ALT-GAN is a
photographic story-telling sequence that showcases the quality of organic
beauty products and the theoretical journey a consumer may take, choosing
naturally sourced products over mass made chemical alternatives. The aim of
this report is to summarise the overall project, touching on aspects such as
learning outcomes, the relevance of ALT-GAN and a self-critical analysis.
At the beginning, when
researching into organic, I aimed to direct the project towards professional
women who could afford the upkeep of organic products. These women had
experience in the different makeup available in stores, from high end to high
street, and were looking for alternative options. My aim was to find the best
of organic available on the high street and show what makeup looks could be
achieved. Ultimately to remove the stigma that surrounds the idea that Organic
makeup isn’t the best quality compared to larger mass made products. My final
outcome, ALT-GAN, a website, engages the customer through creative imagery
making them conscious of the options that they are making when buying products.
They can see the evolution of the chemicals surrounding the skin, trapping the
skin leading to the skin becoming free. I initially said that I wanted to aim
my photographic series at women aged 24-30, but I think this was a wrong
estimation, as younger women are interested in organic products and healthy
lifestyles as well. I think to put an age range on an organic project was
incredibly restricting. The target market should have been based on aspects
such as consumer habits, lifestyle choices and people looking for a change in
their normal beauty regime. I mentioned in my proposal that the older women
would want to be trendy and keep up with trends that will keep them looking and
feeling young. However, once again I think that this comment was wrong because
most people look at trends regardless of their age. I myself in my early
twenties am now extremely conscious of being healthy, of what I put in my body
and on my skin and also how I can keep my skin looking young! I think because
people are so image conscious, a restriction on the project such as aiming it
at women who are 24-30 looking to stay trendy just would not work. The project
was a lot broader than originally intended, which isn’t necessarily a problem.
I have learnt that sourcing your target market and pinpointing a specific group
of people to aim a project at is a lot more difficult than it looks and can
change as the project evolves.
On the subject of
projects evolving, initially I set out to make an online exhibition with a
series of images and blog posts to show what chemicals are used in everyday
products. The online exhibition was going to have four sections, Natural,
Mother Nature, Quality and Inorganic Decay. When creating the project and
looking at the moodboards I had created for the proposal, I realised that the
four area’s would not work and did not make sense together. I wanted to have sections
that would lead the audience through, connecting each segment to the next. I
struggled to find links between the four narratives and decided to come up with
three alternative options to help make the exhibition flow. I also decided to
change the outcome from an ‘Online exhibition’ to a ‘photographic series’. I
wanted the project to be less constricted than what it would be if it was made
into an exhibition. The exhibition would have had to be formal and clean cut
like a physical exhibition. The photographic series gave me creative freedom in
the sense that I could photograph anything and make it link together through a
series of metaphors. I thought the online exhibition would have been too
similar to some of the competitors that I mentioned in my proposal. I wanted to
create something that could be web based but could also be easily turned into
physical copies if the opportunity arose.
To be critical of the
project, I don’t think that it would be that relevant to the market right now.
I think the photographic series would need a bigger following than what it has,
which was an area that I didn’t consider in much depth. In order to make it a
threat to competitors and relevant in today’s market, it would need a bigger
promotional push to make people more aware of its content. I also think that
the project would need a lot more content and collaborations from other
opinions to make it anything that could be seen as a rival to other companies.
However, the project could be seen as relevant to the audience because they are
there to learn something about that they may not have been aware of before. I
hope that the photographic series is considered more of a creative educational
tool, that would be of relevance to the audience and those interested in the
organic alternatives available.
My time management and
communication levels with the tutors will be something that has let me down
with this project. I found that I thought I had more time than what I did and
was less motivated for this project than anything I have ever done before. Even
though I made a schedule I found that I completely ignored it. I think this was
because I decided to change what I wanted to do, creating a photographic series
instead of an online exhibition. I did not meet with my tutor once, and I think
that this probably reflects in the work that I have produced. I know that this
will majorly affect the grade that I get but I found that I lost my way and
avoided asking for help, stupidly. Although I have managed to create a
photographic series, I think that I could have done better. I don’t think that
I pushed myself to the best of my ability and I regret not using the amount of
time given to me. I think that I got side tracked by the work based learning
and thought I had longer to achieve this than what I actually had. Overall, I
know this would have let me down but I think I still have managed to show
people how organic products can rival that of others on the high street.
I found making the
website was the most time consuming aspect of the whole project. I
underestimated how much time and effort goes into making a successful, working
site. I also underestimated the complexity of choosing colour combinations,
fonts and text sizes along with producing a decent amount of content. I think
that I should have researched into website making more and researched
thoroughly into competitors to see what works and what does not work. I also
didn’t give consideration to anything that could go wrong; I didn’t allow time
for such a scenario. I found that I didn’t encounter any problems, apart from
my card being blocked when trying to buy the domain to my website. A problem
that was easily solved but time consuming.
Finding models and
photographers that were available to shoot was something I found quite challenging.
I used the website Purple Port to source the other creatives that I needed for
this project. I found that the people that replied to my casting were not
suitable and that the photographers didn’t produce the work that I had
envisaged. Therefore I had to turn to people I knew and I did the photography
myself. Doing the photography myself just added more stress to the work load
that I already had, however I am pleased with how the imagery has come out.
Once again my time management here lacked, and I didn’t consider how long it
would take to find the perfect model and photographer. This is something I
think I should have sourced before Christmas.
Overall, this project
has taught me that I need to organise my time wisely and that my communication
skills seriously lack, which is something that I need to work on in order to
progress in any career. I have also learnt that I need to undertake more
research in order to be successful. If I had more research I think I would have
been more prepared in the design aspect. Although I enjoyed working out what
works well together, I definitely underestimated how long it would take me to
create. In order to further improve my project I would carry out more research
and push myself further in the creation of the photographic series. I would use
more models and focus more on the makeup and the looks that I was creating
instead of creating imagery that was more focused on the photography. I would
evolve the project to include interviews with people who are also interested in
organic and natural beauty products, like Nat Van Zee. I would also look at
creating my own organic and vegan friendly products to appeal to a wider
audience, furthering the idea that organic products are of a exceptional
quality.
