Its finally arrived! All printed and bounded and the relief to finally have this in my hands is an amazing feeling. The three years of a lot of hard work has really paid off and I have gained so many skills, especially through this unit, that I never dreamed I would be able to do such a photography and editing.
I think I completely under estimated the difficultly and challenge of creating a book would be. From having to research and rely on a certain high standard printing company, both on look and styles they would provide to the agonising wait of delivery time, to getting tests prints and designing the layout to choosing the texture and size of every element such as the front cover to paper. Its been a long and stressful process but one of the most rewarding and exciting experiences I have had to date and I am so proud of what I have achieved through this unit from creating the concept, in depth and primary researching, collaborating, designing, scheduling and organising, editing and creating the final outcome.
As my book has arrived a few days prior to the due day I have been really picky and over analytical of sections, such as if the spine of the book is too simple or if the editing is to a high enough standard, and the more I do the more I have been panicking as, with a book, its not something I can change last minute. I decided to show the final product to other students and also random people similar to my target market or who I do not know around university for a less biased opinion and this really helped to calm me down. I also need to remember that this is just the beginning of my professional journey and, considering I did not think I would be able to go to university, let alone get to this point, I am so proud of what I have achieved professional, academically and personally through this unit. I now feel ready to get into the real world and start my journey into the industry.
I am so pleased with the 30cm square size of the book, it stands out and creates such as impacting statement when glanced at and matches the coffee table style layout I had envisaged from the start. The hardback semi gloss and semi matte effect I chose for the front cover has worked incredibly well to capture the whole ethos of the symbolic colour palette I created and subtly shines to give that professional finish to it as well as a smooth, soft texture when in my hands.
Once opened the inking of the images has been refined with clarity as I specified many a time to the printers which was one of my most feared aspects as the images needed to be visually very clear and beautiful to capture the essence of the super power being conveyed in each chapter. I was very concerned that the images would be of low resolutions as I did have issues with the software that the printing company supplied but solved this issue as I liaised with the company frequently to understand the software more and got advice from my photographer and a few peers using the same software. I am so pleased with the choice of proline pearl photo paper as the shine brightens the image to life and gives all the hard work I've done that final detailed finish that it needed. I wanted the book and pages to really shine to convey the 'Superaura' and glow of emotions that my viewers need to reawaken in their lives as that is a huge part of my concept. I hope that this style of book gives that welcoming feeling that my reader will want to touch and be touched by.
Each chapter turned out much better than I had expected, my favourite chapters have to be either 'Flight' or 'Immortality'. I feel that 'Flight' captures the super aura of flying through every aspect very strongly from lighting that I had researched in my proposal, the dramatic make up and hair, strong pose and striking styling. Although 'Immortality' for me, is the one that conveys the most beauty and elegance and my skills as a make up and hair designer. It captures the colour symbolic meaning of gold that I throughly researched and the final outcome conveys the strong, regal immortal like status I hoped for.
I am so happy with the exposure, saturation and the hues of the colours in each concept from the symbolic colour that introduces each chapter to the final images. At first I was worried that I hadn't spread many images over the space of two pages but this was a great decision not too as this is not a flat lay book and parts of the images would have been lost in the crease.
Although I was initially over thinking the spine of the book, when placed amongst others and pulled out I love the sudden unexpected design that you see. When a viewer pulls the book out they may expect something simple and bland but the further it comes out the more interesting and dynamic the front cover can be seen. This will hopefully incise the viewer to take a closer look inside. I am also very happy with the extra photography images I took just to give it that real make up and beauty style to the book, to break up all the portrait images a little and also show another skill that I have gained over my time at university.
Overall, I am delighted with the final outcome of my book. I am aware there are aspects that I now really want to work on to improve my skills further for the future such as returning to Elstree studios where I completed my work based learning hours to received more special effects training and also taking photoshop and Indesign lessons from my photographer where I could elaborate these images further.
My final major project has challenged me both creatively and mentally. It has given me huge opportunities such as developing being a make up and hair artist, a creative director, a photographer, a editor, fashion stylist and a model scout that I would not have been able to do anywhere else at such an early stage in my journey.
This book has pushed me so far out of my comfort zone at times and in doing so made me a more confident person that needs to believe in herself more just like the underlining messages I hope to give to the viewers. It has boosted my passion and love for this industry that I hope to keep with me wherever the path may take me.
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