Reflection on my 20x20 visual essay

In addition to support my forth coming final report, I had to present a 20x20 visual essay as part of my formative assessment. My visual essay consisted of secondary research data which later supported my findings on both Moschino and Bruta. Much of my research was accessed from online magazine articles and journals from Vogue, Business of Fashion and The Independant. I also sourced my information from books and documentaries. Some of my data came from simply observing the current online social platforms of both brands and analysing them in comparison and their differences. 

I wanted my visual essay to portray a clear journey, from the brands beginning to their current state. I wanted to visually indicate their brand values and their identity; what they are trying to tell us, who they are targeting, who is their consumer and why? I wanted the presentation to tell a story and make it easy for the readers to follow the same journey I had researched.

To me, a visual essay is something that needs to be visually engaging and to have an emotional impact, it has to use powerful, meaningful imagery, key words and sound in order to tell its story, in order to make it engaging with the reader so they don't loose interest.

I used relevant imagery in each of my slides whilst telling the story of both brands. I used my previous graphics design skills for each slide, making them simplistic but bold. I wanted each slide to be obvious and straight to the point. I wanted each slide to be presented so that it was able to speak for itself.

The aim of the 20x20 visual presentation was to talk for 20 seconds for each of the 20 slides. Even though I recorded my voice for the presentation, I actually found it more difficult then I would have imagined. I found it really hard to cram everything I wanted to say in just 20 seconds. I thought the amount of time provided would have given me enough time to say everything I needed, but I was wrong. In a way, it was a great lesson and im glad I was prepared for it, otherwise I think I really would have struggled.  I didn't quite realise how much information I had until I began to speak it out loud to myself. It was really refreshing to see how much research I had gathered in such a short amount of time. 

I decided to record my voice on each of the slides, I did this because I struggle to stand up and publicly speak about my work to a class. I have always had trouble with public speaking, for some reason I can never get my words out right and then I fail to deliver and communicate what it is I need to say. By recording my voice (although finding that difficult too) I was able to write down and read out the important points that I needed to make. it was nice to know that I had an alternative option, to be able to record my voice 

Within my lessons with Natalie and Violet, I learnt about The Marketing Environment which explained the Macro and Micro Environments, alongside explaining the PESTLE analysis and Porters Five Forces analysis in other sessions. I found these lessons really interesting and brought those factors into my visual essay by including my brands in them. 

From producing my 20x20 visual essay I have learnt how to use a new technique on how to build and structure a starting point which will lead me towards my final report. It is a great way of gathering knowledge and looking back over something to refresh your memory. Especially for me as a visual creative, I learn better by seeing something, so I really enjoyed doing this presentation.