Dissertation Proposal

Previous to my first dissertation proposal meeting my initial thoughts for my dissertations including branding, due to my recent completion of a Russian based branding project I was particularly interested within that area and therefore the topic of Russian branding history was a prime area of interest. After my first tutorial the topics of Russian revolution was brought up and the lack of graphic design that was present within that time period. This also brought up the mass amount of propaganda that was produced throughout the Russian revolution area.

Throughout the two weeks following the first tutorial I attempted to research into a theroised “Graphic Design Vacuum” that may have existed once the USSR collapsed and restrictions on advertising and nationalisation periods came to an end. However after significant research I failed to find much interesting information within this topic. I did find a large amounnt of information on the topic of propaganda itself.

Given the lack of information on my chosen topic and the abundance of information on advertisements and propaganda within Russia I proceeded to introduce this new angle in my next dissertation proposal meeting. During the meeting I purposed that I research the development of propaganda in contrast with advertising throughout history, as well as the differences and similarities between the two. My ideas were supported and I decided to expand my dissertation to the entire world rather than simply remaining within Russia.

Very soon into my research I began to discover just common propaganda is within everyday advertising, as well as how tolerated it is. The relationship between the two appeared interesting and required further investigation. After discovering the main forms of propaganda and advertising I then researched into the differences and similarities of the two. After researching into the true meanings of both of the terms I discovered that propaganda, by definition is not a negative phrase, it has simply been used to a terrible means such a large number of times so famously throughout history that it is generally considered a negative phrase. As well as discovering the truth about propaganda I also learnt that Branding is not always a positive phrase, while it has been used positively, even groups such as the nazis used branding and advertising successfully to pursade and convince people. This research began to formulate my dissertation question, clearly the line between what is considered branding and propaganda is a thin line that often becomes blurred.

Following on from my next tutorial I created my plans for my three chapters, these would establish the meaning of branding and propaganda, establish the differences and similarities as well as discuss the theoretical future side of branding and propaganda.

I used resources such as MetSearch and JSTOR to find verified and reliable sources for my information, this allowed me to formulate a critical position with articles that both supported and opposed it. My critical position was formulated slowly, once I began research my position looked like I thought that the rise of the digital age, with the introductions of modern smartphones and social media, the line between branding and propaganda blurred ever more. Alonsgside conducting secondary research I also found it vital to make plans for primary research, this would support my critical position by using line graphs to display a curve that agreed with this critical position.

Initally thinking of exploring the history of branding of propaganda, after my research and meetings I thought that perhaps exploring different industries within a smaller time period would be more advantageous than exploring only one or two examples throughout a much longer history. Given my critical position there was minimal need to explore much further pervious than the times when computers and phones were being introduced to the public. given the scale of my dissertation plans the longer 8000-10000 word thesis reminded my primary consideration for format throughout the duration of my meetings.

After further meetings I found that conducting further research into larger companies more interesting, and also opened up additional angles for the more complex parts of my dissertation. An additional section of if companies can achieve a status of invincibility due to such a concrete brand message that then proceeding to consistently produce advertisements that may sit on the other side of the thin, blurred thin of advertising.

I found the psychological research particularly interesting, how companies use many different means in order to subtly attempt to change the minds of those who view the adverts by these companies. as well as how well known this fact is by those who are involved in the creation and study of advertisements, but how unknown these facts are to the general public. This set the tone for the dissertation, it will be an educational tool for those interesting in understanding and studying the thin line that advertisements walk.

Overall this project has taught me how to effectively research and reference sources, as well as extract the most vital information from those sources. Alongisde this I found the opportunities for primary research to be interesting and useful. The primary research that I plan to conduct seems unique to my dissertation, the information for my primary research (TV Ads) are easily found and as such can be researched in extreme depth and variance. Moving forward I plan to improve and expand my current research in order to achieve a more varied pool of opinions and positions presented by reputable authors and professors. I have found the progression of my thoughts as well as my dissertation itself to be significant and helpful to my overall thoughts on essay writing.