Project Report Tilly Butters OUIL505
Proposal To create a range of illustrated products centred around a loose leaf tea business. The theme of the illustrations are taken from the Chinese book ‘Journey to the West’ . The aim was to step away from traditional tea packaging and illustrate something that connected with my style. The book if full of strange animal like characters, which will be the face of the company. The business should have the ability to expand, using the illustrations on a variety of products as the business grows.
When starting this module, I had every intention of working with ceramics and other traditional methods of image making, such as screen print and lino. I went straight to the workshops and asked for a ceramic induction, which was arranged and I completed the following week. I really enjoyed the induction, however, I didn’t realise how long it would actually take for my items to be fired in the kiln. It was weeks before the first firing. I then had an induction to glaze what id made, but only half of it was there when I came to do this. Things seem to go missing down there, and it all started to seem a little impractical for this module. After it was all glazed and fired I was left with 3 items, as all of the others had gone missing. I was angry at first, but then thought it was best I change my idea. I couldn't work to someone else’s time schedule, I never would have got it done in time. I would still like to continue exploring this area within my practice, but it wasn’t suitable this time round.
I knew I wanted to study Chinese culture, or a topic within this, but at first this was a very vague idea and I started to explore possibilities within this. I think starting with something so broad was a very bad idea, because I had no focus and no direction. I kept hoping something would come from just working within this theme, but it was far too broad.
After a while I decided to look into Chinese myths and legends. This instantly gave me more direction. I wasn’t certain how or where I was going to apply this at this point in time, as the ceramics idea had just fallen through. My aim was to make as much work as possible and then consider where it could be applied. I needed a solid starting point, but I still felt all over the place. Concentrating on myths and legends was much better than how I started, but the complexity and breadth of possibilities was enormous, and I felt like very very lost. Unfortunately this continued for much longer than I had hoped. I worked on this particular story, but struggled to see the bigger picture with it, and see where it could be applied.
After struggling for quite a while, I had a tutorial with Ben, who told me to look at the Chinese story ‘Journey to the West’. I started to read bits from the book and rough the characters. At first I found it really difficult to understand the story and what it was all about, but after time I realised that it didn't matter too much, that I was making the work to be applied, and that was the most important thing. Unfortunately this took me a while to understand, which meant I had a lot of work to do towards the end, but I worked really hard and I think it paid off.
Once I had my idea and theme, it was easier to think about where this could be applied. After a few tutorials and group crits, I decided to apply my illustrations to loose leaf tea packaging. There’s a lot of Chinese roots within this, and also I think there’s a large gap in the market for this. People are starting to become a lot more conscious and aware of being healthy, and the teas I would be promoting would be just that. Given that I have a history working with loose leaf tea, and that I have a friend who is an incredible tea merchant, I didn't think it would be too difficult. I thought about working with gouache, but I thought it would be too time consuming and I needed all the time I had to apply my images.
Admittedly, it took me far too long to get stuck into this project. And I was pretty lost with it all until the last week. My ideas were all over the place and I wasn’t happy with any of the work I was creating. I very nearly changed my idea very close to the end, but Ben convinced me to stick with what I was doing, and after talking to him I started to realise why.
I finally started to make some work that I was happy with, that suited my style and my personality. I think id let the other modules take up most of my time, and I wasn’t focusing on what I wanted to achieve. I got the brush pen out again and started to draw on everything. This was a big turning point for me because I finally had confidence in my work again.
Once I had 4 illustrations that I was really happy with, I started to mock up tea boxes and apply my images where necessary. I was really happy to finally be at this stage. If drawings needed to be edited or changed in order to fit the packaging, I had the time to either create a whole new drawing or revise the first one.
The final packaging was difficult to design. My strengths definitely don’t stretch as far as graphic design, but after numerous attempts, I was left something I was quite pleased with. Instead of designing packaging for an already established company, I thought I would try to create my own, and brand it myself.
Designing posters was also something that I had to practice during this module. I decided to design posters as a way of promoting the business, and getting the illustrations on as many items as possible. I tried to make them as eye catching as possible, and I think the strange characters helped this as well as the colours and textures.
The merchandise I created would be to promote the business further. If it were to expand, it could potentially become a café as well as other things, and the employees could wear the clothing as a casual uniform. This would expand the potential customers, if you didn't like tea, you could always get a cool jumper. The materials I would use for said clothing and bags would be eco-‐ friendly, keeping my values at the core of what I do. I think I would also print to order, so that there’s minimal waste from what I do.
I made a hot dog book that could essentially be used as a tea menu for people that don’t know much about loose leaf tea. If the business were to expand, the number of teas I would sell would increase, which would make it easier to categorize each tea. If I had 3 or 4 categories, for example, ‘green’ ,‘fruit’, ‘white tea’ and ‘rooibos’, I would be able to make separate editions of this book, with separate illustrations representing each tea. If you tried a tea you loved and couldn't’t remember the name, you could reference the illustrations instead. People remember things much more when an image accompanies the product.
The idea of the tea cards is to inform people of what they are drinking. They include a little history, a summary of the taste and flavours and some of the ingredients. Each tea box would include 2 cards, the one that’s been purchased and a ‘Why not try…?’ card. Having something tangible is always an added bonus. Customers might want to collect the cards as they try the teas, or could give to their friends to persuade them to try it. Its something that you don’t get with your average tea, which makes it a little more special.
End of Module Evaluation OUIL505 This module has been challenging. I didn’t get my time management right at all, and I really struggled because of this. My initial ideas were all over the place. I think, for me, there was too much free reign, and instead of having one great idea, I had hundreds of not so bad ones that just didn’t seem to work out. I had every intention of incorporating ceramics into my practice during this module, but after giving this a go, and realising that it takes weeks and weeks for things to be done in the workshop, I realised that this wasn’t practical, and wouldn’t have been a good idea to be so reliant on someone else’s schedule. This set me back a little, because ceramics was the only thing I was certain about. I thought that if the ceramics worked, everything else would fall into place. Choosing my own topic to illustrate was really difficult for me, because at the start of this module, I wasn’t sure what I was passionate about, or what interested me enough to work on for a long period of time. If I was given the module now, after completing responsive and context of practice, I think my subject would have been completely different. I tried to add my values in wherever possible, but the subject as a whole wasn’t something that interested me. Over time, I started to enjoy what I was doing, but I spent a large chunk of this module kicking myself for being so stupid. I panic when given the option to take a project anywhere, that’s why I wanted to do illustration, its brief led and direct. However, I’ve learnt so much about myself in the last few months, and I don’t think it would scare me quite as much anymore. It took me a very long time to finalise what I was doing, but once I had, it was a lot easier to seek help and advice from my peers and tutors. Towards the end of the module, this was something that I valued greatly, and that pushed my work in the right direction. I had avoided seeking help for so long that I became very lost and angry about my work. But after talking to the tutors, I felt so much better, and it gave me the inspiration I had needed the whole time. I shan’t wait in the future, I will ask for help as soon as its needed.
When it came to applying my illustrations to packaging and various other products, it all started to make sense to me. I was so lost in ideas prior to this, that the whole point of the module seemed to escape my brain. When I finally had some work that I was happy with, I started to make tea boxes, and started to think about how and where they would fit in the market, and what else could accompany them etc. Mocking these up was really enjoyable and quite exciting, as you envision it in the real world. I effectively created my own potential business, as I was creating packaging for loose leaf tea, which there’s a huge gap in the market for. I tried to use my skills from Life’s a Pitch to think about how I would promote the business, how it could grow, where it would work best and what the customers would want. These were all things that factored into my decision making, which was really refreshing and quite interesting to me. Although I struggled greatly at the start of this module, I feel like I’ve come a long way, and I’ve learnt so much from my mistakes and my struggles. Understanding myself and what I’m capable of is something that I’m slowly learning. I’m starting to have opinions and views on things as well as becoming passionate about things, and I think this will naturally feed into my practice in the future. The prospect of an open brief isn’t as daunting to me now as it was at the start, and I’m becoming far more confident within my work.