Personal and Professional Development

Working independently this term came much more naturally than with the previous project. I think I have learn from my mistakes and I immersed myself into my work much earlier on in the term in order to ensure that I enjoyed what we were being taught. I found that I really enjoyed tutorials as I finally felt I had relevant information to add to the discussion which in turn spurred me to work harder. I still feel that I need to improve my time management skills as I would like to have finished the essay earlier so I could have given it time to breathe and come back to it with a clear frame of mind, but I will note that for next time. I feel that I have flourished in the creative aspects of this project as I got the chance to go out and create something original rather than simply writing an essay. The planning and research involved in the advertising campaign video was very exciting and I had a lot of ideas. This is where I encountered another problem in that I sometimes became overwhelmed by the ideas that I has that I lost track of the target market I was trying to appeal to. Hopefully I overcame this by discussing my project with my tutor and my friends in order to get outside and impartial perspectives. During this project I continued to learn about the way I take in information, finding that the more I involved myself within the project, the more enthusiastic I became about it. I have also found that I am still highly influenced by my previous education, using skills I learnt in the I.B. in order to improve my work. Hopefully this is an advantage as I try and use them in conjunction with the new strategies that I learnt throughout this unit and have only used what is relevant. what I have learn during this project will be very valuable within a working environment as I am now aware that I can motivate myself to produce work independently whilst still taking in the advice and points of views of others. I also feel that I am now better informed as to the university resources. I am now aware of the course librarian as well as certain information about library services that proved invaluable throughout this project. I also feel that I have improved immensely in my technological skills. I am now able to use final cut pro and photoshop in order to complete photography and film work. It is something that I enjoyed a lot and I hope to continue classes in both in order to learn new techniques and improve my skill base.

Some Rough Sketches

Realised i completely forgot to add in any of my sketch book work so just sifting through it now as i last min checklist that i've done everything that i wanted to do. Heres some of the stuff that i liked the most. It was really fun to get to do drawings and be creative again!

this was my mood board/inspiration wall for the shoot. the kind of exotic world i wanted with a very specific shade of red.

 Sketch i did for the Bruton St. Flagship store window display, based on Indian colonial architecture and foliage. I also included the trademark wreath used in the advertising and video.

Messing around, thinking about the quintessential English look and how that transfers into makeup. I actually drew this with several different shades of lipsticks!!

Still life of the roses from the shoot before they died :)

The Grand Finale!

So today is the hand in of the project. If i'm honest i'm still not quite finished but i have finally managed to upload my video to youtube! yay! it only took about 3 hours to load...haha. Anyway, hope you enjoy and i will come back later to do some personal and professional development!

here is the link to the youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVrqDNpEcrs

The Shoot

So i have finally finished editing the pictures from the photoshoot last week! (sorry it took so long! and thanks to Khalil Musa for helping me overcome my lack of photoshop skills!)
As a background to the photo theme, i based the look around the theme of 'The English Rose'. That quintessential english girl - pale complexion, freckles, slightly androgynous, sexy but she's barely aware of it...
I then felt the need to echo the previous Stella McCartney advertisements in their penchant for completely taking this beautiful girl and taking her completely out of context. However I didn't want to go too crazy and shove her in a council estate (i did consider this for a while but realised that i may in fact alienate quite a few of my target audiences! haha). So instead i focused on the English abroad, out of their comfort zone but still thriving. I came across these amazing old photos of colonial India during the British Empire (see below) and zoned in on these almost obsessively!

So thats where my main inspiration came from, the British Raj, the ridiculous Britishness of it all placed amongst the Jungle. Foreign but at the same time a bubble of the small island we came from.
The setting of Kew Gardens was perfect for this, the Palm house provided the perfect preservation of this time of extravagance in the unknown wild. Almost like a time capsule. The victorian architecture preserved amongst the contrasting exotic foliage. Aged but still persevering.
The model wore a wreath of fully blooming red roses to fully ensure the main theme was kept present and not lost within the surroundings. The Makeup used reflected the proposed range, with subtle flushes of floral colours that were natural and exuded innocence and sensuality.
Soooo these are the final shots that i have chosen. These will be used for double paged spreadsin magazine adverts as well as banners on buses around London. Im actually really happy with them (you would be too if you knew how goofy my model was, i managed to make her look like a normal human being! ahahaha!)

I would like to thank Jess Allen and Catherine Lobo for their time and patience with me on this shoot, they were so helpful and did such a great job considering the conditions of working in an extremely hot greenhouse for several hours!

Sneak Preview...

Had my photoshoot today. The shoot took place in Kew Gardens Palm House, I don't think that i have ever been so hot! It's like a sauna in there! This is my lovely model Jess being a bit camera shy... more to come when I have edited everything...

LOVE THE LCF LIBRARY!!!

SCORE!

The Painted Veil

So I have been thinking about the inspiration for my photo shoot and I seem to be going through alot of ideas. there are so many avenue to explore, I feel like I'm getting lost in my on thoughts. I know that I want to do something quintessentially english but at the same time I want it to completely clash with that idea in order to carry on the previous clashing of Stella McCartney editorials. I was thinking about maybe doing something exotic so I'm going to watch a film called 'The Painted Veil' tonight for inspiration and to see if i could make it work. Its an amazing film about a doctor who takes his wife to China during a Cholera outbreak. I like the idea of colonialism. A little England preserved amongst the wild jungle and unexplored lands. I'm going to look into Kew Gardens as a possible location. I have this photo that i took on a school visit there which I love of my friend standing on the white spiral staircase in the palm house that could be perfect if i recreated it for my own needs! i must try and find it....

Anyway you should all watch this film (if only to watch the gorgeous Edward Norton for a few hours!!)

Colour Inspiration

Loving this colour palette by Pantone. its perfect for Stella and sums up everything I want for this makeup range! amazing! myPANTONE

IDOLS

So this week I have been thinking about the brands that I like and aspire to and what I can learn from them. Personally my friends and I are OBSESSED with Illamasqua makeup. It's a relatively new company but it has already had a huge impact on the market. With its own flagship behind oxford street and a large amount of store space in Selfridges its not one to be missed. The allure of this brand can be found in its creativity, it takes what the marketing leaders, 'MAC' do with extreme pigments and colour palettes and take it one step further. their intergrated marketing means that each season has a clear and defined theme such as "The Art of Darkeness" seen below. The theme is carried through viral marketing as well as in-store decoration and advertising creating a strong brand aesthetic as well as interesting and stunning visuals that characterise the seasons look.

However this is obviously not a brand that Stella McCartney would aspire to be like (however much i wish they would) but I think it is important to take note of how fully integrated thier marketing is and how important thir visual technique is within each season. Hopefully this is something I can take from them and use within my own project this term. We shall have to see. I can only hope that my video is as beautiful as the one above...

First day of school...

So today is a breakthrough for me. Today I am using my laptop for what my parents intended it to be for. Work. No more mindlessly scrolling through Tumblr and stalking friends of friends on Facebook for hours on end... Instead my laptop shall be a temple to my academia, the shrine of my education and the holy of intellectual holys for these next few months. Haha.

So as the last term of my second year of my Fashion Marketing and Promotion degree I have free reign for my 'Individual Major Project'. I've chosen to base my studies on the business 'Stella McCartney'; as you can tell by the hopelessly witty and extremely clever word play that has christened this blog. Within the guidelines that have been set within this project and the creative exploration that has to be undertaken in creating a TV advert for the brand I feel that Stella is an exciting company to work with. I cant wait to buy a fresh sketchbook like in the good old days when I used to be artistic back at CSM and come up with crazy ideas to fill the pages with. I think that Stella is a perfect brand to do this with as they are not afraid of strong and seemingly random graphics, what more could you want (other than one of those faboo spotty ss12 dresses, hint hint)?!?!

In terms of creating a new marketing plan for the brand I have decided to go with the launch of a potential makeup range, something I feel comfortable that I know a lot about and I have a feeling my friends in the Selfridges make-up hall would agree. Haha. So I guess the next step is to detach myself from this computer and actually get out and do some research. Top of my list of things to do... 1. Buy Crisp New Sketchbook...