Saturday, October 5, 2019

Full Ingreated Marketing Communication Plan Essay

Full Ingreated Marketing Communication Plan - Essay Example Its production has always been customer oriented backed by efficient result oriented real time research. It has an excellent management with a visionary marketing team who believes on thinking different and being ahead of competition. The team is aware of the marketing channels that can profit them more in terms of level of liquidity, goodwill and customer loyalty. It started it journey with an agriculture based vehicle which was renowned by the name Land Rover. In 1970, it came out with its first Range Rover. It was the first civilized vehicle manufactured by Land Rover keeping in mind the customers’ comfort. The models of the brand are the result of efficient customer insight and extensive research done by Land Rover. The car has been famous as a luxurious and fashionable 4*4 car. Market segment is one of the most important considerations for marketing communication. Since, Land Rover is a luxurious car; it is mostly focused on high income communities who have the means and the passion towards cars. Looking at its 4*4 feature, it is segmented under family car version of cars and its main target customers will be big old age personalities with family because it is they, who give importance to family and have time for them to be together and wish to travel together. They are also a segment who mostly gives high preference to comfort and quality then looks and fashion. Land Rover provides comfort, quality and luxurious status to its customers. The globalization has its impending effect on Land Rover that had many positive and negative effects for the company. Most important had been the fierce competition that started in the decade of 80’s. Its first competition was with Japanese automobile company like Mitsubishi and their manufactured general utility cars followed by BMW and many others. Land Rover had a whole lot of models that started with the name Land Rover itself followed by discovery

Friday, October 4, 2019

Discusion board Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discusion board - Assignment Example The applications also enable management identify and correct any unforeseen challenges that may arise. Business processes are sources of competitive advantage. Business processes need to be unique and strategic to offer a competitive advantage. For instance, a business with processes focused on the creation of innovative products and services or those that portray a high sensitivity to customer queries and concerns tend to create a competitive advantage over their rivals. 2-How does Porters five forces shape industry competition and strategy? What are the implications? Do you agree with these five forces? Is there any other force that affects competition and strategy? What is the role of MIS in this framework? Understanding one’s business, specifically the strengths and weaknesses, is very important in facing rival competition. This is the basis in Porter’s five forces that shape industry competition and strategy. According to Porter, these five are; supplier power, buyer power, competitive rivalry, threat of substitution and threat of new entry. The five are centered in understanding the power that lies in a business and very useful in the analysis of the current positioning of a business, from a competitive point of view. Understanding this power, according to Porter, enables one to gain an advantage position by capitalizing on the strengths and improving weaknesses. For instance, in threat of new entry, the knowledge that competitors can easily penetrate the market and bring competition enables a business create barriers strong enough to keep off competitors thus maintain a competitive position. These forces shape the markets and industries businesses operate in. For inst ance, in competitive rivalry, having very few or no competitors at all offers a business competitive advantage in the industry it operates in. I agree with these five

Thursday, October 3, 2019

IQ causes success Essay Example for Free

IQ causes success Essay I was particularly intrigued by the authors’ discussion of the cultural differences that affect the ways in which people deal with concepts. In order to illustrate this point, the authors point to the different ways in which Chinese and American people deal with the conflict between capitalism and communism. The first tends to seek out some kind of common ground between two different concepts while the latter tends to place different concepts into either/or categories. This discussion of culturally contingent ways of thinking made me wonder how much more successful high-level political debates would be if both parties tried to understand not just the other’s position but the way of thinking that allowed them to arrive at that position. The discussion of problem solving tactics (algorithms and heuristics) and obstacles to problem solving was interesting as it contained practical, real-world applications of the course material. I had one question, however, when reading this section. From the discussion, it seems that the authors are taking emotional detachment from the problem as a given, i. e. the ability to think logically about the problem is a prerequisite for problem solving. However, they do not ever explicitly discuss this necessity or how to achieve it. With regards to IQ, the authors discuss a longitudinal study undertaken by Lewis Terman in the 1920s. Terman found that children with high IQs continued to have academic and career success throughout their lives. The way the authors’ discussion is worded, it seems that they are saying that high IQ causes success. However, there could have been other contributing factors to these individuals’ success. For example, a child identified early on as having a high IQ might have more encouragement and attention from their parents and teachers. They might also be subjected to greater expectations for success. These factors, and not just the IQ alone, could also cause the success of the individual.

The impact of multinational corporations on an economy

The impact of multinational corporations on an economy Multinational Corporation also knows as Transnational Corporation or multinational enterprise. These three things have same definition and function. Multinational company is a company that have manage the business in one country or they called it headquarters and also have their branches of business in others country. Multinational company have brought the advantages and disadvantages in the host country. 2.0 FINDINGS 2.1 Definition of MNC According to the business dictionary MNC means the enterprise that operating in several countries but managed from one (home) country .While according to the International Economics books they divided it into three sections. First by the size, means MNC is the extent of internationalization need. Then by the structure the MNC include the number of countries in which the firm does business and the citizenship of corporate owners and the top managers. Lastly by the performance, depends on the characteristics as earnings, sales and assets. Others meaning of MNC is a network of capital, product, and knowledge flow between organisational units. 2.2 Characteristics of MNC The characteristics of MNC are a company must have and own or control value adding activities in more than one country. And they also have involving in strategic alliances with others company.MNC also bring the new technology with the new capital and access to the local market knowledge and distribution in the host country. Furthermore, the characteristic of MNC is to view the worldwide presence in one or more of businesses. 3.0 STATISTIC 3.1 Foreign Direct Investment Foreign direct investment means the other company from outside which is other country invest in one company of other country. Many of country include in foreign direct investment. Malaysia also takes a part in this business because many advantages Malaysia can get from foreign direct investment from other countries. Malaysia can get many profits and develop the country from it. Malaysia ranks among the world is a top 20th attractive country to foreign direct investment (FDI) according to the World Investment Prospects Survey 2007-2009 FDI  by the  United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Malaysia have a good strategy in map which means that the location of Malaysia in the heart of Southeast Asia and offer a cost competitive position for whom thats want invest in that country especially in manufacturing of technology product for regional place and global markets. The factors that Malaysia become a top 20th choice of foreign direct investment is firstly is a hum an resources that Malaysia have is from a younger categorize that is strong and intelligent enough. Malaysia also try to develop the country to become modern and technology so its need the foreign direct investment come invest to Malaysia .When this happen its will be the exchange of technology and increase the knowledge of Malaysia about the technology. Government also provide the good services and tax for foreign invest in Malaysia. This is to make sure the continuous supply of manpower to meet the needs of the growing manufacturing and technology sector of Malaysia. 3.2 The Gross Domestic Product The gross domestic product (GDP) is a basic measure of a country economics performance.GDP is a purchases prices that sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. The most common approach to measuring and quantifying GDP is the expenditure method. The figure above shown the graph of Gross Domestic Product from 2005 to 2009 Figure 1.1 Bar chart of Gross Domestic Product (in 2000 constant prices) Ringgit Malaysia in Million 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Gross Domestic Product  Ã‚   (in 2000 constant prices) Ringgit Malaysia in Million  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   449,250 475,192 505,353  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   528,804  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   528,860 The bar chart above shows that the Gross Domestic Product from 2005 to 2009 in increase. Start from 2005 the Gross Domestic Product in Ringgit Malaysia shows the total is 449,250 million. Then follow by year 2006 the total amount is 475,192 million ,it have an increasing in number. While on 2007 the amount is 505,353 million. For 2008 and 2009 is 528,804 million and 528,860 million. This shows that the effect of MNC that invest in Malaysia have been increase the Gross Domestic Product in every year. The figure above show the pie chart of sector of MNC in Malaysia. Figure 1.2 A pie chart of sector of MNC in Malaysia 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Agriculture, forestry fishing  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   35,835  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   37,769  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   38,593  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   40,073  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   39,260 Mining 42,472  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   41,315  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   42,663  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   42,337  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   42,176 Manufacturing 137,940  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   147,672  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   152,262  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   154,195  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   141,934 Construction 14,685  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   14,604  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   15,279  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   15,604  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   16,071 Services 230,043  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   246,895  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   270,762  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   290,588  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   303,695 Many of MNC from other country invest in Malaysia. There have a specific into a few sector of MNC. There are agriculture, forestry fishing sector, the mining sector, manufacturing sector, construction sector and the lastly is services sector. The pie chart shows the total amount of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in each sector start from 2005 to 2009.All the sector have the incensement in the GDP according the increasing of the year. Start from agriculture, forestry fishing sector the total of GDP is 39,260 million for 5 years. While in mining sector and manufacturing sector the amount is 42,176 million and 141,934 million. The construction sectors have 16,071 million in the GDP.The largest amount sector that influence the GDP of MNC is a services sector. This can be prove by the total amount is 303,695 million. For the smallest amount is in agriculture, foresting fishing sector. The reason why the agriculture, foresting and fishing is the smallest influence is because Malaysia has their own product that can be produce by the country itself. Its not too necessary to receive the FDI from outside. Furthermore Malaysia has a larger area of forest and sea. Diverse from agriculture sector, is services sector that give a large amount in GDP. Malaysia is a one country that in progress to develop, so its need many of technology to be use especially on a services sector. Example the public transportation service, they need to be improve on the speed and safety for the passangers.Nowdays many of public transportation have been improve such as LRT and KOMUTER.This transportation have a high speed and big space to take a many passengers and they can arrive the destination at the short time. 4.0 EVALUATION 4.1 The contribution of MNC in Malaysia Malaysia is one of the most talented manufacturing and exports that base in the area. Malaysia ranks as among the worlds top 20 attractive countries foreign direct investment (FDI), according to the World Investment Prospect Survey 2007-2009 FDI by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). (www.tradechakra.com). There are more than 60 countries have invested in over 3000 companies in Malaysias manufacturing segment. The countries that have invested in Malaysia is Japan, Singapore, Thailand, United State and more else. Furthermore, Toyota, Hitachi, Ford and IBM are the examples of Multinational companies that contributed in Malaysia country. The main factor that are attracted foreign company to open up their business in Malaysia is the assurance of governments that retain the trade environment that are provides the foreign investors with the profits and opportunity for development. In general, foreign company in Malaysias manufacturing sector can hold 100% equit y in project which export 80% of their production and attractive tax rate incentives in 2008 is 26% and it will cut to 25% appropriate to mutually no-resident and resident companies. Malaysia proposes a broad range of tax encouragement for manufacturing scheme under the Income Tax Act 1967 and Promotion of Investment Act 1986. There are many types or sector of multinational company in Malaysia. The sectors are including the manufacturing, agricultural, mining, construction, forestry and services. For examples, the foreign country that contributes to manufacturing sector likes Japan automotive industry. Nowadays, Japan have contributes their automotive industry like Honda, Mitsubishi, Daihatsu and Toyota in Malaysia economies. 4.2 The advantages of MNC in Malaysia The advantages of multinational company in Malaysia are it will increase the economic resources. This is happen when other multinational companies from outside open their business in Malaysia and the foreign currency exchange rate in Malaysia will be increase the economies indirectly. When transnational company opens their industries in Malaysia, they need to hired people to work with them and it will provide job opportunities for unemployed graduates in Malaysia. Moreover, it will also transfer the management skills and technology to Malaysia. So, they can learn and used the technology for the development of the country. Other than that, Malaysia has its own natural resources like petroleum, oil, gas and others. It attracts the foreign country to open up their business in Malaysia. Moreover, it also will increase the development rate of host nation by introducing new investment, management skills and new technology. For example Perodua Myvi the 6th model of Perodua Malaysia is based on Daihatsu Boon and Toyota Passo from Japan automotive industry. Malaysia automotive and Japan automotive industry are joint venture to produce the new product and new technology. Furthermore, services transfer is also one of the positive impacts of multinational company in Malaysia. It means that, government will transfer the local workers to the foreign country to learn about their management and technology skills. So, they do not need to hired foreign employee to works in Malaysia 4.3 The disadvantages of MNC in Malaysia The negative impact of multinational companies that affected Malaysia is it will change the culture. Malaysia is based on different race and religion and they focuses about their culture and religion. The present of multinational companies from other country especially from West Country indirectly change and spoiling the local culture in the mentality, philosophy and more else. Other than that, they may not promote any development for the nations economic activities by basically source their components from out of the country. Its means, they will make local producers out of business. Multinational companies could take pleasure in high competitive advantages over local firms that can damaged local competition rather than promote it. Other than that too dependence of the foreign technology will make them take the advantages of Malaysias weakness and they will dominance the local industries. In addition, foreign country will interrupt of Malaysias economic plans and they will become ri cher better than local country. This is because they can get worker with low labour cost in Malaysia and cheap of raw materials. Other than that, the tax of Malaysia is low then their country so it makes them attract to open up their business in Malaysia. 5.0 CONCLUSION Multinational Company (MNC) gives a big impact in a country. It has the advantages and disadvantages impact. According to the Foreign Direct Investment the number of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increasing follow by the years. Start from the early 1960s century the enter of MNC in Malaysia give a big impact, mainly in economy and social development of the country .There also have an transfer of technology in the country. Many of the things now is based on the technology. This is the advantages for the country to attract the foreign to invest in Malaysia because Malaysia is the one of the country that in process to develop the country into the developed country. Furthermore many of knowledgement can get from them to produce the intelligent and educated people in the country. The MNC also give the big profit to Malaysia . Although they give many impacts on the advantages in the country, they also give the disadvantages one. When the transfer of social is occurred, they give a some of t he bad social impact for the country. For example, when they have too many MNC from outside invest in Malaysia automatically they dominant the industry and this give the small chance for the local to invest in their own country industry. Other than that the technology of the country just depend on the foreign country. It just gives the foreign company to take advantages toward the host country to produce their technology. 6.0 REFFERENCE Economy Watch, Malaysia Industry Sector [online] Available at: [Accessed on 18 November 2010] Natarajan M. Tan J.M, 1992, The Impact of MNC in Malaysia, Singapore Thailand [ e-book], Institute of southeast Asian ,Available at: [ Accessed on 21 November 2010] Trade Chakra, 2008. Foreign Investment in Malaysia [online] (Updated 7 Dec 2009) Available at: [Accessed on 19 November 2010]

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Essay --

Why Mt. Lassen is what it is today Lassen Peak, also known as Mount Lassen, is the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range. It is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc which is an arc that covers southwestern British Columbia to northern California. Located in the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California, Lassen rises 2,000 meters above the surrounding terrain and has a volume of 0.5 cubic miles, making it one of the largest lava domes on Earth. It was created on the destroyed northeastern side of now gone Mount Tehama, a stratovolcano that was at least 1,000 feet higher than Lassen Peak. Lassen Peak was named in honor of the Danish blacksmith Peter Lassen, who guided immigrants past this peak to the Sacramento Valley during the 1830s. His trail never found global long-term use because it was considered unsafe. This trail was replaced by the Nobles Emigrant Trail, named for the guide, William Nobles. In 1864, Helen Tanner Brodt became the first woman to reach the summit of Lassen Peak. A tarn lake on Lassen Peak was named "Lake Helen" in her honor. In the 1914 to 1921 time zone, Lassen Peak emerged from inactivity with a series of steam explosions, dacite lava flows, and volcanic mud flows. There were 200 to 400 volcanic eruptions during this period of activity. Because of the eruptive activity and the area's brilliant volcanic beauty, Lassen Peak, Cinder Cone and the area surrounding were designated as the Lassen Volcanic National Park on August 9, 1916. Mt. Lassen eruptions On May 22, 1915, an explosive eruption at Lassen Peak devastated nearby areas and rained volcanic ash farther 200 miles to the east! This explosion was the most powerful in a series of eruptions from 1914 through 1917. ... ...e than 30 volcanoes that have erupted over the past 300,000 years in the Lassen Peak volcanic area. 6. Lassen Peak has the highest known winter snowfall amounts in California. There is an average annual snowfall of 660 in, and in some years, more than 1,000 inches of snowfall at its base altitude of 8,250 feet at Lake Helen. 7. The Mount Lassen area receives more precipitation than anywhere in the Cascade Range south of the Three Sisters volcanoes in Oregon. 8. The heavy annual snowfall on Lassen Peak creates fourteen permanent patches of snow on and around the mountain top, despite Lassen's rather modest elevation, but no glaciers. 9. Lightning has been known to strike the summit of the volcano frequently during summer thunderstorms. 10. Lassen Peak and Mount St. Helens are the only two volcanoes in the contiguous United States to erupt during the 20th century.

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Here Lizard Lizard Essay -- essays research papers fc

How the Snake Lost Its Legs In the article "How the Snake Lost Its Legs," Carl Zimmer wrote about the common theory of snake evolution is about to be questioned. All vertebrates that live on land whether mammalian or reptilian are known as tetrapods. In most animals these feet evolved into other limbs, like arms for humans and into wings for birds; however, the snake lost its four feet altogether. The only sign that snakes ever had four feet is a remaining hip located within the rib cage. Paleontologists and herpetologists alike find it difficult to retrace the ancestry of snakes. Because of their scales, eggs, and subtle features of the skull, some scientists believe that snakes are descendants of lizards. However, this still does not explain how snakes lost their legs. In 1970, a three-foot-long creature, Pachyrachis Problematicus, was discovered near Jerusalem. A Hebrew University herpetologist studied the fossil and suggested that even though the animal looked serpentine there was not enough evidence supporting the theory that it was related to snakes. In 1996, Michael Lee and Michael Caldwell studied the fossil more thoroughly. Lee stated that "The first thing that you've got to do is look at every possible animal it could be related to", he and Caldwell concluded that the Pachyrachis had many snake like characteristics.(Zimmer p.32) For example, "the body is long and sinuous: it has 140 vertebrae in its trunk; most lizards have just 25.&q...

Definition of Some Symbols

Some people seem to think that the red cross which is used as a symbol by the American Red Cross and International Red Cross is a Christian symbol – and therefore that these organizations are Christian in character. I don't know why, but these people don't seem to realize that cross are and have been used as symbols outside of Christianity. Media Matters reports: [A]ccording to the American Red Cross website, it was â€Å"[i]n honor of the Swiss †¦ that] the symbol of a red cross on a white background (the reverse of the Swiss flag) was identified as a protective emblem in conflict areas. † While the cross on the Swiss flag originated in the 1200s from â€Å"a symbol of the Christian faith,† according to the Swiss Embassy in the United States, the Red Cross makes no mention of Christianity as a reason for adopting the symbol. †¦ In addition to stating that its symbol was chosen as the reverse of the Swiss flag, the American Red Cross website adds that â€Å"[t]he Red Cross idea was born in 1859, when Henry Dunant, a young Swiss man, came upon the scene of a bloody battle in Solferino, Italy,† and that the â€Å"emblem was adopted at this first International Conference as a symbol of neutrality† at the first-ever Geneva Convention at Geneva, Switzerland, in 1864. Media Matters put up this information to explain how Bill O’Reilly was incorrect to use this as an example for why it’s wrong to remove the large Christian cross from Mt. Soledad in San Diego. O’Reilly isn’t the only person who thinks that the red cross is a Christian cross, though — that appears to be a belief held by many Muslims and why Muslim organizations use a red crescent. Vehicles with a red cross on them might be targeted as a Christian vehicle in wrong place. Thus, Christians like Bill O†™Reilly who are trying to defend Christianity are making the same mistakes as non-Christian terrorists who would like to attack Christianity. The irony of this is truly astounding. It is confusing because most people think of a â€Å"cross† as the Christian symbol, the murder weapon. The cross or plus sign on the Swiss flag is actually a symbol of the Christian faith as well so the red cross flag, a symbol which is derivative of the Swiss flag, is also a Christian symbol. The plus sign is in all aspects a cross in the religious sense and does represent a specific religion on the Swiss flag as well as the red cross symbol. I might as well be in the shape of the murder weapon itself more traditionally presented by religious people. There is a red crescent flag and a red star of David flag as well, clearly religious symbols which were made as alternatives it the Christian cross or plus sign on these flags. Identification * The red cross symbol is a four-armed cross that resembles two perfect rectangles placed to look like a cross. There is no lettering, and the symbol usually appears on a white background. Significance * The symbol is the international sign for medic. It is associated in the U. S. with the American Red Cross, a nonprofit aid agency that helps those in need, regardless of their ability to pay. History * The cross was one of many symbols used to signify medic until the introduction of firearms to battle and the increase in casualties. Henri Durant designed the red cross as we know it today after witnessing tens of thousands of soldiers left dying on the battlefield with no one to help them. As I understand it, the red cross was a symbol designed to identify medical personal during wartime – it was meant to be a symbol of protection. It is a reversal of the Swiss flag, in honour of the Red Cross founder, Henry Dunant, who was swiss. So nurses and other medical personal wore a red cross to identify themselves. Nursing was at the core of the Red Cross movement from its inception. Nowadays, the Red Cross has come to be associated with disaster relief and other humanitarian efforts. the red cross represents many things such as unity, peace, hope, and the color of our blood The crescent moon and star is an internationally-recognized symbol of the faith of Islam. The symbol is featured on the flags of several Muslim countries, and is even part of the official emblem for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The Christians have the cross, the Jews have the star of David, and the Muslims have the crescent moon, right? What is the history behind the crescent moon symbol? What does it symbolize or mean? How and when did it become associated with the faith of Islam? Is it a valid symbol for the faith? The crescent moon and star symbol actually pre-dates Islam by several thousand years. Information on the origins of the symbol are difficult to ascertain, but most sources agree that these ancient celestial symbols were in use by the peoples of Central Asia and Siberia in their worship of sun, moon, and sky gods. There are also reports that the crescent moon and star were used to represent the Carthaginian goddess Tanit or the Greek goddess Diana. The city of Byzantium (later known as Constantinople and Istanbul) adopted the crescent moon as its symbol. According to some reports, they chose it in honor of the goddess Diana. Others indicate that it dates back to a battle in which the Romans defeated the Goths on the first day of a lunar month. In any event, the crescent moon was featured on the city's flag even before the birth of Christ. The early Muslim community did not really have a symbol. During the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Islamic armies and caravans flew simple solid-colored flags (generally black, green, or white) for identification purposes. In later generations, the Muslim leaders continued to use a simple black, white, or green flag with no markings, writing, or symbolism on it. It wasn't until the Ottoman Empire that the crescent moon and star became affiliated with the Muslim world. When the Turks conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, they adopted the city's existing flag and symbol. Legend holds that the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Osman, had a dream in which the crescent moon stretched from one end of the earth to the other. Taking this as a good omen, he chose to keep the crescent and make it the symbol of his dynasty. There is speculation that the five points on the star represent the five pillars of Islam, but this is pure conjecture. The five points were not standard on the Ottoman flags, and as you will see on the following page, it is still not standard on flags used in the Muslim world today. For hundreds of years, the Ottoman Empire ruled over the Muslim world. After centuries of battle with Christian Europe, it is understandable how the symbols of this empire became linked in people's minds with the faith of Islam as a whole. Based on this history, many Muslims reject using the crescent moon as a symbol of Islam. The faith of Islam has historically had no symbol, and many refuse to accept what is essentially an ancient pagan icon. It is certainly not in uniform use among Muslims. Why We Look Up – Lascaux is a World Heritage Site and late Upper Paleolithic cave complex in southwestern France that belongs to the Magdalenian Culture. Lascaux's cave paintings were made c. 15–18,000 B. C. The sophistication of the Lascaux cave paintings is extraordinary when considered against their great antiquity. Their subtlety, complexity of technique and metaphor are qualities we can immediately relate to. The full articulation of this cave art reveals a mind akin to our own. If time and language barriers could be set aside, it is very possible that Magdalenian people of the late Upper Paleolithic would understand us, and that in return we could understand them. What do these great paintings tell us? Aurochs and other large animals portrayed in Paleolithic cave art were often hunted for food. The act of painting them in a sacred cave has often been interpreted as an important element in a ritual that invoked sympathetic hunting magic. The act of a painting the animal sends a message to its spirit, that great respect is intended and that only those individuals essential for tribal survival will be hunted and killed. The spirit world and the gods are asked to ‘understand' and not penalize the human sphere. The act of painting, the actions and protocol by which these paintings are executed, is the ritual. The finished painting is a record of the ceremony. It is a static reminder of the bond between the spirit world and humankind and of the obligations each ‘world' owes to the other. We do not know if these great animal paintings were prayed to. We do not know if Paleolithic religion venerated and prayed to icons. Read more at http://www. environmentalgraffiti. com/sciencetech/what-the-lascaux-cave-paintings-tell-us-about-how-our-ancestors-understood-the-stars/15506#r9dA81UrDttvubS6. 99 What do these great paintings tell us? Aurochs and other large animals portrayed in Paleolithic cave art were often hunted for food. The act of painting them in a sacred cave has often been interpreted as an important element in a ritual that invoked sympathetic hunting magic. The act of a painting the animal sends a message to its spirit, that great respect is intended and that only those individuals essential for tribal survival will be hunted and killed. The spirit world and the gods are asked to ‘understand' and not penalize the human sphere. The act of painting, the actions and protocol by which these paintings are executed, is the ritual. The finished painting is a record of the ceremony. It is a static reminder of the bond between the spirit world and humankind and of the obligations each ‘world' owes to the other. We do not know if these great animal paintings were prayed to. We do not know if Paleolithic religion venerated and prayed to icons. At the beginning and end of time, all the ‘worlds' are integrated and melded into an indescribable whole and ‘oneness'. This final and beginning state of reality is the adamantine bliss of yoga and Buddhist cosmology as typified by the god Brahma. It is often created by the cosmic dance of the multi-armed Shiva. It is everything and nothing, timeless and beyond words. Read more at http://www. environmentalgraffiti. com/sciencetech/what-the-lascaux-cave-paintings-tell-us-about-how-our-ancestors-understood-the-stars/15506#r9dA81UrDttvubS6. 99 Lascaux – Hall of Bulls / panorama Norbert Aujolat – CNP/MCC This is the deep layer of meaning in many Paleolithic cave paintings that goes beyond sympathetic hunting magic. This is a multidimensional, mythological layer whose journey in the millennia to follow will connect with Stonehenge as a future article shall discuss. This deeper layer is also metaphysical and mathematical, and relates to the adamantine oneness of Vedic, Hindu and Buddhist cosmology. The complexity of mind revealed in late Upper Paleolithic cave art is akin to that expressed much later in history by ancient Vedic philosophers whose art form was Sanskrit poetry. Mathematical aspects in late Upper Paleolithic mythopoetics derived from observational astronomy. Some cave paintings recorded an understanding of the path the moon takes around the sun – the ecliptic. An understanding of the ecliptic leads to the discovery of the zodiac, the annual path of the sun through the celestial sphere. A construct for the zodiac then follows, in which it is divided into twelve sections later known as ‘houses'. Stars, moons and planets in Upper Paleolithic culture are not the stars, moons and planets of modern astrophysics that we know. They are deities whose habitat is the Milky Way and the celestial sphere. Mathematics is art, as Plato knew well. If the annual journey of the sun, moon, visible planets and some very bright stars can be tracked and recorded with enough precision to enable accurate prediction, then the human ‘world' has understood a great deal about the gods. We are no longer passive because we know where these celestial entities go during their year's sojourn and what those journeys portend for life on earth. The gods do not travel alone, nor are they unconcerned about human welfare. We are their acolytes and worshipers, and the only beings that can nourish the gods. We are the only sentient beings beside the gods themselves. This is not a child's game where Paleolithic astronomer-shaman-priests looked into the night sky to find the silhouettes of familiar animals in the geometrical arrangement of stars in the night sky. We can be fairly confident that star gazing at night was not frivolous. It was a search for realities that were believed to exist. What might be those truths? These early artifacts and cave paintings reveal a deep conviction that there was a spirit world inhabited by deities, and that some or all of that ‘universe' was above us and was celestial. Another portion of the universe was below, an ‘underworld' that was the antithesis of the celestial. The ‘world of the gods' was not chaotic. Observational astronomy was the premier empirical science of the time. Astronomer-priests discovered that the ‘world' of the gods was multidimensional and precisely organized by number and time. Pattern through time, provides consistency, a belief in structure and the possibility for prediction down the time track of the future. Look up, think and perhaps the manifestations of several deities can be seen, if they wish that to be seen by humans. When the Late Paleolithic astronomer-priests found the gods in the heavens, they confirmed that the gods do wish to be seen by us, that their celestial form is recognizable and stable, and does not change from night to night. Dr. Michael Rappengluck of the University of Munich has long believed that Magdalenian Culture of the late Upper Paleolithic in Europe looked at the night sky and ‘saw’ the Milky Way. They also discerned several bright, prominent arrangements of stars which could be described and integrated into a mythology. These arrangements of stars were the first constellations to intrude into human culture. Organized into a celestial landscape that winds its way through the Milky Way and upon which the Sun will travel, the earliest Zodiac had been found and mapped. As Plato said about mathematics, it is not an invention of human genius. It has always been there, waiting to be discovered. Lascaux – Two Aurochs / Taurus, Scorpio Photo – Prof saxx / Wikipedia The two aurochs that face each other were aligned with arrangements for the constellations of Taurus and Scorpio. They also correspond to the rising and setting opposition of two fixed stars: a) Aldebaran, which is the eye of the bull in the constellation Taurus; and b) Antares which is in Scorpio. Understand that there are several aurochs depicted on the cave walls in the Hall of the Bulls, but only one depiction of the constellation Taurus the Bull. Why do the Bulls predominate, why is Taurus the dominant constellation? Taurus is not the Solar God unless we make him so. The eye of the auroch that is Taurus is the supergiant star Aldebaran in the center of the constellation. The open star cluster Hyades encircles, and the Pleiades is above, the shoulder of Taurus. Culture would be the behaviour – context would be anything else eg climate, geography, raw materials and technology available. So smoke signals would reflect a culture and the fact that on open plains you can see such signalling.. Cave paintings are the root of traditional illustration, one the earliest of which has been in recent news, a ‘faint red dot' dated to more than 40,000 years ago. These were discovered in 11 caves in Spain, and results show that they are at least 15,000 years older than we first thought. It raises many questions; What are they trying to say? Who made it? Is it symbolic? Who was it made for? No matter what the answers are, illustration is a means for people to convey information, a means of visual communication. The purpose of these cave paintings are unknown, and we can only speculate as to their actual purpose. A time well before printing press, but the value of visual communication has lasted through the ages. One thing that is for sure is it was some sort of communication via visual aids, they had a purpose and had something to say. As you understand from the title, this blog is going to be about the History of Visual Communication Design, that actually had started many many years ago†¦ First of all, visual communication means, â€Å"the communication of ideas throufh the visual display of information. Primarily associated with two dimensional images, it includes: art, signs, photography, typography, drawing fundamentals, colour and electronic resources. Recent research in the field has focused on web design and graphically oriented usability. It is part of what a graphic designer does to communicate visually with the audience. † (from http://www. citrinitas. com) History of Visual Communication Design has actually started with the paintings on rocks and caves in Europe with Cro-Magnons, who form the earliest known European examples of Homo-sapiens. It is known that they are descending from populations of the Middle-East and lived from about 40,000 to 10,000 years ago in the Paleolithic period of the Pleistocene epoch. Cro-Magnons were anatomically modern. They are only different with their partly stronger physiology and brains that have larger capacity than that of modern humans. After they arrived in Europe (about 40,000 years ago), they brought sculpture, painting, body ornamentation, engraving, music and decoration of utilitarian objects, there. Tools that were survived by Cro-Magnons comprise of huts (small dwelling), carvings, cave paintings and antler-tipped spears (weapons). By the way, antler means horn of animals in the deer family, so we know that they used to hunt animal not only for food, but to make weapons, too. The remains also suggest that these people knew how to make woven clothing. More over their huts were constructed of rocks, bones, clay, branches and animal fur. It is possible that Cro-Magnons have created the first calender around 15. 000 years ago, with their knowledge of painting pictures with manganese and iron oxides. Cave Paintings â€Å"Cave or rock paintings are paintings painted on cave or rockwalls and ceilings, usually dating to prhistoric times. Rock paintings are made since the Upper Paleolithic, 40,000 years ago. It is widely believed that the paintings are the work of respected elders or shamans. † They mostly used to draw/paint large wild animals, like bisons, aurochs, horses, deers and tracing of human hands. Of caurse they have depicted abstract forms, too. † (from http://www. citrinitas. com) Researchers think that cave art may have