Photography Experimentation

Introduction to Photography

I was really keen to begin the photography project as I have always liked experimenting in photography, however I have never been introduced to it professionally. I was really excited to learn more and to add to the little information i already knew. Although I had an idea about some of the interchangeable features on a DSLR camera, I wasn't 100% sure on how and when to use them. I took this as an opportunity to further my knowledge so that when it came to taking my own photographs for my outcome of this project, I knew how to take the most effective picture.

I think that although this was a really helpful introduction to someone like me who has little photography knowledge, however I still think that it will take me some time to learn my way around a camera properly, and to be able to take the most effective pictures that I possible can. The photography portion of this project is a short two weeks and I think it is going to be very difficult to achieve the most effective photographs that I am capable of in this time. I will produce the best photographs that I can in this time, however when I receive feedback I will continue to add to them. 

Final Evaluation: Graphics

The project brief for the graphics topic told me that I was to create a campaign for an action based around climate change. After some hard thought and deliberation I decided that I will work on waste, and how us humans should be more aware of the things we are throwing away. I decided that I will target this by telling people how they can make their lunches at home instead of buying them when they are out. This will save the person money and save the environment from trying to cope with the waste that comes from the packaging from the shop made lunches many of us buy. My target audience throughout this topic was the Ravensbourne demographic. I thought about how Ravensbourne is surrounded by many restaurants, cafés and shops. My assumptions were proved after I carried out a survey asking the question, 'do you bring or buy your lunch'. A large majority of the portion of Ravensbourne students that were asked told me that they bought their lunch. This was my largest, most helpful piece of research needed for my campaign. I was most looking forward to learning new techniques and being introduced formally to graphic design. I was restricted for this project as to what my outcome of my campaign would consist of. The restrictions were that I had to produce two A2 posters, one being in black and white and only having text, and one being in colour with text and image. The third and final outcome for this topic was lot less restricted. We could design anything that would be suitable for the target audience and help in the communication of out campaign. 

I have looked at Jonathan Barnbrook and Alan Fletcher as inspiration and research for my work. I looked at Barnbrook especially when it came to picking fonts and layout, and I looked to Fletcher when it came to picking colour variations. However my biggest piece of inspiration for this topic of work was the huge 40 ft 30000 tonne rubbish mound that is located near my house. The fact that this is so close to home is tragic and actually makes me quite angry. I wanted this to be the main force behind my work. One of the most striking piece of information about climate change that I found out is that there have already been animals being extinct due to climate change. I didn't know that it had already gone this far. I also found a piece of information that closely relates to my action, and that is that 1 in 7 people are going hungry yet 1/3 of all food is wasted. This information was shocking to me and I was intrigued to find out what simple tasks we can do to help the situation. As I have previously said, I conducted a survey with my target audience and found out that the majority purchase their lunch everyday, but more shockingly, they did not realise what was wrong with that. From taking part in workshops, I learnt a lot about type and layout. I was particularly interested with layout to begin with as I love putting things together and finding out what combinations have the best effect. However once I got into the type workshop, I realised just how integral different versions of type can be on the effect of a poster for example. I took what I learnt from these workshops to ensure that my posters were easy to read, striking, and as effective as I could make them.

To ensure that my ideas were finalised in what I thought was the best possible way for the target audience, I went through multiple different processes using new techniques todo so. To begin with I took part in workshops as mentioned, to ensure that even before I began topical planning I had good graphic knowledge to back up my designs. This was critical as without it I would not have made graphically effective posters. Secondly I worked on many thumbnail sketches to ensure I was trailing as many combinations of ideas as I could think of, to make sure I had a powerful campaign to back up my action. After completing these thumbnail sketches I finalised these ideas on a bigger scale, before going forth and using software such as, Photoshop and InDesign. I was given good and helpful feedback all the way through this project which I was very grateful for. I was first told to include more photography of which I did, as well as making sure I had more colour variation, which I worked on.

For resources in my research I used documentaries such as Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's titled 'Hugh's War on Waste', which saw Whittingstall battling why us Brits waste so much food. I also visited Somerset House in London which was hosting the AOI Illustrator Awards. Both gave me key information towards making my campaign, one from the topical (climate change) point of view and one from the graphic design point of view. Both as helpful as each other in my opinion. I learnt about fusing and other ways to link your text and images together effectively. In my opinion this was extremely helpful, as I was unaware that there were so many different ways to do so, it was interesting to learn about these and I will be sure to include them in future pieces of work of mine.

If I were to complete this project again I would make sure that I focused on my time management, as although I did complete what the the brief asked, I do feel that I rushed towards the end to ensure that my outcomes were printed. I would have spent less time on the elements that were not topical and focused my time on beginning research and designs earlier. I think my organisation was good and it allowed me to find connections in my work quicker than if organisation was lacking. I would have experimented more with ideas rather than just going with the first few that I liked if I were to go back and re do it. This would have ensured that I was left with the most powerful poster to back my campaign. This project allowed me to become slightly more comfortable with using Photoshop and InDesign, which two months ago were completely new to me. I would like to gain more confidence in this software however because it is brilliant software that will allow me to progress at a higher level here at ravensbourne.

Photography Research

After looking through my sketchbook, I realised that I do not have much photography experimentation or research. I decided that I will do online research for photos as well as looking in magazines and newspapers. I will also take my own photos as well of course. I think that this will be a good visual research experiment that will influence new or develop current ideas. I will focus on taking or looking for photos of waste or the implications of waste. This will mean focusing on bins, the general ground, and the effects that it has on our environment. The effects include the waste that ends up in our oceans and as a result killing our sea creatures, as well of the decaying rubbish that lets off greenhouse gasses, which is one of the main causes of global warming. Here are just a few examples. 

Automatic Writing

This week I attempted a task that I had never even heard of. It is called automatic writing, and the idea is to look at something, in this case a photograph of a painting by Picasso, and write continuously for 5 minuets about what you are thinking while looking at the painting.

This was the painting I stared at:

This is what I had to say;

Ghost, ghoul, wind taking you away from everything you love, eyes, thoughts,  messy heads, creative minds are rarely tidy, lonely, darkness, everywhere, no space left, white yet dark and empty, death mixed with life to provide contrast, weird, shapes, make less realistic, triangles, irregular, original, unique, babies, animals, horns, sharpness, but smooth unlikely things take place, don't know, lost, confused, unaware, swords, fighting? death battle, lifeless, thoughtless, gone, understanding, lost, blank, nothingness, light elements are the same colour, levels yet 2D, surrealism, unaware, light in the eyes, dark souled, don't know.

Tutorials and Feedback (Week Three)

I have recently been given some constructive progress feedback subject to the graphics topic that I am currently working on. I was keen to be given the feedback as I hadn't been given much up until this point and I was looking to find any ways that I can improve the work I have so far and to be given ideas of work to do in the future to further my development. I was told that I had completed a good amount of designs for my posters, but to complete some more for the colour with image and text poster. I also came to the realisation while showing my work that I have completed up until this point, that there is a sparse amount of photography for experimentation and development. I was happy to work on this and improve in this area.

I was also told that my typography idea with the word 'waste' written in many different forms to create the silhouette of a take-away coffee cup was a good idea and that I should go forward with it and develop it further. I would like to see if another word would have the same effect. I would like to trial other words like, 'packaging' and 'rubbish' for example. I will complete these on a smaller scale like A5 for example though to ensure they are not too time consuming that they take over from getting my final outcomes finished.

I received advice that I should make sure that I don't have too much text on my colour with text and image poster, this being because my text only poster contains a lot of text, and I should show that I can make a good quality campaign that contains both text and photography. I understood this feedback and was happy to make sure that my work contained a good amount of everything asked in the brief.

AOI Illustration Awards Exhibition - Somerset house, London

I was excited to see this exhibition as I was hoping it would give me some needed inspiration for designing my final outcomes for the graphics project that I am currently working on. I have never thought of graphic design as being what I want to go into in the future, however after studying it in class, and seeing the success of others first hand at this exhibition, has made me think that this could hopefully be a potential future for me.

My favourite winning piece from the exhibition was the one displayed above. It is called Crayola and was created by Turine Tran. I think that this piece of work was especially striking as it is a vibrant red colour. All the drawings are produced by a red Crayola colouring pencil, and look as though when the page that the drawings have been drawn on is rolled up, a red Crayola pencil is formed. Without reading up on this piece of work I can confidently assume that the work represents how there are so many possibilities from one colouring pencil and that everyone can create something unique with their Crayola. This idea is emphasised with the phrase written at the bottom of the piece, 'What's in your Crayola?'

Development of Ideas

This past week my aim has been to create, and by the end finalise ideas, for my black and white with text only poster, colour with text and image poster, and a third element. The action that I have decided on for my campaign, is reducing the amount of waste people produce. At first I thought about encouraging people to recycle more, however I thought that this was an easy topic and one that wasn't very original. I then thought about the waste that people produce without even thinking, mainly from the packaging of the food that they consume. We live in a time where most of us are lucky enough to have a somewhat easy access to food. A lot of us don't recognise this luck that we have, nor do the majority of us care about the waste that it produces. I want to help people to be more conscious of their actions when it comes to what they are throwing away as well as advising willing people to make a slight change of their lifestyle for the better. 

I was deliberating between actions for a while but I came across a fact that read, 'One in seven people are going hungry, yet 1/3 of all food is all wasted. The fact was a deciding factor for me and after reading it I couldn't not base my campaign on it. Next I needed to adapt my campaign so it was suitable for my target audience. My target audience for this project is the college demographic, meaning students at Ravensbourne. To make it suitable I had to put a meaning and a reasoning behind it. The college is situated next to the O2 London, a venue that not only contains a famous arena but a variety of restaurants. After conducting a survey with a portion of Ravensbourne students, my assumptions were proved that the majority buy their lunch each day from one of the restaurants/café.

This would be my way to target my audience. I would simply pose the question, do you care about waste or taste, and after sharing my work and campaign, hopefully they will be more willing to choose waste.

I am really happy with these design developments, especially the typography coffee cup. There are multiple coffee shops that many of the students of Ravensbourne visit on a daily basis, therefore I think that it will be a good way to easily target the college demographic. To improve these designs I would focus more on the size of the text, to make the posters really stand out from others and easily detectable when put with several other posters. Due to the fact that this poster has to be in black and white with text only, I have found it considerably difficult to come up with original ideas that no one else will think of. I think that typography is a good way to go, even though it is a popular choice, there are many different images that you can incorporate, in my design it is a take-away coffee cup however someone else with a different action would choose a different image that would make their work completely different and separate from mine. 

Mixed Media Posters

I took this task as a chance to experiment before the planning of my A2 posters that would make up part of my final outcome. I thought that it would e a good idea to have similarities in the four posters to establish them as a set rather than individual pieces. The media used for each one was instructed to be different so therefore there would have to be a similarity as part f the design on top of the media. 

It took a while to come up with a memorable slogan or detail to link the four together. I thought about the rule of three or rhyming. Pretty quickly I thought of waste and taste combination which linked to my idea of people thinking too much about what the food tastes like rather than the waste that is left over from it. 

I thought of a design that I could adapt into a logo produced by hand and then scanned in to incorporate into a digital design, therefore using multiple medias. I quickly decided that this 'logo' would incorporate the idea of waste or taste.

I found out while researching different actions that one in seven people are going hungry, yet 1/3 of all food is wasted. After knowing this I was keen to work on it. I started the poster making process with collage as this is my preferred media and I was the most confident in starting with this one. First I took a photograph of a bin and then I cut it up. I cut the bin out and then cut out all of the objects to display them in collage on top of the bin.

Third Element Planning

I have been quite stuck these past few weeks when it has come to producing a third element for my campaign. The brief explains that for my campaign must include:

* An A2 poster in colour with text and image.

* An A2 poster in black and white with text only.

* A third element of your choice, suitable for reaching you target audience.

My target audience is the demographic at Ravensbourne and so with Ravensbourne being an art, design and media college, I thought that it would maybe be the right thing to do if I produced an interactive element to my campaign. I thought that if my posters are going to be quite serious portrayals of how my action can be helped, that it might be a good idea to make the third element somewhat comedic. I also thought about it having a slightly different approach for my action. 

I thought about going in the direction of healthy eating. If I showed my audience that they can make their food at home really easily, they might do it rather than doing the alternative which is over packaged and individually packaged shop/restaurant bought lunches which contributes to the masses of waste that is killing us.

Layout Workshop

I was constricted in this task because I was only allowed to use two fonts, the fonts being Gill Sans and Times. I was unable to distort the fonts in anyway however I was allowed to change the sizes. I had to trace each individual letter making the task incredibly time consuming yet some how therapeutic. I used a black fine liner to make each letter sharp and professional looking. The idea of the workshop was to create A5 posters displaying a fact about climate change. 

I am hoping to go into Interior Design in the future and I really enjoy putting things together to create an interesting final outcome. I think it was because of this reason that I really enjoyed displaying my facts in an interesting way. 

I was really happy with the way the workshop played out, and I liked the fact that although I was constricted in some ways I still had freedom with the layout. 

I then experimented free hand on A1 paper. I took one of the facts from earlier and using a paint brush, and a thin piece of cardboard with some black and red paint, created a large poster. This gave me more freedom as I didn't have specific fonts to work with. Although this made my work look less professional, I think it made it more emotive, linking to the fact that anyone can make a difference when it comes to climate change, not just the professionals. 

Visualising Objects

I was quite constricted for this task which I wasn't too happy about. I had a list of six words and six objects, and I had to begin by picking four of each. I would draw, in an abstract way, four of the objects separately. Then pick a word out of each of the four that I had previously chosen. I would then write this word with each of the four drawings. I picked the word WAR to go with drawings of a mobile phone, a flower, the bottom of a bottle and a cup.

I think I was able to link the word WAR to all the four drawings well. With the mobile phone I linked it to how if there was a world war now, it would be a lot more technology based than previous world wars. For the flower I linked to hope and piece, things people wish for during wars. The bottom of the water bottle turned out to be the most abstract out of the four and I thought it looked like an explosion. The cup was quite old fashioned looking and reminded me of the tin pots and cups they had in world war 1 and 2.

I found the task strangely hard. I was expecting it to be quite easy and I didn't think that it would take me a while to even plan what I wanted to do. I wanted my work to be unique and interesting but this took time. 

Secondly we switched the idea so we used four different words with the same drawing. However this time we also used colour. This took longer as I cut shapes out of coloured bits of paper to provide the colour. I didn't produce the same image four times, but I did produce similar ones, and I used different words as instructed. I decided to work from the bottom of the bottle as I found this to be the most interesting and powerful.

I did enjoy this task but I did find it annoying at times. For example it wasn't a task I was particularly excited for and so therefore I wasn't 100% motivated to think of unique, original ideas.