OUIL505: Summative Evaluation

 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!