Text in The City

We were set the task to take pictures of different forms of visual media texts that represented different forms of culture within our new home Cardiff. These are what we came up with.

This image represents to me the vast range of restaurants available in Cardiff. Cardiff offers a extensive collection of restaurants offering food from different cultures. The sign is bright and bold, and is also illuminated as are many signs in Cardiff. This draws the eye and gives the city a modern feel. This text signifies to me Cardiff has a wide choice of food from different cultures, also representing the different cultures that live within the city. This was an attraction of city life to me as this choice was never readily available to me before!


This image is an advertisement found outside a beauty salon. It shows the culture of the people of Cardiff, focusing on women in particular. I thought this was an interesting image as in coincided with discussions in our lectures relating to the representation of women within the media. This text is built up of several images showing different representations of women either receiving beauty treatment or simply looking good. This highlights an ideology that people have a need to look beautiful which is becoming more apparent in modern society especially among women. We were discussing how representations of women within magazines have added to this idea.


This text shows the wales millennium center. The writing on the building is in welsh, signifying the countries language. In modern welsh society, Cardiff in particular, only a small percentage of the population speak welsh. This and many other texts around Cardiff show a sense of pride in maintaining the use of the language. The letters are large and illuminated, which give breathe life and color into a building which has established its reputation as one of the World`s iconic arts and cultural destinations. This shows Cardiff's efforts to strive forward as a major European city.

Personal Progress Entry

University life has been a little hard since my last entry. I am having trouble with independent study, as i have always found it difficult. I think the fact i had a gap year in between my A levels and coming to uni, where i worked full time doing manual work and barley read a book let alone write anything, has diminished my skills some what! I used to be able to see media texts in a different way during the time i studied media at A level especially film and t.v. I feel now i am unable to spot as many things within texts as before but the more work im doing the more its coming back to me. Slowly but surely at the moment but now im sure i will make quicker progress as long as keep at it!

Also i need to cut down on my nights out mainly because of my financial situation, another thing im having trouble with. I haven't had to budget my money before and its hard to learn! But i have had some good nights out. The best nights had to be the drum and bass events in Cardiff, with my fave DJ Andy C coming to Cardiff!

I am going home for the first time this weekend. Cardiff doesn't feel like home yet and i don't think it will for a while! I think another reason im struggling with certain things is its taking a long time to settle in but again im sure all i got to do is stick at it and things will get easier.

First Post!

Hello, people this is my first time creating a blog and i feel rather clueless as what to tell you! I have just started my first year at UWIC studying Media Studies and Visual Cultures. I love my new home that is Cardiff! Whoop! Nightlife is amazing, and so are the people. I come from quite a small community in somerset, where everybody knows every ones business. So it feels refreshing to meet so many people with such a wide range of personalities and backgrounds. My main passion in life is music. Not that i can play an instrument or create my own, i just think its the single greatest thing on the planet. I enjoy many genres of music but my favorite would have to be drum and bass, among other types of dance, but the beat has to be hard and fast! I regularly attend dance events and festivals, most notably global gathering 2006, my first global but definitely not my last!

Other interests of mine include film, video games (PlayStation 3 owner, Xbox suck!), and socialising and drinking with friends, or anyone i can find! I chose to do media studies as it was the most interesting subject at a level mainly due to my love of film and other forms of media. I enjoy breaking texts down and looking at why texts are presented in certain ways. It helps you understand the construction of a wide ranges of texts and is not a dos course!!!!

Well that's my first post complete, more to follow but for now, that's all folks!