FINAL END OF YEAR SHOW DESIGN

Here are my designs for my LAST EVER EOYS.
My theme was "Nightmares and Dreams" and I chose to create a 'Daemon From The Deep'

Face plan:

 Body plan:

 You can't really see it in the pictures but there is SO MUCH glitter on this page oh my god

 

FINAL EXHIBITION DESIGN

I sketched out a few ideas as to what my final exhibition board would look like and as I don't know how to work a scanner, you're gunna have to deal with my shitty iPhone camera photos, and for that I am so very sorry.

My initial designs:

 And my final design for my Exhibition/Static show
Drumroll please...

 
Tadaaa!

Along with pictures of my work, the things I chose to display are:
- (Left mannequin) The Mad Hatter button jacket that I made for my last EOYS
- (Right mannequin) The English Country Garden inspired corset and skirt I made for my summer research project, with the jewelled epaulettes and backpiece from my Tim Burton Magpie Jeweller on the back of it
- (On display heads at the back of the table) My Tim Burton Magpie Jeweller, Medieval Fantasy Film inspired Titania, and my hand-knotted human hair wigs
- (On lifecasts either side of the Titania wig) My Tim Burton Magpie Jeweller and Sci-Fi Alien prosthetics
- (On either side of the lifecasts) My silicone Titania (left) and latex Sci-Fi Alien (right) prosthetic ears
- (On the centre of the front of the table) My portfolio, showing images of my work
- (Either side of my portfolio) A fan display of my business cards
- (Either side of my business cards) A stack of my flyers

Advertising (again again)

RIGHT, so I've already made a post about business cards but, let's be honest, they were fairly standard and not very me at all. So I've mad a bunch more and I really like how they turned out

First I made some nice simple ones to get used to using my images and logo on them and found it quite effective so I decided to make a few different types and alter them to make them appropriate for different aspect of the make-up industry. 
These two are pretty bog-standard and the layout would work for most, if not all, of my pictures. 
I like the one on the left much better than the right, because it's clearer and simpler, and I find that the text is lost on the right. Also I think, while using the same blue as in the make-up in the picture I chose makes it look a lot more professional at the front, the back definitely doesn't benefit from it. The filigarie is also a bit unnecessary, unless I was using it for a bridal look, in which case I would probably keep it.

So then I began experimenting with different layouts for different genres of make-up and came up with a few potential ideas:

 These two represent different aspects of my make-up; the horror, A&E, film make-up side, and the natural, photographic, bridal side. While they are both very different designs, I kept my contact details and logo the same on them, although on the bridal card my logo is in greyscale to make it look softer and more gentle.

While I like the different effects I can create for different genres, I went off the idea of having different business cards because I felt that it might become too confusing and there wouldn't be a clear link between them all. So I looked for a design that would be versatile enough to show all the different make-up styles that I can create, but also link all my cards together so that you can tell that they're mine. I wanted somthing stylish and dramatic but simple, sophisticated and professional.

And then I found the perfect design.

 It's dramatic, it's stylish, and it works for all kinds of make-up styles. I love this design and I'm happy with my decision to use these as my business cards for my exhibition. I think they they give off an aura of sophistication and style, with just enough creativity to show my personality through the design. The back features my logo and contact details without looking cluttered.

I tried the design with lots of different pictures of my work and each time it looked great so I'm very pleased with them. I think the design really makes my photos pop, and the fact that they're vertical instead of horizontal helps to make them quirky and unique.

Advertising (again)

I've already posted a whole bunch of things about advertising so this part of the brief is mostly done, but there's a few things I'm gunna touch on in more detail here :)

Press Release:

A press release is a piece of writing that businesses send to the media (newspapers, journalists, bloggers, news shows, etc) to announce a new feature/product/event. It is usually what newspaper writers use to create a feature story, and a story is much more likely to be considered if the reporter is given a press release first.   

Here's mine for the exhibition 

This is my first time writing a press release so it's isn't the best it could be, but I think it does the job. I found it quite difficult to make everything really concise and snappy so I had to rewrite it a few times and make sure I only included what was needed.

Postcard-sized Flyer

I think having flyers at my exhibition as well as business cards will be really helpful, as I can put more information about who I am and what I do on them, and they'll make it much easier for potential customers to remember me and my work.
   

 I really like my flyers and I think they reflect my personality and style, as well as showing my work. I added my expanded USP to the back so that potential customers that pick them up can learn a little more about me and the work I create. I think that I should have put my contact information on them, however, but it's definitely on my business cards so I think it will be okay as long as I hand them out together. I like how simple this design is and I think the black and white stripes at the front really add a stylish feel to it. I also like the green on the back as it's my favourite colour but I would have liked it to be a more emerald green like in my logo.

Invitations:

I decided that I want to have invitations to my exhibition that I can send to industry professionals like make-up artists and photographers that I want to work with, so that they are aware of it. Even if they don't come, this means I can sneakily self-promo and they have my details so in the future when I'm crazy rich and famous they'll be like "damn, why didn't I work with her when I had the chance?!" ;)

I made a bunch of different versions of the invitations because I can never decide on anything and tbh I was having far too much fun making them.

 Design 1:

I really like the layout of this design because it means that I can show a lot of my work at the same time and give the best impression of my skills. I also like the back because it's quirky but still stylish, and there's space for my website links which is always a good thing.

Design 2:

 As beautiful as this design is, I don't think it's very me. It's a bit too Gatsby to really reflect me but I just love the way it looks. I think that if I were purely a bridal or haute couture high fashion MUA then this would work but, alas, my passions lie elsewhere and anything this neat could never be an honest representation of me as an artist. 
But it's just so shiny and stunning and  I love it.


 Design 3:

Now this is more my kind of thing.
I think I like this design the most, or at least the back part of it. I love how it looks really artsy and chaotic but in a beautiful way, and I think it really represents the artistic side of media-make-up so it fits really well with my work. I think the colours work really well, even though it's mostly pink, and that's not usually a colour I'm drawn to, but I think it makes the green in my logo stand out more as it contrasts against the background.

I think I'll probably mix and match it and have the front side from the first design and the back of the third design so that I have the best of both worlds; the professional and the artistic.

EOYS invitation:

 I decided to make an invitation for the EOYS as well because I was on a roll and why the hell not? I want as many people to come to my  LAST EVER End of Year Show, after all, and this will be a really effective way to reach out to people in the industry and try to get them to come and see my work in person.

Thank You Cards:

As I'm making invitations, I thought I'd make thank you cards because it's polite and I think it's something that nobody else will have done so it will make me stand out from the crowd. Also, nice manners can never hurt my chances of getting work!
Again, I made two designs because I couldn't choose and I'm far too keyboard-happy to only made one version of anything, even if I don't post them here.

 Design 1:

I chose this design because it matches my flyer and I love a bit of continuity. Also I really dig the green against the grey and white stripes; I think the contrast is perfect. I love how simple the front of this design is and I think that's all I really need to put on the front, otherwise it might start looking too busy. The back is really cute too and I really like how I can put my details in the white bubble like a feature detail. I wrote a little bit thanking everyone for coming to the exhibition and put my details on the back so that people can contact me if they want to hire me after seeing my work. This design doesn't have my logo on it though, because I couldn't put it anywhere without it looking out of place, so it's not perfect and I might need to revisit the designs before I go ahead with them.




Design 2:

 This design is a lot more formal that the first one and I'm not sure how I feel about it. The theme for my exhibition is very creative and reflective of my style so I'm not sure how it would fit in with everything else if I chose this design. I really like the back, however, and it has enough space for my logo, a little bit of writing to thank them for coming to my exhibition, my contact details, and my website links without looking crowded or having to make the writing super tiny.

I think I'm going to mix and match again and have the front side of the first design and the back of the second, because I think they'll still look connected through the black and grey, and the green in my logo.


Budgeting is crazy important when it comes to advertising, because you don't want to spend too much on getting people to see your work and then not having enough to actually do any work. 

The prices for my flyers, cards and business cards are as follows:

Flyer x50 = £14.61
Invites x100 (50 for exhibition & 50 for EOYS)= £29.22
Thank you cards x50= £14.61
Business cards x500= £44.38

Total= £105.82

Exhibition/Static Show Evaluations

The exhibitions I've chosen to evaluate are:

- The IMATS

- The UMAE

- 12 Shoes For 12 Lovers

I chose to look at these three exhibitions/static shows because they're all very industry-specific and, except for the shoes exhibition, I have experienced of all of them so that's some primary research right there. The IMATS and UMAE are both a lot more high-profile than our humble college exhibitions but they all serve the same purpose and bring in potential customers to view your work, so it'll be good to compare them all and see what similarities and differences there are.
Evaluation time.

12 Shoes for 12 Lovers by Sebastian Errazuriz 2013

Designer Sebastian Errazuriz found his inspiration for this exhibition, which was on display at the Melissa Pop-Up art exhibition in Miami in 2013, from his 12 previous relationships.  Each 3D printed shoe depicts a woman from these relationships and her overall character. 

The exhibition itself was very simple, with white walls, white floors, and white pedestals upon which the shoes were presented. I think this was a really good idea though, because it forces all the attention onto the shoes and makes sure there are no distractions so you can't help but lose yourself in his work. Each shoe is accompanied by a picture (most of them are pictures of the women on which the shoes are based but a few were recreated due to lack of actual photographs) and a short piece of text explaining the shoe's name and their relationship.

I think that I should mirror this in my exhibition by making my table as uncluttered and organised as I can, with specifically chosen objects placed carefully onto it so as to draw attention to each of them individually and not let them blur together and become just "stuff". 

The International Make-up Artist Trade Show (IMATS) 2014

Baby's first IMATS (2011)

The IMATS is basically my favourite thing/place/weekend in the whole wide world. I've been to it 4 years in a row and I don't plan on breaking that streak EVER. 
It's a trade show so tonnes of MUAs, wigmakers, sfx artists, and other industry professionals come to showcase their work, make contacts, and see what new products and tools are on the market.

There are stalls where popular Make-up brands sell their products for discount prices, talks and demos where big names in the industry like Alex Box and Neil Gorton apply make-up, bodypaint and/or prosthetics to a live model and explain their processes as they do it, and prize draws and competitions where you can enter to win kit-essential products or workshops with industry professionals.

Some of the brands/artists that sell their products at the IMATS include:

-MAC
-Inglot
-Sugarpill
-Screenface
-NYX
-Mouldlife
-PSComposites
-Neill Gorton (Neill's Materials)
-Eve Pearl
-Kryolan
-BenNye
-NARS
-Stargazer
-EmJ

-MistAir
-Temptu
-Eldora
-Crown Brush UK
-Bloody Marvellous
-FaceLace
-Make Up For Ever

And loads more so it's an unmissable event for up-and-coming MUAs to stock up their kits and make contacts in the industry.

 
There are also displays of prosthetics and costumes from different Films or TV shows along the back wall, which I found very helpful when thinking about my exhibition. Most of the pieces had little cards under them to explain what they were, when they were made, and what they were used in.

 I think this would be a really good idea to bring to my exhibition because it was quite hard to know what the ones without cards were for and I don't want the same confusion in my exhibition. 

I think I'll make my cards to fit with the theme of my exhibition with matching colours and whatnot, and have them say what the piece/picture is, when I made it, what assessment/project it was for, and maybe -in the case of the prosthetic I plan to display- what it is made of.

Oh hey, look who it is ;)

 

The United Make-up Artist Expo (UMAE) 2015

The UMAE is basically a smaller version of the IMATS, with the same kind of layout and most of the same brands selling their products. Like the IMATS, it features live models and demos, so it's definitely worth attending. 

I found that it had a much more relaxed vibe to it than the IMATS, probably because it's a lot smaller and not as many peope go to it, but I think this worked in its favour because I had a lot more time to actually look at the displays and models. While, obviously, I hope that lots of people come to my exhibition, I also hope that it's not too crowded and busy because then nobody can really have a good look at my work and I won't be able to talk to anyone or give out my business cards.

From evaluating these three Exhibitions/Static Shows, I know that I want to make sure my table isn't too crowded, that everything stands out enough, and to include small cards in front of each item on display to explain what it is and have some detail about it.

Show Evaluations

So obviously I want to make sure that my End of Year Show and Exhibition are the most amazing that they can possibly be and land me with a million job offers straight away, and to do this I need to look at other examples to see how they have been done before. This way I can see what worked well or what was a tragic trainwreck, and decide how I want mine to be based on what I liked/didn't like about them.

The shows I've chosen to evaluate are:

- My last End of Year Show

- Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

- America's Next Top Model Cycle 7 Final Runway Show

I decided on these three because they're all to do with the fashion industry and the two fashion shows have a very similar layout to the End of Year Show, in that the catwalk is seen by the audience both from the side and at the front, so the looks need to work from all angles. I chose to use last year's EOYS because I feel it went really well but there are some things that I can do differently this time around to make it better. 
So, without further ado, let's get to evaluating.

Swindon College End of Year Show 2014

Every year at Swindon College, we have an End Of Year Show located in the Steam Museum, which serves as a platform to showcase everything we've learned over the past however many years we've been on the course. Each student creates a look inspired by their given theme and it needs to be the most amazing thing they've made all year because the EOYS is a ~BIG DEAL~. It's a chance for parents/carers, family, friends and people from the industry to see what kind of crazy antics we get up to in the Media Make-up department.
The show itself consists of a catwalk and photoshoot, so the make-up needs to wow the audience from a distance but also put on a good show for the cameras up close. Everyone gets about 7 hours to put together a full look including make-up, bodypaint, props, costume, wigs and prosthetics (most if not all of which will have been made already in the weeks running up to the BIG DAY) on one or two models, depending on their design.

Last year, the theme for HND year 1 was "Alice In Wonderland" and we were split into pairs and given a character to create. I was partnered with one of my really good friends called Gem who, sadly, left the course after the first year, and we were given the character of The Mad Hatter. This was really exciting for us as we both loved his character, and we created a look that we were both really proud of. 

As we were HND, we got to have a much more theatrical catwalk that the BTEC students who went before us. This gave us the chance to choreograph our models and meant that we had extra time for the audience to see our work in action. Firstly, all the models came onstage together and interacted with one another, which I think definitely helped to make our work look more cohesive and all the characters complimented each other so well that it was a really effective opening to our section of the show. Then our models walked down the catwalk individually, stopping to pose and act to the audience. Once all of the models had walked the runway, the announcer ran through the list of names and characters again and this time we accompanied our models down the catwalk while the audience applauded. I think this was a very good idea because it gives the audience the chance to see the MUAs themselves and put a face to the name. It also makes it more obvious who worked on which character, so that they know who to talk to about each piece after the show has finished.

Once all of the years' work had been shown, we were given the opportunity to mingle with the audience, have pictures taken, and network with the industry guests, one of whom worked on the Tim Burton remake of Alice in Wonderland. 

2014 Victoria's Secret London Fashion Show

Now, Martyn, as you will probably agree, Victoria's Secret is one of the most amazing fashion franchises around. Beautiful women, stunning lingerie, what more could anyone ask for? I could literally spend days drooling over the VS Angel wings and the set ups for their shows, as well as all of the mind-blowing Fantasy Bras created over the years by the ridiculously talented VS team. I've chosen to include my all time favourite Victoria's Secret fashion show in my evaluations because I think it's such an incredible example of how successful a show can be, and I have a whole bunch of things I want to take from it and mirror in my own model for the EOYS.

So, last year, the VS show came to London (and I couldn't be there which makes me want to cry forever) and featured the largest number of models to date. The 47 angels showcased Victoria's Secret's newest pieces in the show which was split into 6 stunning parts: Gilded Angels, Dream Girl, Exotic Traveler, University of Pink, Fairy Tale, and the Angel Ball.
 The set of the runway changed with each section to fit with the specific themes, and I think this was a really good way to distance the themes from each other so that there was no confusion as to which part was which. I think a similar thing will happen at the EOYS because the first and second year HNDs get a prop or two to help illustrate the theme and separate our work from the BTECs'.  

The show began with a beautiful light show on a huge digital backdrop behind the runway which then flowed seamlessly into the first section, Gilded Angels. 

The angels came out, one by one, in stunning golden wings and gold feathered armour-like accent pieces over glittering gold and pure white lingerie sets, creating other-worldly goddesses striding into battle on a firey golden runway. Each model had such energy and power in the way she walked and they all interacted with the audience and cameras by waving and winking to the mass of flashing cameras and applauding crowd.

A subtle set change later and the runway was transformed into a powder pink boudior with a quilted backdrop and collumns of white and clear balloons dotted along the catwalk. 

The first musical guest, Taylor Swift, opened the Dream Girl section and performed her song Blank Space while the angels floated down the runway clad in playful babydolls and basques with ribbons, frills, and pom-poms galore. I really loved how all the models (especially Karlie, since they're BFFs) interacted with Taylor while she sang because it really emphasised the carefree, girly theme.

The next section, Exotic Traveller, began with Adriana and Alessandra, quintessential VS angels, wearing this years Fantasy Bras (2014 was the first year to do two fantasy bras) and trailing semi-transparent blue and pink capes which blew out behind them as they walked. 

The runway was styled with thick ribbons of multicoloured material hanging from the ceiling, and endless moroccan style doors as a backdrop. 
Ed Sheeran was the musical guest for this section and he serenaded the angels with his song Thinking Out Loud while they showcased the individual looks inspired by fashion, culture, and textures from all over the globe. They sang along with Ed and some of them reached out to him as they walked and carried the heart of the song with them all the way down the catwalk.

With the runway changed yet again, this time to a multicoloured backdrop and rainbow light patters dancing across the runway, University of Pink began as musical guest Arianna Grande performed a mashup of a few of her hit songs, including Love Me Harder, Bang Bang, and One Less Problem. 

She was backed up by an entourage of dancers who eventually moved back to clear the path for the angels. They wore more sporty, wearable pieces in this section which were each very different but kept the same youthful, edgy, street style feel. Many sported bright leopard print, cropped puffer jackets, fur trims, graffitti print, and chunky chain jewellery, and danced along with Arianna's songs with wild abandon. I didn't love the clothes from this section but the energy was contagious and it really brought the collection together and made it feel really cutesy and playful.

The next section, Fairy Tale, saw a dreamlike black and white runway with a huge pop-out book in front of the dark backdrop, bone-white 3d cutouts of trees with bare branches, and swirling leaves spiralling along the floor. 

It was very Shakespeare meets Brothers Grimm, and musical guest Hozier's performance of his song Take Me To Church added a really beautiful, haunting vibe to it all. All the angels were all lace and crystals and flowers, with fine, veil-like gossamer fabrics, lace up butterfly boots, and iridecent fairy wings. Many of the pieces featured feathers, leaves, or sprigs of flowers and buds. I think you can always tell when a model likes what she's wearing, and it really showed in this section. I hope this comes across in my show too, because my design mixes beautiful with horiffic and I think it contrasts really well and creates an equally stunning and terrifying effect.

For the last section, Angel Ball, the runway was turned into a dramatic chess board, with a checkered floor and geometric kaleidoscope patterns on the backdrop.

 Taylor Swift returned to the runway to perform her song Style, alongside the first angel Karlie (BFFs4lyfe) who opened the section in a floorlength black cape. 

This section was probably my favourite as the wings and the pieces were all so beautifully dark and dramatic that I couldn't keep my eyes off them. There was such an abundance of polka dots, interesting shapes, netting, chokers, stockings, and black sequins and gems, and each piece was so different but so clearly linked with all the others. 

Once Taylor had finished her song, all the models and musicians came onstage as black and white balloons fell from the ceiling.

2006 ANTM Cycle 7 Final Runway Show

When the 13 finalists have been narrowed down to only two, Tyra Banks arranges a head-to-head showdown via the hardest and most outstanding runway the models will have ever faced. Each cycle brings a new, more daunting catwalk show, and in 2006, cycle 7's final contenders CariDee and Melrose were presented with a right good'un. 

The catwalk was located in Barcelona, in the incredibly beautiful Park Güell. The runway was set up inside of a large, curved stone tunnel with stalactites reaching down from its' ceiling and ghostly lights set into its walls. The audience viewed the show from just outside the side of the tunnel, and held candles to help illuminate the round stone archways through which they watched the show unfold.

Fashion designers Victorio & Lucchino suppied beautiful satin and lace wedding dresses which transformed the models into ghost brides. The make-up reflected this -with paper-white faces, dark eyes and a hint of peach on the cheeks to define and enhance the spectral complection- as did the hair, which was piled up on top of the head in an elegantly messy updo which gave the look of a fear-maddened maiden who had once been beautiful was now bedraggled and forlorn.


 
I genuinely loved the styling in this catwalk show and I could go on and on  about how beautiful and hauntingly fragile it made the models look but I won't because this post is long enough as it is, and that's not really the point of this evaluation after all. 
 

 The way the catwalk was set out was incredible, yes, but it's nothing when it comes to the show itself. Two teeny flowergirls opened the show, giggling and throwing pale rose petals onto the stone floor, then looking around, frightened, as a thick white mist rolled in, and finally running away with screams of fear as the first model approached the runway.

I really think that the way the catwalk was set out helped to make it such an incredible show because the models seemed to fit so perfectly with the gothic, ghostly setting, that you can't help but be completely enthralled by it all, and I know I, personally, couldn't keep my eyes off the gowns and the way that the models swished them around as they walked and span through the mist. By the time all the models had glided down the runway once, I was hooked. I really want to create the same kind of captivating drama in my End of Year Show and make sure that I leave a lasting impression on the audience so that it's all they can think of when the show is finished. 

My favourite part of this runway was definitely how the models interacted with each other. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good catwalk show, but some of them can be quite dull and boring, with the models just walking up and down to show the clothes. I love it when the models put some feeling into their walks and actually move and act, so that the clothes come alive and you can really see how they fall and move with the model's body, and this fashion show is a perfect example of that.  

 In the second walk, the models walked like they had done before but once they reached the end of the runway and passed athother model, the two would stop and stare each other down with vengence and fury in their eyes. 
This, as well as being sick as hell, was a really good way to get the audience looking at the models in detail and taking in all the incredible embroidery and drapery on the dresses. 

 
 I definitely want to have a similar moment in my show, maybe with my model picking a particular member of the audience and staring them down at the end of the runway. I am only using one model for my show and I think this is a good idea seeing as my costume features a trailing skirt and in this show, one of the gowns was ripped as two of the models gave the death-glare as they passed each other and didn't pay enough attention to where they were stepping.

By far the most Becca-pleasing moment of the show was the last walk, where the two finalists walked for their place as America's Next Top Model and met at the end of the runway, paused and then threw their arms up and out into the air as they posed at each other, then the music came to a dramatic crescendo, the runway was thrown into darkness, and then the light came back on to reveal an empty catwalk as the models had vanished. There was a real sense of aggression in the way they posed but the poses themselves were so graceful and really encapsulated the theme of the show that it really struck a chord with me and really made the whole show a staggering success.

From evaluating these three live shows, I know that I want to make my EOYS as dramatic as possible and have lots of time for hte audience to see all the details in my costume, wig and bodypaint. I want to take the lighting change from the ANTM catwalk where it was all suddenly dark and then the lights came back on to reveal that the models had disappeared, but I want to do it in a way that reveals my model, so I think I will have her walk onstage in the dark and then have the lights turn on so that her prosthetic mouth is suddenly revealed to the audience without warning. I think this will add to the scare factor of my piece, as the audience won't know what's coming.