#Beliefs_and_practices
Again a useful place to start and follow links to articles and journals about the subject.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics
Linked directly to Scientology as its theological predecessor. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard
Founder of Diabetics and Scientology, good research to find out more about the background of a real cult leader. Using this as a starting point I have come up with a few ideas for my own.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_as_a_business
Explores how Scientology makes its money, with references to articles on tax evasion and its status as a church or a business. My cult will be operated like a business with its links to consumerism so getting a feel as to how these guys operate has been very insightful.

http://www.rickross.com/groups/scientology.html#real_estate
A massively detailed blog about every aspect of the Church of Scientology and how it is run. Links Scientology to a range of other programs and drug rehabilitation centres as well as critically inspecting the cults inner workings and practices.

http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthread.php?8029-How-much-is-the-Church-of-Scientology-worth/page2
A large forum for ex-Scientologists to talk about their experiences within the cult and how they dealt with leaving. This particular discussion is speculation about how much the church makes in a year. The discussion is not all that scientific however the forum is a unique opportunity to see what real Scientologists think about the cult.

http://altreligion.about.com/od/controversymisconception/a/scientology_cos.htm
About.com's attempt to work out how much it would cost the average person to become a full member of the cult. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clonaid
Wikipedia entry about Clonaid, raelisms Human Cloning program, with links to articles about the scam and the people involved. 

http://www.clonaid.com/page.php?12
 Raelisms Clonaid programs website, absolutely must visit for some first class crazy bullshit. 

http://uk.rael.org/page.php?1
Raelisms homepage, a poorer cults attempt to create an inspiring website.

http://www.scientology.org/
The richer cults website, make sure to visit the video page about the Flag Land Base, it presents the Cult like an evil organisation in an Austin Powers movie.

http://www.scientology.org/churches/flag-land-base.html?video=flag_mecca
This video...

STUDIO BRIEF 2// Freethinker Zine InDesign

I started this zine layout with a simple 6x7 grid, this will allow me to fit three columns of 8point text across a page or two columns of 10point without ruining the number of words per line. I planned on having the text justified left so this grid size to column width ratio was important to get right first time.

The cover design started as a hypnotic spiral. I thought that the sceptics magazine may be viewing the cults practices as brainwashing or 'hypnotic' to easily persuaded individuals, this could be a regular feature within the larger magazine so could be a uniform background patter for the pull-out zine.

The title, which I have applied over the top of the cover spiral, is a visual mash up including the cults logo and text. I have made sure that the words 'Servatology' and 'Cult' are the clearest on the cover. One thing I am concerned about is that the logo may look to much like a 'G' rather than the 'C' it is suppose to represent here. The problem here is that without the prior knowledge of the cults logo its context here will not be understood fully. Luckily the word 'Gult' doesn't really have a meaning in the English language and 'Cult' is quite recognisable so hopefully it will still be read like the later. Unfortunately 'Gult' is a derogatory term for a group of people from a certain Provence of India, but the link is so tenuous that this shouldn't really matter.

I wanted the zine to really stand out amongst the pages of the larger freethinker magazine, for this reason I have chosen yellow for the cover (and possibly inside stock also). Yellow also looks great with black and is a sign for danger; people should find the cult dangerous or disturbing.

The copy of this text is below; it introduces the core beliefs of the Cult and its god Servo. It begins to analyse the cult however more of that will come later into the zine. The aim here was to write a good amount of content that can really expand the story behind the cult. I also introduce the readers to the Cult leader here and set up a whole physiological back story for him, involving a mental breakdown. This description also goes to some lengths to link the cult to an analogy of consumerism and even capitalism.  

Hello, and Welcome to this Church Of Servatology special edition of the freethinker.

     This article will introduce the secretive Church of Servatology to many of our readers for the first time. The few who have read about the cult before may have heard reports that the organisation has been pushing for recruitment in the last few months, coinciding with the release of a ‘handbook’ that has made an appearance in many city centres over the busy Easter shopping period. It is during this period that the writers at the freethinker were graced with our very own copy of said handbook and we have been fascinated and terrified by the Church Of Servatology ever since.
    First things first; the core belief of the Cult is that  any advertisement that is presented to us through screen based media is a perfect vision of heaven. This could be anything from a whitewashed toothpaste ad on ITV to an annoying Diet Coke pop-up at the start of a YouTube video; if it’s commercial advertisement and it’s on a screen then it’s Gods vision of heaven. The Servatologists, or the ‘Saved’ as they like to call themselves, believe that it is their God, ‘Servō’ who beams these messages onto your screens, and that these messages are his commandments on how to live a perfect and holy life. The idea is that the more you consume, the more ‘perfect’ you become in Servōs’ eye’s. From here on in the Cult’s beliefs are only subtly different from most other religious dogma. If a Servatologist follows Gods commands he will go to Heaven, revealingly called the ‘Realm of Eternal Satisfaction’ by members and a bad Servatologist is sent to their very own hell; the ‘Land of Aberration’. ‘Aberration’ meaning any deviation from the normal, it sounds like quite a nice place in our eyes...
    The Cult has been steadily growing for a number of years now since it’s creation in the early 80s by Ron Bernays, an intern of Edward Bernays during the 60s, who had his name legally changed towards the end of the PR legends life. It has been theorised by many that the creation of the Church of Servatology and subsequent name change was a perverted way for Ron to honour a dieing Edward Bernays life legacy. The theory has traction as Edward worked his whole life to further the goals of mass-consumerism; it is entirely possible that the whole Cult is a massive public relations experiment that grew from a single mans twisted desire to best his friend and mentor. 
    In this respect the Cult works as a analogy for consumerism in  modern society, it applies the dogma of an Abrahamic religions jealous God to modern societies desire to consume. The cult re-enforces the wishes of corporations on the consumer and takes advantage of the weakest in society in a threatening and malevolent way. We have found that the few in the top echelons of the Cult find themselves the rich minority (lets call them the Church of Servatologies 1%), whilst the mass ranks of followers are finding it harder and harder to keep up with the commands of their God as he orders them to buy more and more consumer goods every hour of every day. Many regular Servatologists have been forced into bankruptcy by their belief in Servatology, whilst the higher powers reap in profits from the Servatology Counselling Scheme, a particularly revealing course that the Church runs to indoctrinate new members. New members must subscribe to these courses if they want to go to the Realm of Eternal Satisfaction when they die. The Courses cost around £9,500 and members will require three to become full ‘Level 3’ members. Money is also harvested from the followers through the sale of cult-branded items; baseball hats, hoodies, shirts, badges, iPhone cases and cosmetics to name but a few. Here the Cult is seen to become its own meta-brand, perpetuating its own belief system to further its own profits as well as consumer industry profits as a whole. 

This page compares the Church of Servatology to Scientology and Raelism. It introduces core beliefs as well as some facts about how the churches handle themselves as businesses and organisations. The first aim of this page was to desensitise the reader to how mental these cults beliefs can get, by explaining the beliefs of Scientology and Raelism, Servatologies understanding on how the world works is almost believable in comparison. The page also tackles the costing and sizes of the cults in some bar charts that sit on the right. This compares the cults sizes, some would argue that Scientology is much larger, the US Governments estimation is 60,000, whilst the church itself says around 6 Million, although this is anyone who has ever shown a basic interest or bought a DVD or book. The content Explains as follows:

Servatology:
Ron Bernays
Born 1945 as John Utah. Worked in PR and marketing before founding Servatology in 1983.

Believes that any on-screen advisement is a direct commandment, from a God called ‘Servō’, on how to live a full and holy life. That the more consumer goods a person buys, the more moral said person becomes.
Fun Fact: Some naughty Servatologists will be punished and tormented in hell by facebook rape.


Scientology:
L. Ron Hubbard
Born 1911. Was a prominent science fiction writer before founding Scientology in 1954.

Believes humans are immortal beings who have forgotten their true nature. That a persons soul lives on another planet before travelling to earth as part of a reincarnation process.
Fun Fact: This church runs hotels and a cruise ship aimed at giving Scientologists a “spiritual break” in return for vast amounts of money.


Raëlism
Raël
Born 1946 as Claude Vorilhon. Was a sports car journalist until his ‘abduction’ in 1973. Founded the Raëlian Movement in ‘74.

Believes that humans were created by aliens called the Elohim. Previous religious prophets such as Jesus and Buddah were also aliens sent to spread a message of peace so that Earth is safe enough for the aliens eventual return to the planet.
Fun Fact: Linked to a fraudulent human cloning service called Clonaid.

This Page explains the locations of the Servatology Locations. All of the locations are shared by major shopping centres. I did this to fully link the Cult into consumerist culture. The Zine keeps distance from whether the Cult is actually run by the corporations that operate these centres but it is suggested at the start of the article. The layout is very simple with the map on the left and details on the right. I did consider and plan to have the map span both pages, however in practice I was worried that the numbers around northern England would be eaten by the centre of the page fold. Also there is a few too many locations to have them floating around the map. This layout neatens up the design and allows for a larger amount of information and a non-dominating map .

Part of my idea to create a successful cult and link it to consumerism was to have it have a strong visual identity; for it to become its own brand. If I had a bit more time I could have produced a few of these items in real life, however producing them in photoshop is fine for what I need them for here. As well as building an identity I have used the items to expand on the story of Servatology, and a few of the theories surrounding it. Items like the hat and badge present the cult as entirely a brand, however items like the toothpaste remind the reader that the cult strives for the 'perfect body' look that advertisement portrays. The box is there to link the cult to a global manufacture and supply chain, bringing topics like globalisation into the lore behind the Cult.

This page of the handbook uses many of the arguments from my Essay and things I have learnt about panopticism and the gaze to analyse the cults current and old logo. The useful thing here is that I got to bring back the old logo to give a bit more history to the cult. The body copy explains the psychology behind using an all seeing eye, a power button and the result of combining the two before moving on to the old logo.

Servatology strives to build a strong brand identity so that it can gain a foothold in the religious marketplace as well as the consumer one. It is this that lead the church to develop the ‘power eye’ logo in 1985. A much simplified version of the original ‘watching eye’.

The human eye brings with it a plethora of connotation and mysticism. In the context of religion the Eye, or Gods Eye is seen as a symbol of a higher powers everlasting vigilance or gaze. It is this panoptic gaze which ensures the masses believe they are being watched by God, which allows the religious elite to retain a large amount of power and control over the population. Servatology employs the use of the gazing eye for exactly this reason; it is to remind the churches followers that Servō, their God, is always watching them. Conversely the eye symbol can also take the role of the average Servatologists gaze whilst watching one of Servōs’ screen based sermons during the advert break.

Like the eye, the power button, also takes a double meaning in the make-up of the Servatology logo. Firstly it’s a power button, something that a good Servatologist will use only twice a day; once upon waking up to watch advertisement on TV or internet, and once  again before leaving the house to purchase the days selected consumer goods. The power symbol could also contain connotations of institutional power, or the power of a God or religious organisation over the individual. This is true in the case of Servatology where the individual must submit to the power of ‘Servō’ with blind faith in his wisdom and commands as well as having faith in the churches officials and practices.   

When the eye and power symbols are combined we get the Servatologist power eye symbol. This is used as the one and only symbol for the church to avoid any brand identity crisis amongst followers or any prospective recruits. The combination of the two symbols sends a very powerful message; that you are always being watched and the thing that is watching you is powerful as well as technologically advanced. The churches decision to use a symbol from the digital age is deliberate. The intention is that potential followers will see this religion as a more modern alternative to classic or traditional religion and more in-fitting with their current lifestyle and habits. 

The Church of Servatologies first logo was an altogether more terrifying design. It was used for a short time from 1983-85, when Ron Bernays probably decided the cult needed a more down to earth, slightly less obvious, visual identity. The same principle applied with the gazing eye symbolism however in this logo the eye is forced open with biceps. This act of forcing the eye open was a reference to the followers orders to watch on-screen advertisement all day. The logo also nods towards Jeremy Benthams  proposed panopticon in its ring of cells circling the central eye. In this context the eye takes on the role of Servō, the God, and the cells become the followers being watched over and gazed upon for eternity. The Latin inscribed around the circumference translates to “ The Greatest Good, For the Greatest Number”, a slight contradiction to the cults practices in reality, although perhaps not in their own minds.  

This pages purpose is to link the cult handbook to the article, I thought that by giving the pictogram and a short explanation here a reader may be more inclined to read the Cult Handbook. The page also gives me an opportunity to display the pictogram as a set, and see how they work together to explain slightly complex concepts.

The purpose of the recently surfaced handbook was to teach the public the 14 Tenets of the Church of Servatology. Accompanying the written Tenets are 14 illustrative pictogram depicting the messages to the reader. The pictogram are possibly used to further ingrain the message into the mind of the reader, and with the use of imagery the reader will spend longer thinking and reading over the booklet, ingesting its content.  The Handbook introduces the British public to some rather unusual concepts and rather ridiculous ideas, however it is aimed at converting the most vulnerable amongst us. It Covers the usual notions of religious doctrine like life and death, heaven and hell as well as general rules. There are also a few more specific and outlandish claims, like the fast food served in heaven and the facebook rape hell stories, we aren’t convinced.

The final page introduced the cult hierarchy to the reader. This page lists how the cult is built. The hierarchy itself is based on a mix between the catholic church and Scientology. I wrote about this earlier in another post detailing how the hierarchy works. Here a few things have changed. For example the different levels are now just levels of membership and the Alderman operate as priests. A new tier of 'Watchers' takes the spot the Alderman used to fill. This is all explained in the booklet.

The back cover is a sort of opinion poster that turns the cult logo up to its switch position and asks the reader to turn it off. The idea here sums up the rest of the zine, that by criticising the cult in a realistic way the idea of its existence becomes more realistic.

STUDIO BRIEF 2// Freethinker Zine Plan

 

WHAT IS GOOD?// Lego Corporate Visual Identity Manual

For one of the responsive brief I have been doing for 504 I have been given access to the LEGO Corporate Visual Identity Manual. This is going to be a huge help to me during the production of my own visual identity manual as it will help me work out how the chapters should be structured, what sort of topics should go in each one and what sort of things I should write about and explain. The pictures below are colour scans of a printed version that I have made myself so that I can read through the whole manual and make notes on anything that will be important to me in my own designs. This has included the chapter contents, down to specific way of explaining how to use a typeface effectively. This booklet should shave vast amounts of time off of other research for what content I should include.

STUDIO BRIEF 1// Essay/ In what ways does the Catholic Church attempt to control the Individual?

In 1998 Dr. Steve Wright reported to the European Parliament Scientific and Technological Options office (SOTA) that the British-American run 'Echelon' system was capable of intercepting "within Europe, all e-mail, telephone, and fax communications" (Wright, 1998). The report was mostly true, as Echelon monitors all satellite communications globally. The idea that an omnipresent higher power listens in on private communication, ready to punish the involved if certain rules are not obeyed, may appear to be an Orwellian vision of a dystopian future; This essay will argue that these principles have been the historical foundation of major world religion since man created god, more specifically how the largest Christian church, the Catholic Church, uses the principles of panopticism to control the lives of its reported one billion followers as well as how its tenets aim to control the individual.

            'The building is circular.
            The apartments of the prisoners occupy the circumference. You may call them, if you please, the Cells.           
            The Cells are divided from one-another, and the prisoners by that means secluded from  all communication with each other, by partitions in the form of radii issuing from the circumference towards the centre, and extending as many feet as shall be thought necessary to form the largest dimension of the cell.
            The apartment of the inspector occupies the centre; you many call it if you please the Inspectors Lodge.' (Bentham, 1791, pg5)

            The Panopticon (Figure 1.) was a project set about by Jeremy Bentham in 1791, a model prison where the guards become almost omnipresent beings themselves, leading to self regulation between the Inmates. Bentham proposed that a central guard tower be built, with a row of open front cells circling around it. This would allow the guards in the central tower to have a view of every single inmate. There would be a physical space between the tower and the cells called the 'Intermediate or Annular Area'. The tower would also have a system of blinds, obscuring the inmates view of the guards whilst allowing the guards to still gaze at the inmates. Bentham noted that 'The essence of it consists then, in the centrality of the Inspectors situation, combined with the well known and most effectual contrivances for seeing without being seen' (Bentham, 1791, pg25)meaning that the guards will become all powerful whilst the inmates are under the illusion that they are being watched at all times, leading to a huge amount of pressure to adhere to the authority of the prison; 'the greater the chance there is, of a given person's being at a given time actually under inspection, the more strong will be the persuasion, the more intense, if I may so say, the feeling, he [the inmate]has of his being so.' (Bentham, 1791, pg25) Bentham realised that even if the guards were not present at all times the mere suggestion or possibility of their gaze, would strike fear in the inmates, leading to a system of self control and ultimately rehabilitation.

            There is a large correlation between the all-seeing Inspectors of the panopticon and the Christian idea of an omnipresent god. In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, it is made clear that Man cannot take independent, self initiated, action without being challenged by gods authority. The story of Adam and Eve is one where the first humans are given free will and knowledge by eating the forbidden fruit; "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3:5) before being punished by god because he "commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?" (Gen 3:11) resulting in banishment to the wastelands of reality, painful childbirth, hard work and most importantly for Christianity; Original Sin.

            Original Sin is a deeply Catholic concept that all humans are born inherently evil in the eyes of god. 'As a result of original sin, human nature is weakened in its powers, subject to ignorance, suffering and the domination of death, and inclined to sin, this inclination is called "concupiscence".' (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, 1993). In Catholic belief, as a punishment for these inherited sins and 'concupiscence', humans are placed in a prison much like the panopticon from the moment of birth, where every action is monitored by 'God', or as Bentham would say; 'Inspector'. The Catholic Church uses the doctrine of 'Original Sin' as a fear device; as sinners will burn for eternity in Hell, and no-one can hide from god. However the Catholic Church can offer salvation in the form of gods own son, Jesus Christ. Christians believe that '[the world] has fallen into slavery to sin but has been set free by Christ, crucified and risen to break the power of the evil one. . .' (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, 1993), As to make it perfectly clear to Catholic followers that an individual will suffer absolute pain and torture for eternity if he or she does not follow specific Catholic dogma.

            Some would argue that this is imposing industrial era philosophy on a much older belief system, which grew without this doctrine. Throughout history Christian scripture and art has depicted god as the Sun or an 'all-seeing eye'.  In 1480 Hieronymus Bosch started painting 'Seven Deadly Sins'. (Figure 2.) The painting is constructed much like the panopticon; the painting is circular. Christ appears in the centre  with rays of light stretching out to seven 'cells' which contain illustrations of the seven sins, id est; 'Its task consists first of all in obtaining a systematic overview of human frailty in everyday life [which is then] categorically dammed. (Schmidt-Burkhardt, 2002). Christ's central position on the table allows him to capture humanity with a 'divine eye in a panoptic glance'. The painting reconfirms gods constant surveillance over all actions of humanity to its viewers and gave birth to the re-emergence of the church using the eye to symbolise god. The symbolic use of a divine eye reaches back to Roman, Greek and Egyptian mythology and its usage is the same here;  'the eye organ acts as mediator between interior and exterior, subject and world. Above all, second degree vision -charged with reflexivity - was to guarantee critical access to reality'. (Schmidt-Burkhardt, 2002). The eye is a clearly recognisable object, and vision is a signal we read and process every day giving us our strongest  sense of reality (e.g. 'I can't believe me eye's'), so the panoptic gaze of the divine eye connotes gods everlasting reality, authority and surveillance.

            In Catholicism the basic concept of an omnipresent god that can see you all day every day; that controls the fate of every human and writes down the basis for law and morality, but cannot be seen, controlled or spoken too forms the institution of god. God is an entity or being that will judge our actions and reward us with heaven or punish us with hell. 'Hence the major effect of the Panopticon; to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that ensures the automatic functioning of power. So to arrange things that the surveillance is permanent in its effects, even if it is discontinuous in its action.' (Foucault, 1975) Foucault alludes to the fact that god is never present in reality, much like the guards in the Panopticon's tower, however the controlling power, in this case the Catholic church, creates the illusion of gods reality to exact control over the population. In Foucault's essay 'Discipline and Punish' he writes of the quarantine during a plague and how 'The plague is met by order' (Foucault, 1975), In the case of the Catholic church the plague is replaced by original sin. The order which is meets the plague of original sin allows the church to 'lay down for each individual his place, his body, his disease and his death... what characterizes him, of what belongs to him, of what happens to him.' (Foucault, 1975).

            Belief in the Catholic Churches idea of a monotheistic god is reconfirmed for its followers in their everyday lives as part of a compulsory routine as well as during special events which happen three or four times in a lifetime; The seven Sacraments. The weekly routine involves praying, attending mass, bible study and other short term devotional practices like confession. These small events are engineered to ensure belief in god is sustained to those who have already been indoctrinated. Carrying out these small tasks may seem insignificant, however they are part of a larger process of obedience 'Computers do what they are told. They slavishly obey any instructions given in their own programming language... it is their unquestioning obedience that makes  computers useful.' (Dawkins, 2006) By carrying out the repetitive tasks of everyday religious activity the mind becomes accustomed and accepting, even if the topic is wildly false. Many of these tasks are self-regulated but others are controlled by the church, grounding themselves into the routine, and securing the individual as an unquestioning follower. 'The primary function of such recursive religious communication is to lend meaning to the root indeterminability' (Beyer, 1994, 102)

            To this end the Catholic Church takes the concept of a god and builds its own dogma on top of it, creating an institutional power, backed by the authoritative power that the concept of 'God' already demands. In reality the purpose of any globalised religious organisation is to exact power over a population of people, and by using a god as a divine entity that sets their 'laws' or 'commandments' on how you should behave, the Catholic Church, lowers the proverbial Venetian blinds on their own movements and practices, as the guards do behind the blinds of the Panopticon. By being 'always with us' the Catholic God can make sure total social control can be enacted over anyone who believes. The Catholic Churches desire for massive power (ignoring older examples like the crusades, inquisition, new world conquest and witch trials)  is made clear in its more recent complaints regarding a steady decrease in congregation sizes; particularly in modernised societies where wealth and education can be found. "We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognise anything as definitive, and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own desires." (Norman, 2007, 186) Here Pope Benedict XVI is quoted moments after the admission that the Catholic Church fought Marxist uprising in Latin America and South Africa, in what was essentially a ideological power struggle where the Catholic church aimed to gain followers off the back of a true revolution 'The poor themselves, unable to recognise their own best interests through their false-consciousness (in classic Marxist presentation) were to be re-educated'. (Norman, 2007, 174). What is truly revealing here is the rejection both capitalist and Marxist principles, whilst adhering to both depending on circumstance.  In Religion and Social Movements, Beyer notes that; 'Christian Churches [style] religion as the holistic essence of the 'civilizing' project: along with the merchant and the soldier came the missionary'. (Beyer, 1994, 103) In this case Beyer speaks of Imperial expansion to the new world, demonstrating the Catholic Churches ability to infiltrate massive social change off the back of any ideology, regardless of the moral or ethical reality, as long as its own world authority continues to grow.

            The Catholic Church ordains several major events in its followers lives. Separate from short term devotional tasks, these events are mandatory to any true Catholic and aim to exact total control. They make up four of the seven sacraments;  'There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony. The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life: they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian's life of faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life.' (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, 1993). The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the Vatican's public facing Manifesto, clearly outlining the aim to reduce the human experience into stages, whilst controlling every one of them. The main four stages of life here are Birth, Education, Sex and Death.

            Birth. 'As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God'  (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, 1993). From the instant of birth a newborn child of Catholic parents  is expected to be baptised. In one of the most draconian and sadistic tenants of the Catholic faith, if you do not, god will punish your infant child forever in hell. The Sacrament of Baptism allows the Catholic church to control the birth of a child, not physically, but mentally. After the baptism, the Child, for the time being, will be saved 'from sin and reborn as a son of God'. The Baptism is where the child is labelled as a catholic before its own mind can conceive of the most basic principles of logic or reason, the child is abused into the Church; 'isn't is always a form of child abuse to label children as possessors of beliefs that they are too young to have thought about?' (Dawkins,2006)

            Education. 'tradition gives "the age of discretion" as the reference point for receiving Confirmation. But in danger of death children should be confirmed' (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, 1993). Confirmation comes at a time in a person's life when they are at a point of being able to make their own decisions. From its official statement above the Catholic church alludes to the fact that the child or young adult will be able to make a decision as to whether they would like to remain Catholic, whilst immediately confirming that the child will be sent to hell if they make the 'wrong' decision. In this way the Catholic Church continues to act like a Mafia. Confirmation comes to enact further control over a young and impressionable mind. Foucault would call the 'confirmation' a 'system of permanent registration' (Foucault, 1975). Once decisions are taken away the human becomes a docile body, In this case the individual will allow the Church to take control of morality, ethics, sex and death. In this sense the individual becomes an unquestioning follower to the point of absolute savagery; 'Age of body does not determine age of soul. Even in childhood man can attain spiritual maturity: "For old age is not honoured by number of years." Many children, through the strength of the Holy Spirit they have received, have bravely fought for Christ even to the shedding of their blood.'  (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, 1993)

            Sex. 'Matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring.' (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, 1993). The next step for the church to enact total control of the individual is by taking control of the institution of marriage, and by controlling the terms of marriage they can regulate the sex lives, and eventual offspring of the individual. Furthermore by regulating the sex lives of the individual the church takes control of the most important, scientifically functional, part of a humans life; to reproduce. The Catholic church outlines here that it desires to marry two Catholics who will give birth to catholic 'offspring' thus eventually creating a catholic master race in theory.  'The most important moral issues all concern control of the body, above all sexual control. Abortion, homosexuality and pornography are [most obvious]. Religion determines what proper (sexual)use of body is. Correct education inculcates this bodily propriety into the next generation.' (Beyer, 1994) Beyer makes good commentary on the Catholic Churches doctrine on sexuality and sex, but also notices that its main goal is to 'Educate' the next generation to behave the same way, perpetuating the dogma and controlling the population.

            Death. The purpose of the Catholic celebration of death is illuminated again in their own manifesto; 'The liturgy of the Word during funerals demands very careful preparation because the assembly present for the funeral may include [non-Catholics], and friends of the deceased who are not Christians. The homily in particular must "avoid the literary genre of funeral eulogy" and illumine the mystery of Christian death in the light of the risen Christ.' (Catechism Of The Catholic Church, 1993). The purpose of the funeral in the eyes of the Catholic church is to spread the word to non-Catholics. The manifesto also describes how the funeral will be a 'proclamation of eternal life to the community.', in essence, an opportunity to remind followers that being a Catholic will allow you to live gloriously forever whilst living any other way will result in eternal damnation. Control of death is not of major importance to the Catholic Church as other stages of the individuals life, it is not part of a sacrament for example, however the church does realise that for the continuing support of the deceased's family, it needs to be visible, and so does god. There was a time, as late as 1903 where the Catholic Church would 'sell "indulgences" for money. This amounted to paying for some number of days' remission from purgatory' (Dawkins, 2006), in an ideological way nothing has changed today. Catholics are tricked into supporting the Catholic Church with their money and obesience. They do this so they can go to heaven and avoid time in purgatory or eternity in hell. This is more conspicuous but no less of a con. The Deceased individual becomes institutionalised on death, the mourning family is then emotionally tied with the organisation that controlled every part of the individuals life.

            By having control over Birth, Education, Sex and Death the Catholic Church can fully institutionalise the individual into a virtual panopticon. Once the individual is told that 'god' is the authority and heaven and hell are the options he/she will become docile towards the institutional power of organised religion, allowing it full control over all aspects of life without resistance. In this way the Catholic Church is once again likened to the plague that Foucault wrote on; 'The registration of the [individual] must be constantly centralised. The relation of each individual to his [beliefs] and to his [life] passes through the representatives of power, the registration they make of it, the decisions they take on it.'

 Bibliography

Wright, S. (1998) 'An appraisal of technologies of political control', Manchester, Omega Foundation.

Bentham, J. (1791) 'Panopticon; or, The Inspection House', London, T.Payne.

Author(s) names not disclosed  (1993) 'Catechism Of The Catholic Church', Vatican City, Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

Schmidt-Burkhardt, A. 'The All-Seer: God's Eye as Proto-Surveillance', in Y. Levin,T.  Frohne,U. and Weibel,P. (eds.),  (2002)  'CTRL [SPACE] – Rhetorics of Surveillance from Bentham to Big Brother', Boston, MA. pg. 16-31.

Foucault, M. 'The Eye of Power', in Levin,T.  Frohne,U. and Weibel,P. (eds.),  (2002)  'CTRL [SPACE] – Rhetorics of Surveillance from Bentham to Big Brother', Boston, Mass. 2002, pg. 94-101.

Duncan Campbell. 'Inside Echelon: The History, Structure, and Function of the Global Surveillance System Known as Echelon', in . Levin,T.  Frohne,U. and Weibel,P. (eds.),  (2002)   'CTRL [SPACE] – Rhetorics of Surveillance from Bentham to Big Brother', Boston, Mass. 2002, pg. 158-169

Dawkins, R. (2006) 'The God Delusion', London, Transworld Publishers.

Bozovic, M. (1995) 'The Panoptic Writings: Jeremy Bentham' , London, Verso.

Beyer, P. (1994) 'Religion and Globalization', London, Sage Publications Ltd. 

Foucault, M. (1975) 'Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison' 2nd Ed (1995),  Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.