OUGD505 - SB2 - Cause Research - Final Idea & Rationale

The decision was made to take forward the Hip-Hop Zine idea forward in to the next stage of the design process due to the fact that firstly the cause that it will be supporting is not only one that I believe has massive importance in a modern day society but also that encapsulates an aspect of my interests(hip-hop) and so therefore this will hopefully make the completion go the whole project including the research and practical sides much easier.
The next reason as to why this decision was made to take this idea to the next stage is due to its relevance to what is going on at the minute, as very recently over the last few years there has been multiple examples of where black peoples haven't been treated with the equal respect that they deserve as human beings and furthermore this has caused a large uprising around the world and more specifically we have seen the start of a new movement called Black Lives Matter of which stands for the cause outlined as the focus of the project. This revival of the cause in recent revelations will make the research and designing stage for the project much easier as it still remains a fresh topic within society. This will also give me the chance to meet the brief requirements by considering the historical and modern day aspects related to the issue.

The final design resolution for the module will be the zine of which is based around the topic of Hip-Hop and its power as music of resistance. The content within the zine will feature a number of editorial articles sourced appropriately online. The articles will feature different topics such as documentation of the Hip-Hop scene from its creation to where it is in the modern day. It will delve in to where Hip-Hop has been used as a means of resistance not only limited to the USA but also in other countries around the world, where it had links to black history and culture and where it can be used as a means of expression and release. The zine would not only feature on the positive aspects related to Hip-Hop but would also include articles on the commodification/commercialisation of Hip-Hop from resistance music to popular culture and moments in history of which Hip-Hop has held its own development back and deterred itself. The publication would act as a means of raising awareness for the topic/cause to get people interested in the cause and finally join in.

There is also the potential to collaborate the concept idea with a modern day pro-black organisation/charity and link the cause and ideas with modern day applications. The project brief states that the first half of the project had to be a body of research of which would help improve our knowledge in to the cause and the effects of it so that the design for the project could be as informed as possible, and so the first stage in which the research that will be sourced around the cause will link directly in to the practical side as the research will manifest itself as the large number of articles included within the publication. The sourcing of articles for it will inform me about the historical all the way to the modern day issues related to the cause, will inform me on the adaption of how the cause is being fought and finally will educate me about the positive and negative attributes linked to the cause. The information collated will be split in to three different categories, the historical, the positive and the negative attributes linked to Hip-Hop as rebellion and will build the research for the project. If the article is one of a photojournalist nature all original images will be taken from the photojournalism piece and with all other articles original images will be taken from them and additional ones will be sourced to illustrate the content of the text in the article itself.