Day In The Life - Initial Ideas - Final Outcome

How I approached the task
- Initially I was to create 15 roughs based around the given article, 'The age of loneliness is killing us'. I found it essential to read the article intensely making additional notes and sketches in response, as well as doing further research before creating my roughs.
- I aimed to create a range of ideas, and explore a variety of possible themes in response. - I designed 15 roughs in my sketchbook. At first I simple sketched out initial ideas, before working in the given dimensions, this made it a lot easier to create successful compositions and for me to see how my designs would come together.
- I aimed to keep my designs relatively simple, to communicate the message clearly and effectively.

 Problems I faced`
- I found the article interesting and I had many ideas in response but felt that it was quite difficult to narrow them down. I found it challenging to choose one that represented the whole article.
- I wanted my final pieces to be clever, intriguing, engaging and unique. At the start of the designing process I worried that my ideas were too obvious, generic and not exciting enough. On the other hand I found others perhaps didn't clearly communicate the message. It took my a while to find the right balance, but once I had decided on the tone of voice I wished to convey, the process became easier, and I was generally happier with my designs. 
- Because the article focuses heavily around loneliness, and depression, and how society is evolving in a native way, i wanted to take a fairly serious approach, thinking about how I could best convey these issues.
- I sometimes found it difficult to get my ideas down on paper, - especially working in quick roughs, however development is the opportunity to explore and refine - think about the impact of an image, how to convey an emotional response?


Peer Feedback:
- At this point I didn't really consider how the three images could work as a set, so when it came to peer feedback I found it slightly difficult to know which to move forward. I should have perhaps tested some colour/media and thought about what could link them, this information would have been useful to have in a group discussion. - that being said, some of them have a running theme which in itself links them together. It was said that:
- Perhaps I could have pushed some ideas further - making the content less obvious, or presenting a more personal and unique way. I would agree, and hope to look at slightly different approached in further development.
- That I should have used the dimensions more when designing each image. I would also strongly agree, I found it much easier once working within the formatted frame.
- That some of the roughs could be confused with the technology article.

Successes.
From the crit I took on some positive feedback. The group generally liked my designs and helped me narrow down my ideas and push them forward. It was said that overall I had provided a good set of clear roughs that had the potential to be developed further, - some could have been a bit neater/developed.
- As my ideas progressed i found i was focusing very much on people, although loneliness could be interpreted in more abstract perhaps less obvious ways, I felt that featuring people would provoke a more emotional response. - My crit group said they felt that they could see potential in these designs connecting with the reader in that way. Having this focus - I explored a range of different compositions and scenes which i feel prepared me well for development.
- They liked how I had made someone appear lonely and invisible although surrounded by people. This I found encouraging as I really wanted to create this balance. This feedback informed which roughs iIwas to develop.

lonely teenager - isolated, alone, - how to develop? thinking about making it more specific.

- lonely in a busy crowd of people, how to depict the movement?

Development of Ideas.

- The roughs I aimed to develop focused around loneliness in a broad sense. I feel that they each would successfully represent the whole article. As my roughs were quite basic, I spent some time arranging the composition and content of each piece, and how they would effectively fit into the formatted sizes.

Image 1
This piece features a character in a crowed place feeling utterly alone.
I developed a character to feture as the main focus within the frame - I think I achieved a sense of loneliness and longing to fit in into her expression. For the background I created a group of silhouetted people. I wanted them to feel unapproachable and separated from the girl - background noise.
I began to consider the colour theme and media which would run consistently throughout each piece. - Instantly I knew I wanted the colour scheme to be made up of cold tones to represent a lonely and depressing atmosphere. I picked out a variety of blues and purples, and greys to experiment with.

Experimenting with media. I found that coloured ink pen were too harsh. The lines were too think and couldn't create a range of tone or detail. I feel that the piece needed a more versatile media, with which I could create shadows and en eerie atmosphere. The water-colour worked more successfully, but I found the most interesting to be coloured pencil, i found i could create a range of textures and tones. i will be developing this further.

Image 2

This second image evolves around the theme of loneliness in elderly people. With the final composition, I wanted to really portray a sense of isolation and longing. I feel that the composition featuring an elderly woman staring out the window, sitting in an empty room is simple yet displays sense of boardam and separation from the outside world.

experimentation, next to final (right)

Continued exploration of media. I experimented with gouache, but felt that the flat colour it provided didn't offer the right effect i wanted. i think the coloured pencil is much more appropriate and effective. I found that the purples used were perhaps too bight and distracting, and think that the blues are more in sync with the theme of loneliness. for the final image i also introduced more black and darker blues to convey a cold atmosphere which i think it does successfully.

Image 3

- This idea developed from the idea of young people feeling alone. - despite having connections and friendships through social media, in reality, many teenaged feel very isolated. In this image i didn't want the technology to over owed the sense of loneliness, but still be explored. i tried to display these influences more subtly. i thought about how to show its a young person? - i created a representation of a typical teenage girls bedroom for a background which i feel successfully yet subtley portrays this.

- For the sense of loneliness the girls composition is important, - so i tried to show her weak and vulnerable. For the loneliness creeping in - I used strong black ink and harsh lines, to represent the overpowering sense of loneliness.

After deciding on using coloured pencil as a chosen media, i explored the use of colour , and effects of layering. I found that the purples were too 'bright', and felt that the blues would help project the dark, moody atmosphere i wanted to create. gradually building up the pencil tone gave an interesting soft grain and texture that i liked. for the final i aimed to work slower in building up this effect. in doing this i feel that i created a munch more successful piece.

Evaluation Of Final Outcome

After experimenting with composition and media, i had established how my final pieces were going to be constructed. I began by using the lightest colour gradually building to dark as i found this to be the most successful method of working in my experimentation; it creates a softer more refined looking finish. i found that i developed my skills using coloured pencil. - applying light pressure, and moving in circular motions builds up a soft effect.
- In some areas i feel the pencil is more successful than others, for example - where i haven't spent as much time layering, the finished result looks more rushed and unprofessional. - in the image featuring the old lady, i think the pencil work has been the most effective - more variety in tone and darker colours.
- Overall as a choice of material i have really enjoyed using coloued pencil and the effect it creates. along with the cold colour palette, i feel that it works well to create the kind of eery, lonely atmosphere i wanted.
- Standing alone, i feel that the colour pallet has a huge impact on the final outcome. through testing i found that the choice of colours completely change the mood and tone of the image. i am confident that i made the right choice of blues, dull greys and blacks. using a combination of two colours plus stock was sometimes challenging at times, but i actually think it has worked successfully. - more colours would have been too distracting.
- I feel that experimentation and exploration of media and composition was perhaps necessary in me reaching more successful outcomes. Although i am fairly pleased with them overall, i feel like there are plenty of areas form improvement that testing would allow me to realise. for example, my peers felt that the black shadows in the square format were perhaps too harsh, which on reviewing i would agree. perhaps a softer approach would have been more fitting. Some slight alterations in the compositions could also hugely improved the images.
- Overall i got generally positive feedback from my peers. due to the colour combination style and theme running throughout, they thought that the three images worked successfully as a set.
- It was said that I had responded well to the article - the images were good representations of loneliness and projected a sad and lonely atmosphere which is what i aimed to create. there were some conflicting views where some said it was really obvious which article they were relating to and others said not. I am generally pleased with how each connect to the theme and i feel that its clear to which they represent, apart from perhaps one. - The girl standing alone in the crowd is maybe not as clear or effective -  i feel that the idea just didn't translate as well from my initial idea. - maybe a more worried expression? - a busier, crowded room with people passing by would have shown her to be more invisible.
- What was particularly nice to hear was how people were emotionally moved by the images, especially the old lonely lady. I wanted my finished pieces to have this effect but was unsure it had translated.
- Some suggested that perhaps created digitally would have looked more professional. Although I like the texture of the pencil, i do think that they could have worked well digitally. and i would like to develop my digital skills for future briefs.
- What else i'd like to improve upon; - composition - working within the frame. In future i will work within the frame from the very beginning of the designing process to achieve better compositions.
- I would also like to spend more time creative and developing characters.

Peer Feedback