April 2020

Diversity, social responsibility and sustainability are the main themes that I have learned from Better lives lecture over a few weeks. As a PR and communication student, I think it is quite important to know these three elements and to incorporate with them for my work in the future.

Inclusivity is a really important topic nowadays in society. People started to respect the different ethnic group and being or diverse. And because of the environmental awareness, people started to realize how the fashion industry has created many damage and waste of the resources on the Earth. Customers started to refuse to buy fast fashion product and live in a more eco-friendly way, such as bringing their bags when they go shopping or paying more attention to the material, which the brand used for produce the product. Therefore, many brands and designers started to be more responsible for the environment.

I chose to study Navigating Through Clothing for Better lives course. In this course, we have learned about different texture and fabric. When we visit the National Theater, I saw many different textures of the costume and how they designed it for the stage. I got more information on how important the material is for making a costume. Therefore, for my final project, I might think of some recyclable fabric for designing the project. 

After those lectures, I will not forget how diversity, social responsibility and sustainability are important roles nowadays. When I do work, I will focus more on those themes and pay more attention to that related news.

My projects for better lives was Messaging Fashion. This project has allowed me to expand my knowledge and learn new skills about branding and public relations (PR). However, this Is much different to my hair and make-up for fashion course but will be very useful overall as I pursue my education within the fashion industry.  

During the session we have been introduced to PR and communications and how brands use Social Responsibility to improve brand reputation this has showed me how important this is for a brand in progress through business. 

Therefore, while working in groups, we were allocated a fashion brand, which in my case is House of Sheldonhall.  We developed a creative social responsibility initiative around the cause, that is authentic for this brand. In addition, we designed an engaging and compelling public relations (PR) and communication campaign that will promote the image we require. Our task was, in groups to produce and present our own social responsibility initiative for the brand we have been given. however, we must promote our concept to the target audience of the brand. I was really pleased when I was introduced to the brand which in this case was House of Sheldonhall, this is a unique and boutique brand formed in the north of the UK (Yorkshire). However, learning new knowledge about the brand was very interesting and rewarding. The design/style duo’s inspiration comes from Christian Dior and collections requested by the likes of British Vogue, Tatler, Lady Gaga and more recently Drag Race Royalty ‘Valentia’. When researching about this brand they gave me inspiration, and this allowed me to express and use my creative skills in my work. By focusing on the house of Sheldonhall brand and creating a campaign to support a worthwhile social cause. I think our project is realistic and our presentation of our ideas was impactful. In the group, we definitely enjoyed working together great communication to come up with a very useful campaign presentation. However, lessons for next time to develop the presenting further, this could have been done through some improved scriptwriting and more group practice. Also, I found out that as there was only two people in my group, we had to split the workload evenly to gain the best outcome. Personally, throughout this unit I have developed many new skills which are my writing skills, research, working in a team and presenting which has made me improve my confidence.  By learning new things for example, writing a press release as I’ve never done this before, so through our group working together we managed to produce a diverse campaign.

In conclusion, from this task I have a clear understanding on how social responsibility of a brand can have big impact on the brand internationally, and effect changes for the future. Even though, I have learnt loads of new skills I know this will help me in the future as a hair and make-up artist. My motivation will increase, take on more responsibility knowing the extra knowledge I have gained when I start my own projects. 

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/file/5cae49ed-e736-48e1-b43d-bb55d63c3fef?tenantId=8c6429c4-167f-477b-b8cb-77ee82758d11&fileType=pptx&objectUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fartslondon-my.sharepoint.com%2Fpersonal%2Fj_fowler0320191_arts_ac_uk%2FDocuments%2FMicrosoft%20Teams%20Chat%20Files%2FHOUSE%20OF%20SHELDONHALL%20-%20jemma%20%2Cmonica%2C%20Yolanda%20%20(1).pptx&baseUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fartslondon-my.sharepoint.com%2Fpersonal%2Fj_fowler0320191_arts_ac_uk%2F&serviceName=p2p&threadId=19:bd03d15d-3024-4af1-834d-f49af95bacf1_c1487d79-50e8-4841-98e1-67d428ca4052@unq.gbl.spaces&messageId=1587936182076

My `Better Lives´ chosen project is `Developing a Character´, based in the special effects make-up degree. Thoughout all the workshops, we have been learning different characterization make-up techniques with the aim of creating a character that evolves. Due to the current pandemic situation, we needed to change the way we all raise the outcomes of our projects. Thus, we have created a drawing with the design we were willing to do. 

In the course of this unit, I have been particulary concerned about the social responsability theme. In terms of enhancing it, I wanted to recreate a character with an inclusive identity. So often issues like evil characters with deformed features or super heroes that sexualised that are better known for their appearance than for being heroic have been shown on the big screen. My character design then is a non-binary superhero whith no sexual features. It has a completely deformed face, even though it is a benevolent character. I have been inspired by the film `Skins´ (2017), which tells the story of several characters who have different deformations on their bodies and how challenging their lifes within the society can be at times. 

On the other hand, it has been gratifying to learn new ways of how to be more eco friendly in my practice as a make-up artist and adding new knowledge about the impact in our environment if we are not cautious using some products. I have also learnt even more about how important is to follow the correct hygiene measures in the make-up industry, which is a matter even more underlined due to the current situation. 

Furthermore, the COVID-19 outbreak has raised the social responsability in too many aspects. There are so many brands that these days have been helping economically and through different initiatives. Some examples are MAC cosmetics, which through its Viva Glam campaign has helped 250 local organizations and Estée Lauder which has donated a big economic amount to `Doctors Without Borders´. The development of the Better Lives unit and being a Estée Lauder employee, has encouraged me even more these days to help the others donating when possible and being creative to come up with new solidarity ideas. 

In terms of my future practice as a fashion make-up artist, I am willing to be inclusive if I have the opportunity to be in charge of the casting in some projects within the industry, trying to include a variety of types of skin like freckling, depigmentation, burnt or aged ones, where what is considered `perfect beauty´would take place. 

Overall, my better lives project choice will help me in my personal degree development as some of those techniques can be used in the fashion make-up field. After all the new knowledge acquired throughout the unit, I am also willing to include concepts like identity and inclusivity in my practice through the use of different types of skin models and having a good variety of shades in my kit for all the skin types and colours. 

References: 

Samaha, B. (2020) Harpers Bazaar. Available at:https://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/designers/a31901094/fashion-beauty-companies-coronavirus-donation/ 

For the Better Lives unit, I chose to study Fashion Journalism as I thought it would give me skills that would be helpful for my actual course, as it would give me the ability to look at the Better Lives themes from a more analytical standpoint. 

            We were asked to write a 500-word feature piece on any of the Better Lives themes that we took an interest to, so I chose diversity as I feel as though something that hasn’t really been talked about within the industry is how brands are now marketing towards being diverse and inclusive in order to boost their sales as opposed to doing what is right. Because of the backlash that big companies face in an age of cancel culture for not including enough minority groups within their runways or campaigns, they make changes only because they realise their sales are going down or they know it will gain them positive press, as opposed to doing it from the beginning because they believed it was the right thing to do. 

            Because of COVID-19, we didn’t get as many resources and as much help as we would have got if we weren’t at home, however, I did like the freedom we had to write about anything we liked as it gave me a chance to research something I actually found interesting. From researching this topic, I definitely feel as though at this point diversity is definitely something that is almost impossible to get right, as there will always be a group missing and will always be someone annoyed about it. 

            This task definitely opened my eyes to the issues of the industry, especially as at the end we got to peer review other people’s work and get feedback on our own. Reading what other people chose to write about definitely opened my eyes to the issues of the industry, as no one really chose to write about similar topics, and it also gave me a chance to see how other people write about/tackle difficult to talk about topics. 

            I’m not exactly completely proud of my project outcome as I feel as though the online lectures did hold us back a bit, but I definitely do feel like I’ve learnt something and will be using these skills again in the future. 

I chose the blog written by Harriet Rowney, which is about the impact of Better Lives. I really like her blog because it was dug deeper into her consideration totally. 

 She stated that “we are each able to make small changes contributing towards a big development”, which was mostly the same sentence, which was little efforts make significant differences, I wrote in my second blog. Therefore, I often felt empathy while I’m reading her blog. She wrote about it’s vital that we try to buy things from second-hand stores for contributing sustainability, however, it was also written that it is impossible to be equal as long as the stores are progressive and positive in terms of economic disadvantage. During all the lectures regarding sustainability, I was thinking separately about purchasing second-hand clothes and knowing where garments originate from. Her writing changed my thinking because I realized that the important thing is supporting organizations that seem to be liberal. She put a quote that is “the crisis-prone nature of capitalism means it would likely be plunged into a deep recession by radical attempts to modify the degree of surplus value extracted from labour in a sector such as clothing.” (Brooks, 2015). In my perspective, it means that even if people who work in defective conditions (generally in developing countries) are putting efforts to make things for us, the value itself is twisted by for-profit personal leaders relatively. Therefore, “liberal” means to support the organizations which confirm satisfaction and equality of the manufacturer and the brand from both sides. 

 As for another thing, the importance of sensitivity was written. Since we are both taking a class of Contemporary Portrait Photography in this unit, I thought her way of thinking when it comes to photographing is what I need to think of. She mentioned that it’s significant to make things relevant to the direction of what you want to convey to audiences. This thing includes to research something not only ethical aspect but historically and socially as well. I totally agree with her thinking since there are many mistakes of precedent, such as cultural appropriation. With prizing single esthetic and taking place (when it is the direction regarding such) into the photograph is the key to creating things I thought. Researching and recognizing from various aspects is not the only thing in terms of taking pictures. It is crucial on the stage of creating new ideas or stating something as well.

  Overall, her blog made me see those things from a different view and consider the significance of the revelation.

References : 

Brooks, A. (2008) ’ Clothing Poverty: The Hidden World of Fast Fashion and Second-Hand Clothes, Zed books.

After all the lectures have been done in Better Live unit, I was able to gain many inspirations from sessions that I attended which is Contemporary Portrait Photography. Since we have been under the circumstance that everybody feels isolated and anxious because of the coronavirus, it is absolutely limited that we can do for creating some works or conducting activities for the sessions. However, lectures run by tutors (CPP) introduced us a lot of works that were really interesting and made me think more positive way. 

I was inspired especially by ‘Home Portrait’ in the lectures. For instance, Nigel Shafran, who is a photographer, created the works which captured images of the ordinariness of everyday life. His works contain the sense of bleakness at first glance, yet they have an inherent beauty in daily life. Another artist is Heather Glazzard. He used a Facetime as a medium for taking portrait photographs during the quarantine. Especially young queer people, who can especially struggle with the loss of support networks during the lockdown, are models of the works. Both of the provocative outcomes broke my boundary of limitation in terms of restricted place. Utilizing accustomed things and place in a house such as a kitchen, bedroom, and living room tend to become disinterested for the reason that it presumably would be looked a little bit personal.

Nonetheless, either work delivered a degree of intimacy and warmness to the audiences. I realized that we have been ignoring potential aesthetics in everyday life. Even the moment you see it casually in our house (an instant of cooking something, tiding clothes and selecting garments) looking through the lens may be beautiful depending on the hue, amount of light, and angle.

Thanks to the development of digital, we are able to create some works as a collaboration even being different places in each other. At this time, we didn’t do that in our session, yet I saw the other students’ works through Padlet. We updated works there our interpretation of portrait photographs as home portraits. I saw many of students capturing part of sections in their room (house) in their practices and they are genuinely affectionate as a result of the intimacy. I did take photographs of my dog with black and white style. I have never thought about the power of the effect, and always rely on how it looks for my satisfaction rather than the story behind when taking a picture, however, I have learnt that the process of my selection and decision making is what facilitate the works stronger.

Due to the pandemic, we are not able to take a picture outside, yet I have learnt about many photographers and their profound works; thus, I’m going to delve furthermore for my future projects.

Image : Portrait of my dog (project outcome)

Throughout the Better Lives project, the subjects that have become the most important and relevant to me were diversity and social responsibility. Throughout the process of engaging with the lectures and participating in workshops, my thoughts of how these themes apply to my every day practice has developed in a positive way.

After the lecture portion of the project finished, I became aware of how these themes are becoming increasingly present in our daily life. Throughout the ‘Make up Breakdown’ specialism designed for makeup design in fashion, I was introduced to the techniques of colouring, colour theory and contour to begin with. The skills I have learnt from the colouring class has allowed me to assess which tones of foundation work on different skin types and colours; a very important skill in the ever-increasingly diverse industry as it means everyone is catered for and no one is left out. The first classes were designed to introduce us to the fundamentals of makeup so that we could go off and be free to create our own designs based on the themes ‘Imperfections’ and ‘The Fashion Mistake’. These themes pushed us to create designs that celebrate these concepts and highlight the beauty in having what society perceives as ‘flaws’.

My designs were based on using found object around the house (due to the fact we could no longer access the workshops) to play on the idea of the fashion mistake. My first design was inspired by over-the-top accentuated eyelashes using large strips of foil adhered to my eye area to create drama. For my next look, I developed my ideas to highlight the fashion mistakes of the 80s by involving the concept of colour theory and playing with conflicting and complimentary colours in an eye and contour look. Through using only materials from around the house and what I have disposable to me, I have been able to push my creativity and appreciate the work I have been able to produce.

Through participating in a different discipline, I have been able to expand my interests and have gained a new knowledge and outlook on the way people work in different industries and how different ideas and concepts inform this work. The project has pushed me to do my own self-directed research into new and interesting subjects such as the mistakes of the 80s and most importantly the ideas of social responsibility in the cosmetics industry. I have been encouraged throughout to asses where my materials are coming from and how they have been manufactured.

Given the way in which we have all had to adapt our desired outcomes to fit these circumstances within a new mode of learning, I am pleased with how I have directed and executed my final design. I am especially pleased with the aspect of recycling materials that I have found which has allowed me to further explore the theme of sustainability and social responsibility whilst pushing me to work more creatively, imaginatively and productively; skills I will be taking with me to my own practice.

REFLECTION TASK – Blog 3

Throughout the Better Lives unit, we have engaged with the key themes in different ways, exploring them within our personal projects was definitely really interesting. Contemporary Portrait Photography is the one I chose and even though photography is something I really enjoy to engage with, I wasn’t sure how to link the three main themes to this particular discipline.

Sustainability, diversity and social responsibility are indeed what we were asked to reflect on, and to consider while trying to create a visual response to portraiture. 

In one of the first lecture our tutor showed us his work where he collected different items from the Thames and then used them to create particular images, giving a ‘new life’ to old objects or clothes abandoned and lost. This definitely made me reflect on how we can response to the theme of sustainability in photography and how we do not need to use new and specific items to create interesting visual works. Unfortunately, because of the current situation, we had to conclude the project at home, and one of the tasks was to create some images in response to that. We were asked to create ‘Home portraits’ related of course to the environment we had available and the people we could engage with and use as subjects. This task was really inspiring from my personal point of view. I had the opportunity to stop and think what I could create with the things I had around me, something I was not used to do before that. The camera has the power to show and underline what the eye might not normally see and that’s why I think this power could be used in order to make people reflect on how they can approach sustainable elements in their own experiences. 

The work done throughout the photography project helped me to develop as well the theme of diversity and social responsibility, two factors that are directly connected to sustainability. Being a photographer means being able to represent something, in a personal way and being responsible of the ideas communicated with those images. I believe this is strictly connected to the key themes of the unit. The process we went through made me understand how what I portrait in my picture can be seen from the outside, and how it can be interpreted. This is something that can be applied to different disciplines and indeed important for our generation to remember in the future. Having applied it all to a specific project helped me to shape my ideas and definitely made me aware of my responsibility of being sustainable and represent diversity through my work and my creativity. 

I had discovered through In & Outside of Fashion: Sportswear Fashion Language & sub-cultures that diversity is the heart of styling. The class gave me examples of expressions of different identities by using clothing and work on the bodies. Decorating the bodies gives the society a visual definition of who you are. Different people has different background. Which It is something to celebrate. People should respect the each other identity. Without any judgment or racism. To bring in peace and harmony to the society.

The class listed subcultures from British and American history. Which are very interesting. It shows diversities of races, cultural backgrounds and ethos. Which inspired me to create many interesting styling looks. Along with the knowledge I have learned from the tutor in this unit. I create this final outcome inspired from Korean pop music culture and sportswear. Many pop girl group in the industry out fit was inspired from sportswear, especially the ‘tennis skirt’. For example, Red Velvet, BLACKPINK and I.O.I. This became a trend when the fandom adopted the style. This group of subculture who are interested in Korean pop music often make dance covers of their favourite bands as well. I decided to associate the style with Chanel. Based on the lecture I was given in this unit, “The word “sportswear” first appears in the early 1900s to describe clothes for skiing, bathing, and boating. By the 1920s, haute couture designers like Claire McCardell and Coco Chanel” (B. Peterson, 2015). This will emphasise the idea of sportswear as well as promoting the new definition of femininity by Coco Chanel. She was the iconic leader in new style of women. The result from each elements that I have learnt is this Chanel editorial shoot. 

I choose to use this subculture to create my outcome because of diversity. I have seen the same subcultures presented in lectures at the university and I feel that I should introduce a new subculture by the work I produced. To show that there are many other identities out there in the world. Which they are created everyday. To remind on the topic of diversity that it has no boundaries and it is gifted to be sharing the pride of identities to each other. 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2015/08/15/athleisure-awkward- word-for-comfortable-relationship/xjNhQYb7MVL78GpA9QWzsJ/story.html

Inclusivity has been introduced into many industry in many forms of media and design. It is very important in our society to appreciate diversity by supporting inclusivity. All human are unique and beautiful. Understanding this concept will lead to living in this planet together in harmony and preserve to the next generation. Which it is the heart of Better Lives unit. Fashion and beauty industry is also working very hard on inclusivity in the past years. However, listening to Inclusion lecture by Laura J Salisbury has changed my perspective toward the term of ‘inclusion’. The lecture gave me more in depth into a specific area. Different from when I saw an advertisement for a foundation lines that claimed to be offered to all skin tone with an attachment to the concept of inclusion. I had come to the realisation that my understanding of inclusion was only just at the surface level. 

Laura J Salisbury works on the design of garments for people with disability — those who are suffer with stroke. She shared many new technology in garments for people with disability such as Aura Powersuit and SoundShirt. As well as thinking process when design a garment. British Standards has stated in 2005 that inclusive design is “The design of mainstream products and/or services that are accessible to, and usable by, as many people as reasonably possible…without the need for special adaptation or specialised design”. Salisbury mentioned that there are these important factors when considering about inclusivity in design to meet the statement. Which are functionality, materiality and visualisation. This part of the lecture interest me the most. As it has shaped my perspective to inclusion in another way. She discussed about the design of some existing products that are too outstanding and may label the user to be different from the other. This reminds me of Sinéad Burke’s interview with The Guardian that “Many people cannot get dresses on or off with independence. Clearly, they were designed by a person who did not wear them.” ( S.Burke, 2019). Salisbury suggested in her lecture that designer should use ‘real people’ not ‘imaginary people’ when designers work on the garments.

Salisbury continued her lecture with adaptive clothing and the way it is presented. Tommy Hilfiger describes the products with ‘merely for show’ and ‘feel normal’. This is questionable that why we have to differentiate people with disabilities to be ‘not normal’? I found this point is very challenging to me as a fashion media student. To be working with designers carefully and translate an appropriate message to audiences. To bring the true sense inclusion into the society.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/may/16/i-want-to-tilt-the-lens-sinead-burkes-fight-to-make-fashion-more-diverse Accessed: 25/02/2020.