OUIL501 End of Module Evaluation

Being familiar with the layout of COP from last year, I was able to start the module and structure my ways of working more clearly and efficiently. Additionally, my starting point of 'how we can save the NHS' was something that I was, and still am passionate about which encouraged me to elaborate to a greater extent within my written and practical work. 

One of the main things that I struggled with was how to structure the argument within my essay, as I found that in my first few drafts I was just outlining the problems within the NHS rather than coming up with an argument or statement in able to potentially solve the issue. I was able to build on this by synthesising the content of my essay by looking at the psychology behind different methods of persuasive advertising, and the extent of how language and imagery together can be an extremely powerful force. This lead me to look at the effectiveness of advertisements developed by the food industry and fast food corporations, versus the campaigns launched by the Public Health sector of the UK Government in trying to combat 'avoidable' health conditions such as type two diabetes. Building on my academic writing skills enabled me to consider more deeply and reflect upon different writers and authors statements in relation to health and to advertising, for example learning how to triangulate and paraphrase allowed me to make connections with similar views and opinions to create a stronger argument.

I definitely feel as though my written work is the stronger section of my submission, partly due to the fact that I allocated myself the most time for this section and also that I surprisingly enjoyed writing it! This has reinforced the concept that having a broad knowledge of a subject area allows the exploration of visual solutions to be limitless, simultaneously thinking on a wider scale of how to communicate the facts that I know to a specific audience or group. 
In terms of research, there is a great deal of news items concerning the state of the NHS and public health currently, which was really helpful as I was able to visually respond to articles on a weekly basis which significantly increased my levels of motivation and interest in the subject. Although in hindsight, I think this aspect made me rather complacent in the fact that a lot of the time I would solely rely on secondary research as opposed to taking the extra step to gather research first hand, which could have lead to a more effective outcome. For example, I think that if I would have interviewed members of staff in the NHS, and possibly people that were willing to talk about their experiences with lifestyle related illnesses, this would have given me more of a personal and accurate perspective of surrounding issues.

Unfortunately I have to admit that there are a lot of weak areas in my submission, and work ethic in general during COP2. If I am being completely honest, my attitude towards this module have been somewhat poor and I'm pretty disappointed with myself as a result of this. This is partly due to the fact that COP is a 'long thin module', which means that there isn't a greater sense of urgency to complete and develop work in a short period of time, and it isn't prioritised as much as the more heavily practical based modules, meaning that it 'feels like we have ages' to build a substantial body of work. 
Despite this, I think that when I got on a roll with productivity, my interests and enthusiasm was amplified which lead me to developing new ways of working that I never would have considered before, for example the comic strips showing the reaction and thought processes when trying to lose weight in an environment that is suffocated by consumerism. However this didn't serve me too well when it came to producing the final publication, as I did NOT anticipate the length of time required to produce a comic... which resulted in me rushing a lot of things at the last minute which jeopardised the level of quality within my work.

The past two years my very first starting point from the given list has been 'social', which has lead me to develop a huge interest in the human condition and explore different types of behaviour and interaction. This is something that I am keen to take forward into the COP3 research project, which I am thinking at this stage about looking into how visual aids can be a more powerful means of communication within the healing environment and other non-consumerist based areas and organisations. As COP3 is a pretty big deal, I will take my experiences from COP2 to build on my strengths and capitalise on my weaknesses, which include; carrying out more personal-based research, PLANNING MY TIME WELL, anticipating the length of time required to create practical solutions and generally having a more positive and enthusiastic attitude towards the module.

Final Publication

COP2 Final Essay

COP3 Proposal

Final Ideas for Publication

I am definitely set on the idea of producing a mini comic for my publication, which will be a development from my initial concept of how difficult it can be to lead a healthy lifestyle when we are being suffocated by fast food and sugary drink ads.

Storyboard/roughs

My main character, a 17 year old sixth form student Gemma has come to terms with how her weight is affecting her every day life, until she visits the doctor to find that she is at risk of developing type two diabetes if she carries on the way she is going.

Gemma is shocked and upset about how unhealthy she has become, and as a result she has become increasingly aware and sensitive about how easy it can be to damage your body through bad habits. She is traumatised at the thought of visualising shock advertising used on cigarette packets that could be used on food and drink packaging, under the phrase 'obesity kills'.

By co-incidence, persuasive advertising is the topic of choice in todays English class, where Gemma re-establishes the effectiveness of shock advertising and is given the opportunity to enter a competition to produce an advert for a public health campaign aiming to fight obesity.

Gemma goes on to win the competition with her 'obesity kills' shock advert, which in the process gave her the motivation to make the right lifestyle changes in order to lose weight and become less at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Reflection

I think that this concept is relatively straight forward being easy to follow, but including meaningful values that can be applied to every day life. I hope that my audience can relate to some of the issues raised within the comic, as well as appreciate the light-hearted satirical humour.

Final Crit

With a week to go until the final deadline, I don't have the greatest amount of time to spend on producing my final publication (which is really worrying!)Although I am near enough set on my idea of producing a mini comic for my publication, today helped me refine and strengthen some of my ideas, as well as providing me with others.

The strongest areas of my work include the satirical reactions of society to the language and imagery used in persuasive advertising, so I have decided that this will be the main content for my publication. As well, I want to target an audience of young adults (similar to our age group) to show how they can make positive lifestyle changes now rather than suffering from the consequences ten years down the line.
In terms of production process, I will try to keep things simple due to the lack of time I have to spend on developing the visual outcome (it's completely my own fault though and I am aware of this!)
I will start by spending time developing the layout of the images in sequence, making sure that there is a strong visual quality, which can be added to if there is time to spare towards the end of the week, so for example adding colour and texture etc. 

Publication Research: Style and Format

Now that I have ~stupidly?~ decided to make a comic book, I thought that it would be a wise idea to carry out some research (as I know absolutely NOTHING about comics!)

Jon McNaught

Last year I came across the work of Jon McNaught in his publication 'Dockwood', which tells two autumnal day-to-day stories in beautiful minimalistic detail. The panels are smaller than usual and explore actions and movements at increased level of detail. I am really inspired by McNaughts style of portraying narrative, as admittedly the word 'comic' kind of freaks me out a little, as I see it as a whole sort of cult to do with superheroes (sorry that is really blasé), but this approach is more simple and stripped back to honestly portray the highlights as well as mundaniaty in the space of a day. 

Lizzy Stewart

Lizzy Stewart's hand rendered reportage style creates a really beautiful expression of a narrative, similar to that of Jon McNaught but less 'polished'. The hand-rendered processes create a really humble and smoothly flowing feel as opposed to the harshness of perfect bold lines can have, for example the different marks created with pen and pencil create more energetic quality within each image. 

I am definitely considering creating my publication by hand, to communicate to my audience on a balanced level, rather than create the threatening 'talking down to' kind of feel. I seriously need to get a move on because the deadline is two weeks and I am starting to panic like a mad woman!!!

Post-Easter Peer Review

I was really apprehensive about today's crit, due to the fact that we had our hand-in for responsive just yesterday, and I felt very under-prepared. I had a vague idea about how I was going to use shock tactics in my publication, but I needed some more verification and guidance about how I could do that.

The group session was so helpful, and it was really refreshing and informative to have quite in-depth discussions about each individual topic! 
Two of the things my group were impressed by was my paintings of obese ladies, and my comic strip of a teenager trying to lose weight; this surprised me a little because I didn't think they were that good? Anyway, they suggested that I make my final publication a comic strip... which is A REALLY SCARY CONCEPT AS THAT IS THE FIRST ONE IVE EVER DONE! But I think it is less bland and dry than just having a compilation of shock adverts that I have attempted to make myself. So I think I'm going to rise to the challenge! Plus, it will be a more light hearted, and more personal experience for the readers, so I assume that the better connection will make it ten times more effective.

Plan of Action

• By midweek, have rough designs for the final publication
• Explore many potential areas of narrative to focus on
• FINISH THE BLOODY ESSAY

Development Over Easter

During the Easter break, I spent the majority of my time developing my visual journal and thinking of ideas for a publication. In progression from my hotdog books, I wanted to base my concept upon the effectiveness of persuasive advertising in the context of promoting positive change.

After researching the effectiveness of shock advertising, I sketched out some ideas applying similar language to those used in smoking warning labels on sugary foods and drinks and on above-the-line methods of advertising. This is something that I am thinking of using within my final publication.

I also sketched out a little comic strip of a narrative developed around the effectiveness of persuasive advertising. I think that this approach is more light hearted and on less of a 'talking down to' level than my proposal of a publication filled with vignettes of shock adverts.

It shows the story of an obese school girl trying to lose weight, fighting her will power against widespread junk food adverts.

I have also been refining my essay over Easter which has involved carrying out more detailed research and evaluating images in the context of different scholars.

Plan of Action:

• When back at college, gain peer feedback to help me decide which direction to take my publication in
• Plan time back from the deadline to ensure that everything is completed on time