What's The Story Northern Tory?

DIS1 WHATS THE STORY, NORTHERN TORY?

ITY PAR

Final Major Project. A toolkit to facilitate healthy
Eleanor Leigh Hubbard. political conversation and
HUB17516990 encourage the questioning of
political and societal ideologies.

2

whats the story, northern tory?

3

HMW..

how might we facilitate healthy political
conversation in which individuals collaborate
to gain better understanding of other’s
values so that ill-informed voters can become
more aware of the ideologies and systems in
place.

LO4CK
DO

POST COVID-19. WHAT WILL SOCIETY LOOK LIKE? POST COVID-19.

IT’S TIME FOR
NEW THINKING.

WHAT WILL SOCIETY LOOK LIKE?

6

CONTENTS PAGE

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CONTENTS PAGE 22 - 29 ICKED
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CONTENTS PAGE
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ND.
WICKED PROBLEM?

7

CONTENTS PAGE

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INKING. REALISING MY PROJECT. . PROTOTYPE. TEST. ATHISE. DEFINE. IDEATE

>risk management // 120 - 121
>bench marking // 122 - 123
>team management // 124 - 125
>speculative future design // 126 - 129
>the future of business models // 130 - 133

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// 136
// 140 - 143
>bibliography

>photo references // 144 - 145

8

DESIGN RATIONALE.

I decided to produce an A5 informative booklet to document the process of
embarking on my final major project. This was due to both the nature of my
project centring around breaking education away from the class system and
capitalism, as well as it being the optimal format to display communication design
- so that my message is clearly portrayed without the somewhat superficiality of
being a magazine or blog etc. I have also opted for both my deliverable A, process
book, and deliverable B, project management, to run seamlessly side by side as
to have the reader experience the organic journey of my project in the way it
unravelled in reality. I did not want to disrupt the reader’s flow.

C: 18 C: 52 C: 76 C: 93 C: 80 C: 79
M: 19 M: 41 M: 63 M: 75 M: 41 M: 63
Y: 15 Y: 41 Y: 0 Y: 0 Y: 37 Y: 63
K: 1 K: 24 K: 0 K: 0 K: 22 K: 81

The colour palette of my project is reminiscent of those who I wish to reach the
deepest - working-class Conservatives. I have chosen electric blue as the crux of
my palette as to play on the iconography of the Conservative party colour also
being blue, hoping to engage my audience somewhat more. The predominant use
of blue helps guide the reader to focus on the root cause of the issue at hand,
the austerity and disparity caused by the conservative party. I have chosen black,
grey and white to accompany the vibrant blue colour - this is to ground the work,
I wanted the blue to be the main body colour of the work for iconography value. I
have also included beige and a muted blue as a buffer colours, to break up certain
elements for an easier read. I chose these colours as I wished to keep the work
grounded with an earthy tone as well as a variation of the main electric blue.

9

For my title font, I decided to go with the classic, Helvetica. This is once again
to avoid any pretense in producing my message, I wanted to refrain from too
many flowery visuals (script fonts etc.) - as I wished this document to bring
facts to light. My body copy is Lynstone, this sans serif font marries well with my
documents less rounded title counterpart. It is also a font that works well for both
screen and print - allowing my branding to expand beyond this document. It brings
neat rhythm to the writing - making for an easy read.

TITLE FONT SHOUUFRFLING
title font RE VALUES.
Title Font
Title Font The document itself is rather
Title Font deconstructed, with many titles
Title Font disjointed. I wished to present this way
Title Font as to show our reshuffling in value -
Title Font these big words that create divides are
becoming meaningless as we venture
BODY FONT further into our new future. I have
body font played with the presentation of my
Body Font text, adding italics in the middle of a
Body Font word to bring emphasis. This playful
Body Font and whimsical text highlights the ever
Body Font changing nature of our world.
Body Font
Body Font I am utilising a 4 x 5 grid with 3mm
Body Font border between. This is to maintain the
Body Font rhythm and balance on my page when
experimenting with text in the way I
have. It also allows for a varied display
with many sizing options. My body font
is 9pt - due to the A5 document, and my
titles vary however mainly stick to 150pt
and 13pt for subheadings. This dramatic
difference in title and text firstly grabs
the reader’s attention, it also highlights
the disparity within England - having
the titles expose many elements of our
society that are kept covered.

10

1.

Covid-19’s rapid encroach has forced humanity to recoil back
into the confines of our own homes. For many, a collective act of
kindness, for the safety of the masses, for the greater good.
With the world entering lockdown and economies being put on
halt, a plague of uncertainty has washed over us.
Our healthcare systems are overwhelmed and struggling from
the years of underfunding, those most vulnerable in society
are being forgotten about by those with power, confused
government messaging leading to public unrest and protest and
thousands of small independent businesses face closure due to
disproportionate aid.
However, the one resounding certainty is that our previous way
of life was sowing the seeds for our fall. A real change in our old
reality is necessary for human life to ever ensue again.
We are venturing into a new age. An era where we are encouraged
to think about our actions, and our neighbours. For humanity to
thrive, we must collaborate and communicate.

11 LONDON, UK.

MUMBAI, INDIA.20
PARIS,FRANCE. 220

I began my final year journey believing 12 >>>
my passions lay within sustainable
design and climate change activism (see
fig 1.) - this is not untrue now, far from
it.

However, when immersing myself in this
‘wicked’ problem, I found myself feeling
lost and losing passion. That was until
I stopped looking at climate change
from an individual level and I noticed
the clear gap in my understanding of
the complexities of the matter. Climate
change is inherently political.

Through realising this, my final year
became a journey exploring and
attempting to understand the complex
ideologies that govern our society's
entire being.

The lens for my projects has become
so intertwined with topical events
that they now feel bigger than just
university projects.

fig. 1 second year final major project
proposal.

13

>

ADAPTING MY FMP TO COVID-19.

‘What’s the story, Northern Tory?’ is an offshoot of my thesis research. Within
my thesis, I delved into theories and examples highlighting the starring role
neoliberalism and capitalism has in climate change.
For my final major project, I wanted to drop the touch point of climate change,
instead opting to explore the frayed and damaged ties the English public have
with politics.
When entering the process for this project, I never could have imagined the
reality we are living now. Due to the pandemic, neoliberal politics across the globe
have been well-and-truly exposed to the masses. If change is going to come, it’s
going to come now. I want to play a part in that change.

T PI14
CH 1

>> 15

My initial pitch for my project was Many are experiencing genuine isolation

framed around our interaction with for the first time in their lives, and

lies and politics. It was going to be an the distance from reality has allowed

exploration into the relationship we for a reshuffle in what we value. More

have with ideologies in our society people are valuing connections, and

and the lies within them. Alongside communication. We are reigniting our

this I was going to investigate the relationship with each other - while

ever growing-fake news perpetuating all miles apart. I want to take this

them. I hoped to provide a platform to sense of a ‘human community’ and

aid in fact-checking your sources - to maintain it. With the political climate

encourage the healthy questioning of only becoming more tense as years

our intake of information and ideologies have gone on, our humanity has been

before allowing them to govern our muddied in with our political parties.

lives.

The line between political figurehead

However now that Covid-19 has shaken and fellow-civilian has been blurred and

the world, I wanted to reframe my debates turn toxic and spiteful just

project to have a more human-centred through muscle memory. Social media

approach. Taking on the feedback from has become a web of incivility when

the panel - suggesting I needed to political debate arises. I wish to provide

think about what change I desired to a means in which we can remove the

bring through this project, as well as barrier of political stance and have a

deepening my definition of the broader conversation, to truly understand each

terms such as ‘working-class’ when other and hopefully, provide a mutual

working with such a politically electric stance on what is necessary for our

environment, I amended my scope. future.

16

HOW DOES ONE CREATE DURING A PANDEMIC?

17

The management process of my project has,
admittedly, been hard to juggle due to a lot of
unforeseen hurdles brought up by Covid-19 and
lockdown. Since beginning my journey on DMC,
I have attempted to approach most projects
through the lens of design thinking. This method
helps maintain a human-centred core to the
project, as well as constant iterations for the
optimum user experience.

Due to the pandemic bringing a wave of anxiety,
my brain has been far louder than usual.
Therefore, it has been harder to follow such a
structured process. Therefore I have mapped out
a chart demonstrating my inner workings when
approaching this project.

I believed it to be important to include passion
and being overwhelmed as these two polarising
feelings have had starring roles in mine, and
many others, life throughout lockdown. With
injustice burning into our eyes eveyday, it’s easy
to become overwhelmed by passion for change
alone.

Taking on such a heavy topic has allowed me
to burn with passion and ideas for our future,
however also fall into heavy disparaging dark
spots with ease. I also included my project
motivation alongside this to show my headspace
throughout my journey.

The many twists and turns my project took, I felt
it apt to structure the timeline in the form of
the ‘messy’ middle of design. As I felt trapped in
the ideation phase for such a long time.

design thinking timeline.

JAN2020 FEB2020

Thesis hand-in, reframing After a week away from my
of lens towards disparity project, I had compiled a lot
through neoliberalism and of ideas through every day
away from climate change. discussion, political conversation
and current events.

60% wcerheaeaFvnknro.eeglvaneik.tnAiogrveuaotpriodrboueijtnecdacfoutcrsplieamlaInahntaeedd 42%

-18% Scared of just
regugitatng

thesis.

This catalyst moment became the When conversing with a friend who
spine of my project. I realised my had similar political familial strain,
target market were working class ‘left- I saw there were clear patterns
wing’ young adults, more specifically demonstrated by both our families.
from Northern and Midlands England, We shared similar communication
who had become frustrated by gaps, and it was really affecting our
their familial political conversation mental health.
becoming stunted.
33%
60%

MARCH2020

I began to ideate the project in class, I began my research journey, I
with sessions in which we’d devise my started to delve into the facts and
‘how might we’ question to pinpoint figures of working class Tories as
the person, point and project I would well as the younger generations who
be aiming at. We also conducted are leaving for University and not
sprints to suggest some preliminary coming back to their towns.
directions.
80%
82%

19

After having a debate with my family I hoped that not every working class
about why I felt the need to block Tory shared the same reasonings
them on Facebook (it was because for their vote as many of my family.
of their fake news posts) - I became I began to research our relationship
curious about the drivers for people’s with politics, specifically the lying
political opinions and why working class aspect. I had noticed that politics
individuals had started to vote Tory. often gets attributed to lying.
Therefore, I wanted to see why
17% people vote these ‘liars’ in.

45%

After a trip home, political My survey produced lots of
debate caused strain interesting data, much of it
resulting in me no longer confirming my original thesis that
wanting my family to working class conservatives often
participate. vote based upon the same three
pillars of political trend drivers:
0% Brexit, Immigration, Economic
Growth.

80%

covid.19
lockdown.
day 1 of ?

project motivation. 0-100% overwhelmed. define. prototype.
passion strikes. ideate. test.
empathise.

20

Life changes, my life gets thrown On the edge of my seat, keeping
around. I have to move out twice. up with news. Immersing myself
My work hours get cut. And I in the new pandemic laptop
have two rents to pay due to a culture of researching and zoom
grievance. My mind completely calls.
leaves FMP.
8%
4%
APR2020

I conducted sprints to suggest I conducted sprints to suggest
different routes I may go down. different routes I may go down.
From communal gathering to AI From communal gathering to AI
bots helping you research. bots helping you research.

50% 50%

Seek inspiration from others, Ideate and iterate game concept,
through brainstorming session, I revist research and constant peer
decided to gamify my topic and and collaborator feedback.
create a kind of game.
90%
80%

21

Lockdown in isolation I realised that my project is
alone, loneliness inherently intertwined with our
intensifies and project current pandemic. Luckily, I had
becomes a burden for unknowingly been researching for
me. Creativity stunted. my project for weeks.

4% 30%

I delved into primary research I reframed by project around
methods. Started outreach, Covid, now instead of solely
began creating at home again focussing on fixing incivility in
to maintain an innovative political conversation, but also
mindset - participated in just- teaching the inner workings of
for-fun community briefs. That our society that are causing such
ultimately helped me further my a great deal of suffering now.
work.
30%
43%

When Lockdown was enforced, I had a lot of personal and external issues
that prevented me from looking at my project head on. I considered
changing topics all the time. Creativity was hard and immersing myself
so heavily into political debates was draining - especially in a time where
injustice is so rife.

I decided to produce this ‘design thinking timeline’, as to show how this
project felt like one large continuous manifestation of ‘the messy middle’
many design projects face before coming into fruition. It is important to
allow yourself space to reignite your creativity rather than forcing it - I
believe this discovery was very important for my development of this
project. It allowed me to know when to pull away from the news, or from the
death counts and focus on nurturing my creativity and not holding myself
up to my ‘normal’ expectations.

22

DONT PROTECT
THOSE WHO
DONT PROTECT YOU.

ITS TIME TO 23 DI
HOLD PEOPLE
ACCOUNTABLE.

S
SA
BORIS JOHNSON

TERDOMINIC RAAB
MATT HANCOCK
PRITI PATEL
DOMINIC CUMMINGS
MICHAEL GOVE
JEREMY HUNT
JACOB REES-MOGG

2.

A HUMAN-CENTRED CHANGE IS NECESSARY.

25

As I’m writing this, the UK has over 30,000 documented deaths due to Covid-19
and it does not seem to be slowing down (worldometer, 2020). This being said,
just a few days ago - Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed the UK, for the first
time after his face-off with the virus, suggesting we are “past the peak” and how
he plans to “restart the economy” - reopening schools, and work commutes (BBC
News, 2020). A confusing message, as he also notes that social distancing is still in
place and those who can stay at home should? Which is it? Our government has
offered no clarity in such uncertain times.
He makes this speech as Michael Gove flounders to avoid the fact that the
government is and has been way below the 100,000 daily testing target for weeks
- being confirmed to have only performed 76,496 tests in the last 24 hours
(Badshah. N, 2020). Not only are there new failures of our government presenting
themselves every day, but their past policies are what inherently set us on the
track to destruction.

CO26 31/01/20 24/01/20 24/01/20 04/01/20 31/12/19 WHO hears first
reports of Covid-19
coming from China.

MP Medical journal

published in China

Although I wish this project to remain CEdetailing severity of
in the tone of facilitating healthy Covid-19, comparing
political conversation, I cannot ignore fatality to Spanish Flu.
my bias in political stance. Being a very
left wing individual will hinder this First Cobra meeting
project from being entirely neutral. As I Matt Hancock
wish this project to bring about change declares low threat.
- I wish it to bring about the change
that is necessary for our society moving Boris Johnson
forward. Therefore, I shall be detailing attends Lunar New
the massive failings of our conservative Year celebrations
on Downing Street
government, and providing a timeline instead.

of why the severity of this pandemic

within England lies solely in their hands. Johnson signs the
This is why we need change - and a Brexit withdrawl.

radical one at that. Focuses efforts on
Brexit management

The Times recently published their misses Cobra meeting,.

exposé detailing the negligence of 02/20 Johnson holidays for
our government during the pandemic, two weeks in tax-
focussing on Boris Johnson’s notable 02/20 payer funded holiday
lack of urgency - having missed five mansion in Chevening
Cobra meetings on the virus before with his partner.
finally attending his first one on March
2nd by which time the virus had already He misses two further
swept over Britain (see fig. 2) (Calvert. J, Cobra meetings on his
get-away as tensions
LAet al, 2020).
only grew in the UK.

This clear disregard for the well-being

of the most vulnerable in our society,

refusing lockdown and their confused 02/03/20

messaging saw the unnecessary deaths Johnson attends his
of thousands of human beings. first Cobra meeting.

27

E N

Fig. 2 Selfie of PM and Fiance during holiday in Chevening. CY.When BorisJohnson finallysuccumbed
to national lockdown - there was mass
unrest prompted by the government’s
confused messaging. Yet a few weeks
ago, Boris Johnson was suggesting
the idea of ‘herd immunity’, modelling
the UK’s approach off of the flu
pandemic measures (Calvert. J, et al,
2020). The Times article highlighting
a whistleblower stated that the PMs
special advisor, Domininic Cummings,
exhibited enthusiasm for herd
immunity (Calvert. J, et al, 2020). This
led to mass public uncertainty, many
still not believing the gravity of the
situation.

28

Fingers were pointed at shoppers for panic hoarding, by both peers and political
figures. Financial Times’s Greg Gallus took to Twitter to point out the potential
manipulation of blame suggesting a minor 10% increase in shopping per person
(the average you’d expect for working from home) (Gallus. G, 2020). The result of
such shopping was not panic buying, but masses of people doing what they’re
told while functioning in an unprepared economy. The government pointed
fingers, turning us against one another - when their confused messaging and
sudden change resulted in a mass change in behaviour in an unfit climate.

Health secretary Matt Hancock dubbed those who went to parks and beaches
the following weekend after the lockdown announcement as “very selfish”
(Hancock. M, 2020). However, confusingly, the same government suggested the
very opposite only two weeks prior. Boris Johnson manning the ‘herd immunity’
approach, proudly boasted shaking hands with Covid-19 patients (Duncan.
C, 2020). Not to mention, the day before announcing nationwide lockdown,
promoting the benefits of visiting the park (Guardian Staff, 2020).

This leads us onto the interesting theory about manipulating information offered
to us by journalist Adam Ramsey in his article for OpenDemocracy (2020) ‘if
we push blame down to individual citizens, many will respond by rejecting the
premise of the conversation as a whole’.

This whirlwind of inconsistent information has led to much civilian political
unrest - many dissatisfied with the government’s response and many just as
angry with their fellow citizens due to this friction inducing finger pointing. When
we blame the individual for such complex, ideological, institutional issues we
experience cognitive dissonance in order to avoid blame.

This is why I believe now, more than ever, it is important to encourage healthy
political conversation, where we remove the bias of political parties and take a
long hard look at what is genuinely necessary for our future. Because it is clear to
see, the confused and contradictory messaging from our government, has and
continues to, cost the loss of thousands of innocent lives. We need to reconnect
with the humanity behind politics, the nuances of each individual’s values void of
hostility.

The time for a change in tone is now and for people to seek the truth.

29

“if we push blame
down to individual
citizens, many will
respond by rejecting
the premise of the
conversation as a
whole”.

30 C
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“Bias. Polarising. Short termism. Self interest. Power”

“Tiring. Deceiving.”

When initially starting my project, I conducted a survey amongst
people living in England regarding their relationship with the
countries’ politics. From this survey I found an interesting
correlation. When asked to list at least five words they associate
with politics - 80% answered with different versions of the word
“lies”.

Bearing that in mind, it’s curious to see that 70% of the same
people also answered that they believed it is wrong to lie. In
fact, there was an overwhelming amount of negative words
associated with politics - a few choice answers being:

80%

1C248 %
DA
C
EB43%
This was the groundwork of my initial pitch’s thesis that people complacently
accept ideologies and governments without question.

Results from the last election showed a huge swing in, what is classified as,
the ‘lower’ C2DE social grade made up of ‘low skilled’ or ‘unskilled’ workers
(only defined as this by earning under £25k annually - really highlighting
neoliberalisms reliance on wealth to define someone’s worthiness of respect)
voting conservative (Tolhurst. A, 2019). 48% of people in this class rank voted for
conservative, shockingly, this is higher than the 43% of the ABC1 social grade, the
‘high skilled’ workers, voting conservative - this rank is made up of managerial,
professional and administrative staff (Tolhurst. A, 2019).

I was curious what drove people to their political stance if they’re unhappy with
those in power, and what they stood to gain by allowing these same people to
remain in power for so long - especially those lower down the ‘social ranks’.

65+ 3322

I initially framed my project around Northern/
Midland England, this was due to many factors.
Firstly, through my research - I found that more
Northern cities and towns have a rapidly aging
population. This is crucial as there is a massive
voting divide between the generations, with 67%
of 70+ year olds voting conservative and 56% of
18-24 year olds voting labour (YouGov, 2019).

As reported by YouGov (2019) when analysing
the last election, for every 10 years older a voter
is, their chance of voting Tory increases by nine
points, and the chance of them voting Labour
decreases by eight points. Worryingly, the past
election saw the age of tipping point at which
someone is more likely to vote conservative
drop from 47 to 39 (YouGov, 2019)! In the
December election, the Tories cleared up winning
unanimously in many

pro-Brexit towns on the outskirts of cities. They 18-24
notably made waves in lots of predominantly
blue collar areas such as Bishop Auckland, an
aging town in which the number of over 65’s
has increased by a third since 1981 and 18-24 year
olds falling by a quarter according to think-tank
Centre for Towns (The Economist, 2019).

University has increasingly become a necessity,
with many of the younger generations, with the
luxury of affording to, moving to affluent cities
and staying there as they come to find their
hometowns redundant to them (The Economist,
2019). Leaving many northern cities with a
population made up of the older generation
and those who chose trade routes, resulting in a
heavy C2DE social grade in these regions.

33

MY HOMETOWN.
HINCKLEY, LEICESTER.

34

Another reason I focussed my research
in Northern/Midlands England is
because I am from smack-bang in the
middle of England. I grew up in a tiny
town called Hinckley in Leicestershire.
Therefore, from first hand experience
- I know there is a political riff in
the generations. From my personal
experience, I have been fortunate
enough to be exposed to many
perspectives, cultures and experiences
since my time in my hometown. I think
back to how sheltered small towns are
in England - London felt like a holiday,
and politics felt miles away from us.

35

“it’s hard for

us to see how

distant rulers are

responsible for

our vast social

failings.”

Ramsey offers another fascinating insight into the distancing of politics in his
article for Open Democracy (2020), due to the fault of neoliberal capitalism
politics has migrated away from a social process in which we are all able to
participate in, to something done by rich men in suits that we watch on
television - or don’t. It has become very far away from us, and that is something I
find palpable in these smaller towns. I even once turned my nose up at the idea of
politics, unwittingly trapped in the little capitalist paradigm that had been fed to
me, not realising that questioning such a thing was even an option.

“It’s hard for us to see how distant rulers are responsible for our vast social
failings.” Ramsey (2020) suggests that this distancing of politics allows us with
ease, and actually encourages us, to point the finger at our fellow citizens rather
than these star studded celebrity politicians that are now a sign of national pride,
not someone who is to be held accountable for horrendous failures (Ramsey. A,
2020). We can plainly see this occuring in our current climate as I have mentioned,
the government is very quick to cover its tracks and filter blame back down to
the public level.

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LER, PHARMACIST, INTENSIVE CARE NURSE, FORKLIFT DRIVER, FIRST AID ATTENDANT,
EER, TAXI DRIVER, TELESALES, FOOD DELIVERY DRIVER, PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHE
CAL EDUCATION, CARER, SECURITY GUARD, KITCHEN STAFF, WAITRESS, DRIVER, WA
ER, AMBULANCE DRIVER, REFUSE HANDLER, PLUMBER, FARMER, PHARMACIST, INTE
ER, SENIOR CAREGIVER, WAREHOUSE WORKER, ENGINEER, TAXI DRIVER, TELESALES
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E, AIRPORT ASSISTANT, BUS DRIVER, CHARITY WORKER, AMBULANCE DRIVER, REFUS
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ATOR, UNIVERSITY LECTURER, WELDER, NURSE, HIGHSCHOOL TEACHER, DELIVERY D
ER, WEB DEVELOPER, VETERINARY NURSE, AIRPORT ASSISTANT, BUS DRIVER, CHAR
S K I LLIFT DRIVER, FIRST AID ATTENDANT, ARTIST, CLEANER, FIRE FIGHTER, GAS TECHNICIA
R, PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER, NURSE EDUCATOR, UNIVERSITY LECTURER, WELDER

Growing up, I clearly remember how bias my education was, especially in the
underfunded public school I went to - so much so that when I was lucky enough
to move to Copenhagen and study the International Baccalaureate, taking world
history properly for the first time was eye opening. Learning of ‘communism’
and Karl Marx was incomprehensible to me. Almost everything in my previous
surroundings sung the praises of capitalism and the West. My family in Leicester
are majority conservative - and not well educated conservatives at that...
they’re Facebook fake news conservatives who, unfortunately, favor their anti-
immigration and nationalist policies - and are utterly clueless to much else, and
are seemingly content to remain that way.

Being fortunate enough to live and experience an entirely different way of life
away from my little bubble, and at such a pivotal age, is something I’ll always be
grateful for - it reframed my thinking allowing me to enjoy and actively seek out
knowledge surrounding our way of life. It made me aware of the disparity within

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RITY GUARD, KITCHEN STAFF, WAITRESS, DRIVER, WASTE DISPOSAL WORKER, WEB D
SE HANDLER, PLUMBER, FARMER, PHARMACIST, INTENSIVE CARE NURSE, FORKLIFT
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DRIVER, PHYSICAL EDUCATION, CARER, SECURITY GUARD, KITCHEN STAFF, WAITRES
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R, NURSE, HIGHSCHOOL TEACHER, DELIVERY DRIVER, PHYSICAL EDUCATION, CARER

England, and the blindsightedness of the tory proclaimed ‘low skilled’ (BBC, 2020)
population that are leaning towards conservatives. I desperately wish to instil
this desire to learn into those within these smaller towns in England, to seek
communication for a better future for all.

Although my project has taken a turn in direction, my survey results still serve
as an interesting data source. As regardless of political stance - many associated
politics with lies and negativity, suggesting there is a universal need for systemic-
change. This connection provides a touch-point between civilians supporting
these opposing parties, when you strip away the armour of your party and
bring the approach down to a more human level - there is room for constructive
conversation. We mustn’t allow politicians in ivory towers to tear apart the
public masses - when we collaborate towards a common course and seek out
information for a fairer society we will bring about the future we want to see.

38

These are some positive responses people offered when asked what they
associated with politics were:

“Universal, Utilitarianism” “Exciting, interesting“”Necessary”
“Hope”

It is clear that politics is a necessity in a society that is now so complex and
interconnected - we’ve been presented an opportunity wrapped in tragedy with
Covid-19. The structures that govern our society are outdated and falling apart
before our eyes, through collective thought and action we can spark real change.

“these workers haven’t just become
key to society, they always have,
and will continue to be, key workers.
and long may that term live on”.

We can see our value system already reshuffling, designer Craig Oldham produced
a viral poster (see fig 3.) highlighting this fact. He was responding to the earlier
statement by Priti Patel in which she dubbed any person earning under £25k
annually ‘Low Skilled’ or ‘Unskilled’ (BBC, 2020). Only being forced to eat her
words a month later. Covid-19 swept the nation, rendering those in the upper
ranks of society to hand over the safety of our nation to the very same ‘Unskilled’
workers of before. However now, they’ve been rebranded as ‘Key Workers’ - with
little mention of the horrible label they were previously falsely forced under and
in the words of Oldham: “These workers haven’t just become key to society, they
always have, and will continue to be, Key Workers. And long may that term live
on” (2020).

These are the strategic pieces of political design that can insight a desire to learn
and spark revolution, it is the reasoning for me choosing to design a method that
can provide a means to connect with one another. Reigniting our frayed bonds to
each other.

39

fig.3 top poster by Craig Oldham ipictured in London.

40

41“

IN“ !!
CIV
“WHY DO WE

RESORT TO
INSULT SO FAST?

ILITY.

42

3.

A DEEP DIVE INTO THE PROBLE M .

43

The germination of this project became very fluid to me as I progressed along
my production timeline. With my initial idea no longer viable - the influx of
possibilities overwhelmed me. Covid-19 has made the prospective future of our
society hot on everyone’s tongue - hope and panic alike fuelling the fantasy.
As lockdown ensued, like most, I became hooked to my phone. Seeking out as
much information as I could find regarding the pandemic and what the fallout
may look like. However, this also allowed me to be exposed to the masses of
incivility present in digital political debates. Social media harbors toxic battles
that only serve to further alienate the two sides from each other. After delving
into these polarising virtual conversations - I could see the rhythms and patterns
that exposed the gap in information.

44

primary research management chart.

inspired by Gantt chart model*

collaborators. due date.

task. Those who have experienced familial 10/04/20
Card Sorting. * political strain - as to evoke a more
substancial response when producing
meaningful groups.

+Observe Political Public Twitter profiles engaging 12/05/20
in Political discourse under a
Twitter incivility. political figureheads tweet.

Interviews. * Both older conservatives who have
lived in Northern/Midlands England
their entire life, as well as younger left- 13/05/20
wingers who left their towns.

The 5 Whys * Myself. Used as a declogging excersize
to provide myself with clearer insight
of my end goal. 20/05/20

*Micoscale research Boris fails to close airports
+Macroscale research with lockdown.

Timeline of Volitile Covid-19 Political Climate update UK death numbers.

January. // February. // March. //

45

ethical code. political tone. point of contact.

Open floor to questions, Personal. They will be Skype
respect their privacy. exploring their own Zoom.
Respect their opinions. paradigm therefore will
Set boundaries for be inherently a loaded WhatsApp
comfortability. response. E-mail.

Only interact with those Volitile, both sides very Twitter.
who are open to publicising polarising.
political opinion. For extra Zoom.
caution, also hide their full WhatsApp
usernames.
E-mail.
Fully disclose nature of Neutral. Although talking Skype
project, collaborative effort about Politics, it shall be a
- ask them questions, they discussion about their lives
ask me questions. Set more so.
boundaries and respect
them.

Answer truthfully but not Leading. 5 why’s relies on Google Docs
beyond my boundaries, and informed questioning to
also maintain anonyminity get to meaningful answers.
for those involved in Therefore the main question
answers. will direct to specific line of
answers.

‘Cumgate’ scandal. Boris eases lockdown.

Dominic Cummings breaks lockdown.

update UK death numbers. update UK death numbers.

April. // May. // June. //

4466

4477

!!

I produced a collage over the space of a couple of days that highlighted the
uncivil political discourse present on social media. If we take a closer look at a few
of these tweets you can see the visceral language that gets used. Many dismiss
coherent points that do not fit their paradigm entirely while others resort to
petty name calling and bullying.
Many have reduced ‘leftist’ to being a dirty word, making sure to let people know
they would never align themselves with those ideals. Although, the fact of the
matter is many of their points go on to argue the clear need to reshuffle our
value system away from capitalism to end the mass disparity we can see? Why is
it so wrong to be leftist - if you’re associating such a human-centred ideal with it.
Why do people find it so abhorrent to want to stop the suffering of those most
vulnerable in society?
These deep dives into debates on social media has allowed me to see that there’s
clearly a miscommunication between each side - many resort to stereotypes,
socialists being ‘lazy’ and likening conservatives to those under a facist
dictatorship. I decided I needed to take a deeper dive into these prejudiced ideas
we have of the other side, and what limits our ability to debate productively.

“ 48 “
As mentioned, the majority of my
family are conservatives. So, as you can “
imagine, my passionate lefty self has
been at the recieving and giving end
of a lot of familial tension. I have been
at the centre of political debate, and
due to my family’s unfortunate narrow
minded nature - I’ve realised many of
their reasons for being conservative
are grounded in: falling for fake news,
nationalist/prejudice policies and
through being politically uneducated.
When I expose the government's cold
failings of the English working-class,
they’re far less favourable of Johnson,
dubbing ‘all politicians the same
anyway’ in a disregarding manner.

Many debates in Parliament alone rely

on childish beratement until the other

party hobbles off in defeat. All you have politicise’, that arises, often against the
to do is cast your gaze to The House of left, when attempting to hold those in
Commons to see what disrespectful
power accountable for such atrocities.
and repugnant behaviour is seemingly You can see in the collage (see fig. 4)
acceptable. We have seen the mocking it is used as a rebuttal, as if dismissing
and booing of Jeremy Corbyn to an
the factual reason we’re in this
embarrassing degree (see fig. 5), with disaster will somehow fix it. However -
the conservative oppoition pulling
pandemics are inherently political. So,
faces similar to that of a disgruntled
at least for this mass disaster, politics
3 year old. To as recently as May 5th,
is unavoidable.There is an element of
with Matt Hancock patronisingly telling theatrics to this online unrest, with
Labour politician Dr Rosena Allin-Khan those involved automatically assigning
to basically watch her tone (see fig.
a prejudiced personality for their
6) - for simply attempting to hold the opposition. We forget our humanity
government accountable for their clear beyond our beliefs - and resort to
lapse in action (Khan-Allin. R, 2020).
pettiness and nasty comments in
There is this catchphrase, ‘don’t
defense.

49

fig. 5 video
of the house
of commons
childish
behaviour.

fig. 6 video of
Dr Rosena Allin-
Khan addressing
the house.

50

I began my research journey into the issue of
political incivility observing the issue from a
macro-scale - using the lens of social media and
large scale surveys. However, in order to get
to the crux of the ‘wicked problem’* of public
political incivility I believed I needed to take
my research to a more micro level. Utilising the
skills acquired during our ‘(Dis)connected Lives’
unit this year, I incorporated a range of cultural
probes to inspire and build the skeleton of my
concept design. I believe cultural probes are
paramount in this area of research as they allow
you to evaluate a person’s paradigm bubble, with
the distance to allow for self reporting for an
organic and evocative data
(wickedproblems.com, 2020).

* A wicked problem is a social or cultural problem that is difficult
or impossible to solve for as many as four reasons: incomplete or
contradictory knowledge, the number of people and opinions involved, the
large economic burden, and the interconnected nature of these problems
with other problems. (Kolko, 2012)