My Reflective Journal: January 2017

Shooting for Brush and Blow

15:28

Last week I had the opportunity to shoot for Brush and Blow, a beauty salon based in my hometown Brentwood, Essex. I was asked to produce a series of beauty images which showcased a selection of beauty looks whilst incorporating bright colours to reflect their brand image. I shot these images in the daylight studio, using two HMI lights, one reflecting off the ceiling and one with a large softbox lighting the model. This was my first time working with a qualified make up artist and a hair stylist, in a professional environment. We had a couple of technical problems, involving several second long power cuts, which meant the HMI lights took 10 minutes to reboot, after the second time I quickly swapped to using flash as I didn't want to waste any more time. And loosing the ability to preview the image on the mac because of being logged out. This was a little embarrassing but they were understanding of the situation.

The images came out really well, the makeup came out really well against the coloured backgrounds, and the minimal styling too. They will be used on the salons website, and across social media platforms.

'Coastal Classics' Graphic Design Collab

17:42

I worked with a graphic design student creating a poster for her brief on visual connections, with the event of 'vintage cars' and using the words by the sea, event and in the park, linking them visually in a poster. It was a simple image taken using two soft boxes to create soft lighting. With the addition of type and context, works really well.

Reflecting

17:48

Having such a long brief and coming back to it after a period of time I've realised how much in such a relatively (considering) small amount of time I've developed already, and this has effected the overall outcome of my work, and in heinsight, I'm not entirely happy with all of it working together I just don't think it does. As soon as I'm shooting new work, I fall out of love with my previous, which isnt ideal when I've got to submit 12 images in total.

A big part of learning is being critical of my work and this is how I plan to develop after leaving this project behind; My learning is very organic and staggered, I might be out shopping and I'd come across something which inspires me, I'll snap a pic and write a quick note in my notes and carry on to write it later, I'll be editing a photo and just thinking reflectively and I'll think this will go well in my reflective journal so I'll make a note and come back to the idea later, being able to quickly remind myself and always having something nearby to record stuff on be it my phone or an notebook really helps me to bring my ideas together and help me try and figure out who I want to be.

Last year was so focused on writing and less about the image making and now I'm all about the pictures and the inspiration and less about actually writing it down formally, it's not how I learn as long as I've got my ideas down somewhere I don't feel the need to have them somewhere else aswell, I think I need to make time to write here in my reflective journal because I feel like its a chore which it shouldn't be, I've got to make it more of a habit to write it immediately rather than days later to catch up.

Planning my time effectivly

19:23

To make sure I am using my time the most effectively for the next three weeks I have made a calendar to make sure I meet personal deadlines to make sure I stay on track. I use this method of time planning whenever I know I may be pushed for time and to make sure I know what I need to be doing. I find this method works really well for me and makes sure that by finished a day or to before the official deadline that I am not making myself ill from stress and lack of sleep.

UN Women Google advert

14:17

When considering what to do for the professional contexts brief I was thinking about doing the D&AD brief which was based on posters, and I went looking for simple posters which gave out a clear message effectively. I found the UN Women adverts and thought they displayed a powerful message really simply. Although I am no longer making my own posters I am still really moved by the message they portray.

They are so powerful, especially as you read each ad's fine print and see that the content are in fact the results from actual web searches on a given date in the beginning of March 2013. Whilst trying to do the auto search myself, I found that google since doesn't show any suggestions in any variation of either Men/Women followed by the suggesting words of can/can't/shouldn't etc, which displays a flicker of progress on the matter. However I am not focused on the message itself, albeit very important, but the way in which it has been presented and how effective the medium is.

The design of a poster really helps send the message: It's incredibly symmetrical, striking and makes you look directly at the eyes and uses them to catch the viewers attention.

It links technology and the omnipresence of the internet with google; its recognisable, its universal, and everyone links the tool bar with the search engine. This makes it even more impactful when you realise its actually genuine autocomplete results from the site. And finally, placement; covering up her mouth with the search bar again brings the idea home that women don't have a voice and are repressed.