Evaluation:

For this assignment, I created 10 postcards advertising a new range of clothing. The images are in studio, fashion images that show two shirt designs, one for males and one for females. The images all incorporate the shirts, where some of them also incorporate a mascot. I really enjoyed the making and designing of the shirts and found the images were better when I had designed and changed the outfit myself. I also gained inspiration to continue this for my FMP and to expand the idea behind designing a brand and a clothing range. 

The idea originally was just to do traditional, travel images which would work for postcards, however I found this very boring and not something I wanted to put my name too. This idea then changed to photographing my large giraffe collection. I was inspired by this, but also found myself shooting mainly fashion images. This then developed into creating a brand, inspired by giraffes and creating the two shirts, to advertise and create the brand.

For this assignment, I used digital cameras, such as the 5D mark 2 for my final images,  to get high quality images that made the products desirable and also made the images, in postcard form, attractive and to be sent for future customers. The ISO of 100 allowed me to have no/ little noise in the images, which again gave them a high quality. I also used a fast shutter speed, to minimise movement blur in the images.
When making the images, I used printing on a normal inkjet printer, on normal printer paper, then copying onto both light and dark transfer paper. The light transfer paper printed into the shirt, changing the fabric colour and not giving a raised edge, where as the dark transfer gave a plastic print on top of the fabric, I did prefer the dark transfer paper as the colours were more contrasting and the print itself looked more crisp and focused.
I have also used and experimented with editing techniques such as painting and stitching onto images, cutting into images and also using Photoshop to digitally experiment with the images.
Digitally, I used manipulation software to make the images more fashionable and the models look to be more desirable. Most of the time I found myself simply adjusting the levels of exposure, increasing the saturation, using spot clone tools to remove small blemishes on the face and also using liquify to reduce size of some of the models features. This simply was done to sell the product and make it desirable to the customer. The main aim of the postcards is to sell and promote the new brand, meaning the images need to be a high quality and something desirable to the audience. 

The main challenge I found with this assignment is getting ideas that I like and would work on. I found myself consistently developing my idea, even until there was only a few weeks left until the end date. However, when I did get a good idea, which I was proud of and thought would work, I really enjoyed working on the product and the end results.

My images were really inspired by the work of Rudi Gernreich, who designed very simple but unique giraffe themed clothing. In his studio images, he created shadows and often had the models in unique and quirky positions, which made the images interesting. I took inspiration from the lighting and the design, however wanted the positions to sell the front and side of the shirts. If I had more time, I would continue and plan more positions for the model and to also use different locations. 

I am really pleased with my final images. They all promote the shirt designs and I have had compliments on its design and the way the images represent the giraffe theme. I plan to continue this assignment to my FMP, however I will be working on a new logo, creating a website, more shirt designs, a catalogue, using different locations, including outside,  advertisements in a magazine and more to really push this idea and create the brand. Also when continuing this, I will be trying different medias, using digital and 35mm film to create a large amount of fashion images, showing the shirt designs and also maybe using film to create a short advertisement (30 seconds to 1 min) for the brand.


Critique and peer evaluations;

• Tshirts are the souvenirs - Giraffe clothing
• Looks professional
• Experimented successfully - thought outside the box
• Range of focal lengths create intriguing looks
• Need to double check spelling - I was already aware of this
• Experiment with different coloured shirts - I was wanting the black and white to contrast - I may experiment with this later on.
• See what the shirts look like on location.
• Trying to sell a brand, advertising and fashion style
• Studio lighting is successful and even throughout
• Clothing adverts.