Some Initial Placement Thoughts

Although my course doesn't have a dedicated sandwich year, getting work experience in the industry is widely encouraged.

I'm not someone who is particularly artistic in the literal sense of the word, and I'm also quite modest in the way I talk about my work, so experience is something that really gives you a boost when you're trying to sell yourself but not as 'loud' as others in the same field. Without it, I'd probably leave uni and have no real chance of getting a job related around my course, and that's what probably forced me to get my arse in gear when looking for experience.

This summer I will be volunteering for the communications team at my local hospice. The phrase "it's not what you know, it's who you know" really came in to play when I was looking for a placement and I have been really fortunate with this opportunity. For starters, it was only my second attempt at finding something, it's also right on my doorstep so I'm not having to commute up to London every day, and it's not full time, meaning that I can work and earn money alongside (and try and get out of this hefty overdraft!).

I'm thinking of doing a comparison post at the end, in September, when I've made it out the other side, to see whether this opportunity has been a good step to further my career or simply just a learning curve. So I've written a few initial thoughts down to see whether I feel the same afterwards...

1. The job title, 'Social Media and Content Creator', and description has my name written all over it! So hopefully I will be able to learn some key skills which will point me in the right direction once I graduate. OR, it will prove that maybe it's not so perfect for me after all!

2. However, I am a bit worried they have this preconceived idea that I'm a social media/content expert and I'm going to majorly disappoint them!

3. I'm also worried about meeting so many different people, as I'm expected to travel around the different shops and carry out what is essentially primary research, which I've never been very good at. Although, it will come as good practise.

4. I'm excited about the amount of freedom I have within the role and I hope this will increase my confidence in the work I produce, which I can then bring into third year.

5. The idea of having to drive around to different locations, in an area I'm only slightly familiar with, and having to find somewhere to park without making a complete tit out of myself is terrifying! Things like that give me such anxiety and I can guarantee I will be about 20 minutes early every day!

My First Semester // Second Year

I'm going to start on a major cliche here; the first semester of my second year has been a roller coaster.  It's been a tough one and I can't really sugarcoat that.

I started the second year of FCP on an okay note, because I didn't do too bad last year and I wanted to push myself to do even better this year. But it didn't completely turn out as planned, because I did almost drop out half way through. I can't pinpoint the exact problem, the spark just hasn't been there and I haven't felt engaged or connected to it.

Difficulties with my accommodation and my mental health have definitely made this term harder too.

I don't want this post to portray me as a massive Debbie Downer, but I do want to touch on the topic of depression. I've always had anxiety, but depression was something I was hesitant to label myself with. But about half way through the term my doctor concluded that my situation did fall under depression.

My experience with getting help this term has been shit. The whole experience has shown me how shocking the mental health situation in this country really is. Over the course of the term I'd tried to contact so many people about my situation and for the majority of the semester I felt like I was going around in circles, and it's hard to see positively when people are just ignoring you. I did eventually manage to see a member of the student services team though (the day before the end of term but we'll let that slide) and they were so helpful, so hopefully I can get back to my old self again.

I said I didn't want to be a Debbie Downer, and to be honest it wasn't all complete doom and gloom. There have been some really good moments throughout this semester.

I have made some really good friends this term, and it's strange to think that if I didn't go on the trip to London, and I almost didn't, I wouldn't have met the girls that I connect with so well. I've put a deposit on a house with some of them too! The house is really cosy, super close to uni, and I might actually have some student finance left over, finally!

You could probably say that in terms of FCP, I came full circle this semester. Despite not enjoying the majority of it, I started on a good note and I ended on a good note too. I feel like I've had a light bulb moment in the last few weeks. I'd hit a brick wall with my work but now I think I'm moving forward with it. Our group also won the competition for the COW Nottingham project. You can see my post on it here, but I can now say that we were chosen to install our idea as an actual window display for them in February!

So here's to a fresh start in 2018!

Georgia.xo

FCP 2 X COW Nottingham

For two days last week, we were given a live brief with COW Nottingham - a vintage store who have strong visual presence both through their merchandising displays and their social media. We were given the task to come up with an idea for their February 18' window display, using a given subject and object.

Our group was given 'going out dancing' with the object of a light bulb. We were really lucky that we got first dibs, because we all had loads of ideas about where we could take the subject.

We first sat down and brainstormed all of our ideas. We came up with some lateral ideas such as having light bulbs or fairy lights hanging from the ceiling like the rain falling and having two mannequins dancing in the rain, however we wanted to try and go further than the obvious.

With Valentines Day being the event that you would probably most associate with February, we wanted to focus on that, and I put forward the idea of 'Gal-entines Day'. We'd already discussed how we probably wouldn't go out dancing with a partner on Valentines Day, therefore it seemed like a great idea to turn it on its head and allow those who didn't have a significant other to celebrate, by going out dancing with their gals. We then started thinking about the light bulb and how we could incorporate that. We thought about the lights that you get in clubs, and then glow sticks, which lead us on to the concept of disco. Our 'Gal-entines Eighties Disco' was born.

With only a day and half to get it done and present it, we had to work really quickly. It was a bit of a learning curve because there was no time to worry or contemplate things, which I'm very good at! We just used cardboard, paint and paper to make the mock up and even though it sounds like a kids art project, it looked so cool!

The girls from COW gave us really positive feedback, thank god! But there were some really strong concepts from other groups too so the competition is on!

Before we started the project I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy it, but being given the chance to let our ideas flow and to get messy was a lot of fun and I'm glad I forced myself to go!

Georgia.xo

Getting Creative

Over the past few weeks in FCP-land, we've been getting a bit creative. Each Friday for the last three weeks have been dedicated to learning a new skill and it's been a lot of fun.

First of all, we learnt how to do mono printing. This is a really easy process and all you need is:

• Acrylic paint
• A roller (or two)
• Newspaper
• A sheet of acetate 
• A few A4 sheets of paper or a magazine 
• A cutting mat and scalpel

We started by lying down some old paper, making sure that the table didn't get too messy, and then placed the acetate on top. Next, we chose our colour of paint and squirted a small amount onto the acetate, before spreading it across with the roller. 

As we were focusing on typography at the time, we cut out some stencils for our initials. This is completely up to you but a good starting point; however a magazine is also a good place to find different fonts and shapes. Once we'd got our stencil ready, we placed it down onto the paint, and then followed this by placing a sheet of paper (plain A4, a magazine page, or whatever you have) on top. You can either use another, clean, roller to make sure all of the paint gets in to contact with the paper or, like I did, just use your fingers. 

The final outcome looks really effective if you've used a sheet of paper that has something on it, like a magazine or newspaper. If you want to have the paint in the shape of the stencil, use a scalpel to cut out of the image, and place the surrounding paper on to the paint instead of the cut out. 

I loved doing this, because it doesn't matter if you get messy and things don't quite go to plan - it's all just experimenting! My favourite outcome is the 'YES' print, because the typography really stands out, as does the pink paint on the dark background. 

The next process we learnt about was the old-fashioned printing press, and we got to experiment, again, with our initials. The guys from Pop Press in Nottingham came in to talk to us and teach us how to do it. They were really informative and it was so interesting to learn that some of the letters have been around for hundreds of years. 

We pressed our letters on to the back of the business cards that the tutors had printed out for us. Therefore, this workshop acted as a first experiment towards making our own business cards for out self promotion project. 

Admittedly, this is my least favourite technique because it was one of those things that you kind of had to get right first time and there wasn't much space for messing up. 

Pop Press is located on St. James Street in Nottingham, NG1 6FG, and I think you can book letter press workshops. Their work is professional and so cool, and the process itself is very interesting - I'll link their website here. 

Our third and final workshop was book binding, where we learnt how to create booklets through different folding techniques and how to stitch a book together. 

It turns out that book binding isn't my forte, but once you get the hang of it, it is actually a simple process. We learnt the 'beak' technique and were also given instructions to the 'trouser' technique and a concertina-like technique, but unfortunately we ran out of time to have a go at these. 

We were advised to purchase a bone folder and if you're thinking of doing something like this, a bone folder is a must. It makes folding so SO much easier and creates a cleaner fold. You also must make sure that you have a proper bookbinding needle and thread, as they're thicker and a standard sewing needle and thread just won't make it through. 

Having a different workshop each week made the course a lot more fun, and even though the mono printing was my personal favourite (and definitely the easiest), I really want to carry on practising and experimenting with bookbinding. It's always good to have some different skills under your belt, and even if I don't make hand made books for the rest of my course, I like the idea of being able to make little notebooks for presents and friends and family! 

Georgia.xo

How I Utilise My Instagram Saved Posts

When Instagram's 'save' feature was first introduced I was a bit sceptical, as I was with Instagram stories. We all know that Instagram's updates aren't exactly original, with the concept of stories being taken from Snapchat, the save option is pretty much a take on Pinterest.

But, like most things social media related, we adapt.

As FCP is quite a visual course, and we use Pinterest a hell of a lot, I've learnt how to really utilise the save option. Although Pinterest has a lot of images there in front of you at once (compared to Instagram, where you have one image per scroll) they're not all recent. Instagram, however, is in *ahem* real time (lets forget about this algorithm for the moment), meaning that the content is up to date, on trend, however you want to put it.

Source / Instagram / @makeupisart_x

Generally, I have more images saved on my personal account, because I've had this account for years compared to the few months I've had my FCP account for, so I've developed more of a feed and therefore am constantly seeing new images. Despite this, a lot of my images I save on my personal inspire my FCP content and ideas, so they kind of work hand in hand.

When you first see your saved images, they're in chronological order of when you saved them. They're also laid out in the 3 column gird, making it easier to see, much like Pinterest. I hate viewing it this way. It all just looks so muddled. Which leads me on to 'Collections'.

Collections makes it easier to categorise your images once you've collected them, like a Pinterest mood board. This makes it so much easier to find what you're looking for and is a more organised approach to those who, like me, don't like clutter.

Each collection provides a different category of inspiration. For example, I have a 'Self Promotion' collection, where I can chuck anything that I can relate to my Self Promotion brief for this term. I can then go on and analyse my images.

Collect, categorise, analyse...

So that's how I utilise my Instagram saved posts. I understand how similar this update is to the concept of Pinterest, but I spend a lot more time on Instagram than I do on Pinterest, so it kind of made sense to make the most of it. It's also a great, quick tool to gain some inspiration when I'm not feeling incredibly creative.

What does your saved list look like?

Georgia.xo 

Stressing in Style

Jumper / H&M / similar here
Trousers / Zara
Adidas Gazelles / Soletrader

This coming Friday is presentation day for our creative research outcomes. Agh stress. But if you're going to be stressing about something, you might as well do it in style. Right?

I brought this pair of Zara chino trousers in London a couple of weeks back. It's so exciting wearing them, because compared to my uniform of black skinny jeans, they're kind of outside my comfort zone and I've been struggling with what to style them with. I was originally going to wear them with a white vest top with a pom pom trim, which looked super cute, but this mustard jumper brings a pop of colour to the outfit. A pop of positivity. 

I've had a surge of motivation, and it couldn't come at a better time. I was up last night with my brain whirring around at 10,000 mph with ideas and ways to get out of the indecisive slump I've been in for the last few weeks. I'm still undecided about whether I want to drop out/take a break from uni, but blogging is the one thing that I really enjoy, so I'm going to try and really focus on that, whatever the outcome.

Georgia.xo

Cows & Cream

Over the past few months, I've been working on my summer brief, whereby I had to choose a topic and research it in depth, in preparation for Year 2.

The topic I chose was ice cream. You may be puzzled. And when I saw what everyone was else was doing (e.g. athleisure, illustration, gender neutral, etc), I was puzzled about why I chose ice cream too. 

BUT over the summer I was working full time on a farm, selling ice cream from a vintage ice cream bike, and that's where the idea came from. I was originally thinking of looking at symbolism and how different images and icons can connote different things. For example, how ice cream is a symbol for summer and fun and happiness. However, after thinking about it, I realised that ice cream can be an umbrella topic in itself. I could look at the different colour palettes that you can associate with ice cream and dessert parlours, and I could also look at consumer behaviours and trends, and that's how I could link it to FCP. 

I wasn't sure where to begin at the start. I compiled a list of questions that I could ask different ice cream parlours for primary research, but whoever I emailed never responded and when I actually visited one they told me they were too busy. 

But over time, I collected quite a bit more information that I was expecting and it even turned out that ice cream had somewhat influenced the last fashion week! That, plus the Museum of Ice Cream being such a success, proved to me that ice cream really was culturally relevant. 

To complete my project, I created a mini digital zine, which briefly covers what I've been doing and what I found out. I will leave the link for that just here... 

https://cowsandcream.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/cows-and-cream.pdf

Georgia.xo

Tommy Hilfiger Ready to Wear Autumn 2017 Show

A couple of years ago, Tommy Hilfiger was pretty irrelevant. But add Gigi Hadid to the mix (a social media powerhouse with 35.7 million followers on Instagram and 6.4 million on Instagram), plus an online streaming see-now-buy-now strategy under the hashtag #TommyNow and you've got the current market down to the T.

On September 19th, the designer showcased his third season of the TommyXGigi collection with a rock and roll circus themed catwalk at the Roundhouse in London. To sum it up simply the collection was 90's rock and roll meets winter (in reference to the see-now-buy-now model) meets America's red, white and blue in true Tommy spirit. Not only was Gigi Hadid walking the show, but also big names including her sister, Bella, Jordan Dunn, and Georgia May and Lizzie Jagger.

The collection follows a general mix of tartan, leather, denim, stripes and metal embellishment. A lot of the looks had quite a preppy vibe, with many of the women's looks including knee high socks and shorts, and many of the men wearing bomber jackets. There was also hints of leisure wear, which millennials are really rocking right now, as well as a rebellious spirit about some of the outfits, which gave the whole show a very 90's/Rolling Stones feel, which has really been making a comeback in recent seasons. You definitely get an idea of merch from the show, in relation to the rock concert at the Roundhouse.

I am really feeling a lot of the looks from this show. I think what I like about it is that you could easily recreate a lot of the looks, whereas some catwalk shows are a bit less realistic for your everyday outfit.

The catwalk finished with a performance from The Chainsmokers.

As part of the Tommy Now set up, you can now save each of the looks from the catwalk as you watch the playback of the show on the Tommy Hilfiger website here.

Georgia.xo

First Thoughts On Girlboss

I'm late on the bandwagon again. I know. But I've been meaning to watch Netflix's Girlboss ever since it was released, but obviously I had to finish Gilmore Girls first 😉

I've only watched the first episode so far, but I thought I'd write down a few first thoughts... 

The episode starts with Sophia (played by Britt Robertson) running out of gas and having to push her car up one of San Fransisco's infamous hills. I instantly thought "that would definitely be me". I don't think I'd even reach halfway with my little Corsa's 15 year old engine! 

Throughout the episode you see Sophia meeting her friend, getting fired from her job, arguing with her dad, and then getting evicted from her flat. I liked Sophia's character at first. I liked her personality and her dress sense but then she started to annoy me. I have no idea why. I don't know whether it's Britt Robertson's acting style because, honestly, I've never really got in to any of the films she's starred in, or just because Sophia didn't really appreciate anything and kind of brought everything that happened upon herself.

The episodes are only half an hour long, which I guess makes you more likely to concentrate on it before you start losing focus, but it also means that you'll get through the series v. quickly. I don't like knowing that a series is going to finish quickly. The fear of the unknown, that there isn't going to be anything as good to watch once it's finished.

You could pretty much summarise those 30 minutes by saying that sometimes it doesn't matter if you're not 100% tuned in to adulthood or that you're not quite sure what you want to do with your life, but there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. Even if that light does come from your computer screen!

Georgia.xo

Style Steal

Here's a very student friendly post for you. Take a look at this playsuit. Now guess the price... 

£9.99 

£9.99!!!! 

So on Saturday I was shopping in New Look and came across this floral one-shoulder playsuit. Until I'd tried it on, I hadn't looked at the price tag, but I was pleasantly surprised! This playsuit is absolutely gorgeous on, it's so so comfortable, and it's dead cheap! PLUS, with student discount you can get it that extra bit cheaper 👏

I feel like New Look has really upped their game in the last couple of years with the style and quality of their clothes and I always go there first when I'm in need of a few key items for my wardrobe each season, because the price tags are a lot more friendly than other high street stores. 

Whenever I go shopping actually needing something in particular I can never find anything I like. It's always the way. But when I found this playsuit in the first shop I looked in I just knew it was going to be a successful shopping trip. And it was! 

So get yourself down to New Look NOW and grab yourself that bargain!!

Georgia.xo

Fragrance Project | Task 4

*insert huge sigh of relief* 

This booklet pretty much marks the end of Year 1 FCP. I won't go into the whole "it's gone so quickly" thing because that's another post, but IT'S GONE SO QUICKLY!

Anyway, for the last quarter of our Fragrance Project, we had to individually create a booklet, explaining our twelve month promotional plan for our perfume brands.

The booklet starts with a brief overview of what we've been doing 'up till now'. So that's our research (context), the big idea, creative concept, etc, which I go into more detail in this post. The next section is 'who we are'. This covers the behaviour of our target consumer (a 22-30 year old woman), the brand model for Mist & Matter, and a mock-up of what our packaging would look like. I touch on this area a little bit in the last post that I wrote for this project, and it also brings us in to the next section, 'communication'.

The promotional/communication was the hardest bit of this task. I think because we'd already covered the first half, I'd got that done quite quickly, but this was the first time that I'd actually sat down and thought about how we could promote the brand and it proved harder than I originally thought.

I started with a moodboard of our visual inspiration and a copy of our print ads, which I touched on in the Task 3 post. I also created two mood boards for what our summer and winter editions would look like, and I think these are my 4 favourite pages in the whole booklet. I took inspiration from issue 18 of Flow magazine.

Then I went on to the communications tools. I wanted to reflect the nature of the product, whereby the consumer would use it from the beginning to the end of the day, so I came up with an integrated communication strategy, which would almost follow the customer through their day-to-day life. I've used both traditional techniques, such as bus stops and billboards, as well as digital techniques, like social media, collaborations with Spotify and bloggers, and I also created an app, which would alert the consumer throughout the day.

This then took me to my last section, 'long story short'. In this section I summarised my promotional plan with a 12 month time line, and then with an overall summary, which basically says how our integrated campaign will allow Mist & Matter to reach it's full potential and to be successful. We would also hope that we could expand the brand in to the future by adding ranges for teenagers and men.

As much stress as creating this booklet caused me, and as much as I complained about it, I'm actually kind of bored now because for the last week this was all I was doing. Morning till night. I'm definitely getting more confident on InDesign now too, which is a plus. I just hope the hard work is worth it, because there's nothing I can do now!

Georgia.xo