26.02.19:

I came into college at 9:30 to give in my publication for Somerset House. As I had not been able to take part in Commune and my team members were not in today I decided it best for me to go home and generate some more research and ideas. I was not in the mindset over the last week to do the work needed to start this project well, nor to complete commune. I have done what I could so far on my own, by documenting images and conversations - as well as writing some of my initial ideas. 

27.02.19:

Today I decided to experiment with some ideas create some posters based on what I had found during 'commune'.

The first poster I created - Canine - which is a poster that surrounds the concept that as we all begin to take on these modern diets, the structure of our jaws and teeth will evolve in the next 500 years. Instead of canine teeth and molars we will either have no back teeth or just more herbivorous features. In response to this poster, I created another one which I titles - BTW I'm a Vegan - I wanted to look at how this fad trend is something that will affect our futures, and I wanted to create something with a shock value that would leave people being disgusted and repulsed. 

The third poster I created - Can you taste the fucking plastic? - surrounds the idea that due to plastic packaging in foods, and using things such as clingflim - we inevitably affect the quality of our food and the environment surrounding us. 

The fourth poster I created was much more simple - feeling sentimental. My original idea surrounds the emotional attachment we have to food, and the nostalgic emotion we have.

I didn't speak to Hannah today, but I spoke to my peers and they all said the posters worked well, and gave me some suggestions to improve on. Someone suggested I have a look at teeth from other animals to see whether they are very different, and I will do this!

28.02.19: 

After looking at what I produced yesterday, I was still unsure as to what I wanted to do. I know that the posters I created are things that I want to to explore during this project. I thought the best way to understand what I wanted to do, would be to make a publication that explores all of these areas - acting as a visual PPP.

02.03.19:

I have used the last couple of days to generate my publication. I have split it into three parts highlighting areas I want to focus on for this project. For the first area i plan to focus on looking at food packaging and consumption. I would like to look at popular brands and what strategries they use - focusing on whether packaging affects choice by interviewing the public. Not only will I try and understand this but also analyse how it not only harms the environment but also our own health. Plastic, in particular, causes major problems in the world we live in, environmentally and financially. I will also investigate our food waste and propose ways of battling this common issue from around the globe. I think consumption is increasingly pertinent, and i will question all these subjects. 

Part Two presents a glimpse at how our modern lifestyle will inevitably affect our physically appearances in the future. I plan to analyse the current state of the food we eat, with a focus on how dieting will affect us in more ways than one. I will also investiagte current trends in food, and look at the impact social media has on food and what we eat. For this section i would also like to evaluate food disorders and show changes in human behaviour and appearance when it comes to food. I plan on interviewing memebrs of the public and my peers with a series of questions surrounding certain foods, identifying what they assoicate it with, such as nostaligia. Everyone has an opinion on food. We are all emotionally attached on some level - mostly good, but sometimes bad. It’s an immediate and visceral connection. Watching people eat and making a pleasurable experience become uncomfortable is another idea I would like to explore. 

For the last part of the project, as Brexit looms, i want to take a closer look at where our food is coming from - and from there, see what is actually being put into it. I want to see whether the politics and pleasures of food are realted, considering broader ecological and social issues. I will investigate whether food additives, such as E numbers, should be avoided  from your diet. Questioning whether they are a social construct created by the government to enhance the colour, flavour, texture and natural preservation of the food.

04.03.19: CRIT 1

Clare suggested we all try and guess what each persons work was about. So when it came down to me, I explained briefly that I had created a publication in the format of a visual PPP.  

Immediately, most people understood that the title, Hot Potato, was a phrase used in English to express controversial topics. They said that it reminded them of the times magazine, almost a provocative picture of the potato. Looking at the quote I had used again everyone understood that my project was surrounding food. - which I think is a good thing, as it shows I have communicated well! As they looked through the first part, it was clear that I was exploring packaging and plastic in particular, and that that was my message. Clare liked how I had incorporated recent issues, like Brexit, and how it affects the food market. (80% of food is imported). 

My peers mentioned that they liked the colour scheme throughout my publication, as the red colour was almost like a 'warning' message, showing that the contents in the publication was important and needed to be red!

Below are some notes that Rim took for me during the crit. In return I did the same for her. I think this is a really good system as we are less subjective when writing feedback given to other people. 

 

05.03.19:

Today we met Hannah in the library at Kings X. We aimed to generate research that would relate to our topics in more depth, looking particularly at visual images and concepts. We had a brief tour of the library, where we were showed where the most useful books for us would be. As graphic design is such a broad subject area, we were told that almost anything in the library could be of use to us, and our most relevant information could be in areas we hadn't even thought of. 

Below are the notes I took at the library.

We arrived back to archway at 2pm. Hannah split us into groups of three, where we explained our research to each other. It was interesting seeing other peoples research as they had collected things that were really abstract and different. 

Hannah came round to give us individual tutorials. I explained my publication to her and she said it was okay, but that my work was becoming boring. Although disheartening to hear this from my tutor, I think that she is slightly right. This project could be taken in so many interesting ways and she feels as though I am taking the safest route. She wants me to go out of my comfort zone a bit more and be more exciting and ambitious. She said I should consider placement much more, maybe projecting things on to buildings, hospitals or onto a stage. When I showed her the canine spread in my publication, I explained to her that this was probably the most interesting research I collected and I wanted to explore this further. The thought of what we could become if we carried on eating these modern diets. She said it was fine, and that I should think about other ways to create an outcome that maybe wasn't so digital. I thought about creating real life objects, almost with a made to persuade feel to them. I want to advocate the idea that people should think about the consequences of eating by looking at my outcome and thinking 'NO THANK YOU'. 

I thought about different ways in which I could achieve this. My original plan was to do illustrations, but I want to create something 3D that I could showcase. Hannah suggested I visit the Wellcome Collection (Medicine Man/Now) and generate some ideas from there. She also said to research other diets such as paleo diets and see how the modern ones are taking inspiration from there. 

06.03.19:

I was busy most of today, so I only began working in the evening. However, this gave me the day to observe and understand my concept/theme much more. I thought about create dental imprints? such as retainers. I want to see how people will be affected in 500 years time, and so I think creating fossils and artefacts could be really interesting, acting almost like an exhibit in a museum. I think creating objects could be really interesting, or showing traces and bite marks maybe? I also think it could be interesting to see how our whole physical appearance will change. What will our feet be like?? show the evolution from neanderthal man to extreme veganism? 

07.03.19: Group Tutorial

Today was a group tutorial with Will. I went first and I began by explaining my first outcome - Hot Potato Publication. I then showed my peers my initial illustration of what I thought the mouth could evolve to. My peers and Will seemed to like my idea and gave me a few suggestions. 

1. create an animation showing the change of the mouth?
2. create a campaign reinforcing the idea that it's just a trend?
3. create a device that people will need to use to eat with?
4. Create an advert for a holiday?? come live like a sheep/horse for a day

Will suggested that I look at Vegan societies, that are government funded and look at the language they use. He said I could appropriate and manipulate it, but should look at both arguments (+ive and -tive)

I think that this tutorial was really useful and has helped me to clarify my ideas much more. When I arrived home I decided to go on amazon and see if I could buy some fake teeth for one of my outcomes for this subproject. 

09.03.19:

Today some of the things I ordered have arrived, but the main materials (teeth and display box) won't be here until Tuesday.

I think I will use this time to begin creating a few more illustrations and working in my sketchbook this weekend until the other things I ordered have arrived. I am thinking abut taking this subproject and expanding it over an extra week or two to completely understand and achieve what I have set out to do. 

I decided that whilst I wait for these materials to arrive that I could begin my campaign posters, which I planned to do next week. I wanted to give my own opinion on modern diets. Reinforcing and challenging the idea that they are just a phase/trend that will pass. I wanted to take quite a comical approach to this as I feel it will create a much more approachable response. From my research, I looked at herbivores teeth in comparison to omnivores. They had little to no molars or canines. Horses mouths are a good example of herbivores, and I wanted to draw a comparison between 'vegans' and horses - advocating the idea that 'Hey look! you're teeth can be like this horses.' Hopefully, people will look at the poster and be quite worried. Most people are vain and worried about their appearance, and so will not want to have horses teeth, as it will make them 'ugly'. 

I thought about stories/fairytales where teeth have been mentioned and immediately thought of Little Red Riding Hood. When she goes into her grandmothers cottage and speaks to the wolf (who she thinks is her grandma) she says - My what big, sharp teeth you have!! along with eyes, ears and arms. 

10.03.19:

Today I decided to take my campaign and put them into the public eye. I thought about my target audience and have chosen to focus my work to people my own age. I think they will be the best audience, as they are mostly affected by these trends. Having access to Instagram, Snapchat and Youtube, you can see that they are heavily influenced by celebrities/influencers. I had a look at what I use mostly on my phone, and the three top apps (which have news related options) are, Snapchat, Instagram and E-mail. 

I created a set of wireframes, using my campaign poster as a starting point I put it into the Snapchat 'For You" section. Here, you get news articles and stories that they think you might be interested in. Mostly, there are news bulletins from Sky News, The Sun and The Daily Mail. They use headlines in their captions. I have used the headlines 'will we really look like this in the future?'. 

11.03.19: Progress Tutorial w/ Will

On my way home I decided to research the millennial recruitment posters. I took notes as to how they made reference to the original WW1 posters, and paid close attention to the language used. I also had a think about how I wanted to tell the narrative of my teeth artefacts. I think it would be important to have a traditional caption card beside it, rather than using holograms etc. I feel that if I decided to do a visualisation of a hologram it would take away from the original aim of the artefacts - which is to educate people about the affect that dieting or cutting out certain food groups could have on you. 

12.03.19:

Following on from the progress tutorial yesterday, I decided to take the day to plan what wanted to do for this week. I used today to plan and catch up on my sketchbook - annotate and create some visual diagrams of what I wanted my boxes to look like as Will suggested. I also went back and had a look at the missing pages and have done some visualisations and ideas accordingly. From now on I think I will not leave pages out and just work page by page. I know that this can make my book look quite jumpy, but I don't think that you can consistently think of one idea and then move on, without having more ideas come to mind after. it will also make me feel much more confident when approaching my sketchbook and thinking of outcomes, as Will said - a sketchbook is used to plan your design work. 

13.03.19:

As the materials I've needed still haven't arrived i've written out a few plans on how I plan to create these artefacts in my sketchbook - thinking about: materiality, composition and amount. 

I have also done a few designs in my book of what I think these artefacts are going to look like and I am excited to try them out in a 3D format. 

14.03.19:

The fake teeth have finally arrived. I also bought a silicone mould (used for ice) in the shape of teeth to help create the ideal shape needed. 

I decided to use my glue gun first, filling the whole mould to the top and waited for it to dry. Once it did, I carefully removed it from the mould, and the indentations of the teeth were clearly visible. I think this was effective in getting an initial shape of the teeth, however I wanted to create something a bit more realistic, hence why I bought the individual fake teeth.

16.03.19:

Today I wanted to experiment more with placement and composition. I decided to think of quick and simple was to display the teeth. Looking back at what I had made, I think although the teeth with the glue gun look very gruesome, they are not quite realistic enough - maybe this is due to the way I made them and the overall finesse. I decided to take a certain amount of teeth and line them up (tooth up) in the shape of a mouth. I thought it would be interesting to have a parallel idea here, where half the teeth in the set would be from us now - focusing on "antivegan's" - with a full set of teeth ranging from molars to canines, etc. The other half would be of a vegan's in 300 years time (give or take) where the viewer can draw direct comparisons between them. 

I decided to place this in a plastic box - like in museum - and I think it is really effective and realistic. I plan on creating more sets and looking at how they have been affected by diets or eating habits?? For each display box I will have a plaque with a few notes. WHATS THE SPECULATIVE NARRATIVE?

Looking at the models I made with the hot glue gun I wanted too see how I could make them more interesting and look better. I decided to use tea and coffee staining as I thought this would affect the colour. 

However, the glue and plastic teeth were not pours enough o allow the colour change to happen effectively. I think I will buy some varnish for the floor tomorrow and see if that will work on top instead? 

17.03.19:

I decided to not do any work today as I was not feeling to great and wanted to be able to come in for lessons next week. 

18.03.19:

Still not feeling 100% I decide to come in, as every time we have time off I want to see what my peers have created, and see if the can help give me any other ideas. 

Today we were mixed with the Illustration group. I enjoy working in these collaborative environments as the creative energy is really high and everyone is working well. It's interesting also to see another group of peoples work that I wouldn't usually see. We were briefed to make an outcome in one day, using a 1x1 metre space. We could use the space in anyway we wanted and put it anywhere we wanted.

We began by writing down some ideas for what we wanted to include in this space. My first idea was to make a pile of teeth and leave it in a massive pile - the idea that these are almost useless to us and peopled not use them anymore. May second idea was to video someone eating and making the whole experience really messy and grotesque. I also thought about looking at left overs from food - like chicken bones, and seeing what u could make with that. 

Having a space to work in was interesting. I think working in this way was really successful. I looked back at my other outcomes form last week and really want to carry on with the teeth in someway. I decided to make some models of teeth - focusing on molars - and with my original idea have them form a pile. I used white clay as I thought it would be the fasted drying and right consistency. This process was laborious as I had to make loads of teeth in a ver small scale. By lunch time I had made about 15 teeth, varying In size and type.

For lunch a group of us went to Macdonald's. Whilst I was there and speaking to the others I thought about how the packaging and bag from there could act as a good prop for the teeth to spill out of - as I don't think I will be able to make that many more by the time we have our crit at 4. 

When we got back I decided to fill the bag with some paper to pump it up a bit and create a small opening. I inserted a few of the fake teeth I had made earlier, which had already began to harden , and place them spilling out of the bag. I still needed to make many more, so I thought about using some of the plastic teeth I had left from the weekend. I used the clay to create the root for each tooth making the hollow appearance much more realistic and lifelike. Umberto came past and liked my idea. I decided to get a sheet of brown paper to place underneath - which matched the bag. I think this colour combination really works and I think it could be interesting to see how the colour of the ground could affect the overall appearance. I think had we had more time to do the work I would've liked to explore different options for that. 

once I placed the brown paper as the backdrop, and placed my teeth and bag in there position I still felt like something was missing. I thought about creating a bubble of blood but didn't want to distract from the overall concept. Umberto came back to me, and suggested that I create some kind of boarder around, otherwise it just looks like a bag of teeth on the floor. I completely agree with him and think that this was the right choice!! So I included a red boarder which matched the logo on the bag.

19.03.19: CRIT: 1X1 Brief

Today we started with a crit for the scale day. We were partnered up with someone from illustration that we didn't know well, and analysed work from across the room. We later got into groups of four and showed each other our sketchbooks and outcomes from the pervious weeks, asking for feedback and any ideas they might have. I found this useful because it was interesting to see how the illustration students work differed from our own, and what ideas the had for us. 

One of the illustration students was a vegan! I'm not sure whether she was offended by my visualisations in my book or not, but she gave me a few ideas for my research and films to watch !!

21.03.19:

I used today to reflect on my work from Monday. I thought about creating posters that related to my scale outcome. I wanted to incorporate McDonalds into my advertisement, and decided to create a poster that would symbolise this. I think it works well, and I will place it in a McDonalds for a contextual reference.

25.03.19:

Today I had a tutorial with Clare, I showed her my outcomes from the previous weeks and asked for some suggestions that could work well. She said that I should consider how I display the museum plaque - would we need a plaque? or would it be shown on an led screen? She suggested I look at the Science museum ring, considering how you can send the ring messages and displaying it in that kind of context. 

She also said that she was confused about my message from my scale day project. Was I trying to communicate that bad eating affects your teeth? I explained how if I had more time I would've liked to explore it in different ways and circumstances. 

26.03.19:

I used today to complete my portfolio pages for Thursday. 

28.03.19:

Today I showed my portfolio pages to my peers. it was useful going through it with them, instead of a one-to-one with our tutors. I found that they would ask more questions on what I placed where and why, whereas the tutors are often silent when going through it. 

We were a group of seven and went through our portfolios in turn. Presenting may portfolio to the group was relatively relaxed and straightforward. The people on may table were all really friendly and we know each other quite well, so were not afraid to give criticism and feedback. I think this is a really efficient way of working as we can all come up with ideas together and help each other out. 

When we went through my portfolio, the group said that I had presented may outcomes well, giving context to almost everything. They suggested that maybe I think about different places to photograph may work and maybe experiment more with composition. They said it was good how I hadn't repeated images, and how when I photographed my work I took it from different angles. 

SPRING BREAK PLAN

Over the past couple of weeks, I have looked at the physical affects that eating certain foods has on our bodies, with a focus on our dental appearance. Over the spring break I plan on generating some more intense research, exploring how food is used for emotional clarity and in social context. I plan on looking at different meals, exploring mainly; the timing, what is usually eaten and who is there to create a series of purpose-led designs that will question the viewer.

15.04.19:

Today was the first day back from Spring Break. We were asked to bring in our portfolios to see what we had developed and changed over the two weeks. We went around our own pathways and gave feedback and comments to our peers. The people that commented on my work were really helpful and have given me a lot of useful feedback. They said they liked the way that I put my work into context and that I involve quite complex and sometimes scientific research. They suggested that I include more visual references in my sketchbook - such as designer/artist spotlights. 

My peers also commented on the fact that I had used a range of materials and processes - especially due to the teeth outcomes. My peers said that it was extremely weird but very inventive. They also commented on the fact that may poster designs were quite similar, and questioned whether there were any other processes or materials I could explore. This has made me thing of various outcomes that I could employ, maybe looking at food boards outside of restaurants and using the same language? 

The reviewer also mentioned that may sketchbooks were complete and showed may journey and processes thoroughly, from begin to end. They again mentioned the teeth project which demonstrated a range of practical skills and methods which have been developed. They also mentioned how I had placed my Hot Potato publication in the oven and that this was a very witty and successful way of giving the book context. 

In regards to my portfolio, they mentioned that I had a good layout and that I had labeled the work well. 

For their suggestions on what I could do next, the reviewers gave me a lot of ideas and concepts that I could try out. One said that they would like to see some people interacting with the teeth, and that this could be interesting to document. Also maybe seeing if there are any other ways I could create an interactive experience. 

16.04.19:

Today in the studio, we had a briefing on laser cutting from Hannah. Ive done laser etching in the past during my a-levels and I really enjoyed it, however, I can't think of a beneficial way of using this technique for my project. I thought about maybe laser cutting into food, but I am not sure if this company will be able to do that. I might find other ways of achieving this same technique without a laser cutter. In the presentation I saw that they had laser cut into coffee beans and I'm not sure whether that means you can calve into other foods also. 

We also had to bring in our 26x26 image to submit for the exhibition. This is so that we can all be included in the exhibition in some way. I decided to use my outcome from the Scale day. I think this outcome was really effective, baring in mind I had created it in such a short space of time. I named it 'A Bag of Gnashers' and think that the image and angle that I have chosen is effective enough to communicate may overall outcome. 

I'm using today to catch up on my workflow and to complete any missing pages that may be in my sketchbooks. I aim to refine my outcomes over these next coming weeks, in preparation for the assessment and exhibition next week. I will also use the rest of today to finalise my exhibition label for Thursday's deadline. 

18.04.19:

Today we had a portfolio drop off, where the tutors looked through our work to select for the Foundation Show next year. 

My teeth artefacts have been chosen to be shown in the final show. Will has told me that the display box is unnecessary and that the teeth will stand out more alone. I have taken his advice and have removed the boxes from my final piece. I agree that they are more effective this way! He also said to mount my museum plaques onto foam board as it will elevate them. 

22.04.19:

Over the weekend I've thought about my final teeth. I think that I will need to stick them together, as originally I set them up by each individual tooth. I went to the shops to buy some superglue and brown floor varnish as I feel as though the teeth are too plastic looking and take away from the overall effect I'm trying to achieve. I spent the day soaking and sticking the teeth together to create the final dentures; along with proof reading the museum plaques which had so many errors !! 

23.04.19:

I arrived at KX at 10am to give Will and Lucy my final artefacts. I am pleased with the results and I think they highlight the vast majority of my project quite well. I spent the rest of the day in the library with my peers, as we all agreed to find more research for our projects to add to our PPP's.

25.04.19: 

Today we have a private view of the Foundation Show, I'm really excited to see what other people have made in the different pathways as we all work to completely different briefs. My sketchbook has also been selected for the show, and so I'm interested in seeing how other people utilise their books.  

When I got to my work, I listened to the feedback that a few people were giving. I heard a few people ask each other whether the teeth were real, and many proceeded to pick up the teeth. I thought this was interesting as originally I wanted to have the teeth in glass display boxes. However, after Will suggested I removed them, I think that they have become much more interactive - allowing people to touch them and lift them up allows them to get a real feel and sense of the work and they can physically see the impact dieting has on our dental structure. Overall I am really happy with how my work turned out and looked in the exhibition. I think had I kept the glass display boxes the impact wouldn't have been there, and many people would've just ignored it. 

27.04.19:

I decided to use today to create a series of quick outcomes. At the start of the project may aim was to look at different aspects of the food industry and find the controversial topics to work on. However, I have solely focused on how veganism affects us physically, when I first set out to see the mental effects that food can have on us. I think creating work with a specific and quick time frame works well for me. I really enjoyed the scale day project, and so I want to try and recreate that at home. Using research from instagram polls and just finding random receipts in my house, I thought that these could be interesting things to work with to create some outcomes. I began by looking at the found receipts. I wanted to think about how a receipt could tell a story about a person. WhAt they buy can have a direct correlation to what they do in their life- giving insight to their lifestyle, eating habits and personal life. Do they reveal more about our personalities than we originally thought? 

I began by placing the receipt into a plastic zip bag - to give the idea that it is evidence of some sort? I incorporated the typical saying you hear from all cashiers at any shop - DiD yOu FiNd EvErYtHiNg YoU wErE lOoKiNg FoR tOdAy? However, having all these elements in one image became too busy and very messy so I wanted to simplify it further. Keeping the wording 'did you find everything you were looking for' in the background, I decided to get a new receipt and warp it- almost so it appears as though it is falling, and also hiding some of the contents on the receipt. I think this works much better as it gives a much clearer representation of my idea which focuses on consumerism and consumption. 

Following the Instagram poll I posted earlier, I asked many 'this or that' questions to try and generate some primary research for the next two days. I wanted to experiment with photography as its something I enjoy but haven't done much over the course. For lunch I made myself some chicken wings. When they were on the stark white plate, I thought that the contrast of the colours was really nice and would make for a good composition. I decided to photograph the chicken, focusing on the glistening sauce that was covering it. When I finished it thought that the left over chicken bones were interesting to look at as well. So I decided to take a few photos of the aftermath. I thought that they could create an interesting series - a contrast to my infatuation I have now got with vegan meals after doing this project haha! On photoshop I edited the images with the text - DEVOURED - over the top. I thought this image was striking and interesting. I decided to show it to my vegan friend and she said she found it quite disgusting !! which in my opinion is the reaction I was hoping for!!

That evening I had dinner with a few of my friends. We arrived at my friends house as we all agreed to meet there and plan where we wanted to go. BUT are all pretty indecisive when it comes to choosing what to eat. Someone suggested that we could play a game of MASH but tailor it to what we want to eat. We all thought this was a good idea, and could be quite a fun way to choose. Below is the results of the game: 

28.05.19:

Using the results from MASH yesterday I have decided to create a new version. I thought it was quite ironic how the game is called Mash and may project is called Hot Potato. I reminded me of mashed potato so I think that this could be a funny name for it! I kept it quite simple, but instead of having it as a group game- I wanted to make it for people who also want to eat alone, with the option of choosing who to go with. This is because on an instagram poll the majority of people preferred to eat alone which was quite a shock!! 

For the leaflets I have kept the colour scheme that of the colour of potatoes. The light warm yellow colour for a normal potato (inside) - the colour of mashed potato, and the orange for a sweet potato. As in the game you have the option to choose between sweet and savoury. The main point for the game would be for picky eaters or indecisive people, to help satisfy their hunger at any time with anyone. 

Overall these one day projects I feel have been really experimental but very fun to make. I thought it would be interesting to look at other interactive ways to involve food, and so will research into that next week.

FINAL WEEK

29.04.19:

Today Clare went through the assessment criteria with our class. This was really useful as it allowed me to think about what I need to improve in order to get as high mark as possible. The main points in the assessment criteria are: 

• show critical and contextual research: is it wide ranging, supportive, analytical and evaluative 
• how does the PPP relate to the whole project
• problem solving - theoretical and time management skills
• demonstrate exploration of materials and methods
• reflect on work and evaluate yourself
• thinking about context and an audience

I partnered up with Carmen and we evaluated each others work. We both know each others projects quite well and so we were able to give good feedback and analysis to each other, as well as giving our genuine thoughts on each others work. She highlighted that I have shown my opinion thoroughly throughout may research on workflow and have also included keys points in my sketchbook. She suggested that I highlight and make bold some key points in may reflection as to make it clearer - because I write a lot haha. 

She highlighted that my research is well rounded, looking at books, fashion and graphic design. My problem solving, she said, is good. I show this in my sketchbook and reflection. She said that I develop my ideas and concepts to visualise and use work flow to analysis it. 

From this feedback I can see that my research (both critically and contextually) is wide ranging and it supports may ideas. I plan well, using weekly planners to organise my work. I demonstrate and give evidence of adapting colours, font, images etc to get the best outcome. She said I also work well in exploring a range of considered strategies to give context to my work with a reference to research (ie McDonalds).

Carmen suggested that I do some separate reflections of specific outcomes so it makes my context clearer. I think I will take this on board and do that to make may work much clearer and easier to understand, as a lot of it is very theoretical. She also suggested that I take a photo of someone holding a phone with the anti-vegan campaign instead if just showing some wireframes. She also said that I could maybe write about who the audience is - make it clearer in reflection (ie for the posters) 

For the rest of the morning, we completed our Unit 7 Final Evaluation questionnaire. I found this useful as it has given me some ideas on what to write for my final evaluation. 

On my way home, I bought a box of fortune cookies. I really enjoy fortune cookies and I feel like I could create some interesting outcomes with them. Its a fun an interactive way to get people talking at a dinner table, na dis for all ages!

30.04.19:

This morning I took the time to photograph my outcomes in the studio with Carmen. I wanted to rephotograph my teeth artefacts that were on show in the Lethaby Gallery, as I hadn't taken enough clean and good shots of the work there. I kept the same set up as was in the exhibition as I feel it worked well.  I also decided to photograph some of the fortune cookies and recorded a quick stop-motion animation sequence. However, I did not think it worked to well - but have still documented it in my sketchbook. 

Using some of the images from earlier, I decided ti photoshop the background to different colours and changes the fortunes inside. Again, this was a quick experiment - however, I think it works well and I think I will include it into my portfolio! 

After lunch, I decided to go to Kings Cross with Harry. We both needed to generate more research for workflow and write our evaluations. In the library I decided to go and have a look and see if there were any biology books, which had imagery of the dental structure and face of humans and animals. Fortunately in the anatomy section of the library there was a vast array of books which could help form some research for my project. I spent the rest of the afternoon at KX trying to catch up on any work and research to add to my sketchbook in preparation for Thursday. I also began going over the notes from my peer assessment with Carmen yesterday. Taking her advice, I think I will add captions to my outcomes page on workflow to help the examiner/tutor read through my work and understand what is what. 

01.05.19:

This morning I wanted to focus on my fortune cookie idea. I thought it could be clear, to create a flip booklet, with fortunes inside. the idea that instead of using a real fortune cookie- which is usually thrown out and not eaten, people could flip through the book and reuse it as many times as necessary. I think also, if there were more than one edition, they could work well in restaurants or at home entertainment! I have begun to think about the aesthetic on the front cover and throughout the book. As fortune cookies usually have a blue/red colour scheme I think I will focus on one of them for this book. I will use this morning to generate some research towards other fortune cookies and begin to make my publication. 

I decided to use the rest of today to create a list of things I need to complete before Tuesday next week. I am not feeling too stressed as I feel I am up to date with my work. I add to my reflection daily, making it easier for me to understand what I did each day, however from my tutorial with Clare on Monday, she said that my last research page was lacking in enough research to validate the last part of my project. Taking this on board I will use the remainder of today and tomorrow to find and generate more research for this area. 

02.05.19:

Today we had another peer assessment. Alisa and I paired up. We were briefly familiar with each others work but we hadn't seen each others work for a while, so it was a good was to see whether our work made sense. 

We reviewed Alisa's work first. Her project revolves around the music scene in Moscow, which is something I am not familiar with so I was really interested in what she had made. Overall I feel as though the advice I gave her was good, I tried to talk about her work from different perspectives. I explained how I really liked how she contextualised the vinyl and that she should try and sue that same method of contextualising for her other outcomes. 

For my work Alisa was impressed with how much I had managed to produced and said that the quality of my work was good too! Feedback: 

• does the folio read like a consistent body of work?

Yes, the work clearly relates to each other and flows well. It all surrounds controversial topics within the food industry and that is obvious.

• is there attention to detail?

The pages are clean and the layout is simple, with a lot of white space and neatly presented

• are the captions brief and informative?

Yes, the captions are simple and to the point, they explain the work well 

• are there images that contextualise their work?

Yes, I especially like how you took the scale day project and created another outcome from it. The poster works well in McDonald's and has been contextualised well. She suggested I take a few photos of my final publication in context? maybe create a video of someone flicking through it. 

• are there pages that could be added removed?

Just add a page for the final publication.

• are the layouts well balanced?

Yes, most pages follow a photo of the outcome and then below that outcome in context which works well.

Following this feedback I decided to use the rest of the day to finish any work I could on workflow and in my sketchbooks so that I could focus the rest of my attention solely on the portfolio.

03.05.19:

Today I am feeling quite stressed as I have no yet completed my final flip book and it is a bank holiday this weekend! so it is the last day I can go to a printers and get it ready in time for the assessment day. 

Following on from may experiments, I am going to try and generate at least 15 different fortunes. I want this book to appear thicker than a standard booklet! it needs to have some depth to it to make it work! 

04.05.19:

I've spent the day today, looking through my research on workflow and making sure that I had included some research into my sketchbooks - which is something that Clare mentioned to me on Monday. In my first sketchbook I had very little - almost none, I had only referenced where there was research on my workflow. I decided to use my trip to the library on Tuesday and print the scanned pages and put some into my sketchbook. I think now, my sketchbook makes a lot more sense and it is easier to understand what research I am referencing much quicker. I have also written a list for everything I need to complete before Tuesday. BELOW:

 I went to pick up may publication, which I feel in the short time frame I did it in it has turned out better than I expected!! I took a few videos of someone flipping through it and have included the stills in my sketchbook alone with putting it into context - as I wanted to show how it could be used, and give an overview of all the pages. 

06.05.19: FINAL DAY

I am spending today making sure that I have everything prepared for the assessment tomorrow. 

07.05.19:

SUBMISSION DAY!!!!! 

10:30AM

 

31.01.19: 

Today we were briefed on the final part of the course - Unit 7. This is such a daunting thing to think about, and reflecting on how much I have learnt over the last five months is really rewarding. I feel like I have grown as an individual as well as a designer. From the start of the course I was constantly waiting for the chance to create my own brief completely from scratch and working towards creating a set of outcomes. I have enjoyed the briefs we have been set and I want to see what I can take further and expand on. 

Having missed the initial briefing for this project, I was slightly unsure about what to do. We were asked to get into the groups we had formed that day, but having not been there I was a bit stuck. However, I had already spoken to Carmen about being in the same group and we just needed to find one extra person. Luckily, Harry hadn't been there that day either so we decided to pair up and he joined our group. 

Harry and I began by listing our personalities and how we viewed ourselves and each other, as well as our likes and dislikes.

We both decided that for the commune project, we did not want to visit any art galleries, as we didn't want this project to become a fine art piece. As Clare came round she loved how we were anti-fine art and it lead us on to talking about how designers are problem solvers. 

We came to the decision to wait until we saw Carmen to create the manifesto and decide on what we would do for the project.

03.02.19: 

Today I focused on what I wanted to do for Unit 7. The prospect that we have to focus on one topic for three months is daunting. Looking at notes I made yesterday, when looking at past projects and thinking about what I enjoyed the most in each of them, I noted down that I had really enjoyed photography, illustration, satire and typography. I want to find a topic that can involve all of those aspects of graphic design into one. 

I thought that the best way to tackle this project would be to find a subject that I am passionate about and have a connection to that others might have to. I thought about personal situations I have been in and whether they could create an interesting topic. However, I quickly decided that I didn't want my project to be so closely associated with me in that sense, I wanted to focus on what I enjoy and what others do to. I came up with three things. Animals, Food and Socialising. With the theme of socialising I thought about crowds and what we are in comparison to crowds - this reminded me of Universal Everything's works which I researched in Part One of the course. Using animation is something I am not very confident in and I would like to explore further. However, I feel that a lot of my work has been based around the public and although that is something I enjoy looking at I wanted to explore other subjects within my work. For that reason I have also eliminated looking at animals for my project. I feel they too closely resemble and are associated with people. However, I want my work to have some kind of notion of people in it. I want to play on peoples emotions, make them think about things, look twice, really understand my work. Thus I have decided to focus on food for my Unit 7 project. 

I want to focus on how food affects society and culture, and how we use it as a social aspect to our lives. I plan to explore how food is used to elicit a nostalgic emotion, due to the intimacy we share with it.

07.02.19:

Today we proposed our Unit 7 topic to Clare. I explained how I was really interested in looking at food and what kind of connections we form with it. I wanted to mainly focus on the warmth and nostalgic feeling we get from food and how it is a promenade topic of discussion in recent years. 

Clare proposed some other ideas for my project, as she said I had taking such a broad topic and only focused on a very small aspect of it. She suggested looking at the political side of food - food banks? sugar tax? chemicals in food? veganism? diets? food as a political subject? Maybe I should volunteer at a food bank? 

She suggested coming out of my comfort zone and becoming part of the work. Maybe I take the same diet everyday? don't eat meat for a week? 

I was interested in looking at food packaging and advertising. How does the advertising affect the consumers? Clare also suggested looking at rules around food - How junk food and child obesity is a major issue, and how there its a law that there isn't a chicken shop within 400meters of a school. 

I later went on to say how I was interested in Stefan Sagmeister's Banana wall, which I included in my proposal, and how I wanted to have a much more topical approach to my work - maybe using food as a medium. I continued to discuss the social aspects of food, and how in current society it is important. Clare also suggested that I look at the cultural interpretations of food, looking at performance and gestures. 

From further discussions with other students, she suggested maybe to look at how colour affects food.

14.02.19:

Today we presented our manifestos to the class. We decided to keep our manifesto quite plain and minimalistic as we didn't want to distract from the main task at hand - to set out the rules and ideas for Commune. Looking and reflecting on everyone else's posters gave us some ideas of what to do and ho we can make this experience better. Will asked each of us what we had planned for the week and said that there was nothing wrong with a minimalistic approach hone it comes to the poster - but suggested that it could be used for our portfolios for Unit 7. 

We began discussing what we were going to do and how and where we're going to go. Creating our day plans has really helped me to understand what I want to achieve over the project and what research I hope to collect. Working in a small group is really beneficial as we all have plenty of ideas to share and help each other. We discussed what we enjoy eating and whether that would affect how we would do the first day. As Carmen is a vegetarian we needed to consider where we could go that would be suitable for her as well. This lead us to debate about our own beliefs of eating and food production. All in all I'm looking forward to working with my group for the intense period.

15.02.19:

Ahead of the Commune workshop, I have decided to use the next two days to really step out of my comfort zone and see how my friends and I could cope following a plant based diet. We met this morning and travelled to the country side, where we knew there would be no shops, supermarkets or anything for a few miles from where we were staying. Eating meat daily is something we all do so this was quite a challenge for us all. 

When we arrived we had already planned our meals for the weekend. For dinner on the first day, we had a plant based chilli with brown rice and kale chips. I really struggled to feel full form this meal as there was little to no protein. Going back to our rooms, we all spoke about how hungry we still were, and so decided to snack on some fruit. I also thought that it would be interesting to see how we felt having little protein alongside having no sleep. 

16.02.19:

Today is the second, and first full day of following this plant based diet.  We realised that we began to crave some sort of meat and other things. For breakfast we made porridge with almond milk- which is something I don't usually mind too much - with blueberries, some nuts, nut butter and honey, as well as some toasted bread. 

After about three hours, we all began to get hungry again, but said that we should wait until about 2:30 before we had lunch. Living like this with food that I wouldn't normally eat is really challenging as I got really hungry throughout the day. We all decided to go for a walk to pass the time, but ended up, not only getting lost, but also really hungry! 

Before we left for the walk, we put on some soup made of sweet potato, parsnips and peanuts to cook. When we got back we made a salad, with roasted roots, beetroot and kale. I really dislike beetroot and usually only have salad as a small side dish to accompany my main. Some of my friends have really struggled these last two days and so we decided to make a little batch of brownies. The brownies were made from dates, sweet potato, cocoa nibs - and we added walnuts to them. To be honest, the first bite I had I really enjoyed it, but the more of the brownies I had the more gross they were to me. I couldn't eat any more as I really dislike dried fruit such as raisins and dates - and in the brownies the dates were really strong. 

Despite our best efforts we couldn't deal with having little protein anymore, so drove to the nearest service station with a M&S. There we all rushed to the meat aisle. I got a few packets of ham and salami, some prawns and some chicken. When we arrived home we all just began cooking everything and for dinner had a mix of everything. 

I think what I've learnt from this experience is that once you're told you can't have something you begin to crave it. I also think that it is important that we eat whatever our bodies are asking for and we shouldn't feel the pressure of eliminating certain food groups due to current trends. 

On a side note, I am over the moon to have got onto the BA GCD degree at CSM, and having got this news I am even more motivated to do well on the foundation course. 

19.02.19:

Unfortunately due to personal reasons I was unable to participate in my groups commune. Although I have already done a practice for my own, I still need to generate much more research. I hadn't taken any images from that weekend which is so stupid as it would've helped massively. 

22.02.19:

Today I went to Portobello Market. I decided that this would be an ideal area for me to get images of food, which was fresh and also cooked. I also managed to get some images of people eating which is something I think I want to explore in this project. Looking at how people eat, trying to find people at their most vulnerable and exposed. 

I spent the whole morning here. Me and my friends love coming to the vintage shop on Golborne Road, and so it was a really good morning. I also spoke to many traders about what they enjoyed and what their favourite produce was. It's interesting listening to peoples stories and memories surrounding food. I think this could also be a really interesting starting point. 

24.02.19:

Today in my area there is a farmers market, like there is every Sunday. Much. Like I did on Friday, I decided to go and look around and speak to more traders and do some people watching. I wanted to look at people, considering what they picked and/or ate during their time there.