WEEK 1 – BRIEF ANALYSIS
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
Our lives as designers are busy, leaving little time and energy for anything outside of our daily nine to five jobs. Self-Initiated projects are a way to explore the things we hate and would love to change or to give ourselves time to be playful with the talents and skills we have built up over the years. They allow us to pursue our creative needs outside of a work environment and create something we are passionate about. To nurture our creative soul and exercise our creative muscles (Mineyama-Smithson, 2021).
“Opportunities don’t happen. You create them’ – Chris Crosser
A self-initiated project needs a comprehensive design brief or roadmap from inception to completion (Palshetkar, 2021).
1) Aim
Every self-initiated project begins with an idea. Keep things real, honest and focus on your passions, interests or frustrations.
‘Successful self-initiated projects are born from a necessity’ – Astrid Klein
2) Objectives
Achieved through research, dialogue, mind-maps or word association, distil possible and feasible solutions to the aim of your project (Palshetkar, 2021).
‘Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen, and thinking what nobody has thought.’ – Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
3) Audience
4) Plan
The more constraints you have in place, the easier the execution. Set up timelines, budgets and parameters.
5) Develop a unique style
Differentiation gets noticed. Pick three adjectives that represent your idea, i.e. playful and joyful and make sure all design elements relate to them. (Jessica, 2021).
6) Appropriate Media
Get your work out in the world. PR firms are an option if your budget allows for them. Alternatively, list blogs, websites and Instagram accounts and platforms that will get you noticed and DM possible contacts with a short description of your project and link to your work and images (Jessica, 2021).
7) Anticipated Outcome
Clearly define your end goal or what you want to achieve as it helps you stay focused.
Self-Initiated projects are a way to exercise your creativity, experiment with techniques and show the world what you are made of – Jessica Walsh
IMAGINE
Initial Four Ideas
Brand Storm
My brand identity, real-world and online presence doesn’t convey my distinct energy, passion and vivacious loudness that sets me apart from my competition.
I need to rebrand to reflect these characteristics across my business, including my logo, website, typography, imagery, Instagram, visual language, blog, written articles and style.
My new strong brand image will make me more memorable, allow me to stand out from the crowd, increase my reputation as a global player, increase the calibre of clients I attract, and increase revenue.
Put Your Best Breast Forward
Society glorifies the perfection and symmetry of fake boobs and views natural breasts as imperfect, flawed, and something to be improved on. I want to bombard our visual world with natural breast imagery and constructs through exhibitions, workshops, blogs, Instagram and even playful products.
The goal is changing the narrative and perception towards embracing natural breasts in all manner of the unique shape, sizes and forms to improve self-confidence, reduce plastic surgery and have some fun along the way.
Unmasking Our Online World
Our online world is creating a false narrative and ideal of beauty. Print, television and social media present visuals that are unattainable and not real through retouching, makeup, staged photography and filters.
I want to create an app that would regulate, sensor, and have various warnings for overly edited visuals similar to parental controls on a television set. Some images would simply be blocked.
This would result in society being able to control their visual world and tailor it towards what is natural to improve self-confidence and promote a good body image of one’s natural self.
Packaging Design Resource
Individual designers don’t have the full spectrum of skills required to execute good packaging design outside an agency team.
I would like to create a book, manual or line resource that serves as an educational tool or reference guide to equip designers with in-depth knowledge of all components of packaging design.
This will result in more designers entering the packaging designation and cost clients less money in expensive mistakes due to a lack of technical knowledge.
Final Outcome
Fig. 1: Pucci, 2021.
Put Your Best Breast Forward Brief
Overview
Society glorifies the perfection and symmetry of fake boobs and views natural breasts as imperfect, flawed, and something to be improved on. With most of our visual world inundated with fake boobs, we have been brainwashed into thinking that is the norm.
I want to bombard our visual world with natural breast imagery and constructs through exhibitions, workshops, blogs, Instagram and even playful products.
The goal is to change the narrative and perception towards embracing natural breasts unique shapes, sizes and forms to improve self-confidence, reduce plastic surgery and have some fun along the way.
Aim
If most visual content in culture reflects a specific viewpoint, society is more likely to embrace that viewpoint. French society highly values and embrace natural femininity while shunning plastic surgery. French women are therefore more comfortable with accepting natural breast shapes and have a lower rate of breast augmentation.
I want to change the narrative and perception of society to embrace natural breasts unique shapes, sizes and forms as opposed to the current flawed preoccupation and promotion of fake breasts.
Objectives
- Improve womans’ self-confidence with regards to their breasts
- Reduce the need for breast augmentation
- Change societies narrative of glorifying fake breasts towards embracing natural breasts
- Populate our visual world with natural breasts, from the images we view online to the art and pottery we showcase in our home and clothing we wear
Plan
A ‘Put Your Best Chest Forward’ movement would seek to change how society views and judges breasts by showcasing their variety and uniqueness in an educational, insightful and playful manner.
This would be achieved through an exhibition where gallery style imagery and collages of thousands of natural breasts would adorn the walls in conjunction with movies, animation, books, historical accounts, art, sculpture and pottery. The exhibition would have a virtual and online presence for further reach.
Workshops would encourage women to embrace their breasts through playful creativity, using their breasts to create art, pottery, and even making moulds of their busts.
Creating a ‘Put Your Best Chest Forward’ brand and online store would make natural boobs fun and playful through breast merchandise inspired art, pottery, posters, t-shirts, coffee table books and furniture.
An educational, humorous animation with jingle similar to John Mescalls ‘Dumb Ways To Die’ would run on YouTube, Tumblr and SoundCloud.
Audience
The young adolescent woman aged 12 to 18, beginning their journey into womanhood. These are impressionable young women society is just starting to shape. By educating them on the large variety of breast shapes and sizes and inspiring them to embrace their natural selves, we can create a positive influence before they are overwhelmed by a culture that glorifies fake breasts.
Young women, age 19 to 29, trying to find their place in society and full of insecurities about their bodies and breasts. The visual world around them, specifically social media, is bombarding them with messaging to conform and fit a mould of perfection. These women require reassurance and redirection in a playful manner that helps them embrace and revel in their uniqueness.
Mature women, age 30 to 45, ageing or have had children and find their breasts and body shapes are changing. They need support and validation that they are not alone and that their breast tells a triumphant story of their lives.
Appropriate Media
- The exhibition would be advertised through controversial but eye-catching posters of breasts in print near exhibition sites and online through blogs, Instagram and Facebook. I would like to capitalise on the shock factor
- Youtube, Tumblr and SoundCloud would run the ‘Put Your Best Chest Forward’ animation
- Promotion in School Newsletter and e-mailers to inform parents of the exhibition and benefits to their daughters
- Features in woman’s’ magazines like Gentle Woman, Cosmopolitan and Vogue
- Instagram and website galleries of natural breasts
Anticipated Outcomes
- A positive change in how society views natural breasts
- A decrease in breast augmentation and plastic surgery
- An increase in positive body image and self-confidence
- A shift in the majority of online visual imagery towards the promotion and featuring of natural breasts
- Women having fun with and embracing breasts
REFLECTION
‘Emotional connection is the key to everything in life, even in business’ – Taro Nomura
This week, I reflected on ideas and social issues I have strong opinions on. Initially, I tried to be too calculating in the concept I was going to tackle. When I took a more emotional approach and focused my energy on issues I was most passionate about, my interest peaked, and like Alice, I began my journey down the rabbit hole.
Humour, passion, personality, and emotional connection are excellent navigating tools for choosing a self-initiated project and garnering more significant results (Mineyama-Smithson, 2021).
Reference: Jessica, W., 2021. Creating Self-Initiated Projects. [online] Andwalsh.com. Available at: <https://andwalsh.com/articles/all/creating-self-initiated-projects/> [Accessed 26 September 2021].
Reference: Mineyama-Smithson, J., 2021. 5 Reasons Why You Should Start a Self-initiated Project According to Tokyo Creatives. [online] MAMIMU. Available at: <https://www.mamimutokyo.com/blogs/journal/5-reasons-why-you-should-start-a-self-initiated-project-according-to-tokyo-creatives> [Accessed 26 September 2021].
Reference: Palshetkar, S., 2021. We are creating the perfect design brief on how to manage design for strategic advantage peter l phillips. [online] Issuu. Available at: <https://issuu.com/samrudhiipalshetkar/docs/creating_the_perfect_design_brief_h> [Accessed 26 September 2021].
Image 1: Pucci, M., 2021. Everyone’s boobs are different. [online] Helloclue.com. Available at: <https://helloclue.com/articles/cycle-a-z/boobs-varieties-breast-shapes-nipple-types> [Accessed 7 October 2021].