FMP Evaluation

This final major project has taught me quite a lot, it taught me the consequences of what will happen when I don’t manage my time properly, it taught me how to work under pressure (even when you know it was the kind of pressure you could have avoided by just being more focused at the start), it taught me how to create my own project from scratch; as I had to write my own brief and give myself my own topic, this was a good way to sort of understand how it feels to be on the other side of the brief. I was not only the creator but the expectant.

I believe that my final outcomes were successful in delivering a message which would make the viewer think, this was my aim all along, not only to create an awareness, but to ask people questions and throw statements around that would make them question themselves, their surrounding and their beliefs.

I found that I was drowning in research, although at the start I said I would only dedicate a maximum of 2 weeks on research, I ended up doing what I said not to do, get caught up in it. It started to become difficult to move away from it because it almost becomes your comfort zone after a while, and you find that you forgot how to even experiment with your own ideas.

My final outcome linked to the subject I started off with, but somehow developed towards something a bit more different, but this all happened unintentionally. My original idea was based on the portrayal of women in the media and how they were being sexualised, I was also looking at how beauty was this fixed idea and how only certain people would fit the criteria- these people did not even exist, they were also a product of software alterations. My final outcomes were more of a product of the second topic, beauty. I took this idea and somehow found myself going down the consumerist route rather than just a feminist one. But what I liked so much about this change was the fact that it was effortless, it was not forced, it just happened. I all of a sudden found myself in another place within the project. I was not far from where I started off, but I was definitely in a different place.

I found that I quite like to go about expressing my feelings, issues and so on through symbols, and riddle like words, statements and questions. I discovered more ways to use my strength in writing and apply it to whatever point I am trying to get across.

Overall, I would say that this project has helped enhance my general graphics abilities, in fact, with the minimum use of software. Throughout my project I have been doing almost everything by hand, I suppose it is my comfort zone, and also, my work turns out stronger when I take it as far as I possibly can by hand, before turning to software. As a whole, within this pathway I can honestly say that I have learnt to play freely with my ideas, and I have learnt to accept every idea as a potential outcome. I now see that no idea is “silly” as every outrageous and random idea could be the core of a successful result. 

FMP Final Outcomes

Fig. 1 Lines Define Us- Gulem Ezer (author's own)

Fig. 2 This Is Us- Gulem Ezer (author's own)

Fig. 3 What Are You Buying?- Gulem Ezer (author's own)

Fig. 4 Lies Sold Through Lines- Gulem Ezer (author's own)

These are my four final pieces. Figure 1 and 2 are two-layered posters, the original printed versions have an acetate layer on the top, therefore have a different effect. Especially with Figure 2, you cannot read the writing through it clearly on screen as I tried to lower the opacity of the top layer, but it obviously needed to be lowered a little bit more in order to make it legible.

Continuing with the lines and bar code theme, I have created these four posters.

Figure 1 has a simple statement, 'lines define us'. By this, I am simply pointing out that we allowed bar codes to be our definition. We have become consumerists, we buy to become "beautiful", we buy to alter ourselves, therefore the definition of who we are, are those lines we scan.

Figure 2 is a long riddle-like statement, it says, 'we follow lines, to scan lines, to buy products, that help get rid of lines. This is the guideline to beauty... The lines are blurred. This is me. This is you. This is us.' To translate, what I am trying to explain here is, that we follow crowds  and queue up in order to scan lines (bar codes) to spend money on products that supposedly help us get rid of lines (wrinkles) and this is the guideline to what beauty is. This is the idea of beauty that is sold to us by the media, but these lines are blurred, we don't see them as a pattern that links, not consciously anyway, of course people are aware, but not many stop to consider, they just continue with their lives because it just seems natural to do so. Therefore since we all do it, This is ME. This is YOU. This is US.

Figure 3 is probably the most simplest poster, yet I think the most visually effective. It's a simple question, there is no riddle to it, and it is presented in a very simple way. The question is, 'are you buying what you are or what you want to be?'. It's a bit like saying, 'you are what you eat' except, in this case, 'you are what you buy', but the question is, are you? Or are you trying to be what you believe you should actually be?

Figure 4 is the last poster. This poster, although it may not seem like it, took a very long time to produce as I had to cut the bar codes into the shape of the letters one by one. 'Lies sold through lines', again, a very simple statement, I am basically pointing out that these products that we buy or that are being advertised are mainly lies, and they are sold through these lines that we willingly scan and spend money over. Funny, right? It's not that the consumer is at all 'stupid', no, in fact we are all very aware of what we do, we just act oblivious to it! And maybe, just maybe, we need posters like this to wake us up once in a while, then we could always go back to the dream... or is it difficult to return once we've awaken? 

FMP Four Slogans

I have finally come up with four slogans that I will be using to create my final posters, they are the following:

1. 'LINES DEFINE US.'
2. 'WE FOLLOW LINES, TO SCAN LINES, TO BUY PRODUCTS, THAT HELP GET RID OF LINES. THIS IS THE GUIDELINE TO BEAUTY... THE LINES ARE BLURRED. THIS IS ME. THIS IS YOU. THIS IS US.'
3. 'ARE YOU BUYING WHAT YOU ARE OR WHAT YOU WANT TO BE?'
4. 'LIES SOLD THROUGH LINES.'

FMP Poster Scamps

Fig. 1 Poster Scamps I (author's own) 

Fig. 2 Poster Scamps II (author's own)

Fig. 3 Poster Scamps III (author's own)

Fig. 4 Poster Scamps IV (author's own)

Fig. 5 Poster Scamps V (author's own)

Fig. 6 Poster Scamps VI (author's own)

Fig. 7 Poster Scamps VII (author's own)

Fourteen pages of idea planning and poster tryouts. This is one of the most enjoyable ways (for me) to come up with as many ideas as I can, as fast as I can. It is a good way to see all your ideas combined, working small, effectively and fast. This leads to playfulness, as it leaves room for it.

I played around with many many statements and poster ideas, until I finally managed to narrow it down to four statements.

FMP Research: Barbara Kruger

Fig. 1 Money Can Buy You Love- Barbara Kruger (www.dayoftheartist.com)

Barbara Kruger is a conceptual artist who generally uses photography from existing sources and places aggressive text over them. I particularly wanted to focus on this piece of hers, 'Money can by you love'. She seems to have a sarcastic approach to her work, she takes already known phrases and switches them around, using irony and witty humour, she gets the viewers to think outside the box. She has achieved what I would also like to achieve in my work. 

Fig. 2 Newspaper Rip outs (author's own)

I took Kruger's text approach and played around with the words I have ripped out from the newspaper. I created sentences like, 'less is losing more'- playing on the original expression 'less is more'. I created a more straight forward statement, 'Starved to death for beauty', what's so great about creating these simple statements with newspaper is the fact that you sort of pick out on words and accidentally form a message that you would be less likely to form if you were not limited to the few you ripped out. I particularly liked the one, 'what's harmful is powder-perfect complexion', because this complexion seizes to exist in reality without Photoshop or make up, therefore making it harmful for those who believe it can be achieved. 

FMP Research: Pick Me Up

Pick Me Up was a fun exhibition to be at, it was filled with colour and excitement. A print based exhibition. What stood out for me most was the layout of the work, they seemed like a good guideline to go by when hanging up my own work at the final exhibition.
I enjoyed being at the exhibition because of the environment it had, it was energetic and full of life, this was more because of the people working at the exhibition, they even had a DJ! It was a fun experience in that sense that you got the chance to communicate with people, although they had a lot of amazing work, the environment is what sold it to me.

FMP Research: Comics Unmasked

At the Comics Unmasked exhibition, I found a section based on how women were portrayed in comics, there were examples of how domestic abuse was considered a subject for light humour. A character named 'Andy Capp' which was a pun on 'handicap' was a working class chauvinist, in 1957 he appeared in single-panel cartoons, then soon became a newspaper strip and was syndicated worldwide. Such a character became even more popular, this was a little worrying.

I personally do not have much interest in comics, and it isn't my way of expressing a topic/issue/situation. But it is intriguing to see how people use this method/form of art, to create humour, awareness, and just simply make a point. The exhibition itself did not excite me so much but it opened my eyes to a brand new path of expression which I have almost always dismissed. The illustrations were astonishingly accurate, and the messages witty, there's still some similarity in how I like to present my work, getting the viewer to think and feel something is always what matters to me, and I suppose comics do just that.