Evaluation for final project

Evaluation

Introduction

My personal project is based around the underlying theme: Welcome to the Forest:Radicals, Makers, Fellowship. Out of the three categories that we could base our ideas on, I picked ‘Makers’. My concept for my project was to produce an image or a series of images as part of a double page spread feature in a magazine, to represent the makers of this community throughout history and because we have become so much more multicultural,  ‘Makers’ also reflected not only Waltham Forest but the different cultures that have become our community. I wanted to educate my target audience who are 16+ as well as inspire them about the history of Waltham Forest makers.  

The effectiveness of my research (Contextual, audience and production)

The contextual research helped me a lot when coming to the conclusion of my concept. This is because, I had to ensure I found out the background history of Waltham Forest and that this was through the perspective of fine art. This led me to find out how fine art has a deep meaning behind just portrayal but also that the aesthetic of the piece is as if not more important than the message. This encouraged me to search deeper into how my message about  the different cultures and their effect on makers within Waltham Forest can be displayed in my magazine spread aesthetically and beautifully. Then I decided to look at one local maker who had a big impact and influence on Waltham Forest in the past and today. So I researched William Morris and his work. I looked at various sources and found that he used a lot of flowers,nature, religion and was inspired by the pre raphaelite movement and was the founder of the Arts and Crafts movement. This inspired me as I wanted to incorporate not only how culture has influenced us today but also how culture influenced historically. Therefore if you look at my pictures, both practice and final, I used models from different races but still showed elements of pre raphaelite art and modern day culture.I think I was successful in producing something beautiful, historical and cultural. As I was doing research on William Morris I realised that although he was a very artistic person and had a successful career - he was also into his politics. He believed that art had no limits and shouldn’t be just for one group of people - the rich .It should be for all for everyone to see and be educated by. I reflected this through the use of different cultures and the text in my magazine spread. I also researched the first ever Fine Art magazine ‘The Studio’ which was a big influence on the Arts and Crafts movement. The magazine was easier for ordinary people to see and read. This made me really think about how I wanted to do the same but in my way. Using a magazine means that I can reach a wider audience and educate them just by looking at the photos and trying to understand the connotations behind them.

The audience research guided the process of my final project. This is because, this helped me identify my target audience and the views and opinions they have on the borough of Waltham Forest. I knew that I wanted to target a quite young audience. However from my primary research survey that I conducted, I realised when analysing the feedback from the survey that my target audience did not have any historical knowledge about makers or the influences of culture. Therefore I decided to make an addition to my original double page spread which was to add text which would provide a general explanation about my concept hoping that it would inspire them to find out more about it. I was really happy that I made this addition as I feel like the piece as a whole is more informative. In my survey my target audience also mentioned how they felt the Asian community had a big influence on us as a community in the 21st century and they also highlighted ceramics as a big influence on our culture. This made me think about my contextual research again as a result as William Morris was also influenced by the Asian culture and ceramics. This directed me immensely as it gave me the idea to do a concept based around ceramics and clay.  In terms of the images, the concept went accordingly but I received audience feedback from my demo shoot pictures which was that the pictures didn’t really sell the concept and some of the pictures didn’t show that the model was being made by a maker and so didn’t hit my own brief. This feedback allowed me to act and change different aspects of my final photoshoot, in order to make the outcome as what I envisioned. I directed the model much more and made sure that she knew what the brief was and she adjusted her poses and became like a mannequin. I also made sure that her poses reflected her being ‘made’ or that someone was making her whereas in the practice shoots that wasn’t actually the case.

In terms of research for the production I devised a location recce on why I feel like I should use the studio as a location. This focused mostly on effectiveness and how the college studio  had all the equipment in there already - backdrop, softbox etc. Looking back at it, I made the right decision because all artists - potters, painters, , William Morris most likely worked in a studio. So my location linked with my theme - a place where things are made and I think you can see that in the final product. I also had to do research on different local artists quotes to incorporate on my spread and I think I picked the right quotes although one of them was not from a local artist - the ceramics quotation. Some might argue that this doesn’t fit in with the brief but when you look at the quote in the final piece it I feel like it makes sense as all makers, local and across the world can relate to it.

How my product compares to the case studies

When comparing my product to the case studies, I did an analysis of a magazine cover to look confirm that I didn’t want to do a magazine cover but balso to look at the model’s posture in the image and this made me really think about how I could make my model pose in a way that relates to my concept. So, side by side the first case study does not seem similar. I think I used colours effectively just as the front cover did and really thought about what colours have connotation - for example using white as a symbol of purity and the earthy colour clay. When doing the case studies, I realised that it helped me pinpoint the features that would work well with my double page and fit well with my theme. A feature I had in comparison to the other case studies was that the picture was the point of focus and was what the whole article was about with minimal text. As well as having the pictures as a main point of focus I also had the background of my double page spread look like it was part of the picture as well as her costume and the background linked. Two of the case studies that I analysed - ‘Aesthetica’ and ‘The Guardian’ - did this well, that is why I wanted to incorporate this into my idea and I believe I was successful in doing so. In the case studies the text is nice and clear and readable. But when  I tried to do this to make it readable the background clashed with the text. Even when I tried to fix it and make the text go round the background, it didn’t look professional. So, my final piece is readable but I would have liked to do something to the text to make it more readable.

How my technical skills have developed

My technical skills have developed dramatically during this whole project. I have learnt new skills, new tools such as the stamp tool in photoshop and  I have learnt how to use indesign software, how to create layers, how to add text, change the colour of the text. I learnt how to do drop caps.

However, this took me a lot discussion with technicians, as I had to ask questions about how to handle certain tools, especially in indesign because it was not a software I was familiar with. In order to overcome this struggle I practiced with the software a lot to gain knowledge about how to handle and use it.

The production was far from my original idea in terms of the design process. Firstly I had some problems contacting outsiders and insiders regarding equipment and materials. However on reflection this was a good thing because it allowed me to activate my problem solving skills. I had to abandon my original idea for using a potter's wheel in the shoot as  the person that I contacted wasn’t able to provide one. Therefore I made the model use her hands to put the clay on her face it actually made the picture better as it reenhanced the concept that she was being made by someone.

Originally I was going to have illustrations in the double page spread. However, when I did the draft demonstration according to the design I sketched out, it was not how I envisioned it to be. The illustrations did not fit in with the elegant, aesthetic and beautiful idea I was going for and the lack of background made it look even more disappointing. Therefore, I had a discussion with my mentor and we figured out various concepts and this resulted in coming up with a new design that fit perfectly with the theme. I used a geometric flower design as a background for my double page spread, which  picked out elements from the costumes I used. This meant that I had to use hue saturation which I have used before but I wasn’t clear about why. In production, the technicians explained to me what it does - makes colours more matt or bright - and as a result, I implemented that on to my images. I was pleased with the effect because it made the illustration less busy and therefore more professional.

In terms of blogging, the processes, production and pre production at the start of this project, I planned to daily reflections at the end of each day explaining what I did. At the start of the project, I explained everything in detail every day regarding contextual research regarding William Morris. I quickly realised that producing these reflections was going to be very effective as it showed my thought processes and my self realisation as I understood that my idea was changing. I kept this up for 5 weeks then Easter holiday came. I went to Turkey for medical reasons . I was intending to do work to do with the project and I took my laptop. However, there was no wifi and I was fatigued from the treatment and so I wasn’t able to do the daily reflections as I intended. Therefore it created a block and I never got back into the same routine. I regret this because the whole purpose of the reflections was to trace the journey of the production process and I am now not able to go back and reflect as I would like to. Once I got into the production side of things, for example taking the photos, editing, I didn’t reflect at all. However, when I finished with production I did a production reflection that involved my photoshoot and everything I did for my demo shoot including editing and production. This was the same for my final product. These were not as useful as the daily reflections because I spent a long time remembering what I did in as much detail as I could. I wasn’t able to express my thoughts regularly and feel this was a bit of a setback. I have learnt that daily reflections are a really useful skill to help me realise what I need to to do in the short term - it was like my daily checklist and gave me the chance to think about why I hadn’t done things that I intended to do and think about the reasons behind it. I have learnt that small steps are as important as the big ones in production - and in the media industry in general. I understand now why my teachers encourage me to reflect often.

Just as with the reflections at the start, I put my work on Blogger very consistently. This gave me a sense of tasks being completed and motivated me to complete more. I had a sense of organisation and where I needed to go next. During production, the blogging stopped as well as the daily reflection and that is my second biggest regret as I will have to go back to my work and organise it.  

Audience responses to my final product

(Figure 1)

(Figure 2)

These are pie charts of the feedback I got from my final double page spread. To get this information I first conducted a survey on which I put an image of my final product. I asked two questions - what they liked and what they thought I should improve on. Within those two questions I gave them multiple choices, such as photography, make up, props, costume etc. Then, I asked them to tick two of the boxes and give a reason as to why they picked it. The reason why I did multiple choice and for them to explain why they liked those things is so that I can gather both quantitative and qualitative data to analyse. Firstly, ( positive feedback figure 1) shows that 33.3%  of my target audience liked the photography and also 33.3% liked the make up, 6.7%  liked the  image size, colours, background themes and props. When my target audience was asked to give reasons for their choices, one said that the photography style was done very well and also that the makeup is very unique. Another response said that the photography is beautiful and that they really liked the placing of the makeup.

Looking back at the responses that I got for the positive feedback, all of the responses liked the magazine spread for the images. I was expecting people to tick ‘text’ as something they liked about my work and give a reason about why they liked it. None of them did however, this might be because the image they were looking at was small and therefore the text was not prominent. If they were to look at the double page spread on the computer, the text would have been bigger and colours more prominent. In fact the overall quality of my double page spread would have looked better. For this reason, I should have done an online survey, like I did with my primary research which would have allowed them to see it better and have a closer look. In the second part of the survey, some responses did tick text as something to improve, however they didn’t talk about the content of the text, only about the overall look. One response commented on the size of the font which again was down to the error of the size of the image on the survey.

Moving to (Constructive feedback figure 2), 37.5% of responses said that I could improve on the image size and the same percentage said I could improve the text. 12.5% highlighted colour and another 12.5% highlighted layout as something I can improve. My response to the feedback about the image size - the majority said that they would have liked the images to be bigger but if I was to do that then it would cover the background and the whole purpose of the meaning behind the background as even though it is a flower it looks like flower connects the whole and gives a sense of community to the double page spread. That is what I wanted to achieve as well as the pictures being the main point of focus. Another response I got  regarding image size was that the image had been widened. When editing I did not widen any of the images. I may have reduced the size to fit the composition of the double page spread but I did use autofit.

When my target audience were asked why they picked text as an option as to what I can improve on, the majority said that the font size and colour could have been different. The reason why I did the text in that font was because it was similar to the articles that I studied in my case studies which I really liked. In addition,  I felt it would fit the theme and also would make it look like a feature article in a magazine. Similarly, they stated the colour of the text should be a different colour to make it catch the audience’s attention. But if I was to do it in different colours such as black or brown it would not stand out, it would just dissolve into the background. Therefore, that is why I used light brown for the drop caps to re attract the audience’s eye to the main text. On reflection, I agree with the statement that my target audience has pointed out. Maybe if I had done the drop caps in white it would have looked better and would have reattracted the audience’s eye. The reason why I did the text in white and no other colour - such as purple or red - it would not fit in with the theme or the colours from the images. I also chose white as it has connotations of purity, when you create something it is pure and fresh. Also, it represents the blank canvas. This is why I did the title ‘Canvas’ in white as well.

Some of the constructive feedback I got from my target audience said that the image was too dark. However again, as I stated above, if they were to look at the double page spread on the computer, the text would have been bigger and colours more prominent. This would apply to the images. So the printing quality of my surveys may be at fault rather than the image.

Finally, the last area that they believe I should have improved on is having the edges of the photos blended in with the background so the edges don’t look visible which is understandable because when I was editing I didn’t really think about that. But if I was to replicate this I don’t think it would be successful for two reasons. One of them is that if I was to do that the background would be the main thing and it wouldn’t look like the images were coming out of the flower to give a sense of community. Also, it would ruin the composition of the photos as the background would be on top and the double page spread would not be in proportion. However, for now I am aware of it, I will try this.

How my product will be distributed and consumed

A way that I believe how my product will be consumed and distributed is through social media such as instagram and insider. For the print version it will be through both Fine Art and local audience publications, for example Dazed and Confused, Vogue, Aesthetica, Waltham Forest news. This is because I wanted the distribution to reflect the audience I wanted to target. These will also be available digitally on the websites of the printed publications, social media,and the London Borough of Culture’s website.  A way of receiving income from these resources is through Ads that you can not skip and is paid. Also the publications will pay me to have my double page spread featured in their magazine. I have both digital and print versions of my double page spread, therefore, this maximises the audience and reaches more consumers, thus this means that the input and output process of goods and income would be continuously working as this use of using both print and digital allows it to be accessible to the audience.

The large publications I have asked to be featured in would also use social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter to promote their magazine and features within them. I would ask magazine companies such as Vogue, Dazed and Confused to promote my article, this may result in me paying them for the promotion. This is a good way to target the audience I have chosen which are teenagers above 16 years old, this is because in this contemporary society, social media platforms are being used to promote and advertise products therefore, this is a quick and an effective way to draw the attention of the audience who are constantly on their phones. This is a form of quick social media advertising, that uses ads to promote work and products. Another form would be having a promotional video for the magazine, this allows it to be accessed everywhere from laptop, phone and tv, thus this allows the wider audience and not just teenagers to acknowledge and see what the magazine entails and the purpose of it. Hopefully, this would include my article.

Another way my double page spread would be consumed and distributed would be having singular pictures instead of a double page spread this will allow the images to be accessed and put anywhere and will draw attention to the magazine. For example, putting these images in a photoshoot exhibition which brings the attention of the wider audience to acknowledge the meaning and purpose, the connotations of the images and project as a whole and will realise what magazine it comes from as this is a form of quick advertisement too.

My ‘next steps’ as a media producer

My next steps for next year will be widening my knowledge of editing software before using it, so I have a clear idea of how to use it so the editing process can be quicker. This project has taught me a vast amount in terms of time management, editing and the producing process.  This was by learning and developing skills whilst trying to schedule the days in which I had to get certain tasks and editing done, this helped improve my time management and organisational skills. I also had to accept when things need to finish according to my own deadline, for example in both photoshoots and during the editing of my double page spread.

This therefore also taught me that I have to be more aware of my own abilities, and if I am not capable of doing certain things such as organising equipment because of physical disability and motor skills,  I should not hesitate to ask for help as this will make the end result of my final project a much quicker process. The weakness I noticed whilst being media producer is the editing of images, because it took me time to figure out the tools.

Another achilles heel, you could say, was not being able to find models, this was very frustrating as I had a hard time trying to get models that will definitely model for me on the right day and time. Thus, to overcome this I have decided to broaden my links and circle in order to have a wider range of people involved in my projects.

Another point will be not researching deeper into the concept of a double page spread, this was because if i had more knowledge based on the area, it would of looked more professional and therefore, my skills would develop more according to my knowledge.

I also, in terms of feedback, I need to think about the questions or what I what information I want to get out of my target audience. My questions didn’t ask about what I wanted to originally do which was to educate. I should have worded my questions a bit better to extract better feedback. For example I could have asked about the content of the text and if I had, I would have got some feedback on if it was educational or not. I also should have done a digital version of the survey and next time I would do so to minimise feedback that doesn’t relate to my product - only the image on the survey.

For next year I plan to be more consistent with daily reflections to prevent less detailed description of what I did and not rushing it. I think I should write down my points beforehand and think about what I am going to say before recording.

Overall, i have learnt a lot during the project and have noted this all down for my future project next year.