When I first received the research and communication briefing I was very nervous as English is not my strongest subject and I have not had to write an essay before. Although I found writing my first few posts confusing as I was unsure on what I had to write, I feel like my writing has improved throughout this module. The more confident I became in my writing the more I enjoyed my tasks and lectures. I found the lectures fun and interesting therefore I was more engaged when having to write my essay. Although I found some of the tasks challenging, I felt like they were the most beneficial to me. It allowed me to challenge myself and really think about what it is thats is expected of me for the certain essays.

As the first 2 tasks were research tasks I felt like I was repeating myself in my essays. I really struggled to write 500 words for my first task as I found the task quite straight forward. I did however find Harvard referencing really difficult to get my head around at first and it is something I still struggle with now. I have not used this method of referencing before and struggle to remember the format for each research method. I really enjoyed the lecture of our second task about plagiarism as I found it really interesting how famous designers have copied family heirlooms, independent designers and national costume. Discussing whether plagiarism is important and what plagiarism is was really fun and engaging. When given our task for this lecture I was really disappointed that we did not get the opportunity to talk about our opinions of plagiarism. I felt that the second task was the same as the first and could have been more interesting by being able to give our opinions on the lecture we previously saw.

The task which I found most engaging was the Ethics task (9/10). It gave me the opportunity to write about a subject I feel passionate about and analyse an image that was very controversial. I struggle to find quotes to back up my opinions because I am not sure where to look or how I should look. It would be great to improve on this next semester. I find writing my opinion about a subject much easier than explaining my research process. Not only do I find it more interesting but I also have much more to write about. I would love to be able to do more of these tasks as I feel that it improves my writing hugely.

Overall, although I was not looking forward to this module, I have found it interesting and it has hugely improved my writing skills. I manage to write the essays much quicker and find it easier as I have had more practice. Although some tasks were daunting at first I was really happy once they were complete and found that they were not as hard as I originally thought.

Moodboard featuring 60’s Sci Fi inspiration

Image of the 2008 Stan and Vince poster

Stan and Vince Jurassic Park

Original Poster not 3D

Original Poster with 3D.

Creature from the Black Lagoon

The image from my moodboard that I have chosen to review is the poster from the film ‘Creature of the Black Lagoon’. As well as inspiration to Gucci, it is also a huge inspiration for my knitwear portfolio project. After researching further into this image I discovered that this poster is not an original from the 1950’s. This poster was made in 2008 to advertise the release of the original movie with new 3D technology. The artist of the poster Stan & Vince, has also recreated posters for Jurassic Park (another film which inspired Alessandro Michele) in a very similar style. The digital style of the poster is different to the hand drawn original, however you can still see the connection of them both. Keeping the original style of 1950’s artwork made it hard to notice that the peter was a remake. I am glad that i researched further into this image as I would have had the incorrect information about the poster.

I began to look closer into the original poster and found that the original film was released in 35mm Polarised 3D strips. They also created a range of 3D posters however they were never issued. Attached are images of the original posters from before and after the 3D snip. This original 3D poster is one of the most sort after poster from the 1950’s due to its limited number of issues. In 2015 one copy sold for $20,315. The images of the original poster, Albert Kallis, has done a number of sic fi posters for other films. The brain Eaters, Invasion of the Saucer-men and Not of this Earth are a few of his posters which show his clear style. It was great to see the connection to the poster, film and the Gucci collection, it shows how research can be translated into fashion.

Everyman Cinema, Everyman Venue Details, https://www.everymancinema.com/muswell-hill#venueDetails, Accessed 22nd October 2017.

Bridget Galton, 2016, Munswell Hill’s Odeon Reopens as Art Deco Everyman, Ham&High, 15 November 2016.

Bayer, P. (1994) Art Deco Interiors, Singapore: Thames and Hudson.

Munswell Hill Odeon, date unknown, Patricia Bayer.

For this task I chose to carry on the theme of Art Deco architecture as it is my main inspiration for my print project. Throughout my project I have focused on the exterior of art deco architecture and I thought now would be a great time to research further into interiors. Interior design is something I wish to go into in my future so I found the book ‘Art Deco Interiors’ by Patricia Bayer incredibly interesting. On every page there were a range of photographs in both black and white and colour, along side information about the brief history of the building and the architect. One of my favourite images from the book was of the original Munswell Hill Odeon cinema. I chose to use this image to research into further.

Finding a website for the Munswell Hill Odeon was difficult as it is still a running cinema so I looked into the cinemas venue details page. This gave me more information about the cinema’s location, opening times and transport options. My newspaper article however, was much more interesting as it gave me more of an insight into the history of the cinema. In this article I discovered that the Munswell Hill Odeon has recently under gone a £3m restoration to restore the building to its previous art deco style. I feel that my previous task on expanding my research skills hugely helped me with this project. I found finding the information a lot easier that I did previously.

Photograph of Colo-cola Bottling plant, Robert V. Derrah 1937, Photographer Ave Pildas.
Art Deco, Los Angeles.

Coco- Cola Bottling plant, April 29th, 2008. Photographer unknown.
http://bigorangelandmarks.blogspot.co.uk/2008/04/no-138-coca-cola-building.html

High museum of art, The Coco-cola bottle: An American Icon at 100
https://www.high.org/exhibition/the-coca-cola-bottle/

This task has helped me gain a clearer understanding of how to research. I have done a lot of research during my time in education however researching the same thing in different areas is not something I often do. It has opened my eyes up to how different areas of information give you different research.

To ensure that my research studies related to my portfolio work, I chose to look into Art Deco architecture. Using WebCat I searched art deco books in the library. I discovered a book of Art Deco architecture in Los Angeles, I thought that this book would have some great imagery relating to my project. My favourite image from the book was of an old coco-cola factory photographed by Ave Pildas. From that image I looked online at the same factory which gave me lots more information and images.

As my research was architecture based I found looking for an exhibition that relates very hard. After searching for art deco exhibitions and Los Angeles architecture photography exhibitions I then searched into Coco-Cola exhibitions and discovered the High museum of Art Coco-Cola 100 years exhibition. Although this exhibition does not completely relate to my original research of art deco architecture, it has shown me how much your research can expand and change simply through looking in different areas of information.

If I were to now expand on my research I would look at the shapes and styles of the cola bottles and compare them to the styles of art deco architecture. This may help me to come up with links to the shapes which are found in that era. Referencing my images in Harvard style is something very new to me. I understand how Harvard referencing helps you to identify your images and lets you find the book again in the future. I have not done this before however therefor I struggle to get the format correct. I am hoping that this is something which I shall learn over time.

Overall I think that this task has been incredibly helpful for my future research. It has opened my mind up to new research methods and taught me how to reference correctly. One thing I would love to improve on is my knowledge of getting the most out of the library. I struggle to find the books I am looking for even when I use the online library service. Finding information in books that relate to my research is also another thing I would love to improve. I hope that throughout this module I will learn more about research from the library.