Presentation Boards

Mega Crit - 10/12/18

The final crit left me feeling relieved after having doubts about the amount of work I had. I’ve had a few doubts about the work I’ve produced over the module but laying it out for display made me realise how much I’ve produced. The feedback I received from peers made me feel slightly more prepared for the overbearing deadline next week.

The feedback mentioned that the work I have produced has been considered strongly to work collectively which I personally I wasn’t sure of. The work was displayed in an organised manner as I hope the presentation and order of my process is clear for submission. The methodical process of work seems clear I apparently work in a neat and controlled fashion. The text used in the designs has been considered to fit alongside the visual aspect of the work and is strong enough to stand alone which is something I’ve tried to explore throughout the module.

The practical outcomes of my work have been described as punchy and exciting. I mentioned in the presentation boards that making my own poster workshop would have been an exciting opportunity. This was an ambitious idea for the time period of the module although the experience would have strengthened my knowledge of the subject further. The feedback mentions how the topic of Brexit seems quite difficult as it’s quite recent – they were right. The media is swimming with articles about Brexit but finding possible law changes was extremely difficult. Thankfully, but sadly, the animal welfare laws covered by the EU have already altered, giving me a lot more content to research and work with practically.

The synthesis between my theoretical and practical research has been reviewed as strong and the presentation boards have been strong in outlining this. The relationship between the two is consistent throughout, with the screen prints relating more closely to editorial illustrations that take a longer period of time.

If I were to continue the concept of this brief further I would continue making work ‘I give a shit about’. The subject I covered is something I am passionate about and would love to continue it further. Especially, relating to the current state UK politics is in. I would possibly explore mediums at larger scales and have the intention of opening a print workshop in my basement one day with my own screen printing set up. If this was to happen, I’d have to find some people in Leeds that would partake.

My work has been described as provoking, informing and exciting and I hope to continue my political ideas further in the future.

New GIFs

Mega Group Crit 19/11/18

The feedback I have received during this mega crit appears to be a lot more positive than the previous session which has aided me in wanting to progress further with my current idea of how animal testing may be reintroduced into the UK because of Brexit. I have been provided with new information which I haven’t considered myself throughout my research such as the use of more texture which could be handmade and altered digitally relating back to my research question. 

I need to start finalising my ideas further. I often seem to get stuck in a rut of creating development work in my sketchbook but never exploring at a larger scale and making more ‘final’ pieces which a peer has pointed out in the feedback as I seem to already have a sufficient amount of ideas but need to develop them further. 

The current highest qualities of my work are the text involving colour being striking and relatable to the content of my work (blue and yellow – representation of the EU flag). The use of repetition of my planned screen prints has also been pointed out in the feedback because of the clear message of mass use of animals in animal testing. 

I could possibly further clarify my current development work by developing my designs into more finalised pieces of work such as screen prints (this is hard because there’s not much time to drop in) and consider interpreting the colours of the EU flag in my designs with subtly to more closely relate it back to Brexit making them more understandable when out of context. 

According to my feedback I have shown a critical understanding of the subject that I am exploring (animal testing) and could easily develop these into more finalised pieces, such as prints. It has also been suggested that I could refer back to the current world issues that I mentioned in my sketchbook and develop these ideas further and look further into how animal testing affects the environment in various ways.

Fellow peers have advised me to…

• Stick with the colours blue and red/blue and yellow because of their relevance.
• Consider the composition of my posters.
• Explore print making and further paper cutting.
• Make more finalised images.

Image Analysis (Case Studies)

•  Symbolic colour (representative of blood, violence and Labour)
• Screenprint
• 1968
• Motif - housing (often seen in protest posters) weapon (usually a gun) connotations of violence. 
• Splitting the building in half (relates to point above)
• This particular image is still relevant today - relates to Varoom quotes about artists getting commissions for construction sites to distract people.

•  Contemporary editorial illustration 
• Digital 
• 2017
• Minimal colour again 
• Big hand/fist - similar motif to posters from 60s.
• Pinstripe suit is a representation of wealth.

•  Screenprint 
• 1968 
• Symbolic clenched fit motif 
• Text is easy to read from a distance (bold, capital letters)
• Slogan is straight to the point (like many of the 1960s protest posters).

•  France 1968
• 2 colour screen print 
• Glasses, suit and large mouth - representation of rich, 'man in charge', capitalism.

•  France, 1968
• Screenprint 
• Considered text placement inside arms choking the man thinning his not
• Composition - 3 arms (rule of 3, central placement of hat character)
• The main point of text 'SOLIDAIRES' bigger than other parts - shows importance - most readable from a distance. 

• 1968-71
• Screen print 
• Use of text is the focal point of this image 
• The sentence is extremely bold - risky thing to say (especially when looking back and reading it today) 

Research - Articles/Quotes/Websites etc

Useful links:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j7YvDXotpo
• https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/02/18/families-face-continued-wage-squeeze-pay-growth-standstill/
• http://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/remembering-1968-the-poster-workshop-1968-71/
• https://www.alumni.lse.ac.uk/s/1623/interior-hybrid.aspx?sid=1623&gid=1&pgid=1008

Mega Group Crit - 29/10/18

The feedback given at during the mega crit made me question my current work slightly. I’m well aware that I need to make more work and I wish I had more prepared to show my peers. Some of the feedback I received was related to the ideas I’d already considered in my head because of this making some feedback slightly less useful than others (this is my own fault). The feedback has made me question where my work is headed as I have been slightly unclear on where to go and whether to just stick to a specific subject (such as animal testing) or delve further into the changing laws surrounding Brexit.  

A lot of the feedback asks whether I plan on focusing on one specific subject or looking at more changes caused by Brexit which is something I need to think about further, considering time and extra research. Although, I also received praise for taking the aesthetics of 1960s protest posters and using them to cover more modern topics such as Brexit. I plan on further exploring different mediums that would fit under the same naïve, flat appearance of the prints and focus on how this could be made affective in modern society. 

Reviewing the feedback, I need to continue playing with shape. For example, experimenting more with the shapes of the animals. Could there be more emphasis on the scale or contortion of the animals’ body. As well as testing more with colour, which I have been struggling with slightly as I feel obligated to use a singular colour trying to relate my work too closely to the protest posters of the past. I could further experiment with more use of colour by still continuing to use one colour but considering line and texture to separate each area. 

I plan on also tightening up my research question to make it more suitable to the work I am creating in response to Brexit. Is it just the aesthetics of the 1960s protest posters that generated the possibility of a civil war in France? Or was it the physical use of a printed image and the sense of community when creating the work? Narrowing this down would drastically help me focus my practical work to create a strong opinion that stands for all. I need to consider printing my designs large scale and putting them online making them accessible for others to print out. This could create the sense of ‘we’re all in this together’ in a more contemporary fashion.