Why did I decide to study Sociology by coming from a relevant graphic design background?

I was offered the place to study MA Sociology (Visual Sociology) at Goldsmiths, University of London. I am writing this to explain my rationale in more detail. So I can break the superstitious upon why the shifted from studying BA Graphic Design Communications towards Sociology.

At the time of writing this, I couldn’t locate any work from graduating in mid-2020 from the time of the covid pandemic. It was not just for the state of job hunting but asking what the real working world is. As a critical thinker, I was sceptical about making trust with the creative industry even within these unprecedented times because it’s hard to understand where to fit in with having concerns over my conscience.

It is haunting to think about how I am trying to make a living while embracing a creative lifestyle as my career prospects seem to somewhat resembled a myth. I try asking myself, what do I value in life? By developing artistic endeavours than being an industrialist, I do not know how to define success.

By trying to develop an independent and intellectual voice and mind, cultures are righteously and conscientiously fanatic as I explore. So why is politics relevant to learning sociology? While discussing my concern toward politics, I do not mean to any form of government but rather everyday politics by understanding the social worlds.

I believe that design in the form of applied social science when thinking of them as social systems involved a value of labour to help produced commodities within the capital. It is questioning not what I get from my overall career: How do I contribute to the world? Aware that I am in the fortunate position to try to seek out impactful causes to help, in reality, most people like myself would have to indulge in bullshit jobs by trying to make a living.

Even if it might appear negative of what I trying to say, I am fascinated by how people navigate in society because by learning about the nature of not just mass media but social media: When trying to apply for non-profit organisations and charity as the means of ethical contributions, it is still the means of propaganda, where I started seeing the nature of my potential career as a way of administration in becoming middle class and the factory if working class.

It’s hard to express my beliefs as it seems that I had to be the middle man when compromising and reconciling different social values. I am uncomfortable being an active participant in what might be radical. I am keen to be an active researcher in studying the interplay between the individual to society.

Koyaanisqatsi (1982) is an intriguing source of inspiration in seeing how individuals move with society. Koyaanisqatsi is an old film when considering the contemporary context of today. I might be viewed as a-normal for not being so hyped about social media. Our ways of socialising and communicating are distinctly different compare to history. This contrast isn’t just about the social but, the sociological because sociology is the art of looking at personal struggles as public issues and I think that I like to make sense of what history that I am living in.

I love Marshal Mcluham’s theory on how all media are extensions of some human faculty-psychic or physical. The extension of any one sense alters the way we think and act and the way we perceive the world. In not just the sense of typography in the case of the Gutenberg Galaxy but by our technologies of communications itself.

I started to draw great inspiration from reading socio-cultural books Roland Barthes Mythologies has influenced me to think critically about communications. I am very invested in this area because I struggle with communication difficulties when attending a specialist boarding school. I am no master of communication: it helps to learn because it seems that we don’t know how to communicate in society because of social, political, and cultural boundaries involved in ways of exchanging discourse.

I believe that Goldsmiths, University of London is in itself a great place to seek answers as I am more curious than being able to provide solutions. As I elaborate upon my decision with my family, they were happier by going there because of the reputation of Goldsmiths than with what I intend to study. I creep out by being the social body and I mean by reading into Discipline and Punish, where Foucault states “The soul is the effect and instrument of a political anatomy; the soul is the prison of the body.” I am interested in how people perceived mixed race as I want to base studies on this subject area.

I admit that post-graduate is more of a personal value: I have professional goals by incorporating sociological methods in my creative career. It’s hard to figure out what bloody job title I am. I like to be known for doing whatever thing highlights my skillsets to help identify my professional identity. My creative practice is involved with image making, specifically, moving images. I tried getting into branding and identity: unfortunately, I don’t have a great interest in it.

The pathway of Visual Sociology helps me to incorporate methods of multimedia such as working with video, sound and image-making. The programme involved exploring and understanding the social world through the use of visual, sensory, and other experimental approaches. I learn about sociological issues alongside innovative methods and gain the tools needed to examine, represent and intervene in the social world.

I am interested to learn from alternative points of view and, Visual Sociology is a way of practising ethnography within physical and virtual worlds. I believe it’s important to develop intellectual craftsmanship by continuously understanding my creative practice in relationships with people and society.

Writing helps to reflect upon my thoughts. The article isn’t about justifying my choice: Instead, it is for sharing the personal explanation by reflecting on who I am and hopes that Sociology can help me make sense of this notion. Anyway, thank you for reading.