OUGD401 | EVALUATION

For me personally, I would say this module has been the most challenging for me. As a person who is more inclined towards the creative side of graphic design, I knew I would find it difficult to excel as much in the academic side. Although I have had experience with essay writing from doing Sociology and English at A Level, these skills had not been exercised in months over Summer before coming to Leeds College of Art. If I'm honest, I did not engage with Context of Practice as much as I have with Studio Practice for example. This is simply because it is much more of a formal, academic module. For me, my interest in this module arrived a little too late when I really delved into it. At the beginning I am not pleased to say that although I did try and keep up to date, Context of Practice was brushed under the rug too much. This is definitely something to work on for next year as I have especially learned this does not do any good and it is just as important as the other modules.

Writing an essay initially was challenging and it did take me a while to get into it, however as I went along I became increasingly more interested in what I was writing which proved useful and beneficial. I chose the gender question for this module as I am very interested in gender issues and inequality, and I am very passionate about feminism. The passion I had for this topic allowed me to have a quite specific writing style, according to some peers who read over my written piece to give me feedback. I had never used Harvard referencing before this brief so it was tricky to get used to using. I feel overall I produced a good essay that gave me an in depth understanding of the Gaze theory. I think I put forward some good points that later linked well to my practical work.

The practical side of this module was probably a lot more enjoyable for me. It was fun yet difficult and challenging. It did take me a while to decide on a firm idea that linked back to my essay however I do think that what I produced had a strong message that was an appropriate response to the themes in my written piece. It would have been beneficial to try and go down a few more different avenues with this and experimented with various ideas digitally, but I feel pleased with what I produced.

 I feel Context of Practice has helped me academically and analytically, as previously I would not go as in depth with analysis. I now feel a lot more confident with this and I feel I have developed a lot as a designer along the way.

OUGD401 | BODY OF WORK | RATIONALE

For my body of practical work, I decided to design a set of 3 posters, each sustaining the same style, but each poster being different; therefore they can work together or separately. The focus here was the way women's bodies are able to freely be sexualised and plastered on the front of a magazine or all over the internet, yet rejected when the nudity is not in a sexual manner. I wanted to engage with both sexes for this campaign, and challenge the stance on female nudity. These posters felt very relevant to me as they link very appropriately to my essay as I have discussed in depth the double standards we face in our society. 

I wanted to avoid the over-done "#freethenipple" vibe and try and create something that has more meaning and conveys the message to my audience. That message is simple; women should not have to be shunned away whilst breastfeeding their children, or it deemed 'inappropriate' in public when there are countless companies making solid cash from the female form. 

I created a text only poster which contains the raw quote from Violet Rose:

“It is illegal for women to go topless in most cities, yet you can buy a magazine of a woman without her top on at any 7-11 store. So, you can sell breasts, but you cannot wear breasts, in America.”

I chose to work with Helvetica for all these posters as this font is iconically used in American Apparel's branding, a company which uses highly sexualised imagery for selling their products.

I wanted to use two images, one of a high fashion model who is topless, representing that women are there to be gazed at for male enjoyment and to sell a product, the second image being a woman in a very maternal position feeding her child. The message in each of my posters is that the female body is not just for sale. As I am fairly liberal on female nudity and enjoying the female form, I feel that in some cases it can benefit women, not all cases. I did not want to discredit the line of work that some women choose, but encourage the idea that breasts should be viewed and appreciated for their maternal purpose also. I chose the phrase "#notjustforsale" to convey that nudity for pleasure is not the sole purpose of breasts.