RQ

Prior to June of this year, I’ve considered pursuing a PhD to be something I might do in 20, or so, years. But after an email from my Theories prof, a whirlwind exploration of research topics and university programs, and a whole lot of thinking, I realized that that pursuit might come sooner than I expected.

So here we go.

This semester I’m taking a class with a few PhD candidates and one other MA student, and I’m at the point where I need to start defining my area of research for my next paper. And what I’ve found most interesting as of late is an examination of visual rhetoric in branding.

This includes all elements in a brand experience: the information that would be listed on any sort of style sheet; information that a consumer would not explicitly see, but if executed well, would be inherent to the brand. Basically, I’m interested in what a consumer “gets” from the overall brand. What does the color say? What does the typeface choice say? In this instance, type would function as a visual, rather than words. Recognition of the brand would also need to be taken into account to alleviate any outside influences (or in the case of type, to prove that nonsense words — such as Nike — within a brand, act more as  symbols than words).

From here I need to develop some sort of distinct research question, pared into a specific problem or question in current advertising practice. 

After I wade through previous research on the subject, I’ll let you know what that is.