WEEKLY JOURNALS
Week 1 Reflection
This week we completed a variety of tasks including some from the Context section and also some from the experimentation and planning section. I liked this all being pulled into the first week of the project as it allowed me to get a taste as to what each area of the project is going to be like and how manageable the workloads are going to be.
Overall this week I really enjoyed looking into different people's marketing techniques and strategies as well as examples of good marketing which has been used by big companies such as Apple in the past.
One of the areas of analysis that I found difficult when looking into examples of good marketing used by large companies was identifying areas of downfall and picking out specific areas of improvement for the company. A Lot of the struggle for me was getting past the mental wall of the fact that they are a large company and there is no way I could have come up with something that they hadn't. I however managed to get past this successfully by not thinking of them as a large company but thinking of them as a small independent marketing team who I am just helping out. This allowed me to put the task into perspective and complete it successfully.
Week 2 Reflection
During this week we looked into how your marketing and promotional strategies can affect your business and outreach. I did this by looking at good industry examples which allowed me to pick out areas that I wished to use when I came to do it myself.
One of the issues I faced this week was the lack of creative ideas for the design of my drink. This resulted in some of my ideas being underdeveloped or bland. I resolved this issue by identifying what I wanted my product to be, how it was unique and then creating the design based on that. For example i decided that my product was going to be a higher end and quality drink so therefore would be complimented with minimal yet effective packaging with an exploration in different colour pallets.
Overall this week I enjoyed exploring the different areas required to build a stable foundation for a drinks product launch. I enjoyed the creative exploration which it allowed me to utilise such as how i'm going to use my new skills to create an exterior label for the drink itself. I intend on transferring the skills I learnt to later in the project when it comes to actually creating the product for review from the public.
Week 3 Reflection
During this week we looked into more of the practical elements required to build and launch a successful product campaign and advertisement. We looked into how lighting and camera angles can be used to change shots and completely alter the meaning and perspective of them. I found this information very useful as it allowed me to build on the skills I already had to ensure that they were up to standard and were being used in the best way possible which was going to allow me the best chance at having a successful product launch.
Some issues that I encountered this week was that the workload began to stack up during the middle of the week despite me having a plan and schedule in place as to how I was going to combat this from happening. I believe this happened because the work this week was so drastically different and varied that it caused me to slightly lose track of what I was doing. I combated this by reflecting on individual tasks in detail to see how it went and what I could have done better to not only improve the work quality but also the time it took to complete. After doing this it allowed me to feel more comfortable with the workload i had completed as well as the fact it allowed me to organise the completion of the work i hadn't done and get it all under a manable control.
Overall this has been my favourite week so far due to the fact a lot of it was away from the computer, which allowed me to break up the repetitiveness that I was beginning to find. I will use the improvements made this week with regards to time management to ensure that a similar situation doesn't happen again in the future.
Week 4 Reflection
During this week I explored more detail into my brand for the drink product creation. I looked also into how different methods of organisation can benefit my workload and make me feel less stressed and overwhelmed. Throughout this week I was beginning to feel very overwhelmed with the workload despite the fact I was following plans set out to prevent me from feeling like this. For once I feel this wasn't a problem with the plan and was instead just a natural feeling because all of the work is beginning to become more important as we approach the deadline date even more. There isn't a way to fix this apart from allowing more time to myself in order to relax so that each day can feel fresh and allow me to achieve the best amount and standard i can.
I am happy with the overall quality of work that I achieved this week as it allowed me to feel more confident that what I was doing was up to a good standard and was going to allow me to achieve a good grade. I just wish that the work could stay as it is without causing me unnecessary stress.
I am looking forward to next week where we will be creating our physical outcomes. I will then be able to see all of the work that I have done so far come together to help put me in the best position when creating this work.
Week 5 Reflection
Throughout this week it was our chance to create all of the practical outcomes for the project. In most of our previous projects last year this time period was my favourite but also the most challenging and stressful. It was satisfying to see all of the work collated together and create one large picture which accurately demonstrates the journey you had to undertake in order to get there. Some of the major issues I faced this week were that I felt a few times that I was beginning to veer away from the plans I had set out for myself in terms of how I was going to create my physical outcomes. An example of this happening was when I created my storyboard as to what shots I was going to include in my advert, I was unable to get some of the top down shots of the bottle lid opening and also the liquid being poured into the glass. I managed to fill this gap in the advert however by reversing and changing the speed of some different shots to create an almost animated look.
Overall I am happy with the outcome of this week as all of the work that I set out with the intention of completing was completed within the timeframe that I set for myself. Next time however i would like to ensure that all of the shots i intended to shoot as set out in my pre production documents were actually recorded and included in my video, i will do this by setting myself accurate and detailed timings for each shot/task so that i ensure to myself i have enough time to gather them all without having to take away from smaller details etc.