The man who mistook his wife for a hat - Oliver Sacks

As some of you may know, in addition to art and design I am fascinated by psychology and how the mind works, I took a philosophy module on the mind and it is something that has deeply interested me since. A friend recommended this book : a collection of true case studies discussing disorders effecting the brain, an example being a man who cannot recognise faces, and can only see details rather than the whole picture. This intrigued me, imagine having to piece together your world like a complicated jigsaw, perhaps this is how we are as babies and young children, everything is new, everything is different and everything needs to be closely examined and analyzed. As we grow older we lose this ability and everything becomes much more mundane. As designers we need to recreate this feeling of a new beginning something that people will want to be drawn into, that provokes discussion, analysis and emotion.

custom 52 playing card competition

good news update: my Queen of diamonds is appearing in the 1st pack of cards printed by Custom 52! it wasn't my favorite one but I have entered two more into the next set so i'll see how they do.

Ewan Camron - real mind control, brainwashing

Documentary about MK Ultra and their brainwashing techniques Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Long before subliminal messaging in advertising, much more serious mind control techniques were being experimented with. This fascinating documentary explores the CIAs involvement in brainwashing mentally ill patients to see how the human mind can be controlled and altered.

Derren Brown - subliminal advertising

video link

a fascinating video about the power of mind control, subliminal messaging suggestion and persuasivness. If its so easy to control how an advertiser thinks, what chance does the consumer have?

on a related note:
1950s subliminal advertising chevrolet

advertising and the consumer

advert

A cynical look at the relationship between advertisers and consumers *personified* - funny

heinz beanz

while wondering through a tacky gift shop in leeds I came accross a heinz baked beans "safe can" - a can doubling up as a money box. Ingenious idea, I have seen these before but not with a brand name. Strange thing is it was not endorsed by Heinz, so effectivly they were getting free advertising! the company obviously thought this was a great idea as an easily recognisable brand name and product - the assumption is that everyone has Heinz in their homes and if they don't, they probably should.