Problem solving and experiments for FMP

1. PROBLEM SOLVING

2. INITIAL THOUGHTS
I am very lucky in the fact that during my project I don’t need to rely on anybody for
any content or aid. Every aspect of this project can be done at home with just myself.
I don’t need to wait on people for filming or crew, I can carry on with my project
throughout the entire production time scale.
I don’t think that there will be many problems that I encounter that will change my
project dramatically. Before this project had ‘officially’ started, I had already taken
into the account the global pandemic and changed the project to fit with these
conditions. The only things that will be affected will be displaying my work to go into
the art gallery or onto their website. That will be tackled in the experiment section of
problem solving.
The changes I have made so far to fit with current conditions are that I have changed
my medium to print rather then video. This makes it better to create my project easier
to create without having too many problems. It allows me to work independently and
not have to worry about finding people to work on and rely on for content.
I know that I will probably encounter some problems during experiments, but it is
very helpful that I am only working on one laptop. In usual life, I would be working on
two different computers – mine and one at college. This meant that any production
work done on one of them would be different on the other. For example, the
Photoshop at college has different text fonts then my laptop, so I would have to

3. PRE-PROJECT SOLUTIONS
Before I had even begun this project, I started by making sure that my medium
would be easy to work in, despite the current situation of the work. For example, I
changed my medium from a video project to a print project, thus, cutting down my
contact with people throughout this project. This was only one of the problems
that I had to solve before I had officially begun my project.
Last year, my FMP was affected as well, but this year is a lot more crucial. Last
year, I did not have to create my final product and I could just use my background
work to show my grade. However, this year's project will be complete entirely,
meaning my work has to be at the standard that it would be at if life was normal,
higher even. This grade is very important, as it will determine whether I get into
my place at university or not. I don’t doubt that my grade will falter extremely
from last year’s merit.
Even more important for this year, my standard of work has to be as high as it can
because it is about an exhibition in the art gallery and will be displayed in the art
gallery itself. I am very excited that I have been offered this opportunity and am
working harder then ever to try and make the best product I can.
In this section of the project, I am trying to identify any problem that I encounter
so it can run smoothly. This will help me in the rest of the project, as there will not
be any unwanted problems or disasters halfway through. Problem solving has to
be the most thorough part, because it minimizes any future problems that could

4. THE PANDEMIC
As much as I’ve tried to stop the pandemic from effecting my working, it was
inevitable for it to impact it. In first year, I was lucky enough to not have to create a
final project, meaning that I could create mock ups and use my experiments as a visual
for the final product that I would have usually created. For this project, however, things
have been shifted a lot more. Originally, I was hoping to do a music video matched
with a behind the scenes and teaser trailers, but when I was offered a project about
Grayson Perry, and with the implication of yet another national lockdown, I had to
change my plans.
Instead of a video project, I switched to a print based project, looking at how different
artists use art as a self expression outlet. This is a lot more appropriate to create, as it
means that there wont be many hold up on production, as I have everything I need at
home, and don’t have to rely on other people for shooting and fulfilling the vision in
my head. With the offer of the Grayson Perry project, it meant that it will be place with
his exhibition in the art gallery. This has helped me expand my project more as its
means that I have been able to look at various different online print outlets where I can
display my work digitally.
I tried to not let the pandemic affect the quality of my work or what I did for my
projects, but it got to a point where I couldn’t ignore the fact that it would implicate it,

5. THE PANDEMIC
Now that I have changed my project to fit with the pandemic, I now have to face the
problems that will still affect my project. For example, how will I display my work? Can I
find a way to show my work without having a physical copy? Is there any content that I
need to get from people? Do I need to have contact with people for my project to be
carried out to the full?
Most of my project can be done by me, without the need for having other people getting
involved. However, when it comes to displaying my work for it to go into the art gallery,
that is when I run into some problems. For example, I have already been told that I have
to be able to display my work digitally, rather then physically. This means that it can be
both on the website and in the gallery. I have tackled this problem in my research,
looking at various sites I can use for this, but now I must test these sites to check if the
work. I also need to figure out a way where I can show my work on these sites without
needing Wi-Fi. This isn’t a huge problem, but I need to be able to show my work at all
times, in case the gallery has signal problems or doesn’t have Wi-Fi. All these problems
I will tackle in the following PowerPoint.
I don’t think I will have many health and safety problems, because I am working mainly
on my own, unlike if I were to do a video documentary, where I would need to use other
people. However, there still are factors that could affect my work. For example, I may
need to isolate the day I am meant to see my work displayed in the art gallery –
obviously, there is only so much I can do to prevent this from happening, but I can
begin by limiting my contact with people towards the start of the exhibition

6. PRACTICAL AND TECHNICAL
For practical work, my main problem is losing files or saving them in the
wrong place or accidently overwriting. These are all pretty easy to solve. I have
quite an organized system as it is, so I will make sure every part of the
production is in separate folders and has the correct name of what it is. When
it comes to saving, I am going to save two copies – one on my USB and one on
my laptop. This minimizes any loses or if one of my devices breaks, I can
simply use the other copy. Because this is such an important project, these are
precautions that I would be taking anyhow, but due to the significance and
where this project will end up, it is even more important to do so.
Another problem is Adobe. Luckily, I pay for a monthly Adobe subscription, so
losing it is not a big problem. However, you never know what could happen,
so in order to prevent this, I will check my subscription every month, double
checking that there is no way of my loosing it in the next few months during
this project. Abode also has a cloud where is saves a copy of your work as
well, so this is a third place where I can store my work so I have three separate
places that my work will be held in case of any technical problem.

7. EXPERIMENTS

8. TECHNICAL/CREATIVE PROBLEMS –
EXPERIMENTS
In order to combat any problems that may appear during production,
I have done experiments of every production technique that I might
use for my final product. To lower any problems without a solution, I
used virtually any production technique that I might use. This is to
keep the limit of surprises low, meaning that if something goes
wrong, I will know how to fix it because I have already practiced it.
It also helps me visualise what my final product might look like when
it is finished. It may shift size or change slightly, but it begins my
project to take shape, showing different styles that could work in my
project.

10. EXPERIMENTS – COVER 1
For this cover I took on a more traditional art brochure aesthetic.
The background is off white, as white as a background can be very
overpowering and distracting sometimes. More often than not, when
it does come to brochures, the backgrounds of the pages aren’t
white anyway. This is what I found in my research and personal
experience.
I did a very simple technique to make sure that the bottom pictures
were all even spaced out. I put a line directly in the middle both
down and across the page. Then, I place two lines going down from
the horizontal line and moved them, so the gaps were the same. I
then added the artwork in and cropped them to fit into the desired
space.
I quite liked how this one came out, there isn’t too much going on
and the colours of the artwork all match nicely. I like having the title
separate at the top, splitting the page up, rather then having all the
attention on one area of the page. I think that this style of cover is
definitely one that will be highly considered to be the final design. It
looks like it could pass as a proper art brochure in a gallery. I think

11. EXPERIMENTS – BACK 1
This is the back that matches the previous cover. I chose
the same background colour, so it matched the cover.
This keeps consistency to the cover and the back. This is a
technique used in all print and it is something that I will
keep in my final product. I did this in every one of my
experiments.
I really liked the simplicity of this back. I think that it came
out really well and matched the cover well. It looks like a
back of a proper brochure. I was messing around with the
rectangle tool when I tried out the layered squares with a
lower opacity. It looks very Hepworth Gallery-esk. I really
like how simple but pleasing this page came out and it is
definitely something that I will keep in my final product.

13. EXPERIMENTS – COVER 2
This cover is different from my first one, as it has an
image as the cover, rather then a design. I thought that I
would choose various designs in my experiments, so I
could show that I have tried different styles and
developed them throughout the project. This cover is bit
more magazine-y then brochure-y. My product is
inspired by both fanzines and brochures, so I took a
more fanzine approach to this cover.
Again, I chose a pink background, rather then a white
background, due to the image being in black and white,
having a white background would have made it too
overpowering. Having the pink contrasts nicely against
the picture, giving the cover a bit of pop to it.
I saw this technique used in my research, which is why I
decided to test it out in my experiments. I think it works
really well. This is a strong contender for my final

14. EXPERIMENTS – BACK 2
I like this cover and back pair. I think that having one
main picture rather then a design works nicely. It makes
my work look like the Pre-Therapy Years book that was
released early last year. However, due to a shift in
display platforms, my project might not have a solid
brochure or a fanzine like structure.
I chose the colour of the text to be the same as the
background colour on the cover. I think that the contrast
of the pink against the black and white looks nice. The
only thing that I would change, is make the text darker
or bolder, because the text doesn’t stand out fully due to
the light gray and the light text.
I think that this structure is a nice round off to the first
glance at my project. I think that I would be inclined to

16. EXPERIMENTS – COVER 3
This cover is different to the other ones that I tried. I
decided to go more for a block colour look. I think that
this was my least favorite out of all my experiments. I tried
to do something different with this style, stepping away
from the total minimalist look that the other experiments
explored.
If I were to do this cover for my final, I would probably
change the picture choice, because I don’t like the white
background against the blue. I think that I could get away
with it, but I want it to look more professional, so I would
probably swap out the work for a better picture.
I think that this design was good to experiment. It looks
alright, but I just don’t think that I will use it for my final
product. I like the contrast between the block colours
against the pale background, the colours complement each
other nicely. For the blue, I took a sample from Claire As A
Soldier so it would fit in with the work. For the bottom

17. EXPERIMENTS – BACK 3
Despite not liking the cover much, I actually really like this
background. I like the block of colour at the bottom with
the black and white picture contrasting with the colours. I
chose to use a photo, rather then a piece of work, because
I felt like that it looked better then when I added artwork
pictures in. I think it also helps having an actual picture of
Perry on the brochure, so people can see what his artwork
was inspired by.
Although I won’t use this editing style, I think that it is
important that I test all the waters, rather then going for
comfort editing. I will definitely use elements of editing in
my final product that took place within the creation of this
experiment, making it not completely a throw away.
I think its so important that I’ve done three different
editing styles and tried out each one, meaning that I
haven’t closed any doors or possibilities for my project.
They might not all look amazing or have turned out the
way I thought they would, they all have separate elements

18. TECHNICAL DISPLAYING
PROBLEMS
To display my work, I need to create different products that works on various media
platforms.
For my work to be displayed in gallery, I am going to create a slideshow that plays
automatically of my work – for this, I will most likely create my pages on InDesign and add
them into Premiere Pro to create the timed slideshow effect. This means that my work will
be non interactive and can run at all times during the day. This means that my pages can be
bigger, and it wont necessarily be 24 pages as planned, as I will be able to fit more content
onto one page.
For my work to be displayed on the gallery website, I am going to use Adobe Spark to
create an interactive website that people can view my work online. This allows me to
section off my work more and create a divide between the different topics. This will be used
online, mainly on computers, as I have planned another way to display my work on mobile.
For my work to be displayed on mobile, I am going to use Yumpu or Issue, which allows me
to have the original layout to my print work and gives the interactivity of a magazine. This
will purely used for mobile viewing, giving me three different platforms for people to see
my work. Two of these can be viewed from home, incase people cannot visit the gallery
itself.
The fourth way of displaying my work – which was the original plan – is to create a physical
copy of my project. I will probably make under 10 of these copies, just so I can have a
physical copy of my work that was my original idea. This concludes that there will be four
different versions of my work, all with the same content, just laid out different.

20. EXPERIMENTS 2 – WEB PAGES
I decided to try something different with my experiments. These are just a next
step to the final product aesthetics. These allowed me to experiment with colours
and photography and overlay colours over the photos. It also allowed me to use
different layouts that could work to put in a wider format.
When doing my other experiments, the format I was working in was A5, then I
decided to change it to have a wider fit to go on a television screen, meaning that
I now have more space to work with and more room to be creative. I also decided
that my first experiments were too conservative, and that the topic of feminism
isn’t a quiet one, so why should I make it quiet? Looking at the different feminist
photographers and women who were involved in the feminist movement in the
90s, they were loud and proud. I think that’s something that I should be putting
into my work as well, really show what my point is and shock the audience.
Art isn’t conservative, its people expressing themselves through their work, and
it’s time for me to do the same. Which is why I have been looking at different
photographers and artists who’s work appeals to me and inspires me to be a
modern-day feminist.