FMP: evaluation

Review of Final Major Project 

‘Look past the sign’

My final outcome is in the form of a series of posters that bring to light the issue of negative perceptions faced by some disabled individuals. In addition to the posters is a sticker campaign that takes a fun approach to showing that although disabled, disabled individuals are just people. This differs from my original proposal as it focuses less on the idea of freedom and more on challenging perceptions of disability.

Prior to starting my project, I made an action plan. Initially, I found this useful as it provided an element of structure to my work. However, it didn’t help with the development of my work as well as I thought it would because I was unable to stick to it strictly. The methods I have used to show how my learning has affected my project is different to that of my previous methods as in this particular project, I decided to take a different approach. I decided to separate my project into different sections by using a notebook for writing and sketching out any ideas I had. I believe this aided the development of my work, as I was able to refine my concept to that of a higher standard. In addition to my notebook, I also used a sketchbook as a means for more visual/experimental purposes. I think using my sketchbook solely for visual purposes enabled me to focus on/consider visualising as I developed my project. In regards to my blog, this has aided in the development of my work by enabling me to reflect on my work on a weekly basis. I found doing this very helpful as it helped me to also realise how much I had achieved each week.

Prior to my action plan, I set myself three main aims, which I believe I achieved. The targets I met are as follows:

• To carry out extensive research within an appropriate period of time.
• To develop my ideas visually.
• To complete this project with a final outcome that is reflective of the set period of time.

In addition to theses three aims I also wanted to create an outcome that was ‘more than just a poster’ which I believe I achieved by incorporating the sticker campaign into my final outcome.

Overall, the developments that have contributed to the final outcome of my final major project were: focusing on the concept of physical disability rather than my initial of idea of freedom, which was not working out. In addition to this, focusing on creating visuals in response to the concept rather than the other way around. Both these developments had a great impact on the direction I decided to take my project. If I hadn’t taken these decisions, my final outcome would not work, nor would it be coherent.

In terms of feedback from others, I received advice from a range of people during my project. This was inclusive of friends, family and tutors. I found all the feedback I received beneficial to an extent, as the majority of the advice was very useful. However, I found that as I struggled with what I wanted to communicate, speaking to others about my idea during evaluation groups was unhelpful as I became even more confused. Nevertheless, as I confirmed my concept and began developing visually and was unsure about if visually, what I was trying to communicate was clear. I received criticism from both a tutor and a friend who were unfamiliar with my project, which I found very helpful as they gave me fresher insights into where I was going wrong as they were both confused about my visuals which made it obvious that my project lacked clarity.

The key points I would like to take away are:

• To be more confident in my approach to design as I often become quite scared/nervous, which has an impact on my project as the outcome, does not do my concept justice.
•  I want to be more organised in how I do things as a lot of mistakes/problems could be easily avoided.
•  I need to be more realistic about the type of project I decide to do in terms of how challenging it is.

The skills I have developed are: being able to improvise which will affect my future course/career in graphic design as I think improvising is a key skill to have as things can easily go wrong in this field. I have also been able to meet deadlines/catch up as according to my action plan I was behind schedule. Regardless of the set backs I managed to finish my project with a final outcome.

The things I will endeavour to continue doing and to build on are:

•  Refining my idea to the best possible outcome in order to successfully complete each project.
•  Making references to both the mundane as well as designed and enabling them to influence my future projects by contextualising.

I intend to apply all the skills I have learnt from not only my final major project but also the art and design foundation course as a whole. These will be of help to me as I continue further my studies next year on a BA Graphic Design course in higher institution. 

FMP: week 7

'Look past the sign' 

Series of A3 posters (3)

Sticker ad campaign 

                                   

                                   

                                        

I am happy with the series of posters I created as I feel that they work in communicating my concept in a strong yet simple way. In regards to what I imagined my final outcome to be like, this is the complete opposite. However, I believe that this outcome works better than I anticipated as previously I considered the format before I was sure of what i wanted to do. 

    

        

                

               

In addition to my posters I also decided to have a sticker campaign to compliment the series of posters. I did this this in order to have the interactive feel I wanted to achieve. I believe this was successful because it had the fun/playful feel that I set out to get. Overall, I think my final outcome was successful as I met the aims I wanted to achieve. If I had the opportuinity to do things differently I would create a bigger campaign in the sense that it would have more elements to it. 

FMP: development

Development 

As my time management was quite poor, I carried out the major development of my project quite late which meant that I had to work quite quickly in order to produce a final outcome that reflects a 7-week project. Ideally, I would have liked to have stuck to my plan but I did not start the project well as I began confused about what I wanted to do and what approach I wanted to take which is evident from the delay in development. Nevertheless, I slowly but surely made progress as I built on the experimentation I did with the disabled signs. 

I decided that in order to achieve a refined aesthetic of a high quality, rather than hand drawing the features, they were better digitally rendered. This is evident as the merging of the features with the signs look a lot better. 

In addition to changing my approach in terms of technique, I also had to change the slogan I was basing my development on based on the feedback I had received from both a friend and one of my tutors. They both agreed that the slogan: 'disable the sign' along with the imagery was not harmonious, it also lacked clarity. Initially, I found this quite frustrating as I felt I was back to square one. Nevertheless, I found this feedback very useful as a fresh insight allowed me to progress with my design with a stronger, clearer approach. 

Overall, a lot of major developments were made in my project this week in terms of working towards a final outcome as I focused on working towards a final outcome. The major issues I faced were technical and clarity, however, getting help from others proved to be very beneficial as I was able to resolve my problems a lot quicker as opposed to doing it on my own. In regards to next week, which is the last week of fmp, I plan to have a final outcome that is ready to be presented. I will achieve this aim by continuing with the development of the existing visuals I have now.

FMP: development

Working towards a final outcome 

I decided that in order to develop my concept efficiently, I need to be more direct in my approach by directing my experimentation towards a final outcome rather than experimenting for the sake of it as time is running out. In continuation from last week, I decided I needed to gain better referencing my photographing real people rather than making up the features I illustrate. I photographed a range of individuals, specifically capturing their distinct features. I found this process very useful as it took my concept further. 

I got to a point in my design process were I became very unsure as to what I wanted to communicate and how. I found myself overcomplicating my concept which caused me to be confused unnecessarily. In order to progress I decided to gather the opinion of others. Initially, I asked people from my group what their opinions were and I had positive feedback. However, it later dawned on me that I needed a fresher perspective from someone who had yet to see my project. I found this feedback very useful as the individual said they were confused as to what I was trying to communicate which I found very enlightening. The additional feedback I got from my tutor also confirmed that what I was trying to communicate visually lacked clarity. I resolved this issue by focusing on my original concept and decided the issue was that rather than trying to express my concepts visually, I ended up trying to over explain my idea. 

As soon as I simplified my idea, I feel that my project became a lot stronger as I was more focused on conveying my concept visually rather than overthinking my project. I think this approach was a lot more efficient as I was able to clearly discern as to what was right/wrong with my project. This enabled me to progress better. I found the process of working towards a final outcome quite tedious as I became unsure of what I wanted to communicate. Nevertheless, I also enjoyed this process as I was able to see my concept come to fruition. 

Aesthetically, I would like my final outcomes to look similar to that of the Transport for London: 'Poems on the underground' series in terms of a sense of repetition as well as the use of a series with differing elements such as colour and character. I find this to be a very good reference as it works very well in communicating different ideas in a subtle way as the posters are in response to people's behaviour.

Overall, I thought this week went well as I managed to catch up as I was behind in relation to the point I thought I would have reached by the last week. According to my action plan I should have created a mock up for my final outcome by the 6th week and should have finalised an outcome by the beginning of the 7th week. Ideally, I would have preferred to have been a position were I did not have to leave everything to the last minute. In the future, I will endeavour to be more organised by sticking to an action plan. 

FMP: week 6

Disability in the media

http://news.sky.com/story/1257322/attitudes-to-disability-more-respect-needed

The feature of this topic on Sky News placed further emphasis on how important, as well as relevant the issue of the public's reaction with disabled individuals is. The video acts as evidence that disabled individuals still face issues today. The reporter in the video is visually impaired, the reaction from the public as he asks for help in a busy street raises a big question as to why this is still occurring today. On relation to my project, I found this very resourceful as I was beginning to question the relevance of my project as I considered whether or not the concept I wanted to communicate mattered. 

In addition to the feature it self, I found reading the comments very enlightening also as I was quite surprised as to certain reactions. Most people generally agreed that disabled individuals are not treated with the necessary equality and respect. Another thing that stood out to me was the ignorance/arrogance of some of the comments. This also proves that this issue still needs further addressing in order for people's thinking to change. 

Scope: End the awkward campaign

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wG_p7nc3wk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE2HgtoOE7g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX84nJoP4zc

Scope released a new campaign: 'End the awkward' which is response to their findings that 2 out of 3 people feel uncomfortable talking to a disabled individual. It is in the form of a series of adverts which address different scenarios which have the potential to develop into 'awkward' situations. I think this is an interesting approach to treating the subject as it features the use of humour. Taking a light- hearted approach works well because it is generally the best way to deal with awkward situations. However, from a critical point of view it isn't as strong as it leaves no impact on the viewer. I find that the adverts that work the most are the most memorable ones, these particular adverts will be easily forgotten. 

Playing with signs

I decided to develop an idea for the 'guerilla' aspect of my advertising campaign by being playful and experimenting with ways of taking the similar 'humorous' approach from the Scope: End the awkward campaign. I also sought inspiration from a previous campaign by scope, upon which my project is based: 'See the person not the disability'. The see the person not the disability also uses the disability sign in a clever yet simple manner by adding different elements to it which is the feel I decided to take as I feel it worked very well. I think it works well because of the use of the disabled sign- it is a well recognised symbol which automatically makes the viewer receptive of what is to be communicated. 

                                                           

                                                

                                                

I decided to use acetate over the toilet sign as a means of quick mark making. Overall, the outcome looked as I had anticipated. However, the challenge I faced was to quickly think of a 'character' to draw as it was more of a doodle rather than a well planned drawing. Although it is quite rough, this aesthetic suits the concept and format (guerrilla advertising) as it could work as a form of allowing the audience to interact and partake in the campaign.

                                                              

                                 

I decided to push the concept further by experimenting with a bigger sign. This proved to be quite difficult as it was very windy therefore it was quite difficult to draw unto the acetate with the help of a friend to hold down the acetate from the blowing wind. I managed to add a few features to humanise the sign. ( although they are not the best) Overall this was an interesting experience. Nevertheless, it did not work as well as the previous attempt on a smaller sign. This was mostly down to the weather as well as the surface of the ground. Both factors mad it quite difficult for me to achieve the outcome i desired. For future reference, I would use weights to hold the paper down rather than struggling. 

In regards to my progress, I am working way too slowly as I am yet to have definite final outcomes that I intend to work towards. In order to solve this problem I will have to work a lot quicker in terms of my experimenting/ the development of my ideas. I then will have to pull together a final outcome that does my research/ project justice. 

FMP: week 5

Contextual reference 
Jana Sysová- Open your mind!

     

As I was searching for inspiration, this particular campaign stood out to me as it features a range of formats which work together in conveying the same message with a consistent theme. I particularly like how although it is in a different language, through the style/illustration, the concept is still clear. I would like to incorporate this approach of using a range of formats into my work to achieve the interactive outcome I desire. 

The 'Open your mind!' campaign inspired me to start thinking more visually as prior to this I was quite unsure about the approach I wanted to take for my final outcome in. In terms of my process, I was at the point where I had chosen a slogan: 'Disable the sign' I then decided to merge this with the tfl 'baby on board' badge. I found this process of taking inspiration from different sources and applying it to my project helpful as it kick started my visual responses and helped me work towards a final outcome. 

Comics unmasked

British Library 

Prior to attending this exhibition I assumed it would be about superheroes and comics and I saw it as a fun break from my fmp. To my surprise it was the complete opposite of my expectations as I found out really interesting information. It was very fascinating to experience the history behind the comic and it's different formats.The collective that particularly surprised me the most where the 'Right and Wrongs' which highlighted how comics can be used to inform and persuade individuals in a non aggressive manner. In relation to my fmp, this caused me to consider the tone I would like to take in my campaign as it is a very important factor in the communication process. 

Pick Me Up 

Somerset House 

               

After the Comics Unmasked exhibition, I attended the Pick Me Up Graphic Arts Festival. I like the concept behind this show as it is a good way to get people's work out. In terms of the work, I think I viewed the exhibition from the perspective of what caught my eye. I noticed I felt more inclined to have a closer look is the piece(s) were colourful, 3D and different in the sense that I did not know how it was done. (what materials were used) This got me thinking more about how the materials used influence the viewers reaction to the piece. 

Overall, both exhibitions were helpful as I found a way to use it to influence my fmp which made the most of the vists. In terms of my action plan, I am still behind as I thought I would have been further along in the design process. The goal I am setting myself in order to catch up is to spend this coming week experimenting and developing. (working towards creating a mock-up) I aspire to have a visual of what my final outcome is going to look like. 

FMP: week 4

In order to make sure I remain on track, I decides to write myself a project brief. I found this very helpful as rather than thinking about everything and confusing myself with an information overload, I just broke down the information in a manner that both I and a viewer will understand. 

Brief

Concept:

The intention of this project is to explore and visually communicate the perception of what people think living with a disability is like versus the reality of it.

Client: Scope, based on their campaign: ‘See the person not the disability’.

Purpose/Intent:

To provide information in an interactive format, more than ‘just a poster’. This concept will work because it will enlighten viewers, as it will shed light on the misguided perceptions many individuals have.

Target audience:

Adults (18+) I decided to choose this audience as although it is a seemingly broad group my reasoning behind doing so justifies it. An audience of 18+ are individuals who need their perceptions to be changed as they have been socialised to think in a certain way, which is in contrast to the children of today who are socialised differently.

Format:

I intend to create an advertising campaign that features an installation. In addition to this I also intend to design 2D formats such as a poster, leaflet and other appropriate media. I believe this approach will work because it will treat the subject in a new/fresh way by exploring it in a more interactive way.

Primary research: questionnaire 

1. In your opinion, what do you think it is like living with a mental illness? 
2. Do you think individuals who have a mental illness have freedom?
3. What emotion(s) do you associate with having a mental illness?
4.  What emotion(s) do you feel towards individuals that have a mental illness?
5. What image(s) come to mind when you hear/read the words 'mentally ill'?
6. In addition to these images, if any. Do any colours come to mind?

Ad campaign research 

Leo Burnett London: BITC ban the box campaign.

(Creative Review blog)

I stumbled upon this campaign and found it linked quite well to my project as it shares the idea that when you find out something about someone (in this case a prison record) most of the time you automatically change your perception of them/ use that thing to define them. In this context, the defining factor limits the individual as it presents them from getting a job although they are eligible candidates, based on the qualifications needed. This caused me to think about how far people's perceptions of having a disability limits the individual at hand. Rather than simply having a general perception versus reality, it would be more interesting both visually and contextually to have it in different scenarios. For example: employment, transportation, friendship, social settings etc. 

    

  

Visually, the execution of this campaign is great as it has the element of surprise. The viewer expects to read a normal cv and is taken by surprise as it is the thoughts of the interviews .(the reaction upon finding out the candidate has a prison record) The use of typography is interesting as it is very simple/formal which is a stark contrast to the content. 

The link to my project was confirmed when I read this comment which caused me to consider how far I could push my project.

BITC Ban The Box campaign

Scope: See the person not the disability

I chose to base my fmp on the 'See the person not the disability' campaign because I like the existing visuals/ concepts as this campaign does not take the sympathy approach. However, I believe I can push it further and incorporate my ideas into it.

     Overall, I thought this week was my most productive as it was a lot more focused in terms of my research. The downside however is that I still haven't  started designing which means I am slightly behind. Nevertheless, as I am clear on the approach I would like to take with my project, I do not feel worried. In order to progress better/ quicker the research I carry out needs to be aided by experimentation/ visualisation. I need to be bold and start the design process.