CREATIVE JOURNAL F T 4 1 0 0 1
CHANDRA SCOTT
Contents Macro Trend Promotional Film Fashion Show Invitation Workshop Notes and Trips References
TERM 1
MACRO TREND Covering the wider perspective of society gives designers creative inspiration when curating their pieces, as well as helping the brands needs in order to adapt to the changing times by getting their market right. In addition, this also gives a trend insight into future consumer attitudes. Thorough research is needed in order to unearth predictions of future trends, meaning a range of media is needed; from newspapers, music, online articles and news channels. Looking back, i wished we used a wider range of media as the majority of case studies were taken from online news articles.
Macro trends focuses on the repeating topics and shifts within current society. The changing attitudes and present agenda enables predictions for the next year to be currated. The changing social attitudes are unearthed by focusing on a range of different areas; from politics to art and design and technology.
Reflection Briefed to split into pairs, myself and Claudia teamed up. This was a great pairing as out attributes complimented each other, Claudia being skilled at presenting and creating relevant links, whilst my skill was my creative innovation and researching. Firstly, we divided the areas of research up between us. I focused on Art and Design, Politics and Consumer insights, whilst Claudia focused on Sustainability, Technology and Business Innovation. The differing areas represent the range of topics within society where a hange of ideas and values can be identified.
This allowed us to equally split up the work creating a professional fair environment, however, we both ended up finding case studies within the other partner’s area in which we thought would work better. Meaning we eventually didn’t stick to the seperate research areas however, that skill of teamwork was successful.
A plan was created consisting of all the case studies we we gathered in order to show eachother when we met. However this ended up being shared through email whilst we facetimed due distance in location due to Claudia living on campus and myself living at home. Nevertheless the research plan i made was very helpful itself as it enabled me to identify if there was a varied mix of references. Ensuring to add relevent links helped the other member to be able to quickly find the individual case study.
After deciding upon the case studies we brainstormed key words to then currate the macro theme trend. This name had to link to both concepts as well as being easy to say, and never before heard. We came up with key words as well as using the thesaurus which was immensely helpful as is enabled a vast collection of new trend name idead. However we found it troublesome selecting what words worked best together, as well as what really resonates with our concepts.
This is a case study which we didnt end up using as we found the study had been too overly used especially over platforms. Meaing our macro trend wouldn’t be unique and visionary.
Both having to be happy with the selected name lead to numerous trial names, untill we paired together the perfect one: ‘Unconventional Expression’
Creating the moodboard had to be one of my favourite parts, enabling my creativity in response to the trend to be released. I ensured to collect images corresponding with the trend title, case studies and the keywords from numerous brainstorms made. The paint swipe represents the idea of personal individualisation through expressing views even if they clash with the conservative past values. To link to the sense of positive rebellion from the youth, I overlapped some of the chosen images creating an unorthodox, abstract effect.
Crit Session Having a range of comments from differing views within the class really helped me and Claudia As the moodboard is vastly creative and stands out, many of my fellow class members mentioned that the following concept pages looked dull and plaie, as the background colours didnt lin, as will as a lack of visuals. This meant that me and claudia had to decide on a base theme for the presentation, that being the pale peach colour, to represent the realness of society. In addition we both needed to improve on presenting, knowing the content on the board and presenting in a confident manner. In result to this session, we changed one case study and the concept names, to allow a easy, understandable flow. Therefore the case studies linked better to the concepts, having a domino effect on the presence of our macro trend name. In the crit session the reference page was clearly not completed therefoe we made sure to complete this all from the news articles to the photos used.
However, I realised that some images within the mood board where therefore covered and hard to see. This meant I had to adjust the size of each image, varying them.
The crit session also highlighted to us that we had to meet in person a lot more when completing this project, therfore we decided on dates that would suit us best in order to also practice for the summative exam. Personally i am proud of the work; we were able to mix the creativity of the moodboards, with our research skills . One thing i would change would be explaining why the case study is relevent now especially considering the macro trend is a future prediction.
PROMOTIONAL FILM
Promotional films are there to represent a brand and it’s clothing in order to: show the consumer what they can purchase through attracting them with visuals, garments and range of shots, as well as targeting a specific market through the style of these films.
We put ourselves into groups of 5; Mia, Claudia, Tom and myself. This was the perfect amount for coming up with unique idead however another member would have been great when it came to the videography. However the rest of us were able to help with the video taking from different angles and perspectives, eventually proving successful. We started from turning our macro trend into inspiration for our creative direction, choosing the ‘Unconvetional Expression’ trend as our theme. To do that we had to make a moodboard, so created a pintrest board to pin images including those already on the macro trend presentation i made.
This board has been vastly helpful allowing us to reffer back to these images in a later time for referencing, and to look at the shared ideas and imput from everyone.
We then printed these out and created a cut out moodboard/collage in order for us to reflect on our future digital moodboard.
Like my design of the macro trend moodboard, we layered images over eachother with no clear structure to symbolised the generational view of rebbeling from traditional views. Using tape represents trying to stick society together, confronting the key words written on it. I think this was very successful and creative, especially when linking to expression. However we struggled choosing what words to write bigger than others to signify importance.
From there we decided the appropriate brand to promote in the film had to represent the youth and have a range of clothing styles. Therefore we chose Urban Outfitters, which was a great choice as the items were accessible for all of us to afford. We also watched videos on Lynda.com about shot styled in order to help us with the visuals. As well as watching other brands promotional films for inspiration.
To the right is the list of equiptment used. Our first problem was not shooting with the camera we were briefed too, however we thought our own camera would be better quality (which it did as it ended up end up being 1080p). However, after a few test shots, the camera battery died. This could have been resolved if we brought a portble charger with us or charged it before hand. Yet we problem slved this by using our phones, linking to the idea of current youth culture.
The workshop taught us the uses and simple tips when editing our film. We had to do this through adobe premiere which is ost commonly used, therefore when researching myself, there was a vast ammount of helpful videos on Lynda.com. There i was able to learn how to edit, create jump shots and add capions- all areas which we needed to use for our film.
Proved helpful as this is how the caption making in our film had been made.
Final Outcome
Overall, I was extreemly please with our outcome. The different close up and quick shots presented the youth lead aesthetic we aimed to achieve. I also think the vibrant colours presented on our colour palettewas achieved with the access to clothing as well as help of the weather. However it was noted in our crit session that the use of music with the occasional captioned text proved distracting so we have to further lower the sound of the music what the captions are presented.
CLICK LINK https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=El8q2hoBi4I
OUTTAKES This close up shot of the stripes and chains didn’t end up working out due to the lack of direct sun supply as the modles were faced away from the sun. This caused light rays to bounce off the lense, which whilst looks stylish and modern, was not what we wanted. A clear image is needed as it’s a promotional film, therefore garments need to be seen. Eventually, I directed the models to turn towards the sun instead. Positioning in this take was the dilemma as both outfits aren’t clear tobe seen, as well as this only being shot from the back. We should have had an extra videographer taking a shot from the other perspective and create quick jump shots between the two. However i did like the use of orange ons within the outfits and the actual surrounding.
Another light problem lead to this shot not being included. This outtake ended up being too overexposed due to the videographer taking the shot from the side of the direct sunlight. Therefore the shadows and the (usually helpful) direct sunligh created a contrast. We should have then told the videographer to shoot this from in front of the model, as well as focusing the camera on the model.
FASHION SHOW INVITE As SS19 London Fashion week had only recently occurred, our next brief surrounded creating a fashion invitation for a chosen fashion designer. That designer had to have presented their collection at this year’s London Fashion week. In addition to this specification, the invite had to be hand-collaged. I interpreted this as replicating the hands on approach designers have when curating their garments. When hearing about collage, I was inspired by Mimmio Rotella and Quentin Jones. I found the contrasting intersections of the white oer the black a great effect, eventually used in my invite
Choosing a SS19 designer from the recent London Fashion Week shows, we were briefed to design a fashion show invite for this certain designer. Heavy research was taken out in order to present the designer and collection within the invitation, as well as insuring it was a unique creation.
I decided on David Koma, a London based designer who is known for imbedding costume look pieces with a fashionable kick according to Vouge’s coverage. I created brainstorms before and after choosing the designer, which helped portray my thought process.
He was inspired by early 21st centuary cinematography of Pedro Almodóvar’s films, as well and flamenco dancing and spanish culture . The theme behind these three inspirations highlighted a sense of old values, and vintage meaning. Rustic look of the titleed text, emphasises vintage feel. Collage overlaying the main subject image
Ripped paper look effect giving it an anique feel, yet the red portrays a sense of class The first half of his collection focused upon black and green tones, whilst the second half included reds, whites and purples
Watching the trailer inspired e, helping me see the appreciation of the spanish culture through the cinematography, which reflects this ss19 collection
I then created a visual representation of how David Koma’s fashionable pieces would link tino the inspirations of spanish culture and dancing by overlappying transparent flamenco dancer visuals. This gave a great effect however i think the green and red in this clashes, therefore i overcame this and decided that black red and white would be the main colour palette. All I needed to incorperate was the link towards cinematgraphy. Thats when i came up with the idea of the invitation being on an old vsh tape, which was easily available for me to find in my home.
As mentioned, to represent vintage cinematography, I used a VHS tape and box as the main medium. This meant that i needed opaqe enough materials to cover and wrap around the casing which deemed a problem as i had gotten an almost similar to wrapping paper material. I couldn’t layer this cover as the glue was seeping through the material quite rapidly, causing air bubbles. To resolve this i took my ruler and scrapped them all down, however this caused a slight tear. Fortunately i had thicker card to use for the coloured collage. I used a newspaper cut out of a model in a flowey outfit, almost mimicking Koma’s creaition. It being black and white intensifies the vintage atmosphere. Sticking the card to the plastic VHS itself was roblamatic as the glue was unfortunately not strong enough.
CRIT SESSION The crit session for this project was my first experience of a crit, enabling me to percieve the range of both positive and negative opinions towards my work, to help me better it. I was told that to improve i needed to ensure my written text is enlarges, so the attende is able to read the actuall information. In addition i had to include the address and time of when the catwalk show would be. I used a black ink pen to ensure the corrections looked professional and easy to read. I wish i added more designs and collage to the back however realised that if I did, the actual VHS tape would not be able to fit inide the case- one of the dilemas.