Module Reflection - Creative Meaning

In response to the brief for the ‘Creative Meaning’ module, I was asked to choose a site and document several aspects about this object in a creative way. I decided to choose something that is quite personal to myself: my make-up bag. The overall design was an information booklet that documented how to use the contents of my make-up bag, named 'The Guerrilla Girls' Survival Kit', to display how to “wage war” on facial imperfections. One of the aspects of my site was based around how I use make up to target my insecurities, which I interpreted as a war on my facial flaws. With an army theme throughout the booklet I communicated several features of my make-up bag including the make-up ingredients, colour palette, frequency of use, where to use it and also what items to use in order to hide and enhance certain facial features.

The audio feedback I received from Annie proved very helpful, as she had managed to pick up on some weaknesses that I had missed. One of the main strengths of my outcome was that I had managed to successfully communicate the intended aesthetic. The feedback stated that,

“The idea of it being a survival kit is a strong metaphor to be working with and you have adopted a strong visual style that compliments and expresses that message.”

This enforced that the ‘army’ visual style of the information booklet effectively accompanied the content of a war on facial flaws. However, I had failed to notice that due to using the same photographs of my make-up within the booklet, it had adopted a slightly repetitive look.

“Looking at the booklet as it is at the moment… there is a certain repetitiveness that makes it difficult for the reader to distinguish the different points you are making visually.”

As I plan on reworking this design for my portfolio, I have taken this comment on board and aim to document these images in an alternative way to present this piece in a more interesting and effective visual style.

As this module began straight after our group project for the ‘Real World’ brief, it was unusual to be working by myself as I had spent the last month as part of a team. However, I found that the skills I had learnt from the other students such as time management and software knowledge, complimented my working method for this brief too. I found the research side of this project to be the most enjoyable as it was a chance for me to get away from the usual Internet, books and magazines, and instead produce some primary research on an object that is personal to me. It was essentially down to me to get the most research I could out of my chosen site by looking at in ways I hadn't previously thought of. For example, I had never looked at my make up ingredients and was interested in what I had found (like the hydrogenated vegetable oil in my eye liner and salycilic acid in my lip balm). The research skills I have gained from this project were one of the most rewarding aspects, and have influenced the way in which I approach my research methods for other design briefs. Overall, it was a good opportunity to produce some interesting first hand research while looking at a personal object in a completely new light.