Over all this uni year has been nothing like I ever expected, like most of the pandemic. We have all proven to be more resilient  than we probably knew we could be. I find it bitter sweet looking back on maybe what could have been for my final year at uni as inspiration and motivation was low at a time when I thought I was going to have the chance to produce work I felt really proud of. However, I am proud to have made It through in these circumstances.

My fmp was a correlation of how I have felt over the last few years. Luckily I am now in a secure place where I can start to think about helping others and that’s why I wanted to focus on this for my final piece. I have learnt the biggest lesson that mental health is not linear and healing is a long process but having support and guidance is what will get you through. this was replicated through out university personally and through my work in fmp. Speaking to others and putting out a platform that others can learn from on another and maybe help encourage people to speak out and get help or just feel comfort in knowing others are feeling the same.

Visually I feel I have made improvement with being able to convey my brand identity across platforms. Colour has always been something I enjoy working with so using the strong green theme has worked well to keep things concise. The articles could almost feel as they are blogs or small artistic snippets into someones lives journeys and values which I have enjoyed piecing together with the illustrative elements. Although I wish I could have felt inspired earlier in the year I am pleased with what I have produced and hope it shows my style personality and values on the course.

It has been a strange feeling to have an extension at this stage of the course when half of the course is finished. I used the extension as emotional support so I could finish with out panicking so I have found it really helpful. Through out my time at university I have always had chaotic deadlines and I thankful that although this year has been difficult, my mind has been more clear than previous years therefore making it easier for me to handle the work. It’s always hard to figure out when to finish adding to a project especially in contrast with this time line of covid and understanding how much work to achieve under the circumstances physically and mentally.  It was comforting to reflect on have my work has narrowed down in my final piece as It took me a while to reach a point where I could confirm what I wanted my outcome to be. My concept has been pretty clear through out the year as I knew the content I wanted to achieve to help people open up or learn about mental health but I was confused what tool I would use to show case it. I feel I am in a place where I am nearly ready to hand in see my final outcome all together. I hope I have been able to showcase how this could be valid brand.

Elliot and i have been working together to bring together the brands final touches. We worked on inspiration for the design of the app using floral patterns and soft illustrations representing movement and calm energy.  After i designed the app on Framer with basic shapes and information I edited it so elliot’s designs would be used as backgrounds which worked well together with the site as we stuck to the green tea colour theme. I also used these for my weekly wellness section I have written on the site which will potentially be partly used for instagram content.

He experiments with detailed illustrations with people in them but they are abstract , and playing with gender fluidity which I think fits the brand perfectly. We are now focusing on on bringing his illustrations onto the site which can be visual representations of areas i am trying to speak about such as therapy and meditation. Following on from this ,I will play around with mocking up an instagram using these images. I think i will only use illustrations and promote the podcast staying in line with other apps i have researched and i feel it would be more appropriate to mainly illustrations to connect with an audience.

I am working with a separate illustrator to create an image for the podcast of the hosts. These also have an abstract but have a more realistic feel to them as this will be a personable part of the brand. I am concered the illustrations will not be cohesive with each other however, I will work with both of them to create some continuity whether that is in colour scheme or placement.

The interviews i have conducted are based around mental health and are meant to be thought provoking questions to give interesting answers about the way we feel about ourselves and the experiences we have been through.  These questions can sometimes be hard to answer so i really appreciated everyone’s honesty and i would really like to continue this further by talking to more people. i also wanted to make sure i had a variety of answers in slightly less obvious forms of mental health to break the stigma around these topics.  I found it comforting to read and i would hope others would feel the same as a viewer and would want to be part of the istoria community. I chose captivating moments from the interview to quote as a subheading under the names to tie the pages together and give a brief understanding of what each interview was about.  Once I had laid out my first page I was happy with how my images looked with the words and it started bringing the vision together. Where I was not able to photograph people I started to discuss with my first year student how he could bring illustration into the brand identity so we are going to fill in the gaps using this. I created some images to go with some article such as the dear me and top tips page but I am going to see if the illustrations work better and can keep a stronger theme through out. I have made a short film for one article but I don’t think I will use this as interviewed a different woman and it was at a point where we were still locked down so I will focus on filling in the gaps with illustrations. I was able yo get in touch with a therapist from ‘Brighton girl’ where I asked for letter contributions or anyone who would  be willing to give advise on therapy and she kindly allowed me to use blog posts she had worked on to allow her audience to widen.

 

I never thought i would be making a website for my fmp but it has been a fun way of experimenting with art direction and how i want to present the brand. I can often visualise how I want something to be created but I struggle to show this in sketch books and use the software that is needed. The technicalities of the website were slow to get my head around but once i figured out the basics i could spend more time creating the mood and design i wanted. This has felt like a good middle ground to display my branding and vision for what I think my audience would be drawn too. The colour theme is tea green black and white, and i have started using framing and similar graphics for the site to keep continuity through out. I am working a lot with white space to keep the content looking clean. My photography is in various places on the site but particularly in the first three self care interviews as this was the work i was able to create during lock down with my housemates.In my sketch book I have made good boards of my imagery so I can asses how the images work together which was helpful. However seeing them with the words in the article layouts I have worked on was easier to make the final decisions. Pulling all my work together from over the last few months has been helpful to progress my platform and think about how i can create my app and design the site.

I spent some time choosing the image for the cover of the website. i started of looking at images I had created which all had meanings surrounding the concept how ever, they didn’t fit the mood I had in mind. I knew I wanted to incorporate the short film I made some how into my final piece. I shortened the footage and contrasted the bodies to then experiment with it on the site. Although the focus is primarily on the mind there is a big focus on the body as as this can usually tell you so much about the way you are feeling. its about finding the balance and being in tune with your self so you feel content and accepting of yourself whilst having the best chance of looking after yourself and feeling healthy. Once this was on the site with the all visual and written content I felt it was the best choice. I had feed back previously that It made someone feel calm and relatable which is exactly what I want my brand to embody. A video can also be more captivating and allow the user to want to look more into the site. I edited it with water sounds overlayed to enhance the relaxing feel to the body movements and create a peaceful sound on the front page of the website but I could not add this in the end. It was still positive to create and compare the sound scapes with the bodies to see how I could incorporate it in the future.

I want to keep the identity strong on both platforms and i have been working with my first year to help me create some illustrative designs for the app and various areas of the website. If i decide to launch an instagram this will also be used there. I have also been thinking about pulling together a  guide so this may be used for the design of that but i want all the elements to stand well together in for my final outcome.

 

 

STORI POD

Me and my housemates recorded our first episode of the podcast Stori POD,  attached to my project, it ended up being a really fun experience but definitely took some time to settle in. After listening back , we were not all as near to the mic so on the next episode i will make sure our voices are at equal level as the quality slightly lacked at points. However the conversation flowed well and we covered quite a few different opinions in 45 minutes. Our first topic was Instagram and how it affects our mental health and the constant battle we have wanting to log on and off. It a complicated topic but it highlighted the different relationships we have to it and how its sometimes necessary it is for start up businesses making me think more about whether it should be promoted on there. But i think using it as a tool would be more successful, but not as the main hub.

We had some listeners to the the first podcast who said they enjoyed and valued what we had to say on the topic. i was worried about us talking over each other at points but we were reassured it didn’t affect the quality of the conversation. I have briefly planned the next episodes on the site to give more understanding to the brand and site.

I have been thinking about a way of connecting with the public and trying to create a moment of self reflection and positivity within my brand. A therapeutic approach i have learnt recently is writing letters, either to others , your future self, present or past. I am going to see if i can get people to write anonymous letters to themselves being compassionate and loving ,discussing what they are proud of, what they value in themselves,  as if you would write to someone in your life who you value but as a reminder to feel the same way about yourself. If people feel comfortable sending them to me then i will use these as a visual reference point for research and on my website so we can share that feeling and i also will have created a moment for themselves through Istoria.

This could also possibly be used for the short promotional film i am creating for the site or an archive on then website.  I will also reach out to see if anyone would like to share stories or work surrounding this project for my site. I have found my social anxiety has gotten worse since the pandemic therefore i have found it more challenging to reach out to people who could be part of my project, upon reflection i could have done this sooner but i’m hoping people will want to be involved and can gain enough content in before the deadline.

reflection

I feel like letters became something to keep us connected though out the pandemic , me and my friends would write to each other send little paintings or gift cards just to bring some joy to someone in the conditions we were in. Receiving a letter can feel really good and once I started reading everyones letters to post on the site it created that same feeling. knowing it was to themselves and using such positive rhetoric created the feeling I wanted to create. it allowed people to check in and be kind to themselves and seeing them all together created a motivational collection for viewers to read through.

 

I am in constant conversation about whether it is better to stay off instagram completely or to attempt to change the way you use it. Instagram is an addiction and many people i know are trying to wean themselves off. The pandemic made a lot of us want to be more present and use technology less on a whole however, for a lot of people, using apps or phones as a tool is beneficial if it done in the correct way such as head space or calm. These are apps based on reducing anxiety and stress with features such as meditation, calming film footage and playlists.  This will inspire the website i am creating but i am deciding whether the app will work well with my users. The other option is promoting the podcast / website on instagram to gain recognition i may use illustration as a focal point if i do so. It would not be the main source of information but it would be there keep up brand identity.

I had been reflecting on a tutorial i had weeks ago where i was questioned on whether i wanted to create something more personal and engaging off social media for my audience and i have been playing with the idea of having people sign up to the site which then allows me to post out small marketing gifts such as tea bags with affirmations written on , to create a moment where my listener can sit and take time to themselves encouraging them to take a break and focus on helping themselves.

I wanted to work with polaroids to give a more grainy unedited feel to the photos of the women i was speaking too.  I had considered not using faces at all to contrast how we often use our faces to gain likes on social media however i decided after researching and deciding visually how i wanted to present the interviews, polaroids were a good alternative. I used the 3 women i am speaking too and i had six attempts for each model.  I used my phone to check the angles and positioning of the models but generally they were exciting to see them come out as there had been little planning. I liked this element of the shoot as i don’t want anyone to to be too edited whether its faces or words. Polaroids can be a way of capturing a moment and enjoying it for what it is without putting too much pressure on the outcome.

I made sure we used the the different mirrors in the house as i wanted part of the shoot to be based on reflection. As we have been in the home for such a long time it became where we have done potentially the most reflection we have ever had to do . Reflecting and becoming aware of ourselves is the first part of accepting ourselves so this will be shown in the interviews running alongside the photography.I styled the clothes as bright as possible to give the best chance of them standing out on the camera as lighting was tricky.

Over all i was pleased with most of the outcomes considering the small space i was using and the premise of the shoot was to have further imagery along side the message of the interviews to make it more personable and connect the viewer to the interviews. Financially Polaroids are not always feasible so in hindsight I wish I could have done more or adapted shoots further on photo shop but I like these as the authentic images. I would also have liked to have been able  take portraits of other people I have spoken to through out my project but due to covid and the way my project developed I couldn’t.

 

 

With little time to go on the course i’m glad we have some time to use the studio if we need to however , at this stage its causing me anxiety to understand how to get back into the swing of things when i haven’t been into uni at all this year. Unfortunately i have found it really difficult to keep up motivation and feel inspired so i hope by using words and speaking on topics a lot of people have found difficult this will be how i can express myself on the course.

I have started researching into website builders and squarespace seems to be the easiest to navigate therefore i will be using that. Where as for my portfolio website i will use cargo as it’s free and i have found a design which i think works well with my imagery as a visual promoter.