It would have been helpful to be briefed before hand on the kind of things we should be looking out for. It seemed that some people had very different priorities when it came to marking, with a lot concentrating on the appearance a layout of the booklets as opposed to how well they meet the brief, which is fine, but I think there needed to be a more conclusive stance on how we were marking so that everyone was on the same page and the feedback was reflective of that.
I need to sort my life out...
My promise to myself for this module was not let myself procrastinate till the point i was stressing about work. Well I've already broken that promise. Only about 3 weeks in and I already feel like I'm flagging. I don't even know why. I mean I really enjoy my course and I think our briefs have been interesting, but I think that might be part of the problem. I look at the sheet of paper with my assignments for the coming months on it the same way I would look at a death sentence. I put too much pressure on myself to succeed. It's something my teachers have said to me since I was about 13, and so many times that pressure has resulted in me cracking. I think the procrastination was almost like an avoidance technique, almost as if I ignored the work in front of me it would just go away and take the pressure with it.
But the promise to change was much like a New Years resolution, to dramatic, too much of an ambitious to change for it to succeed. So here's the new one. Small steps starting with taking a break from uni for a bit. I've got a trip home planned for the weekend and I think it's what I need more than anything right now. Just to spend some time with my family, have a bit of a breather and chill before I start again. And by start again I don't mean throw myself into it, that clearly hasn't worked in the past and I doubt it's about to start working now, but just start gently, with the biggest aim being to keep the pressure off.
And whether someone reads this or not, it's been therapeutic writing it, just to get the fuzziness of feelings that were in my head onto something physical, just to clear some space and give me a fresh perspective and a plan, and this time I want it to be a plan I stick to.
But the promise to change was much like a New Years resolution, to dramatic, too much of an ambitious to change for it to succeed. So here's the new one. Small steps starting with taking a break from uni for a bit. I've got a trip home planned for the weekend and I think it's what I need more than anything right now. Just to spend some time with my family, have a bit of a breather and chill before I start again. And by start again I don't mean throw myself into it, that clearly hasn't worked in the past and I doubt it's about to start working now, but just start gently, with the biggest aim being to keep the pressure off.
And whether someone reads this or not, it's been therapeutic writing it, just to get the fuzziness of feelings that were in my head onto something physical, just to clear some space and give me a fresh perspective and a plan, and this time I want it to be a plan I stick to.
A Little Project...
For one of our recent briefs, we were set the task of researching and designing a fragrance trend booklet, predicting the trends we thought would most dominate the fragrance market in 2015. The snag was having to design and produce the whole thing in indesign. Indesign is as alien to me as well, aliens. And being a total technophobe anyway the prospect of having to somehow learn more software skills was pretty daunting. But I gave it my best shot, and while it wasn't the most inspiring thing ever, I thought it was alright for a first attempt.
From a list of categories I chose to go with trend relating to Model & Casting, Location & Place, Historical Reference & Era and Bottle Silhouette & Shape.
The introduction to my booklet was centred around discussing the macro trends that were having an influence on on the trends within the perfume industry.
A list to Z list, the exploration of Hollywood A listers being used to endorse fragrance ads and the evolution we are likely to see towards more everyday, girl next door, unphotoshopped models considering the publics disdain and disenchantment with the beauty/fashion industry's attitude towards normal women, i.e. theirs no such thing in their eyes, they must all be images of perfection. The response to this is a reaction to the wider trend of female empowerment and a new wave of feminism trying to repair the damage to the word 'feminist'.
Moving forward from the predictable and frankly quite tacky world of the clear blue sea, French Riviera location, we're coming to the far more mysterious and darker water based locations. Black lagoons and Amazonian adventures are the centre of the future of fragrance ads, taking inspiration from the nomadic, hence 'No man's land'. It's time to dip a toe into much more exotic and cloudy waters.
Androgynous fashion is something that has been around for a few years now, and something that has filtered down into the fragrance industry. The shape and silhouette of the bottles are reflective of that, being very geometrical, simple and almost quite masculine in their brick like design. However as the rising trends in healthy lifestyles grows and the introduction of the EU's regulations on allergens, people are becoming more concerned with the actual chemical content of their products. This has reflected the designs of fragrance bottles, seeing them now referencing those that you would find in victorian apothecary or health store. This gives the appearance that the ingredients in the bottle are all naturally sourced and almost give the impression of the perfumes being home made and therefore likely to be very natural.
Doing this little project allowed me to understand and see first hand how wider macro trends can impact into so many different industry sectors, including fragrance. I think hopefully it will encourage me to stop taking for granted activities in the wider social, cultural, economic and political worlds, and realise that their knock on affects could have consequences on much smaller aspects of my own life.
Fragrance Documentaries
Something Old, Something New
The first episode of the documentary was all about pitting old, traditional brands against newer, mass market ones.
Bottling The Memory
The Smell Of Future
Categorising Fragrance Ads
One of our seminars back this week comprised of compiling magazine tear outs of fragrance adds and categorising them, starting with the most obvious, colour palettes.
Gold = glamour (apparently). By using it as a focal colour brands are trying to scream, exclusive and expensive, but frankly it comes off as a little desperate. The most successful advert in this category in my opinion is the Dior, J'adore ad featuring Charlize Theron. Taking something so heavily embellished and stripping it right back was a clever move; there's no glamour in excess
Purple, it's all about rarity and royalty. Plush, sumptuous and seductive, that's the tone brands are aiming for. The deep, rich tones
represent the indulgence and sensuality that the brands are trying to
describe their fragrances as being.
This is less of a colour, more a general theme and tone, one of purity and spirituality which evokes the feeling of trust from the consumer, and honesty from the brand. The natural elements make are an attempt at convey something authentic and real.
By analysing and categorising a selection of advertisements with consideration of key communication codes, it has given me an insight into the thought process that will need to be applied when we create our own advertising communication campaign in our fragrance groups for our own brand and product.
Hegarty On Creativity, There Are No Rules
As much as I enjoy reading, seeing my reading list last module and then the one for this module didn't exactly make me jump for joy, but nevertheless I went ahead and ordered my first required book, and was pleasantly surprised when it arrived in a teeny brown envelope, not exactly what I was expecting, and turned out to be the size of a penguin children's story book, result!
The stand out element of Hegarty's book is it's simplistic approach, both in design and in concept. The no nonsense, straight to the point way in it delivers simple truths makes you think how did I not think of that.
It's essentially a handy hints and tips book, which is exactly what it offers. By offering it in bite size, digestible chunks it makes it an ideal turn to when looking for a little inspiration or motivation without getting too bogged down in the ins and outs.
For me, the witty and humorous way in which the book was written reminded me that creativity is supposed to be fun. I could have done with this insight in the weeks of stress that lead up to my last deadline. Someone to have just snapped me out of the panicked state I was in, told me to chill and try and appreciate the fun in what I was doing. That's one thing I really want to avoid, getting to end end of uni and realising I was so preoccupied with trying to do work in order to get the best grade and a high degree, instead of just doing work because it't what I want to do. It's all very well getting the grades, but if I'm not proud of what I've achieved in the process then there's not really a lot of point is there.
Sometimes I can struggle with trying to come up with the most creative ideas, but for me the book has encouraged me to tell myself: do your thing, do it the best you can and no one can tell you it's wrong.
The stand out element of Hegarty's book is it's simplistic approach, both in design and in concept. The no nonsense, straight to the point way in it delivers simple truths makes you think how did I not think of that.
It's essentially a handy hints and tips book, which is exactly what it offers. By offering it in bite size, digestible chunks it makes it an ideal turn to when looking for a little inspiration or motivation without getting too bogged down in the ins and outs.
For me, the witty and humorous way in which the book was written reminded me that creativity is supposed to be fun. I could have done with this insight in the weeks of stress that lead up to my last deadline. Someone to have just snapped me out of the panicked state I was in, told me to chill and try and appreciate the fun in what I was doing. That's one thing I really want to avoid, getting to end end of uni and realising I was so preoccupied with trying to do work in order to get the best grade and a high degree, instead of just doing work because it't what I want to do. It's all very well getting the grades, but if I'm not proud of what I've achieved in the process then there's not really a lot of point is there.
Sometimes I can struggle with trying to come up with the most creative ideas, but for me the book has encouraged me to tell myself: do your thing, do it the best you can and no one can tell you it's wrong.
Stop, Start, Continue: Look back and reflect
It's crazy to think I've finished my first semester of uni already, it's gone so quick! As much as I would like to say that I enjoyed every last second, it unfortunately wasn't the case. For a good couple of months since starting uni I really struggled to adjust, and even sometimes questioning whether this was the right decision for me. The main thing that forced me to persevere however was knowing that I had the opportunity to study and immerse myself in what is more my hobby and passion than work. Also knowing that I had worked so hard to get to uni in the first place, I didn't want to throw it all away.
But like I said, a semester has passed, and I have learnt so much in that time, not just about the course, but about myself and my own abilities.
For me I think one of my biggest accomplishments, which may seem small to other people, has been my ability to 'master' (I use the term lightly) Photoshop. Coming from someone who didn't even know what the Adobe suite was, I am now the proud owner of the whole thing, and this is quite a big deal to me. I want to keep developing my skills in Photoshop whilst also moving on to InDesign and eventually even Illustrator. I like that there is a physical representation of things I'm learning, and whats even better is I can utilise these skills in employment.
But looking forward into a new semester, there are certain things I aim to stop, start and continue to do.
My biggest one for me that I need to stop is procrastinating! Netflix is my best friend but also my worst enemy when it comes to getting any work done. After the many alnighters I had to pull to get my last module done and handed in on time, I'm promising to myself that I will not leave it to the last minute again but keep on top of it the whole way through (even if that means saying goodbye to Gossip Girl for a bit).
Something I want to start doing is establishing myself with a professional and FCP orientated online presence. That means having all my social media linking back to my blog, and having an instagram account exclusively dedicated to regularly uploading trend and fashion reflective images, and not the pictures of cocktails and cakes that is currently my personal instagram.
And as for continuing, I started well with this blog, but sadly lost enthusiasm for it, seeing it more as a chore than something I wanted to do on a regular basis. But now that I'm starting to get back into it, I want to set myself the challenge of uploading at least 3 posts a week, and in doing so, I'm hoping I'll find my rhythm and motivation to continue it happily. I also want to spend more time regularly adding to my work book, including all my lecture and seminar notes, and using it as a place to store all my ideas and not just magazine cut outs, though I will definitely still be using it for that. The aim is to be more creative and hands on in my approach to the course.
I think the goals I've set myself are both realistic and achievable, and I hope to be able to look back at the end of the next semester and almost use this post as a check list of what I have and haven't done or kept up with. Wish me luck!
A Trip To Remember, New York, New York
I've wanted to go to New York ever since my Dad took my Mum 10 years ago and I threw a massive strop that they left me behind. So when sitting on the plane, destination JFK, I almost cried with joy knowing that the city I had longed after for so many years was finally within my reach!
A ridiculously long flight later and we could begin to see the lights of Manhattan glowing underneath us, and…touchdown. Welcome to America!
Right in the heart of Manhattan on 31st and 5th was our hotel for the week, The Wolcott. We couldn't have asked for a better location, mid town would be the perfect starting point for exploring, and with the shadow of the empire state towering over you when you stepped out of the door, I was definitely happy.
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