End of Year Show Evaluation

I was really pleased with the layout of my display board and how all my work was presented. It really stood out and caught a lot of peoples eye. The main focus was on my posters and articles which worked really well with the simplistic theme and very little decoration meant that there was no distractions when it came to looking at my projects. I wanted it to look very professional and interesting and I'm pleased to say that I did achieve this.

The show was great and I was asked many questions on my work, especially the A2 cyber awareness poster which was one of the main attractions on my display. Although there wasn't many employers that attended, I did get approached by many visitors interested in what I had created. It was also nice to show my family and friends what I have been working on in the past two years at Bath College. They were all really impressed and I was proud of what I produced.

Next time I'd definitely make sure that I invite more employers to the event, as lots were either busy or simply didn't want to come in their spare time. That way I would of had more chance in actually having someone influential there, and potentially could be a future employer for myself and others. Regardless, I still got the opportunity to showcase projects I have completed during my creative media course and to get my work out in the open. This then shows my work to others excluding students, as they may have a connection in the industry.

Overall I think the event was a success. I also think many who attended the show, showed an interest in my work displayed and wanted to know more by asking questions.   

Here are some pictures of the event:

End of Year Show

After the brainstorming process of coming up with themes and ideas for our end of year show, I had to complete a number of other tasks before hand. For example, I was chosen to design the end of year show invite on behalf of the creative media students. I will include some screenshots below:

I made it very simple and to the point. I also used the college colours, so it fitted in with the theme of the event and to tie it in with Bath College itself.

Another task was to think about and design how I want my individual display board to look. I decided on a very clean, simple, minimalistic style as this would not distract from my work. It would also make my projects stand out, because my posters will be the main focus.

This is how my display board turned out:

FMP- Evaluation

My final major project was an anti cyberbullying campaign, that consists of three posters and two online banners. The first strength of my final designs was the fact that they all had a simple, clear layout, which made it really easy to understand and to interpret for the target audience. Another strength would be that all ads/posters link in with the campaign and all look a part of the same group. For example the font, font sizes and logo was the same on each of the platforms, tying it in with the others and the overall reasoning for this campaign. I also liked the photography used in each of the designs, it made the look and feel of the ads very intense and involves the audience with the issue. For example, one image had a direct mode of address, which intensifies the poster further. I also made sure that each of the slogan titles were strong and powerful, making the posters compelling to the audience and even more eye catching. This may provoke an emotional response, therefore making the campaign memorable and effective. 

The weaknesses of the design would probably be the online banners looking very similar to the posters. In hindsight, I would've adapted the online versions a little more, making it clearer that they were online ads and not just stretched out posters. Another weakness is the logo design, as I think this could've done with a bit more work. It is very simple and could of made it more detailed and personal to me and my brand. I would of added my own fingerprint rather than an image, making it specific to me and more interesting.

The main idea of this project was to raise awareness of cyberbullying and make young children and parents aware of the possible effects of this. This campaign is to spark a powerful and emotional response from my target audience, making the issue more well known and to intensify the effects that it could have on a child. It would then make the children and parents more cautious when it comes to online safety and how to be careful online. I did a variety of experiments throughout the research and production process, from simply asking my peers their opinions, to detailed focus groups on final designs. This greatly affected my development, as the audience's responses was very important to me. I changed many design elements of my layouts including; portrait to landscape, font, text size, images, colours and more. 

I found a similar poster to mine online, to compare the similarities and differences of each design. The top is off Google and the bottom image is my design:

The most similar element between the two, is that they both have visually shown a physical wound as the same pain you would feel from cyberbullying, even though it is not specifically direct. This creates a 'shock' response from the audience, overall making it more compelling and powerful as an awareness advert. Both have a small logo in the bottom corner, relating it to an organisation or brand. This establishes a link between the campaign and therefore presents the posters as being reliable and professional. The main differences is to do with text, my design has considerably more than the image above. On the other hand, neither distracts from the image which is the main hierarchy of the layout and has the most impact on the design. Another difference is the background and eye contact, I do have few different layouts which do have a direct mode of address as I think this creates an intense affect. Although in this design, I do think it works and makes the model look sad and upset, again making the audience feel from the ad.

The key areas of development in this project was mainly layout and the actual design of the posters. I changed my idea many times as I just wasn't happy with the results. I developed my ideas in the initial stage of the project through mood boards, brainstorming and peer's feedback. Although the main area of development was with the changes and updates with layouts, as this is where most of the progress can be seen and evidenced through blogs.

Towards the end of assignment 3 I asked for feedback on my final (at the time) designs from friends and family. The response I got was really positive and I felt really proud and happy with what I'd achieved. I had a few more changes that I wanted to make and since then, the comments have been even better, I am pleased with what I have created and happy with the finished results. Something that I would change with my final project would be to create more of a contrast between the posters and the online banners. This is so that it is more obvious for the target audience to interpret and so the relation between the two platforms is more distinct. Looking back, I would also improve the logo design on each of the adverts, making it more unique and detailed. The final thing I would change is to make sure to take a larger variety of images during the photoshoot. This is because it could've given me a better range of photos to use when it came to the production process and therefore, offered a bit more variety and difference between the adverts.

After reviewing my statement of intent my idea has developed a lot. Originally I was creating a social issue awareness campaign, this had since got more detailed and adjusted to a cyberbullying awareness campaign. Apart from this, my reasoning and explanation remains the same, as I am interested in the visual creativity behind shocking and thought provoking adverts. Also in my statement of intent I was unsure of my target audiences. I have now developed this and through brainstorming and research, I have decided that my target audiences are children aged between 9-13 and parents. Overall, I did manage to do everything I set out to do and improved/adapted this slightly along the way. 

  

Reflecting on my pitch to the client, I was fairly confident with my idea and felt like I had planned out what I was going to do. Along the way, I have had a fair few issues but overcame them with contingency plans and even a plan C! I think this project has gone how I expected, as I knew there would be hold backs, but was prepared for some in advance. The feedback was mostly good things and some improvements were mentioned from the lecturers. This was things like narrowing down my target audience and brainstorming further my research process. Next time, I would have clearly planned out a time schedule and given myself more time for the actual production and design portion of the project. I would also improve the research on my topic because I should of given myself more time to get the focus group organised and a date and time secure. Unfortunately this didn't happen so was rushed to get it completed. 

In conclusion, I am pleased with my final project but there would be a few things that I would improve and change. However taking everything into account, I am happy with the final product and have enjoyed creating and designing my adverts.

FMP- Modifications and Update

I have gathered some feedback on my final major project and have made amendments according to what was said. I have included some before and after images of what has been changed so far:

In this design have changed the size of the title text, as it needed to stand out more and catch the target audiences attention. It also looks a lot better because there is more contrast between the two text blocks, and therefore makes the advert more professional. I also took away the writing next to the small logo in the corner, because this wasn't really needed.

In this layout I have made the same changes as the above design, as I like the simplicity of both layouts. I didn't need to improve a lot on these designs as the feedback given was mostly positive.

 

This design I have changed completely, as the feedback that I was given reinforced what I thought at the start. I did not like the image used and made it difficult to create a landscape poster because the background wasn't big enough. The fact that this layout was portrait, didn't really go with the rest of the campaign and stood out like a sore thumb. Another point that was made was that the text looked in an odd position and didn't quite work visually in the design. So I decided to use a different image entirely, enlarge the text and remove font by the logo, as mentioned in the above layouts.

FMP- Progress and Development

This is an updating blog post on the progress and development I have made. Now I have my final photographs, I can add them into my template layout designs and see how they fit in with my slogans. I have also edited a lot of the images in Adobe Photoshop, trialling out different edits and filters that match with the theme of my adverts. For example, I chose to have a fairly dark, dimmed lighting set up throughout most of the photos, as I want the overall feel of the adverts to connote sadness, hurt and upset. This is because it will get me the most emotional response with my target audience and will make the theme more powerful and rememberable. Because of this, I will be effectively raising awareness on cyber bullying and the possible effects on the victims that are caused by this.

I have included two of the edited images below:

After the editing process, I inserted my favourite images into the templates that I have previously designed. This gave me an idea of what my final adverts may look like, I decided to change a few things around after doing so. I have included some more screenshots below of my progress up to this point:

This is what my final posters are going to look like. There may be a few small changes in the mean time, however this will be the design and overall look of the adverts.

FMP- The Photoshoot

Today is the scheduled date for my actual photoshoot, set up with me as the photographer and Maisie as the model. I have my own camera at home that I will be using, as well as all my props and equipment for each scene. I also have the makeup products that I used in my experimentation blog post, that I will be using for the special effects (bruises, cuts, etc) on my model. I will include a quick image below of the model:

I took a variety of images so I can pick and choose when it comes to adding them to my layout designs. I have also included a few of the photos from the main photoshoot below (all untouched):

The best images in my opinion are the ones with the model holding the mobile phone, as this is probably more relevant in modern day society as computers are less and less used. Also, the images with the computer look less professional, as most of them do not have a plain background. I will need to decide which looks best on my template designs.

One of the problems that I came across during this process, was that the location (my house) wasn't the best for the lighting element of the image. Because this photoshoot could only be scheduled in evening times, artificial lighting was the only option. Although at the time, this didn't matter because I wanted the images to be quite dark and dimmed anyway, connoting sadness and hurt. I am going to play around with the photos on Adobe Photoshop, trying different filters, edits, saturation, colour, etc. I will document this in a progress blog post.

FMP Experimentation and Progress Update

Following on from my layout ideas blog post, I have pretty much completely changed my idea and design, as I really wasn't happy with it. I have made the design a lot more simple and clear, which I think makes the overall visual more appealing and professional. I also came up with a few different slogan titles. I prefer the middle one personally, however they may change a little during the production process.

As part of my experimenting, I decided to put together a few layouts with slightly different fonts and slogans. The image is not mine and taken off Google Images for the purpose of this experiment. Also my own images will be used for the final project, I will also be using makeup to create skin bruises and cuts on the model. My idea is to have a physically hurt girl on the poster in front of a computer screen, symbolising that pain can still be felt even if it is not physical and through a computer screen.

I created the above designs on Adobe Illustrator, however my final project will be put together on Adobe InDesign, as this is a layout software and will fit the purpose better. As for the experimentation portion, I have asked a number of people which one was the most liked out of the three. It came back that the middle image was the most popular and that the slogan in this design was the most powerful also, combining to be a simple yet compelling poster.

I also did another experiment learning and practicing how to create fake bruises that look realistic with makeup. I already have an interest in makeup so thought this would be a better idea to do it in person, rather then trying to edit wounds on in Photoshop from scratch after. This is because it would be too time consuming to learn and then produce professionally in the time scale for production.

Below I have included some pictures of the bruises I created, I practised these on myself:

I also took a picture of the makeup that I used to create the bruises:

This will also be the same products that I will use on my model in the photoshoot I have scheduled for next Thursday. The items were chosen from the makeup that I already had, making sure that all the colours were matt for the most realistic finish possible.