BY KATRINA SCOTT
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p e t O tS R x P e N R d J O k an A bac M ed L e F A , n N o i I t c F e fl e R
F M P P RO P O S A L I N S E M E S T E R 1 P O RT F O L I O Research, Development & Positioning Brief one and two was the starting point in realising who I am, what I want to do, and my interests. I established that I inspired to work in the publishing industry, such as magazines. I identified my strengths, weaknesses and passions, which I then tested out in Brief 3. I have approached this action research brief with an active attitude, to explore the area that originated from the context of digital cultures. This approach is illustrated in the experimental work shown previously in this portfolio. This presented my tests I had applied to a range of techniques and processes, such as illustration, digital and manual photography, collage, adding text to imagery, photo-manipulation, merging images and book binding. Alongside this I visited all of the lectures held by the tutors, I visited the British library, British museum, exhibitions, such as Georgie Meadows: stitched drawings in the Wellcome Collection, I attended the ‘Book As Artefact Talk’, workshops, such as Mette Ambeck on book binding and the writing workshop by Pat Francis, I went to the small publishers book fair and researched using literature sources found in books, the media and the Internet. This wide range of resources used as a research and experimental technique meant I have explored in great depth to help propose an idea for my final major project. It has allowed me to fully discover the area surrounding gender representation in society today and I have found new avenues I had never thought of before.
From my experimentation I realised I am not a strong illustrator, so I feel the best tool for me to use is photography to create my imagery, as that is the skill I have studied at A-level and had the most effective results from. There was a vast amount of different techniques I could do with my photographs after taking the imagery including, sewing, merging, adding hints of colour, ripping, flip book movement and negatives as imagery, so I feel there is a lot of material to work with. I believe all of these techniques in some way can be implemented in the creation of the final FMP. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: I have proposed two ideas that could be used in the process of helping me to create my FMP. Both are linking, but one is more specific and one is more generalised. Both I intend to be a thought provoking publication. Ever since seeing Mike’s work on the dementia campaign, it made me think about designing for a reason. I feel designing with meaning, is most powerful. Over these next three pages I have created a detailed description and reasoning for the ideas I am proposing, to help create my Final Major Project.
BELOW IS THE PLAN OF THE FIRST IDEA: This is aimed to raise awareness and help highlight the current issues from living in a now ‘airbrushed’ society. It is not about changing the use of it; it is about making sure everyone, especially teenagers, are aware of what Photoshop can do and not to look at the imagery as real. To see what you want to see, not what your told to see.
HOW? It is a box containing four publications, which is aimed to be a confidential resource that men can read for awareness and support regarding the affects of the idealistic imagery being projected in society today. I visualise three of the publications being produced professionally and the packaging and one of the publications would be hand-made. WHO? It is specifically targeted at young, adolescent men to convey the message to talk, in order to prevent disastrous consequences and raise awareness of areas of support.
WHY? The idea derived from further looking into the Campaign Against Living Miserably. It stated how men are three times more at risk of suicide than women and 75% of suicides are men. It provides a confidential, anonymous place to contact, as some men find it hard to talk about their feelings, problems and worries. It stated on the ‘The Body Beautiful’ program, ‘80% of men aren’t happy with their appearance’, yet it is always women that campaigns and awareness is targeted at, never men. This was reiterated in my finding from the google searches I undertook. Even though information and statistics suggest how males are just as vulnerable as females, there is no awareness aimed at them, which is why I believe a publication is needed.
BELOW IS THE PLAN OF THE SECOND IDEA: It is aimed to be an educational and thought provoking publication showing gender roles in society and our preconceptions of them. It will explore the past and the present clichĂŠs of men and women, including raising awareness of current issues in society and highlight campaigns that are established to help them.
HOW?
WHY?
I created two different designs in response to this idea. One was in the format of a multi-readable book (shown above, on the left hand side of the plan) that if read one way will explore the gender transition for females and if read the other will illustrate this for men. I foresee this publication to be created in Indesign and then professionally printed. The other format was two concertina books, packaged in a box layout to make a complete set (shown above, on the right side). Both books show the evolution of gender roles in society through imagery and text, one specifically on women and the other on men. From my experience of making a concertina book from brief two, it will have to be created by hand as it is not a conventional book.
After looking at men and how gender preconceptions of them have changed; evolving with the legalisation of homosexuality and men being allowed to show a more feminine side, with some men being just as conscientious of their looks as women. It is now accepted that men, if they want to, can wear makeup and have as much beauty products as women. What I became interested in, from looking into this subject area, is the explorations into gender roles in society and our preconceptions of them now contrasted with past generations. I had looked specifically at men, in terms of our airbrushed culture and men today are still not considered with awareness campaigns. This could be due to the fact that society believes these issues should not affect men, but actually they are just as vulnerable.
WHO? It is aimed at young adolescents, to educate them about the society they live in and the historic background of how we have evolved to present day. It is a photography-based publication, which is an appealing way to represent facts and information for that age group.
Considering these thoughts this idea is intended to be a simple educational publication that is an easy read, while gaining knowledge, information and raising questions about society today. It will show historic and current topics that are fundamental to our society, including the current issues seen in the media, such as our airbrushed culture, binge drinking and equal opportunities.
LOGISTICS:
BELOW IS THE CONSIDERED TIME REQUIREMENTS:
I made a record of how long the different processes had taken me to complete after I had finished them, so I could collate this information to highlight the time required for different techniques. I created a table showing these results, shown right. The table shows the consideration for how long a hand-made book can take, which I found out from taking part in Mette’s workshop. If I was to have it professionally printed, from past experience, I still need to leave around two weeks to make sure it is printed and delivered to me in enough time. I have also researched companies that can print it: Blurb Fast Print Print resources Imex print services Love online print
PROCESS
Photo-shoot
Manual Film Developing and Printing Photoshop Alterations, such as applying hints of colour, adding text and airbrushing the image. Merging In the Darkroom Using Photoshop
INFORMATION
TIME
Conditions: Has to be during the day when using the makeshift photo studio at home.
2-3 hours
Per Film
Up to 4 hours
Per image
On average 30 minutes
Per image to be developed Per image to be created
On average 15 minutes On average 10 minutes
Per image
On average 20 minutes
After creating and printing out the image.
5 minutes
The whole film
1 hour
Based on making a 20 paged hard cover handmade book
On average 5 hours
Research, design and the creation of the PDF:
Over 12 days
Professionally printed at staples:
5 minutes
Research, design and the creation of PDF:
Over 10 days
Hand made, so this includes printing and the making of the concertina book:
1 day
Photo shoot, design and the creation of PDF:
Over 7 days
Hand made, so includes printing and glue-binding together:
1 day
Using 36 stills 9fps to create a 4 second animation.
Photo-shoot was 2 hours combined with making it, the process took 2 and a half hours.
Spiderwize The book Printing Company
Stitching
Printwize Pen Press Publishing Print on Demand Worldwide
Collage / ripping
Manuals2go Booksurge I have created an initial projection of a time line, estimating where I should be at specific points next semester for my FMP. This was based on how long my tested publications had taken me and is displayed at the bottom of this page. REFLECTIVE SUMMARY OF SEMESTER 1: I feel I have produced an in-depth body of work reflecting my journey to realising an intention for my Final Major Project, with the consideration of aims, objectives and logistics. I believe I have gained knowledge of the contemporary professional context surrounding the publishing industry, which I envisage working in. Relating to this area of interest, I tested out and made publications, where I established it was what I wanted to produce for my FMP. I have tested out a range of skills, processes and techniques, which have allowed me to determine time allowances needed for them and an idea for the content of my publication. I finally want to acknowledge my appreciation for the help provided by my third year tutors, which have inspired me to create ideas and progress forward with this semester.
Scanning in the Negatives from film
Book Binding
Making Publications Learnt from Brief 1 (Based on a 10 paged publication)
Learnt from Brief 2 (Based on a hand made concertina book)
Learnt from the negative book (Based on a 36 paged publication)
Stop Frame animation
BELOW IS THE PROJECTED TIME LINE FOR SEMESTER 2:
REFLECTION OF MY F M P P RO P O S A L From reading my constructive feedback from my Research, Development and Positioning Unit, I think I displayed a honest, detailed and in-depth reflection of my journey. This was both on my blog and in my final portfolio, which I aim to continue to produce through this final semester. My experimental and active research approach allowed me to construct a plan for my FMP proposal. I created two ideas, which both reflect the ‘language of beauty’, and the influence of self-image for men and females. However next I need to choose a specific route I wish to take this semester. To help with the selection process, I will test out a few components to see whether it is possible, for example if paper combined with the use of acetate pages can be made and work in a book format. To answer this, I will experiment with hand-making it and inquire at these most suitable companies below: Print resources Benwells Print on Demand Worldwide www.uniprintshop.co.uk I definitely know that the content will be photographic imagery I have created, as I feel this expresses my ideas best and there are also a lot of techniques I can further apply to them to produce interesting, unique imagery. I agree with the feedback I received that I could benefit by editing my work to make it less wordy, as when I want to convey a point I want to explain everything, but I should think about putting my view across in a more concise way. I also concur with the view I should let myself be more reckless and random with my work. When I manipulated the images by loosely tearing and slicing them up it made more enriched and exciting imagery. Shown on the right hand side is my initial thoughts after looking at my feedback and reviewing my FMP proposal.
“Creativity is contagious, pass it on� Albert Einstein
Surrounding myself with other creatives, sharing ideas breeds new ways of thinking and presents alternative points of view on the same subject.