Evaluation

Here is my final piece on display at the college summer show exhibition.


I began by setting my self a challenge, at first it seemed a little daunting to produce a whole magazine in under 14 weeks as I had never used In Design before. My thoughts where because this was my last project of the first year and it was a big one, I may as well set myself a goal to do something that might scare me at first, but the final outcome would be great if I could achieve it.
This project had things that worked well, and things that didn't work so well.  I really enjoyed experimenting with photography, and landscape photography. I enjoyed exploring a new place independently, and writing recording my experience.

Through this project I was able to push myself out of my comfort zone, and do things that I normally wouldn't think of going out to do, such as interviewing people and businesses. This was one of the things in my project that I was most daunted by, but once I got going it became more enjoyable, it also helped to have such a friendly and welcoming community even though not all of the people where lived locally. I was very surprised at how open people where to sharing their thoughts and talking with me about their visit/business. It was also lovely to see how passionate people where about their community, being in a new community gave me a fresh look at what life by the sea is really about and the many things we may take for granted.
One of the struggles was narrowing the project down to a 20 page magazine, there was so much I wanted to include, but I thought if I make it any bigger I may sacrifice the quality of the project as it would be rushed.

What didn't work
Although I planned out all of my pages with visuals when it came to making the layout on the computer it didn't always look as good as expected, and certain things didn't work out as planned. This meant that I had to reorganize my files and write different articles as I got more ideas for articles and layouts as I went on. Because I changed a few of my original designs for the page content this sometimes created confusion when looking for my files if I had to re edit the original photos, which caused a few hickups before the printing process.
Next time
If I had more time I would carry on with the same magazine, and make more pages and maybe interview more businesses. I would correct the method of organising my files and make sure all of my experimentation was done before hand so I know what worked and what didn't. I found this hard though as there was no real way of seeing if a layout worked without trying it first. Although I left 11 days for the printing process and they came on time, if I had more time I would definitely leave at least two weeks for my prints to come, as I wouldn't be as panicked or pushed for time for them to arrive before the deadline.

Overall

This project has allowed me to do things out of my comfort zone, things that I had never done before, it has allowed me to explore a new field of work which I could potentially go into as a job, as I really enjoyed this project. It has given me experience in problem solving, as I had to work out why certain files didn't work and why some did. I had to use a new programme and this showed me how to make my work look professional and accurately measured. I really think this project was a great experience and it covered a variety of subjects and techniques, which allowed me to discover which field of work I enjoyed the most, and I loved the challenge.

Evaluation

I found that this project allowed me to think outside of the box. It was interesting to find out about different companies and organizations that are fighting for an Eco friendly and green environment such as Regen south west.

The process of my idea was more lengthy than previous projects, it involved a lot of development. Experimentation key in this project, the more I tried new things, the more ideas I gained. I put a lot of effort into developing my final piece and had lots of different ideas, but I also didn't want to make it over complicated. I have learned from previous projects that making making something too complicated can make your audience loose the concept and purpose, the message and purpose of your work. Sometimes it can go off track from what the client asked for.

I thought that planning out my project in detail meant that there was less problems and complications when it came to making the sculpture. It was harder than expected to create the smoke for the final picture, and I had to learn how to use lighting correctly. I am used to landscape photography, so photographing my sculpture took a lot of experimentation, as I had to position the camera at the right angle. This allowed me to get the full height of the sculpture in shot. By positioning the camera at a lower angle also made the sculpture look taller, towering over the thongs below.

If I had more time to develop this project further I would experiment with diorama. I think by adding miniature people to the photograph would have created an even stronger impact on my audience.