PROJECT REPORT Megan Ojari OUIL505
RESEARCH
INITIAL THOUGHTS I knew I wanted to work in the Retail and Packaging section, as I feel my work tends to aid itself toward more commercial, patterns based outcomes. I also wanted to see how I could apply my practice to real life products to see how I could work in the creative industry after graduation.
TOPIC CHOICE Choosing a topic was quite difficult for me, until I heard a fellow student talk about how they wanted to do something with a cause and I began to think about what mattered to me. Immediately I thought of cover up creams, as they are something I have been offered due to me having vitiligo, yet I was reluctant to use them because of the stigma of how they don’t instil confidence in the user. I found having the condition really affected me emotionally, and I took a huge hit on my confidence due to the physical appearance of them. The idea that I would be able to help other people suffering with the skin condition to feel better mentally about their appearance. I wanted to focus on creating a fun, vibrant, packaging to be used on the Veil cover up cream range, in collaboration with the Changing Faces charity. I also drew inspiration from the beautiful shapes and forms of rosacea, vitiligo and psoriasis to make strong, empowering pattern based illustrations. My aim was to create illustrations which are transferable to other promotional goods, which may be sold to raise funds for the charity and raise awareness of the conditions.
SKETCHES INITIAL SKETCHES I started this project in a way that I never have before and exhaustively drew the shapes of the stimuli I wanted to study. Because I knew early on that I wanted to work primarily with shape, it was really beneficial to just jump in and draw loads of shapes.
WORKING WITH SHAPE Whilst drawing the skin conditions I created shapes which strongly reminded me of flowers, and since my project is about promoting the beauty of these skin conditions, I decided to compare the two motifs. Also, vitiligo is most often segmental, meaning that it is mirrored down the body, similar to that of a butterflies wings, so I decided to incorporate those shapes too. Whilst I was drawing and developing, I noticed even more of the similarities between these shapes. This made me want to create final illustrations which reflected the relationship between these shapes, and the beauty they all hold.
DEVELOPMENT INITIAL STRUGGLES I was initially fairly stuck on how to develop my body of work, but after tutorials and peer feedback sessions, I decided to just play around with shape or see what images I could pro- duce. By using cut paper and gouache, I was able to explore more solid colours within my shape illustrations. During this stage, I relied heavily on feedback from others on how to proceed, as well as how my process fits with my in- tent and proposal. However, I feel this is a good way to work whilst I have the support network, as it definitely develops my practice.
MOVING TO PRINT My next steps were to expand my use of media, so I did some fairly quick experimental mono-printing. Whilst in the print room I found a silver ink, which I decided to use as I felt it would offer a more luxury feel to my outcomes, like some of the packaging I had previously seen in Oliver Bonas. I really liked my print outcomes, as I felt the mimicked the very permanent pigment, or lack of, within the condition of vitiligo. I also really liked to strong contrast of colours, and the use of negative space, but I needed to ensure that my later work was a lot crisper and professional, as this would be how my illustrations are presented. The main lesson I took from this exercise was how much of a difference the media makes on a piece of work, as the transparencies and overlaps reveal a much bigger story than the collages ever could.
COLLAGE ROUGHS I again tried a new method, where I developed roughs in the form of cut paper, using colours from discarded print texture in the print room. I liked the outcome of these, as the texture ensured that they weren’t flat pieces, and held a certain amount of handmade quality to them. I also really enjoyed the layering process of this method, as I was able to quickly and easily move the components around before landing on permanent compositions which I wanted to progress with.
TIME CONCERNS During this stage I became very concerned about the amount of time and work left to do, as I had been spending a lot of time on other modules. Yet this project, and the purpose behind it meant so much to me on a personal level, and I really wanted to work on this throughout. This motivation ensured that I didn’t fall behind as much as I could. I need to ensure that I work on my projects evenly, whether or not I have as much of an intense interest as I do in this project. I considered at this stage just using my collage roughs and scanning them in to use as my finals. But I decided that since this was the big project of the year, and I really enjoyed it, I would go for it and try to get outcomes I wanted, and felt were to the professional standard I was trying to achieve.
FINISHING PLANS In order to develop a strong set of final prints, I spent some time roughing out my compositions and revisiting my illustrations in gouache. I collected more shapes from my original drawings and negative spaces from my cut outs to add more layers of interest to my paintings and create a deeper story. I also looked at how I could appropriate my work to fit with packaging, through creating small motifs to use on the lid of the boxes to help promote mental well being within people who use the products.
DEVELOPING PRINTS I again explored what different types of media I could use, this time between china markers and cut paper. I found that cut paper created a much more non-uniform feel to the shapes, and retains their friendly, welcoming vibe. I ensured that the prints I made all had a point of difference from one another, and therefore focused them on three different skin conditions, rosacea, vitiligo and psoriasis. I then juxtaposed these with my developed imagery from the other stimuli. I found this way of creating outcomes ensured that I didn’t get board, yet ensured that they were still extremely cohesive, which fits with the intent of using them for packaging.
FINAL OUTCOMES PRINTING PROCESS Again I struggled with the amount of time I had available to me to work in print room, and I had to devote my days to working in there. I had to work quickly and efficiently to ensure I got all the prints completed, but because my illustrations are pattern based, they were quite forgiving in the registration process. I also struggled a lot with mixing the inks, as I couldn’t get the pink transparent enough, and the tone I ended up with was a lot paler than I had intended, but I think this works well to represent skin tine colours.
FINAL OUTCOMES My final outcomes, I feel, represent of intent my proposal to create a fun and vibrant range of illustrations, which can be applied to packaging for cover up creams. I also like how I have included a fair amount of negative space, as this highlights the difference between pigments in skin, which is what is affected by vitiligo. My main concerns with the finished outcomes is the vibrancy of the yellow dominated prints, as I feel that it is slightly too bold, and doesn’t fit in with the other four illustrations. However, the difference of the amounts of each colour in the prints does extend the outcomes into more of a range, which is far more useful in context.
FINAL APPLICATIONS
FINAL APPLICATIONS In order to get a clear overview of my finished applications, I decided to physically mock up my illustrations onto boxes, which I would then print and construct. I created a net on illustrator then photo-shopped my designs onto them. I found the illustrator net workshops from the beginning of the year immensely helpful here, as I was able to refer back to my blog post about it to refresh my memory on the process. I decided to use physical mock ups because I found it extremely difficult to find a digital mock up of the right size which showed the inside lid of the product, which is integral to my final design. Seeing my final illustrations mocked up in this way was a really good lesson in thinking about the appropriateness of my designs, and how they could function in a practical sense. I am really proud of my final outcomes, and although I realise I could have spent more time focusing on the text, my role as an illustrator doesn’t demand this skill too often. However, it is something I will have to work on in the future.
INTENT The main intent behind the application onto boxes was to show my purpose to empower women using cover up creams, and not feel as if wearing them is something shameful and ‘fake’. I included elements of text to help offer confidence to the user in a gentle, humorous way. Unfortunately, I forgot to add the text linking to Changing Faces onto the printed out net, but I have added this post photo shoot in Photoshop onto my final images, as it is a vital point in the campaign. I feel that these final applications reflect well the intent to turn cover up cream packaging into a more accessible product, which feels less medicinal and more like an appealing, regular make up brand.
OTHER APPLICATIONS FURTHER APPLICATIONS I also thought about how I could extend my applications into further purposes. I decided that a branded bag would be useful to both promote and package the goods. I also thought of ways my illustrations could raise money for Changing Faces, such as through selling tote bags and prints. In addition, I considered how my designs could work in a far more functional manner, of being informative posters, perhaps displayed in GP surgeries.
APPROPRIATENESS I put in a lot of thought as to how to extend my applications whilst still staying relevant to the cause. I feel that the shopping bag is a logical extension of the brand, and would increase it’s market appeal. I also thought that selling goods would be a really ethical way of raising funds for the charity, as well as celebrating the beauty of these conditions. Finally, the creation of attractive posters would help sufferers to understand the condition and feel less frightened, and would hopefully dispel some preconceptions held by people who don’t have the conditions.
EVALUATION At the start of this project I was really lost about what to focus on, as although I immediately knew I wanted to work within Packaging and Retail, I also was inspired by last years’ outcomes and wanted to make something with a real ethical purpose. I was conflicted about how to make packaging which also had an important cause. However, once I really thought about the problems and issues I faced, it struck me to work on packaging for camouflage creams, as I suffer from vitiligo and found it very difficult to deal with at the start. I was also very daunted by the existing professionalism of packaging which already exists. However, by the end of the project, I was far more confident in my ability to work on applications of my practice, and how to present my work professionally. I feel that because I was so emotionally invested in my topic, I kept a momentum and care throughout. One of the main learning points to this module for me was the research aspect, as I found myself really enjoying immersing myself in primary and secondary research, and learning more about my chosen topic. My research also led me to really invest a lot of time into the project, from the library, internet and practical visits, as it gave me a strong purpose as I really wanted to solve a very real problem. I also learnt a lot about setting my own brief, and developing a project which has enough content and purpose to form a valuable body of work. Another skill I learnt was the practical creation of nets through the workshops, which I used in this
project, and feel will definitely be useful in my future creative career. The applications of my work was also an important learning curve, as working to a sensitive brief with very precise requirements was something new to me, as I had a lot of fun creating the work, yet still restricted myself a lot to the practicalities of applying them to real world contexts. One of the most enjoyable aspects to me was the process of creating images, as this is the first project where I didn’t focus on the ‘correct’ way to work and just followed my interests, meaning I felt a lot freer, and developed looser, more characterful shapes from cut paper. I feel this was due to me writing my own brief, so I felt that I was creating work to please myself, which I realised is supposed to be the main reason for these modules, which has been a real breakthrough for me this year. I also reiterated how much I love the screen print process, and I will definitely continue this process throughout next year. The feedback throughout this module was also really helpful, as it helped me a lot during the formation of an idea, as well as the practical creation and reflection on my work. I was really pleased with my feedback in my final crit, as I feel I have put a lot of effort and energy into this project, and to see it reflected back by others really made me feel like I have succeeded in working towards a set of accomplished prints. I also was able to really use my blog to its best effects through constantly reflecting on my progression and plan ahead for the module.
Some of the things I could have done better are due to time constraints, as even though I timetabled myself appropriately, in order to finish tasks in other modules, I did neglect this module at times, as I knew I could complete it near the end. This however, left me very stressed, meaning I couldn’t finish off the small aspects I had intended to. I also wish I had separated the prints slightly, and worked on one at a time, so that they showed real points of difference, as although they focus on different conditions, I fear they may be too similar in outcomes. However, this does work to unite them as a range, which is appropriate for their purpose. I also could have undertaken more artist research right from the start, as when I did look at the work of others, it inspired me greatly and helped me to progress a great deal. In my future practice, I will ensure I continue the self questioning which has been integral to this project, as, due to being fairly self directed with me as both the client and provider, I have relied upon being my own critic at times to really see what I’m making and its suitability to the brief. I will also be able to transfer my skills in creating design boards and project reports into my future work as an effective way to communicate my journey through the project. One thing which I will have to consider a lot over the next few months I the applications of my work, as I have been fairly lost over the past two years in where my practice sits, but it is starting to become clearer. Therefore, over the summer break I will ensure I really focus on where I want my practice to head. I also have learnt the importance of sharing work, and potential-
ly asking for other practitioners to help with aspects, such as a Graphic Designer helping with type, so that I am focused on the image creation and don’t try to take on too many responsibilities.
Megan Ojari OUIL505