Self Evaluation

How did I like the brief?
This brief has been my favourite so far throughout the degree, I feel as though it was what I am interested in, in terms of what I would like to be doing when I leave University. I have thoroughly enjoyed the brief as we have been able to be as creative as we would like, the decision was entirely our own and we have been able to design and create a range of different fashion looks. One element that I liked about the brief was that the choice of brands fit with a range of different personal styles and personalities and therefore we were able to choose the brand we feel most strongly drawn to and which fit our own makeup style. I have found this brief inspirational and have found myself enjoying doing the research and looking into the brand Chanel. Looking into advertising images has particularly interested me and I am a fan of creating beauty looks and in particular focusing on bases and the skin, hopefully this is something that has been reflected in my work. I have found the photography sessions we have had extremely useful as these have given us techniques to use in terms of beauty lighting that I can produce myself now that I know how, without this I feel I would have struggled.

What do I think was successful?
Throughout this brief I feel as though I have done well. I am particularly pleased with my advertising day look and my editorials, I feel as though these reflect Chanel well and fit with the SS16 brief. I think that I have done well to find models who all look so different as this means I have been able to work on a range of different faces, skin tones, skin types and hair types. I feel my research into Chanel has also been good, I feel I have researched the products I want to advertise very well, in particular the Chanel No.5 perfume. I feel as though I have done well to produce as many images as I have done given the issue that we seem to face every brief with studio time being limited and often not available. An element I am pleased with in my work is that I have produced everything myself, I have taken all the images, designed and applied all of the makeup looks and have then edited each image (placing text on, re-touching etc.) This I feel is something to be very proud of as often makeup artists will simply apply the makeup or hair, being able to do all this is a valuable skill I have gained at University and will hopefully be able to use in a working environment.

What difficulties did I face?
Throughout this brief I would say time keeping is my main issue, I feel i didn't realise how much work I had to do and how much work this brief actually needed which is something that may have hindered my final outcome as I may have rushed some elements. Another issue I faced was trying to find models, this is something I always struggle with as I like to find a person who embodies what I am trying to create and the idea in my head. Is is often the case that people are not willing to model as this can be an awkward experience if they have not previously done it. I also feel as though collaborating with other students is very difficult, this is because you have to try and find times they are available to work, the whole idea of collaborating looses its appeal when you are faced with people cancelling at the last minute or even just not turning up. I find this then lowers my confidence in trying to collaborate and maybe my images end up slightly lacking due to not being deeply skilled in taking photographs.This then means that we have to juggle the rest of the work to produce these images on our own which can also be difficult and I find this to be a slight struggle as obviously I am not the best photographer and editor. I have found the hair to be a difficulty throughout this brief, I do not feel as though I am the best at styling hair and this often leads me to be stuck with my ideas and thought process on how I want the image to look, more often than not I am dissapointed with how my hair turns out and this brief has been no different. Finally an issue I would say I have had would be designing my hair and face charts, I am not the best when it comes to this however this is something I am always willing to practice in order to get better at it.