Evaluation Report *

Within this report I will be critically analysing the development of my project process and design development. I proposed to create a theatre souvenir book based on a fictional play ‘A Little Princess’ that takes a new form of the classic theatre publication. The book will provide an innovative view of how theatre publications can be created with an artistic license to produce a book that the audience can experience and treasure. Providing an extension of the emotive memory we experience when attending theatre and the other worlds that theatre productions draw us into. Across this project I have learnt many new skills and built on existing talents. Over time I have recognised that I am more independent than I realised at the start of this project, creating work that has pushed me. I have grown into an individual designer, capable of creating successful final outcomes relative to my proposed project goals. 

I have come to realise through this project that I am very self-critical and quickly recognise when something needs changing or re-doing. This perfectionist tendency has been both strength and a weakness. Throughout the project it has pushed my analytical interpretation about the future potential of the project and I am always thinking what could I do to make it better. However, during the development phases I felt it took up time in my production schedule as I was always looking to create visually flawless pieces of work. Due to this I feel that there are many elements, if I had more time or a bigger budget, I could have improved in the final outcome.  

The set design was the main element that I feel if changed could have strengthened the images. Whilst I have had no experience in dressing sets before and found it very daunting, this was a new skill I that came naturally to me, having always had a keen eye for interior design. I feel that due to underestimating the time and budget costs it would take to source and create a set, I wasn't able to fully realise what I had envisaged. Similarly when creating the book I had a very short timescale for designing the layout of the book before my printing deadline and as a result I was unable to carry out many of the desired graphic visuals that I wanted to include to push the book into a new level of publication design. For example, I would have like to include stitching on the photographs and layering of the images. On reviewing the book I feel that if I were to have had a larger budget and more time to include these elements it would have excelled as a publication that could compete not only in theatres but also as an art piece itself. 

Through recognising my tendency for self-criticism I noticed that during this project the perfectionist in me come out even more. I feel this was due to the fact that this was a personal project and the end product could have the potential to establish me as a designer. I was ambitious and wanted it to capture everything that I am about creatively. This on reflection held me back at points, as I was reluctant to produce work unless it was planned. I had a very clear vision and found it frustrating at times to rely on other people to help bring my ideas to life. I learned to be patient appreciating that not everyone was able to work to the same time schedule. Having to rely on others resulted in challenges I had not anticipated, such as being let down by team members not turning up for planned shoots when I had booked the photographer for example.

Collaboration was a vital part of the project and something I began to initiate at the very start. Through the growth of the project I have had a high turn over of team members due to unforeseen circumstances. When I formed a team at the beginning of the process I hadn’t anticipated that my final team would be completely different causing a delay and constant amendments to my original production plan.  Although I have discovered through the process of developing the collaboration that I am a good team leader and this has been in my view a major success of this project. I able to organise and lead a large group of multi-disciplinary creative practitioners and can also interact with individual people on a personal and social level.

By developing good working relationships a relaxed and enjoyable working atmosphere was created on set.  I felt it was a priority that the atmosphere should be professional and calm to enable the models to feel comfortable in order that they could deliver their best performance and portray the emotive value within the imagery. My photographer wasn’t experienced or comfortable in providing the level of direction that was required and so I stepped up to the role of director and found that I really enjoyed this role. Using my communication and team leader skills I was able to brief my performers on both character and story narratives working together in creating authentic stage moments. This allowed the photographer to concentrate on capturing these rather than being distracted by constructing the poses for the purpose of the camera. By recognising our individual strengths as photographer and creative director we were able to work well together and produced a working environment that was fluid and successful.  This is evident in the final images as the models were able to perform to there full potential through the atmosphere constructed and this in turn created raw emotive photographs. 

Establishing good and consistent lines of communication with my team members prior to shooting was crucial.  I created a private Facebook page were I posted all relevant information including call sheets prior to the day of shooting. This was very successful in that it engaged everyone and enabled them all to feel they were involved in a professional project. It also ensured that everyone had understood my vision and had a shared goal prior to shooting. Organisation is the key skill that I have personally strengthened through this project and by using techniques such as involving the team members in the planning process I was able to create an even balance between the business and creative elements. I have shown that I can create a large effective team which allows me to then concentrate on putting all my creative effort into the design output without being preoccupied with organising other people constantly. This can be seen in the amount of practical output I was able to produce including being able to go back and add a last minute location shoot to add in as background. This meant that all the work in the final outcome was entirely my own and I did not have to draw upon sourcing other imagery online.

Additionally in uncovering and understanding my personal skills, this has pushed me to become a professional designer. I now feel confident that I am able to construct and organise a large-scale production team and produce an outcome. I have improved many new technical skills such as post-production, graphic design, book layouts and wardrobe. One technical skill I discovered that I particularly relished whilst designing my book layout was graphic design. This enabled me to use my fine art training and skills and creative eye for detail and colour and I was able to develop a unique aesthetic for the book to interpret the narrative of the story.

I produced my project to show case my ability in creating beautiful wig designs. This was an area that was firstly developed and I framed all other aspects around my wigs. I found that the original time period was restricting my ability to be creative with my wig designs and since this is an area where I produce my most diverse work I made the decision to contemporise the story changing from the proposed 1940’s and 50’s era bringing the play adaptation forward to 2016. I maintained the inspiration from vintage design but by having the freedom in the designs this made the process more fluid and experimental as displayed in the final outcome.

I feel that I have achieved my proposed project and I have created a book that provides an experience of the narrative visually drawing upon the experience gained when watching a live theatre production. Thus giving these visuals and emotional experiences a place to be frozen in time. ‘A Little Princess’ is an innovative idea and I found no other similar books to compare and fabricate my initial research on. I have used primary research in the context of interviews with theatre managers to create an educated article that fits into the theatrical industry while pushing boundaries with existing theatre publications using a wide source of inspirational foundations such as artists, music and British culture. This has allowed me to develop work that is unique and personal to the project itself but that also appeals to my target market, a modern affluent woman that is well travelled, educated and always looking for new experiences. 

Experience being the central word for my project as a whole, ‘A Little Princess’ is a platform where an experience is waiting to be read by the intended audience. In designing and producing the book I strived to push back the boundaries in theatrical publications. More importantly this has enabled me to develop my own learning process and has resulted in me becoming a confidant and self-assured designer. In understanding my skill set I am looking forward to where this project could lead me. For example, creating an emotive cinematic video from the images produced allowing me to explore further my passion for design and creation.

Supporting Rationale

Introducing 'A Little Princes' Theatre Book.

{Strengths} 

• Asthetic 
• Paper texture 
• colour on paper 
• cover

{Improvements} 

• white edging on the paper 
• theatre logo on the side of the cover 
• mat cover, possibly 

Previous to receiving the book i was apprehensive about how the egg shell paper texture would look, all of the other books I have seen from other students opted for a high gloss paper quality due to the book being highly image based. I was worried that the egg shell matt paper quality would take away the depth of colour tone in the production photography. On arrival of the book i was extremely happy to have the finished product in your hands was a serial feeling. The front and back cover worked well together and the colours worked well on the high gloss dust cover jacket although on reflection i now would have liked to have changed this to a high quality matt to fit in more coherently with the rest of the book. The theatre logo was a little off to were i had imagined that it would have sat right in the right hand bottom corner but was instead more central although it did work due to the image stoping and the black background starting so was not something i was too worried about. When opening the book i was instantly thrilled with the paper the colours were bright and just as clear as i would have hoped but the texture of the paper gave the book a sense of richness and a sensory element to it, feeding into that experiential atmophere i wanted to create. I did notice that the book had a few minor elements that need adjusting a white edging on the paper i found distracting. Using my inactive I contacted Blurb as I was not fully satisfied with the final product, they stated this was due to the edge of the book being all the same colour on reflection, if i could have i would have changed this to black as although a small detail something i feel if adjusted would give a cleaner asthetic to the pages.

Setting out on a big journey when proposing this project I am very pleased that I have completed it, I have not only developed in my techincal skills set but essentially developed as a designer, understanding that I can pull together large teams and produced innovative creative outcomes. I feel i have created an experience much like when you go to the theatre, the imagery is emotive and layouts pull you into the world of the play 'A Little Princess' I feel I have created a publication that sets new standard for the classic theatre publications in an interesting creative and more importantly a publication that appeals to my Target market and more. I also want to state that this is just the start of the project having a shorter time scale than i would have liked I feel with more time and resources I could really push the book into new realms of not only theatre publications but creating something that could be innovative compared to all publications and interactive, 3D to 2D experience in a beautiful experience of a book. 

Book Meetings.

Having not had a chance to show Sharon the book before being sent off i had to show her the final outcome online, She was very excited and pleased about the outcome and agreed that although i had not added in all the additional interactive layouts it was the right decision for the time i had to execute it to the standard i would have wanted to. She also suggested that its very hard to give the feeling of a book across before you have it in your hands but i have managed to create something beautiful even online. This was positive feedback, as i can acknowledge my mistakes and were i can go from this I feel that i didn't need constructive criticism having already recognised them myself and discussed this prior to showing her the final outcome. 

Little Extras

I decided that to hand in the book I will put it in this personalised canvas back to give the receiver the full sensory experience from start to finish. Theatre venues sell many merchandise so as an add on too the book I thought it would be nice to give the person buying the book the full experience. I would have liked the back to be black or charcoal grey to match the book but this colour was not available. I kept the design simple buy taking similar elements from the front cover. 

Creation & Process of The Book.

When creating the book i was very focused on the quick turn around to get it sent of for printing, this post explores the process of creating the book and challenges i overcame and strengths i gained from this process. Having already practised my layout techniques and the overall asthetic of the book i was going in with a very clear visual of each page, chapter and asthetic. This was hugely beneficial as I was clear at what I was doing rather than going in without knowledge on these elements and due to this I was able to put the book together in a shorter time than if i hadn't planed out every asthetic .       

This image explores the process i went through in designing my book from online book publishing website Blurb.com I have decided to add at the extra's on as I really want to create a beautifully finished project so taking the extra time to create the exact fabrication of the book was important.      

Final Design: 


A4 Standard Portrait 

Dust cover jacket 

Charcoal grey linen hardback book

Proline uncoated (egg shell texture paper)

Proline inside cover changed to black 

Blurb Logo Removed 




I would have liked to add on foil stamping but due to the time when that book will arrive i will not have time to achieve this. 

{ Changes }

• Styling of chapters: 
• - No stitching in last 
• - Colour crop didn't work on all imagery 
• - See through crop took away from the image
• - Back cover imagery 
• Theatre Logo 

While Creating the book I found that due to both the size (A4) and the time restrictions many elements couldn't be created. Each chapter was suppose to have a differnt graphic theme to add interest and an interactive feel when putting the images with all the practised techniques and into the book measurements i found that it looked a little to cluttered and took away from the raw emotive feel of the images. I therefore decided to change the styling of the chapters adding in elements were i could such as 'The Party' chapter subtly adding in colour block, but for the rest the image spoke out on a black background more than with all the extra graphic elements. I further was supposed to have stitching being created on the last chapters imagery although as i wanted this done professionally i couldn't find anyone to do it for the short time restrictions that i had so again kept the images simple and speaking by themselves. 

Additional the back cover was created as a baby pink with the yellow location shoot crop and cropped edited image of Sara and the hand, although when creating the dust jack cover i found that it didn't work with the dark tones of the front and i wanted the whole book to flow, while wanting to keep the yellow moss i inserted this into the inside flaps of the dust jacket to add interest. 

{Challenges} 

• Creating something innovative & interactive while still being able to see the production imagery as a whole. 
• book binding not fitting to the number of pages at the last minute, had to amend this again taking up valued time.
• foil printing- unavailable, can be done at home but wont have time 

Time restrictions was the biggest wall i was up against, having a short turn around from post production of the imagery to printing of the final book, i felt the pressure in time scales. I initially wanted to create an interactive book but with the time i had to fabricate the book manually i ran out of time to do this. If i would have had more time or allowed more time at the end of my production schedule as I most defiantly underestimated the time the post production on the photography and creation of the book would take i feel i could have created a book that explored more of this innovative idea adding two weeks on top of what i had done would have given me that time to create what i had envisioned this also included embossed foil printed letters on the linen cover of the book. 

{Strengths} 

• The overall asthetic, colour pallets & imagery all worked coherently together 
• all my own work apart from production photography 
• finding the right asthetic for the book - Blurb.com 

I feel that due to the in depth practise and development of the aesthetics previous to the actual fabrication of the book I was able to create an well educated aesthetic that was coherent with all visuals included such as colour pallet, photography and typography and that also appealed to my target market. As I am a perfectionist i was able to create the exact asthetic of the actual book also on Blurb.com the printing website adding on extras such as inside page colour and linen cover colour was important to me not to use the default settings and creating an outcome that is all my own style. 

{Weaknesses} 

• Stress, putting pressure on myself delayed time
• thinking at more that one thing at once- editing images to fit into the style of chapter.

I found that due to the short production period this caused me to be very stressed and this sometime held me back rather than pushing me forward delaying time. I feel this stress was more due to not having time to create the desired asthetic rather than stressing on what i was actually creating. In recognising that i could only do what i could in the time, i embraced the new design and created the best look i could.  

{Learning} 

• That i enjoy graphic design, creative design seeing all my ideas come together i am a creative! 

When sending the book of for printing the website gave an overview of what the outcome will look like i was instantly very overwhelmed and happy with the final result, although I feel i could have created something a little more innovative and interactive with the textural and layering elements I feel that with the time scale i had i was able to create something that pulled in all my creative skills such as; painting, character design, colour placement and many new skills such as graphic design, book curation, photoshop, Indesign, creative direction and many more. I have built many new skills that i have found i really enjoy the process of creating the book was exciting and fun and although i feel this is just the start of what the new theatre brochure could look like, its an example of how theatre publications need to step up to the plate hopefully in the future competing with the fashion publications such as ID. Utilising the talent and creative beauty that they create in creating publications that are add ons from this rather than just spaces for advertisements like they are now. 

{ I will be awaiting the book and in the mean time will start updating my reflective work blog } 

Photography Editing & Post Production.

{Strengths} 

• picking up the photoshop programme quickly 
• Bridge for RAW files was quicker- less time consuming
• taught myself photoshop worked my way around finding variation of techniques 
•  lighting didn't need re adjusting as used all relevant gel lights for colour tone  kept consistant
• found editing the images easy as i went with an instant emotive feeling about the image rather than analysing each in detail, the feeling was important to me so recognising an image with the right feeling was easy

I enjoyed the editing and post production process, having not used photoshop before and having been taught the basics in the IT session I was having to find my way around the programme individually, I was able to pick up techniques easily and with the help of Bridge this aided the time it took in getting the images through post production a lot quicker as the programme was easy to read. When editing the images received from the photographer there were so many due to the way we shot, capturing every individual moment, this meant that the editing process was very time consuming, i instantly chose the images i thought were the  strongest and stood out being very picky with the standard of imagery i wanted. I further chose images that could tell the narrative of the story as although brochures usually have a few productions shots i wanted to create an add on experience from the play in choosing images that told a story was essential. 

{Weaknesses} 

• First Photographer sent me only jpeg files didn't get the camera RAW files until day before book was suppose to be sent off. 
• Wig lace and hair lines were a nightmare to adjust 
• black backgrounds needed adjusting
• nail varnish on model Darsh & hair bands on the girls i didn't notice on shoot.

Through this process i came across a few hurdles, firstly as i used two photographers I started on the images from the last shoot were Angelica the photographer used all camera RAW files, this made the process of editing easy and the quality of photography to a high standard. When i went to edited Dionne's images that were most of the scenes she had sent me Jpegs although for the print i was doing they would be of fine quality Bridge didn't open and in photoshop the quality looked very pixelated. As I was at home i wasn't able to collect the RAW files from her until a day previous to the book being sent of, this caused a lot of stress as i was having to edit the images at last minute along side the creation of the book. Although this took more time and I was having to re edit the RAW files I wanted the best outcome available to putting in the extra work was worth it, the RAW files looked a lot clearer and using Bridge quicken the rate of post production due to the clarity of programme use. 

I did find while editing I was told that wig lace and non black back ground would be easy to take out although not being experience in photoshop i found this challenging, with perseverance and IT support i was shown the clone tool this helped lots in masking these areas, further more in future when using wigs for a shoot i would conceal the wig lace a lot more than i did in these shots as the camera images are so in detail they seamed more obvious than in reality. 

I am pleased with all the final edits of my production imagery, head shots, background imagery and location shooting. This was more time consuming than anticipated and held me back in my production schedule as with the delay in receiving the RAW files i was then having to edit images along side the creation of the book. In my next post you can see how i decided page layout and the final curation of the book. 

Text Typography

From the layout plan I found that the font on the main body of text was very hard to read due to the long extended nature of the typography style. I have began looking at other fonts for main body's of test that will work along side the title font (the first font shown above) I have looked at three that i feel work, the bottom two use a similar but more readable style when the second is more of a simple graphic text style. I am more drawn to the second and last of the three. The last is similar to the title font but i feel that the second although differnt is more contemporary and could work interestingly with the rest of the aesthetics within the book. 

. Autumn Chant } Titles & Subtitle font                

. Moon Flower } Main body of text (excluding enlarged letters and subtitles)       

. Nella Sue         

. Ke Aloha         

{ Testing in the main body of font } 

Moon Flower 

Nella Sue  

Ke Aloha 

From these images shown within the main body of text I am still unsure of what i will finally use. Ke Aloha has caught my eye the most although the bold nature of the typography takes me away from the delicate asthetic that the the two have and something I prefer. I will ask a number of people for there opinions as this will give me a better educated decision for final fonts. 

1st or 2nd- final two to chose from -(Moon flower & Ke Aloha) 

Before & After Chapters

I have story boarded my new technical skills developed, in a visual way that can be created as the production plan of the final book. I am able to see from this plan what the layout and the progression the book will form. Being constantly aware of the industry i am creating the book for I have referenced back to classical theatre publications while also injecting my own personal developmental flare yet more importantly being constantly aware of my target market. From the initial forming of the book I feel its all coming together into the aimed outcome of the project, in experimenting with the graphic layout and design I feel I have been able to design a visual that is unique in the context of theatre publications but that also creates the intended experience for the viewer each element being throughly planned have given me confidence in the final creation of the book.

Cover

Story Synopsis 

Cast Information 

• Head shots & Cast information- after talking to Sharon about how i should structure this she suggested its a fictional play there for chose your ideal cast! Who would you envisage would play each character and there background. 

Layout & Graphic Design 

After looking a many programmes and theatre brochures i began to see a very coherent graphic theme between them all, square black and white headshot's accompanied with text to the right of the image of just below. Having decided to do some research on why the head shots within many of the programmes are black and white and it there was a reason for this i can across and article suggesting that it was outdated and many companies have a colour version of the head shot but for the purpose of theatre they are always presented as black and white. This seamed odd to me, the programmes are so bright and enticing and the people bringing the programme to life on stage are portrayed in a dull, flat black and white image. As my aim is to bring theatre and the way the programme can be published to the for front i was to explore other ways of displaying the cast information in a way thats innovative and just as interesting as the actors and actresses themselves. 

Above programmes, left to right, top to bottom: Les Miserables, Rebecca, Oklahoma, King Lear.

These are a few examples of layout that you could use to bring interest to the Headshot cast information, although the writing needs to be clearly read and Headshot not obstructed, other graphic designs layout could add, such as adding graphic lines around the face or using a cut out and some of the location photography. It is also important to keep the other pages around the chapters coherent taking elements from these layouts and using them loosely to tie the book together. 

https://uk.pinterest.com/milliejohns/book/

Practise Layout 

Play Acts 

''An act is a part of a play defined by elements such as rising action, climax and resolution. A scene is a part of an act defined with the changing of characters.

To be more specific, the elements that create the plot of a play or any story, and divide a play into acts include the exposition, which give information, setting up the rest of the story. Another is the inciting incident, which starts all of the action that will follow. Going along with the inciting incident, the major dramatic question is formed; this holds the rest of the play. The majority of the play is made up of complications. These are the things that change the action. These complications lead up to the crisis, this is the turning point. Most of the time, at this point, the major dramatic question has been answered. Finally, there is the resolution. This is the end of the play where everything comes together and the situation has been resolved. This leaves the audience satisfied with the play as a whole. These more specific elements of plot in a play are the main things used to divide a play up into acts and sometimes scenes.

The Roman theatre was the first to divide plays into a number of acts separated by intervals. Acts may be further divided into scenes; in classical theatre each regrouping between entrances and exits of actors is a scene, while later use describes a change of setting.

Modern plays often have only one level of structure, which can be referred to as either scenes or acts at the whim of the writer; and some writers dispense with firm divisions entirely. Successive scenes are normally separated from each other in either time or place; but the division between acts is more to do with the overall dramatic structure of the piece. The end of an act often coincides with one or more characters making an important decision, else having an important decision to make. A decision which has a profound impact on the story being told.'' -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_(drama)

Practise & Initial Ideas 

''Chapters''

Backstage 

Backcover 

This yellow moss has been taken from the location photography cut and crop in photoshop, I feel it gives the back cover the layering effect and a creative flare that I have been looking for combining all my skills through this graphic layout achieving a successful visual aesthetic.