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I spent alot of time collaborating with our fantastic composer ( Ben Ridge ) in order to produce a soundtrack that suits the impression and iconography of shopping culture in my mind.  Muzak is the pinacle, the prime example of music designed to influence the behaviour and mood of people, originally created to soothe people using elevators. Muzak was developed to be used in retail.

Bellow is a description of Muzak as said be the company themselves, I’ve underlined and highlighted the key elements from these quotes

source ( http://music.muzak.com/music/elevator/ )

“Muzak was created in the 1930s by General George Squier, who developed the use of military messaging technology to carry music. This new technology was particularly useful for piping music into elevators, which at the time were loud, frightening contraptions. The soothing music helped calm elevator riders‘ nerves and masked the squeaks and squeals of early elevators.”

Muzak: Not Your Parent’s Elevator Music

“Though a resounding success, elevator music was only a small part of Muzak’s original business. Research showed that back ground music could improve workplace productivity, and Muzak developed its Stimulus Progression system. This system introduced back ground music as an employee management tool. Muzak songs were programmed in 15-minute blocks to give employees a subconscious feeling of forward movement. Many aspects of songs were analyzed, including tempo, mood, orchestration, and instrumentation.

In the early 1970s, Muzak was also adopted by retailers aiming to create a more pleasant shopping experience – and one that encouraged shoppers to linger a bit longer. It was during this time that background music known as “Muzak songs” – rerecorded versions of classical, pop, country, and rock songs, minus the vocals – were adopted as a strategy to provide unobtrusive subliminal cues to shoppers. As the demand for original music grew throughout the 1980s, Muzak shifted its focus to Audio Architecture, and a new way of reaching the hearts and minds of customers was born.”

I wanted  ‘Shop’s music to directly reflect Muzak, i wanted it to work as satire and importantly i used it as another element that the viewer can connect with. either the ‘customer’ is unaware of the music and it works in the same way muzak does ( making the shopper stay in store for longer) OR if the ‘customer’ is aware, they are able to recognise the reference. Often i used the music as a que for my character, it acted as a key element for me to engage with the atmosphere of Shop and the music often reminded me how i wanted to interact with the audience

I hope this makes sense and focuses my desires for the music

martin has been enjoying exhibiting himself in the window as a break from his gluing duties

ellie has been making the signage which will get ‘Shop’ noticed and bring in the customers

ash’s updates to the website make it work much better, gives us the professional air we enjoy having

fred spilling his guts ORGANising everything

me and pat have been making the space

things are going well and i can see a great piece finally insight now!

we then got given some boxes by the sweet shop next door which patrick is putting together into the pick and mix stand, we then noticed that they contained pick and mix sweets, and smelt of sweeties (and not shit like some other cardboard, which is a good size but we might not use due to it smelling up the place). also today i shall convert a box for a fridge into the chiller unit.

so its going well, im just leaving to head down to the shop now and will update you on the progress soon

I have put a name for who i think will ultimately be responsible for each section but everyone needs to work together and these can change… enjoy

Making ‘Shop’

1.Products- Patrick
-print 55 ultra upgrade
-cut last 300 products by Wednesay 21st
-glue together 1400aprox by Wednesday 28th

2. Shelves-Jack
design space and shelve units by Wednesday 21st
cig selves, chillier cabinet, island self unit, wall self unit, display stand
get lots of cardboard-ring Sita Monday
get more wood and nails and screws
build structures and clad them

3.signage- Ellie
outside ‘shop’:
-Big ‘Shop’ sign with ‘its a shop’
-Smaller shop sign for wall behind till -done
- like A0 ‘Shop’ closing down sale sign- everything must go!
-’Shop’ opening hours sign
-open and close sign-done
-stupid health & safety warning
-3x sandwich boards WOS
-2x people sandwich boards
proper stuff:
-your being recorded notice
-your responsible own actions

Inside ‘shop’:
Hanging sign
-Costumer services
-Pay here
-1item or less
-personality pic n mix
-fire exit sign?
other signs:
-by the cigarette stand- ‘it is illegal to sell cardboard representations of tobacco and alcohol products to person under 18 years of age’
-on the side or wall beside of costumer services desk- ‘At ‘Shop’ we believe the customer always is’
funny shop return policy sign

4.prepare space- paper clean and light bulbs-Fred
clear windows
put in new bulbs
-clad with brown paper
tidy and clean

5.money- Patrick
-print 4 packets
-cut
-photograph in briefcase

6.bags-Ellie
-PRINT 1150

7. Project ‘Shop’ T-shirts- Ellie
-Print 8
8. ‘shop’ t-shirts and cardboard ties-Fred
-Print 20
-MAKE 25 tie and collars

9. Cash machine and bank cards- Ashley
make components work- test with money size paper
make unit
clad with cardboard
Design cards by Tuesday 20th
these names to go on the screen so need them in same font and size (need martin to check these)
MR A GENT
MR O LIEBERMAN
MR N HEDGES
MR T HALL
MR M GRIFFITHS
MRS S JAMES
MR S BARTHOLOMEW
MR J HUNTER
MR S GRANELL
MISS Z SINCLAIR
any one else want to invite?

10.Pic ‘n’ mix- Fred
-decide on up to 20 personality traits
-make stand and bag holder
-cut up cardboard

11.Product posters and leaflets- Radiation game, Cellu-lite, Diet Fat- Martin
poster:
-print A2?
-Any more? the financial service? ‘Shop’ Online poster?
leaflet:
-financial service
-costumer survey (work with fred)
- shop online
-print at least 30 of each leaflet

12. Adverts and Tv display stand- Martin

13. Till area- Jack
-Table raise and clad

14. complaints desk- Jack
-Table raise and clad
15.props- Patrick
-Till
-scanner and card reader
3 mugs
cigerets & lighter
2 mobile phones
2 watches
wet floor sign and puddle
Glasses
pen and clip board with brown paper stock list

16.Fire extinguishers by Wednesday 21st for 2 weeks- Martin
17.first aid pack- Fred

WHAT YOU GUYS THINKING?

fredx

so first of all on Tuesday 20th there will be a meeting and everyone must be there! It will be at 10:30 unless we have the van early then it will be after that… if it is at 1030 then Ellie kp you will just have to miss the start can’t help this with only 9 days to go don’t have the time to wait around and not sort this stuff out.

and secondly I will get the plans started by posting what I see as the to do list and when things need to be done by, if i have forgotten things then lets us know and we need to start taking responsibility for different parts of making the event, we can delegate theses on Tuesday at the latest and we will all have to do a lot of work and may feel the pressure of it but i think we are all able and with the support of the rest of the group can and will pull off an amazing event. Now is the time we need to really commit after all its just another 2 weeks of our life to make something we have been dreaming up for the last year… now is the time we prove to ourselves and the course and rest of the world that we are a group of people who make seriously good art works!

plan to follow shortly…

fredx

Here’s a brief bit about the pitfalls I’ve come up against.

Firstly I really want to avoid having to do any electronics as my knowledge is limited and it’s also

• Safer (we need this machine to pass a safety test)
• quicker and easier
• reuse the components
• easier scripting

So the main unit is an old Del printer, unfortunately there is no drivers for mac hence my choice to use and old PC. Using my old PC has the advantage that it doesn’t matter if it gets damaged. The only disadvantage is that to get the pin-whole camera to record each transaction I would use the very simple Apple actionscript on my mac. I’m sure there is a relatively easy way on PC but i’ll need to find and learn how to use it.

Flash has a print function that I thought I could utilise essentially printing a blank page which will be our already printed money. This function however brings up the print dialogue box before printing. So I went on the search to find a way of getting around it seems a few people want the ability to do this, it was suggested it can be done in a web browser using JavaScript(which Flash can communicate with easily). However I still haven’t found a solution that worked and believe there may not be one that doesn’t require knowledge way above my skill set. I did find out that if I had Internet Explorer 5, it has the capability to print direct to default printer without the dialogue box, This was a security issue.

It amuses me to think of malicious web designer making a link that when clicked would print what ever the desired, if you thought pop up are annoying what about having your printer print hundreds of pages of adverts.

So at the moment I have one trick I’ve not tested, but if that doesn’t work it looks like i’m going to have to bite the bullet and brush up on my electronics.

One thing that needs to be produced for this to work is our QR code bank card

Bank card

The card will be screen printed on one side of cardboard and then have a printer label on the back for the individual QR code.

I was thinking we would print a few generic ones like Mr or Mrs, Miss Customer, But how about ones we send to people for advertising or those that we know the names for, is there a way to leave it blank and print/draw/stencil names on?

and should the bank cards be from all the same bank?

Any thoughts or ideas are welcome

Colin Hunt-Officer Joker from ‘The Fast Show’

I was inspired by a shop keeper that i came into contact with today, the sheer awkwardness in his attempt to make me laugh produced a tense atmosphere. I felt as if he was desperately searching for a way to bond with me in the short cashier-consumer scenario. A small pity smirk crossed my face…in the end, I’ve been on the other side of that scenario and i know what it’s like trying desperately to

1-Entertain yourself and

2-Engage with someone who is simply in contact with you for the shortest time possible, in order to make a purchase.

Thinking about it, It’s a very unnatural scenario.

often forced pleasantries are passed around between consumer and cashier in a fain attempt aimed to soften the implicit exchange of power between both parties, no REAL conversation is ever made, no TRUE exchange of ideas

it’s close to a non-event. Both parties know that the exchange will happen, it’s just a case of going through the motions. there’s no real negotiation, it’s not a ‘deal’ (other than in an abstract exchange of monetary value for consumerable goods) each parties roles are predetermined. One Provides…the other, Takes.

Psychologically, the characters in this story are Dominant/Subordinate. Does the sense of awkwardness derive from the dynamics of their relevant positions?.

Does the Subordinate character appear desperate because he/she is attempting to level the playing field?, are they trying to adjust the balance of power?,  but do they end up overreacting and by revealing how hard they are trying and actually end up project a sensation of weakness and desperation. In contrast does the Dominater present an aura of power by underplaying their involvement ( even though they must initiate the interaction)

I like the idea of improvising in this scenario, i think i can get more out of it than simple seaside town panto entertainment. I do want Brian to be more than that.

I feel that there’s something already quite bizarre about this scenario and i want to highlight it.

I guess the question I’m left with is:

Can I encourage ‘Shop’s viewers to think about the role they play next time they go shopping?

I’ll leave with this last video of Colin Hunt being superseded by Keith Uckyourself

Although I had truly written off getting a shop todays meeting has given me a little hope, Martin is very optimistic that we will be able to get this one because we no longer have to over come the issue of landlords not wanting to commit us using the space because they are holding out for a long-term tenant… but this short time means we have a lot of planing and work to do in a very short period of time…

However this time although we have started formulating the plan of action I’m gonna wait till we know for sure before I make more substantial proposal because the rest of the project where I have had to plan with many assumptions and guessed parameters just to keep all the whole thing moving in the right direction and then things completely change which has retrospectively made a large amount of my hard work a waste of time…. many budgets… many plans… many emails…

WE GET THIS SPACE AND I WILL BE SO HAPPY… I was to talking to the tutor Tom Chamberlin this evening and showing him some of the products and telling him about our plans and I remember how good it is what we are doing and thought about how amazing its gonna look when we have a shop full of these products… we talk about have some of the products weren’t printed perfectly all over so you could read it all but he said it won’t matter because you already get a sense of what they are about from each other and that they will become just part of a whole experience which is where most of the value or understanding of the piece will come. I also loved sharing with him these excellent design product all of your work, cos it is fucking good and funny and so engaging and tactile. He was asking how we were gonna price things and keep it in the capitalist system of exchange so I then handed him some money and his face light up with astonishment… he said immediately ‘this is good paper’ and told how Patrick had made drawn it and some of the ideas within… he was impressed. The best part was that after talking about the idea of the audience questioning what they could get with it and its value or the value of the products he said ‘that they might choose to keep the note instead’ and I loved that he said it cos he’s not one of us and he could see what i think that the great thing about Patrick’s notes they an seem to posses an intrinsic value because of the realness and because of the craft, skill beauty of the illustration.

I think Patrick we should print another 2 packs because its budgeted for and they are so good.

so let get this shop and make the ‘Shop’ we intend and enjoy all our hard work paying off finally!

hell yes!

fredx