Norwich Film Festival 2014 Poster Competition Update

Recieved an email today off Norwich Film Festival regarding my submissions for the poster competition. Unfortunately this year I haven't been chosen for the top 10, they said that this year was bigger and better than last year and standards were high. I am a little dissapointed as last year I made the top 8 with what I feel was a bad design so this year I was hoping to get further with better designs however I can try again next year and there are a lot more competitions for me to enter this year.

The top 10 are designs this year are great so well done to the top 10!

Design Duel Evaluation

The aim of this module was to host and event to a group of level 3 students which will benefit both them and use as a host. It would benefit the students by encouraging them to use and develop their creative skills without really knowing it – it would be fun at the same time as educational. For us as a host we will develop on our presentation skills and build on confidence as there will be a lot of students that we are presenting to. Personally for me I was very nervous about presenting to so many people especially as they were younger than me but at that age where they can be hard work and not interested – as I know what I was like at that age. I was also nervous once I saw how big the room was thinking how I’ve got to stand there in front of all those people however we realised that there were not as many people as we first thought but there were still 130+ people in that room. I was pleased with the smooth running of the event – we only had a few issues which were quickly resolved, they weren’t anything to impact the running of the afternoon. I was glad that in the end we had a megaphone as this really made a difference, if we didn’t have anything to use then we wouldn’t have been able to speak over everyone – we struggled at times with the megaphone. Considering that we didn’t really have a run through I was pleased that it went as it did, I think a lot of us just took it as it came – we didn’t as such have a script of what to say and when so this made it better as I think that sometimes when having a script and trying to remember what to say can put you off. I liked how I had the others there too though in case there was something I missed or in case I slipped up on something, it was almost like a security net. Considering it was a group event and part of our grade with the Photography I was extremely disappointed that almost all of the photography group didn’t attend apart from 3 of them – this was a big let-down and as others didn’t attend it was hard to see if they had an input or not as I know some of them inputted in some way but it was not apparent who did what as they wasn’t there. This also became a problem when it came to organising the event – we held several meetings in the lead up to the event and the turn out on their side was poor to say the least, I was disappointed as they did not seem too bothered about it and it seemed that it was mainly a few of us leading the meetings. Maybe we could have took a backseat but then I don’t think it would have happened. Another thing that I think rattled the group was that a day before the event was to go ahead one of the members who said they would lead one of the tasks decided to pull out and tell us that they weren’t coming to the event – this was a little too late notice as we then had to find someone else short notice but we did sort it. I think that considering all of the problems we had in the planning stages we handled it well and managed to sort it all out calmly, even though it was a stress at times. Considering there were so many issues during planning it did not show during the event it came across well planned and executed. From feedback received from a tutor during the event it seemed that the majority of the students were enjoying themselves which gave a great sense of achievement that it was going well and was good to know that the students were actually having a good time and not there out of their own choice. Also in the break it was good that all hosts could chat and we talked about what was going well and what wasn’t, it gave us a chance to pick up on any issues we may have come across during the first half of the event and work out a way to correct them for the next time. Taking part in the event taught me that I can present to people and I have got the confidence so I do not need to get so wound up when I present especially when it is to such a small audience such as the class or tutor. It has taught me how to deal with situations such as planning as it does not always go to plan and sometimes I cannot help that – at times I get wound up when it doesn’t go to plan, it cannot always be right first time, we need to make mistakes in order to correct them. Overall it was a success and I learnt a lot from It, gaining valuable experience.

Cinderella Marketing & Dance Quotes Evaluation

The aim of this project was to build upon skills which I will need when it comes to my chosen progression route. I chose to base the project on working alongside clients in order to build upon my communication skills and to get experience of working alongside clients as before this I felt I lacked this experience on contact with clients and working with them in a professional manner. I ended up with 2 clients from this project – BSDC performing arts deputy Jade Wilcock and Performing arts tutor Tom Berriman. Each gave me a set brief which I could work alongside them on. The briefs required me to produce a poster, cast list and flyer for a BSDC production of Cinderella and also I was required to produce a series of typographic wall installations of dance related quotes to go into the dance and drama studios to brighten up blank white wall space. Overall I succeeded with each brief and met the intended aims and targets that were set for each. I feel that after doing this project I am more competent with dealing with clients and feel that I have gained more experience when it comes to working with clients – I am more aware that it is sometimes more difficult sticking to a strict brief. For the BSDC production marketing predominantly I spoke with Jade Wilcock – she set the brief and then set up a meeting with marketing so that they could brief me on the specific guidelines that needed to be followed when designing for the college. However marketing did not contact me about the meeting therefore the deadline for the project was approaching and I hadn’t heard anything which was a worry. It turned out that marketing did their own advertising for the production so my designs were no longer required – this did annoy me somewhat as I felt as though they didn’t contact me and did the advertising themselves. Jade apologized for that and asked me to still produce artwork because she was impressed with my designs and wanted to use them in the production venue. At least my work was still used in the end and I was downhearted that marketing didn’t give me the chance. The dance quote project was a success, I was given a whole document of quotes to use but in the time I had to produce these I was unable to produce a typographic for each quote so I chose a select few and designed them. I used the quotes which I felt were inspirational, encouraging and appropriate for the use. Jade did not want the designs for the production posters to be influenced by the Walt Disney style of advertising for Cinderella as it was not a Disney version it was a Victorian version. Therefore it was hard when researching to find something not Disney related however after a tutorial I was told to look at work by Olly Moss – I looked at his series of star wars posters and used a similar concept and process on my poster for the production. If I was to do these projects again I think the main thing I would need to do would be to chase things up quicker such as when I didn’t hear from marketing I could have contacted them to ask why or contacted Jade again sooner so that the finalised designs would have not been completed so close to the deadline. Also I would ask for feedback from others in order to see what others opinions of my work are other than my own – sometimes when looking at your own work all the time you can miss things so having others opinion is good. I could improve on my timekeeping skills – I could do this by producing a timetable for myself to manage time between projects, this will help spread the workload and help me work more efficiently. I hope to work on my timekeeping in the next term by doing mini projects with quick turnaround so that I am used to working under pressure and to a time limit – I won’t have time to leave it until a later date. I also hope to work on other skills I wish to develop such as presentation skills and I feel I still need to improve on working with clients even if I have a better understanding after this project.

Controversial Ads Evaluation

The aim of this project were to create 2 adverts – one which was controversial and one which was playing it safe. The ads could be based on a product, campaign or brand. I chose to do mine on a campaign as there are a few things that I have strong views against so I felt that to base my adverts on something which I am against will be easier as I could relate to it better. I chose to do my ads on anti-smoking around children and animal testing – originally I chose animal cruelty but then chose animal testing. I have strong views against both of these issues to I had lots of ideas for each advert. It was just hard to decide in the beginning what to base my adverts on but once I overcame this issue I was ok and ideas came flooding in. I think that sometimes it takes me a while to gather/generate ideas which is something I need to work on and there’s not always time to think for ages before getting a final idea. This project taught me about the impact that advertising has on me the viewer, adverts use different tactics depending on the message – whether it be shock tactics or persuasive tactics to sell. I succeeded with the project, I completed 2 adverts which fulfilled the brief – 1 that’s is controversial, designed to shock and another which is “safe” it is still based around a controversial topic but it is a tamed advert and not as shocking as the other. After showing others my adverts I got the reaction that I wanted when people saw them – they were completely shocked by my animal testing advert and then intrigued by my other advert on anti-smoking. If I was to do the project again I would like to have created more adverts for each topic which I chose – I would have liked to create a series of adverts. This is something I would have done if perhaps had more time and less going on at once but this is something I could expand on at a later date if I wish to do so. However this project has taught me a lot about advertising and advertising for a specific audience – there is a lot to bear in mind when designing for an audience and especially when it is about a sensitive subject such as the topics I chose. Overall I am pleased with the way the project went, I overcame any issues which I came across efficiently without it taking too much time away from my other tasks which needed completing. I have 2 strong outcomes which both fully interact with and engage the viewer of the advert.

18/12/13

Today was supposed to be hand in day. I got into college nice and early to print off all of my work ready for hand in. For a start I got the hand in date wrong -  I thought it was today but its tomorrow instead. That aside I was all ready to do my presentation and finish off the last few loose ends of a few pieces of work. When we got in Lance told us that he thought it wasn't fair if the fine art students handed in their work without guidance off their tutor as he had been off ill so he decided to give us an extension - this was good in some ways but disappointing as I had set myself up for the presentation and to hand the work in. We now have until the 8th January to hand in the work and do the presentation. Due to room complications the D&AD new blood pitch has also been postponed until after Christmas. I haven't got a lot left to do so I can have a break over the festive period then work on what I need to complete after Christmas. Looking forward to a break without thinking about doing any work so perhaps hand in before Christmas would have been better as it would be out of the way but I am still going to have a break from it all until new year.