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.