Summative Evaluation
I started off this project
aiming to create a makeup bag filled with empowering images and quotes for
women, used to make up a pattern like those of William Morris. After lots of
discussions with peers and tutors I decided to simplify the practical nature of
my work as it would take a long time to create and may not be accurate in
spreading the message of empowerment to as many women as possible; instead I
decided to create postcards with individual inspirational women on each one so
that people could buy them and send them to their friends. As they are a small
size they can be used in many ways such as pinning up on noticeboards or
framing for decoration.
I decided to use a quote
from each woman on the flip side along with any contact details such as twitter
accounts so that the audience could get interactive with the product and the
women. I really liked this as I feel it really helps to bring feminism and girl
power into modern day reality. I wanted to use modern day women, not just the
old fashioned feminists of the Suffragette days. These women of course should
be celebrated as they were creating the way for our human rights as women that
we have today; but the women I focused on are highlighting the issues in our
society today and fighting for our rights against a more sly misogyny. They
also are totally inspirational in how they live their lives and path the way
for other women in their careers and personal choices.
I decided to use a colour scheme
of pink and really girly colours, incorporating this with floral designs, which
are all typical of products for women; this time however I want to show this in
a positive light. Not in a way that undermines women to just a pink wimp but to
embrace why we are represented as flowers; the power and importance of nature
and the life that it represents and how pink reflects many positive attributes
as well as these girls reclaiming it to represent their own traits.
Women are totally
under-represented in the media, so we have totally wrong conceptions of them.
People are shocked that you like camping if you have bright pink nails. My aim
was to change this.
I used my sketchbook to
really investigate and research into typically girly designs which most often
are floral and pink. Pink was linked to girls after blue was used to deter the
devil from boys; girls were not feared to be targeted by the devil, instead
they were dressed in pink as legend had it they were born from the inside of a
rose. I wanted to show girls embracing the power of the natural world and of
womanly things and loving being women!
I wanted to include a quote
on one side and an image on the other so the receiver can choose which they
would prefer shown, or they can change it round when they like. I wanted to
give my work and really hand-made and intricate girly feel. I wanted this to be
pro-women, feminism today; not restrictive and serious but open minded, free,
relaxed and natural to all women! I wanted to express this by using hand drawn
felt tip processes and a girly colour scheme.
I used my sketchbook to
experiment and investigate with random imaginary designs that I could use to
collage on Photoshop for the background of my postcards. I really wanted them
to be hand drawn and doodle-y like in the styles of my artist researches Hattie
Stewart and the influences of the multiple artists in Rookie Magazine. I used
reds and pinks to fit to my theme but I also just used random imagery that is
frequently used when girls doodle in school; flowers, eyes, hearts etc, as well
as being influence by the more structural designs of William Morris and the
Liberty London fabric designs.
For the reverse side I was
really inspired by old antique style postcards. I wanted to give them a handmade
crafty feel so I used felt tips and free hand to draw the lines etc. I think it
does look a bit messy but hopefully it still works for my concept; if I were to
do this again I would probably use a ruler a bit more just to ensure it still
looks neat, but this could take away from the relaxed feel I was going for in
this module.
I used the colour scheme of
pink turquoise and gold for these designs as I thought this represented my
girly themes well as well as providing a sense of ‘preciousness’ to the cards
with the gold. I think the turquoise helps to complement the pink and make the
colour pop.
I used Photoshop to get rid
of any outlying marks and I also used Levels and Saturation to adjust the
flowers clean lines and colour palettes. This was definitely a great idea as it
really neatened up my work and helped to give it a more professional look. This
was also the first time I’ve really experimented with using Photoshop layers as
a way to collage lots of images together. This was really good practice and was
really useful when I wanted to experiment with layout. However it did mean
actually producing all the separate images and editing them individually was a
lot more time consuming than usual. It took me ages to get rid of the
background of my sketchbook page, I think this was due to the lighting when I
took the photo of my sketchbook; in future I might attempt to scan it although
sometimes this effects the visual quality of my images.
After ordering my postcards
using the website MOO, I found out they were no longer doing a quick delivery
and that my products were to arrive a week after my deadline. This was a huge
issue, but one I solved by going into Leeds College of Art really early to the
drop in print service provided. I managed to print off all my designs and
overall I was happy with the outcomes. I chose to use a thick slightly gloss
paper as I thought this would work best for the postcards- particularly the
image side. However with these products I was unable to create one gloss side
and one matte side as the paper was just printed double sided. The moo products
had the option of one gloss and one matte side which is ideal for postcards as
the image will be protected and to a finished professional quality; whereas the
back side will allow you to write your message on it. So next time I will
ensure I have a backup plan that ensures I can get my proposed results. However
altogether I think they came out well!
I cropped the postcards,
luckily I had created a pink bleed space which really helped me do this to an
accurate outcome. I then had a look at the details of the cards and the
finished colours… I was not happy with some as the white I had seen on my
screen had printed out yellow… this is something I can conquer in future by
looking at my work on both high res university computers and my own laptop to
check that the outcomes are to the same standard.
I really didn’t like the
final colours where I had placed my A Wasp in a Wig logo and so I decided to
use a strong gold marker pen to neatly go round the edges of this. I decided to
go around my corner designs as well to tie the image all together. I am really
happy I did this as I think it really fits in with my whole girly theme and it
makes the postcards look a lot more precious overall. I decided to continue
this gold theme with the rest of my packaging and I designed an envelope and
bag to hold the postcards in. I chose an envelope with dried petals on it as I
thought this was spot on for my theme of girly-ness and flowers, and the
texture of the envelope feels high quality and personal. I also used a brown
paper bag to hold these in and lined it with pink sparkly tissue paper. I
decorated onto the bag with designs that linked to my postcard work and I also
included my identity name which I have been working on in PPP, to act as a
company or brand name in order to apply it to a real life situation.
I had a problem with my
Tanya Burr postcard as I used the backside with the quote on my moo order but
it did not send over accurately to the university print studio which meant I
had to stick to a plain background, which luckily I had saved, which is fine
and still works but I am really disappointed I could not get my proposed quote
on the back of this card!
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