My feelings about…
DRAWING: you can’t do anything creative without drawings. It isn’t just a pencil in hand, making marks on paper. Drawing can be any mark making with any medium, whatever you like. But one thing is certain, it’s a way of visually communicating your thoughts, and this is especially important when developing ideas.
3D: I like working in 3D, especially when it comes to final pieces/ outcomes. I like pieces you can walk around, touch, smell and interact with. With my research project, the final mink cage that I made was a success, and it was much better than just presenting photographs, because when you looked into the cage, you saw yourself trapped in that cage. This feeling/ atmosphere is something you can’t show as well through photographs. Also with one of my books (the old one) it had the texture the smell, the weight and you could pick the book up and read through it. All of this you just can’t capture as well through photographs.
PHOTOGRAPHY: a lot of my work looked a lot better un my portfolio when they were photographed well… You can enhance work, make it look better and play around with photoshopping. I definitely did a lot of this because I know it can look really good… and I’m good at it. My “A versus B” and “number 32” project both had photoshopped final pieces and they were a huge success. But also photography has featured heavily through my sketchbooks and blog to map out my development.
FILM: I’ve never tried to use film before. Its something I’d like to try because it’s a great way to represent feelings, emotions, reactions, documenting real-life and creating an atmosphere. You can also use sound, which is a great way to create an atmosphere, and provoke your viewer to feel a certain emotion.
ANIMATION: I enjoyed creating stop motions. Its something that takes a very long time, especially when you’re just taking photographs of every movement, but its so worth it at the end. For me, stop motion animations tend to have a less serious, more comical mood to them compared to film.
TYPOGRAPHY: I really enjoyed the typography project, until it got to the type and image bit. I’m not very good at combining type and image! But I am good at layouts and precision. I think type, if used correctly, is very important for communication, but it can also ruin pieces if its not perfect. Even the slightest alteration can make a huge difference.
BOOK ARTS: I loved the book arts project. We were given a very simple brief that meant we could really push the definition of a book. Because it was so vague I had difficulty coming up with ideas, especially as there were so many book titles we could use. But once I got the ideas, I really enjoyed the actual making bit. I think I liked this project so much was because I actually got to handcraft everything. I get a lot of satisfaction from hand making things from scratch, because the work is very much your own and original.
WORDS/LANGUAGE: unless type is one of the main elements of your work, words aren’t always necessary. I enjoy the difficulty of trying to convey a message/story without words. Sometimes words can really ruin a piece of work. i.e. the narrative project the actual story accompanied with out visual representation would have ruined the piece. You don’t need to tell the viewer what its about, they can work it out themselves.
RESEARCH: research is SO important! The more information, ideas, articles, opinions…etc. you have to support your work, the better the idea/final message you are trying to communicate becomes. My research project was by far my most successful project because I got very into it, and the project became very personal, and I wanted to really communicate a strong message so people would understand how I was feeling. I also learnt that you need to vary your research, so not just use facts from the Internet and books. But use the public, use opinions, read articles, visit galleries...etc. And most important of all… you HAVE to be interested in what you’re researching.
USING DIFFERENT PROCESSES: this is the best way to find out what process best suits the message you are trying to communicate. Plus experimenting with different processes shows variation, and you might discover something new that works perfectly with what you’re doing.
1 DAY PROJECTS: I like having deadlines and time limits because it makes me focus and I just do it there and then, and keep on top of things. The one day project was great because I was simple, we had one task to do, and the exact right amount of time to do it.
2 WEEK PROJECTS: This is enough time to come up with a good, concise, well researched project and a final piece to communicate the message. 2 weeks isn’t long, so you stay focused because you don’t have enough time to waste, everything you do counts. Its not like A-level where you have over 2 months, so you can get away with missing weeks. I like working in short spaces of time. You stay focused!
IS IT MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU THAT YOUR WORK IS HUMOROUS, INFORMATIVE, SHOCKING OF BEAUTIFUL?
I think each of these elements are as important as each other. Maybe not all at the same time, but it could be done!
Sometimes its is difficult to make something humorous, with a shocking and informative message, because you’re not taken as seriously. But if it is done well, you can pull it off. I like humorous work; I don’t believe that everything has to be taken so seriously all the time. Maybe the beauty or the shock factor attracts the viewer at first then the humorous side to it makes them laugh, and like the work more, and then finally the informative message is what resonates with them.
HOW INTERESTING DO YOU FIND WRITING A BLOG?
I reflect on my work in far more depth with my blog. Because there is a possibility that other people might be reading it, I make it easy to follow my process, so that everyone can understand what’s going on. And when I’m typing, I discover new things/ lessons I learnt, and I reflect back to my blog all the time for this. Also I find it easy to write on a blog pretty rapidly because I type how I speak. So everything on here is very colloquial, just like how I would type on Facebook or instant messenger... I guess that’s why I’m quite quick at blogging (too much time spent on Facebook!)
WHICH PROJECTS HAVE YOU ENJOYED?
My favourites were the research project because I got so involved with the meaning and because it was a serious topic, and a true story. I really wanted to communicate that message in the best way possible. Also the brief was SIMPLE. Research your animal, and communicate something you have discovered about your animal.
I also enjoyed the book arts project because of the handcrafted element. Actually being able to hand make stuff was the best part.
And the typography project, because it was a simple task and hand drawing the different layouts was very therapeutic.
WHICH PROJECTS HAVE YOU LOATHED?
I didn’t enjoy the “30 things” and “Can snails draw?” because I didn’t understand what the point/outcome was. I really wasn’t interested in it at all.
WHEN PRESENTED WITH A BRIEF, HOW DO YOU GET STARTED?
I always start with a mind map of ideas, because then I can find a starting point for my research. There is always one branch off the mind map that is bigger, and this is where I start.
I could start with looking at existing work, according to the project titlem but sometimes I find myself looking at irrelevant existing work. But it is good to be influenced by other people’s work.
DURING THE COURSE OF PART 2, HAS YOUR APPROACH TO BRIEF CHANGED?
Some of these briefs are quite specific, which I like, because I know ehere the boundaries are, and you know how far you can push these. So yes because they are more specific, my approach has changed.
DO YOU USE ALL YOU RESOURCES? WHERE ELSE COULD YOU LOOK?
I’ve not used any of the printing facilities at all! I ought to try them out, especially screen-printing and letterpress, because the work I’ve seen produced looks great! And you get the texture and hand done element you can’t capture with computers. I need to stop just using paper, computer…boring stuff and experiment!
WHICH PARTS OF YOUR DESIGN OR REALISATION PROCESS WOULD BENEFIT FROM GREATER ATTENTION/CONSIDERATION?
Artist research/being influenced from existing artist’s work. I’ve admittedly done hardly any contextual research in my projects. I forgot how important it is, because it can influence/provoke amazing ideas.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT CRITS?
Feedback from classmates and tutors is really important for developing your work further. I’ve learnt a lot of things through crits that I’ve used in the following projects. Plus crits are great for getting a second opinion on something. Positive feedback makes you feel great about your work, and negative feedback helps you learn what to do next. Sometimes I prefer to have more negative feedback, so that I have things to work on to develop the work further! Crits/meetings should be more regular than just at the end of a project. Maybe once a week, so you can get feedback to help you along with your project.
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACHIEVE IN THE COURSE OF YOUR FMP?
I want to produce something that has a very strong message that might even change the way people think about something. I want my work to CAUSE A CHANGE.
The backup work is going to be in a lot of depth, and I have to enjoy the project (what it is about) so that my research and development is the best it can get. I want my work to stand out. Its going to adventurous, and hopefully I’ll try to use/ do some of the things I’ve said in this reflection. i.e. film, using the printing facilities..etc.
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