Evaluation

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. 

Instagram

In order to engage more people in the project and to get a wider audience I created an instagram page. The importance of social media is vital for a project to be successful. Without social media, people would not know about the project. It is also important to keep the project up to date, adding content to keep the audience interested. I have learnt that it is easy to lose the interest of people quite early on, and if you haven't engaged the audience than they won't care for what you are doing. I also found that in order to engage, you first have to attract your target market and then work from there. I did this by using the relevant hash tags and following the main organic beauty companies. 

https://www.instagram.com/alt.gan/?hl=en

Shoot Day

The shoot for the content of the website happened over two days. One location was a rapeseed oil field near Winchester. The other location was in the park opposite the University where some bluebells were growing, and also in the studio. 

Winchester - On the first shoot day I wanted to focus on getting the 'Texture' content for the website. For this I decided that I would go to a local woods which has a view of the countryside and look at the textures that I could find there. I spent most of the day walking around looking at the textures in the trees and on the ground. I also used a piece of material and experimented with the light reflecting through. I also put it over the textures, for instance the bark on trees, to see what imagery was reflected back. The only problem I really encountered here was the sunlight vanishing behind clouds. I had to wait for some time while the clouds disappeared otherwise the images were quite dull. It then began to rain, so I decided to leave and go to the next location. 

The next location was a field full of yellow rapeseed oil crops. Luckily the sun had come back out which made the images contrast against the blue of the sky. I spent the rest of the day here experimenting with the use of materials over the crops and also over the camera lens. I wanted the material to represent the chemicals that are found in everyday products, and the crops would represent the organic nature which is better for our skin and the environment. I decided that this location would best represent the 'Nature' content of the website, instead of 'Texture'. I think these images came out really well, the composition of them worked well along with the contrast of colours and textures. I didn't encounter any problems on this location other than the weather changing for the worst which meant that I had to go home earlier than intended. 

The Park - Since the location shoot in a field, I really wanted to find a location that had bluebells to create more of a contrast of colours to represent the multiple chemicals found in products. On the way to university one day I noticed there was bluebells in the park opposite. So I decided to get my model and shoot in the park. I wanted the bluebells to be surrounding the model, so she had to lie down on the ground. This location worked well for what I wanted to achieve. I once again used the material to represent the chemicals. I then also used the nature around to get some more content. I took pictures of the model surrounded by texture and nature. In the end, the images were the model was surrounded by bluebells didn't work because the sun was in the models eyes which ruined the poses. The images that did work included texture which was good for the content of the website. 

Studio - On the same day, I also had the studio booked. I decided to use a dark backdrop for the 'Pure' section of the website as I had this idea to shoot the curves and bones from the skin to show how one has freed their skin from the chemicals. I used one white board and one black board either side of the model initially to reflect the light. In the end, I just used the black board to create shadows on one side of the skin. I used two light at the beginning, one soft box and one honeycomb light. In the end I didn't need the honeycomb light. It took me some time to set up the camera settings and the lights which really consumed the time that I could spend on the makeup. If I had my own photographer, this time could have been spent on experimenting with more imagery. I am happy with how the images came out and in the end they didn't need much editing which was perfect for my time management. I also experimented with blurring the images, having a longer shutter speed to catch the model moving around with the material. I wanted that segment to represent the model trying to be freed from the chemicals that shrouded her skin. 

Overall I am happy with the locations that I chose to create the content for my website. I do however think that I should have used more studio time and gone to the beach and shot there like my proposal stipulated. I put not doing this down to poor time management which has affected my overall project. 

Location

I originally intended to use beaches as the location for my shoots. Creating a smoky effect along the beach with the model posing covered in materials that were blowing in the wind. However because it took so long to try and get a photographer and a model, I decided that it would be easier to use locations that were a lot closer to me, so that I could use back up people in case my model dropped out and I would be left with a day wasted. 

The first location I used was woods near my house and a rapeseed oil field near Winchester. These locations were close to where I lived and were easy to get to. The rapeseed oil field was my favourite location because the colours were so bright and the vast amount of crops made for an interesting depth in the imagery. Luckily it was a nice day which made the colours stand out even more, although when the bad weather did eventually roll in, the clouds presented a interesting background. I am happy with the locations that were chosen and thought that they represented the three aspects, Pure, Nature and Texture perfectly. The woods were especially good for the Texture aspect of my project. Everywhere you looked, there was different materials, different textures and mediums. 

I shot the Pure aspect of my project in the studio so that I could control the lighting and create the dark shadows that I wanted. I used a soft box and a honeycomb light to create a dull shadow across one side of the face. I used a dark reflector which brought out the highlight on the models skin. I thought that shooting in the studio for this part would be more effective as I would be able to control the outcome. I also had more control over the settings, meaning that I could create blurred imagery in a controlled environment. I feared that if I did this outside I would have had more aspects to think about. 

Sourcing Models

I sent out a casting call on the website 'Purple Port' to find models to collaborate with on this project. I had a few reply, however their looks weren't right for the project. In my mind I was thinking of pure girls, girls with fair skin and light hair. The girls that replied were covered in tattoos or just didn't look like models. Although there is nothing wrong with tattoos, I don't think that the look would have complimented what I was trying to achieve. In the end I had to use somebody that I knew. The model on the day was professional and understood what I expected of her. I have worked with her before many times so knew that she would be reliable. Luckily she had the look that I had envisaged when thinking of this project. She also contributed to the day and gave me ideas of what could work and what wouldn't. Without her help I don't know what model I would have had to settle for. I was really disappointed with the website Purple Port because half of the girls that replied didn't look professional at all, and the images they had on their portfolios did not help. 

Overall I am happy with how the images came out with the model chosen. I think that she was a great model to work with and helped me out with ideas, which is what I wanted from the team around me. Once again my time management let me down here because if I had started organising models before Christmas I would have had maybe found a multiple selection of models that I could have worked with to create more content for the website. I think that by only using a couple of models on the website may have let it down in terms of, if I had more there would have been a deeper story being told, showing how the organic products work on multiple skin tones. However, by using one model I made the story consistent which allowed for it to flow better. 

Schedule - Time Management

Above is the intended schedule for Organic Beauty. I intended to start my project before the Christmas period by sourcing the models and photographers that I wanted to work with. However, I left this to a lot later, it was then that I realised that it takes some time to get together the perfect team. I found that people that were replying to my casting calls really didn't have the same ideas as me when it comes to photography and modelling. I found it a lot harder to find a team to work with so I decided to do the photography for myself and get an old friend to model for me. I have around 5 years experience with photography so I knew what I was doing, so this aspect didn't affect me much. However it was added work to the time that should have been spent making up the model or working on my website design. I found that I didn't stick to my schedule at all and went off and did my own thing. Luckily everything came together in the end, but I did find myself making smaller lists of things to do instead of a main one. I also didn't do as many shoots as was stated on the schedule and I didn't create videos. This is an aspect that can allow for my project to be evolved. I can take the project further and appeal to more people by creating more visual content. 

I found the most time consuming thing to be creating the website. I didn't take into consideration how long it would take to figure out what kind of design I wanted to use, what fonts and what colours to use. I thought it would take me around a week to create the website and test to see if it works. This however was wrong, making me behind on my schedule. In the end it took me longer than expected which meant that I did not have time to create a focus group to test out the website. Therefore I have had no critical feedback on my website, which would have helped along the way. I should have also kept the feedback from my project proposal in my mind, because I was told to be aware of how time consuming making a website is. This was something that I forgot as the weeks went on. 

Overall my time management for this project has been awful. I found that I have left aspects of the project to the last minute, even though I was organised with what I wanted to do eventually, I still lacked the motivation to complete the project.