Throughout my Propaganda project I have faced many challenges that I have had to overcome, one of the most challenging ones being deciding what I wanted to focus my project on due to having so many different ideas that I wanted to build upon. I originally started focusing on the topic of 'Morality' as I felt that morality has many issues that come along with it, but shortly found out that these issues were extremely challenging to portray in the manner wanted for this project, such as making sandwich boards and posters about morality. Therefore, to overcome this, I decided to focus on politics as my issue instead, which I found to be a lot more flexible with what I could create and also a lot more interesting.
To start of this project, I started to do research on propaganda itself and the history of it as well as how famous propaganda posters were made and the techniques they use, so that I could get an idea for how to compose my final poster at the end of the project. I focused on propaganda regarding dictatorship and democracy, such as North Korea and England. I focused mainly on this as I want my poster to have a clear biased view to show how easy it is to make an opinion look like a fact through propaganda.
My first task was to create a sandwich board which could be used in a protest for the issue that we had chosen. I have been experimenting with street art and the use of stencils therefore I wanted to do a spray paint theme for my sandwich board which I plan to continue using throughout this project. I did research into street art before starting to Create my own stencils for my sandwich board, looking at artists such as 'Blek le rat' and 'Banksy' making this sandwich board gave me more experience with spray paint and I learned many techniques for the future when I do more street art.
I then progressed to think about the use of sound and how to create and add it onto different film. I studied the company 'Foley' and their techniques. I then started to add my own sound to a silent piece that I had picked. This was challenging at the start of the task, but after practice I found it easier and I was proud of what I achieved. I feel confident in adding sound to my final piece.
After experimenting with sound, I started to think about composition of my logo for my poster and how I wanted the poster to look and move. I Kept the stencil theme consistent throughout my designs as well as the same theme as my sandwich board.
I also played around with how to compose different types of posters and how to add different types of text to fit the theme and style you are trying to achieve, as well as following a specific agenda, such as a certain colour scheme and topic. This was very effective to my learning as I learned how to use photoshop more effectively for creating posters and also how to create work that fits exactly into what the client wants, not myself. I know this will be very useful in the future.
When writing my Mid point evaluation I stated that I hoped to create a moving poster that contained a stencil of Boris Johnson with possibly some of his face moving or something else moving around him. I did not fulfil this goal but I instead created an even more developed Idea than the one I originally had, including a more cartoon like version of Boris compared to the stencil version that I originally planned. My Final poster that I created did include movement however, therefore, I am pleased with my progress throughout the project and also my development in ideas. I also stated in my mid point evaluation and my last final evaluation that I wanted to focus and build upon my animation and photoshop skills, which I have successfully completed by the end of this project. I have learned the basic skills of animating as well as many more useful skills within photoshop which will be very beneficial in the future. Unfortunately, I did not make clear stencils of my poster that could be spray painted like I planned originally, which I am disappointed about but therefore I will set myself the task of developing my street art and spray painting skills over my next project so that I can in the future use spray paint in my projects.
I am proud of my consistent style throughout the project and I feel that my work is recognisable due to a consistent colour scheme. I will use these skills in the future when creating more projects to create a certain aesthetic for my work.
This project has helped me to develop my contextual skills as well. I have looked at many artists who have inspired me such as the Magazine 'Ad Busters'. Not only had 'Adbusters' inspired me for this project but has also given me ideas about future projects regarding giving me reasoning to create art, such as global and political issues. Throughout the propaganda project I have discovered the importance of having reasoning behind the art I create so that I can tell a message through my art and inspire or provoke other people. I aspire to do this more as I progress as a young artist. My goal for my next project is to have a clear reasoning behind the work I am creating and making sure that the work I create provokes and causes reactions from people as I want my art to make an impact on peoples lives and make them think about what they have seen, not to just admire the makings of it.
Overall, I am Pleased with the work I have completed in the Propaganda Unit. I feel that I have made progress in areas that I set myself and I have challenged myself in places that have pushed me to my limits, which has helped me to aspire to be a better and more experienced artist. If I could change anything about my project I would make sure that I have a consistent Idea that I develop on throughout the project instead of changing focus every week, As I feel my Idea could have been much more developed if I was consistent. I have learned skills that I can use in the future and I feel that I am personally on track with the development of my work as I am completing the tasks I am setting for myself each evaluation, showing my progress within my year at UCA.
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