Carlotta just because

Never have I felt so united with so many people globally. We are all sharing this strange experience that can only be describes as almost dreamlike, or maybe nightmare. However, even though we are all experiencing the effects of the one same thing, our experiences are so unique and personal. I am so unbelievably lucky with my situation, I have a lovely family, a nice safe home in an area near countryside, no elderly relatives, and no key workers in my family. I think that because of this I have been able to reflect, which is the one word I would use to sum up my experience. I am also very aware of mental health and the issues potentially triggered by this situation, which I thought might be helpful to remember. In summary I thought I could start recording some of my thoughts and feelings to look back on, as a reminder of how to stay positive, how to be grateful, and just generally remembering this strange time. Leaving Uni It still feels like a film, something apocalyptic about...

In my first year at uni   (and even sometimes now if i'm being completely honest) my ‘catch phrase’ was “i'm so tired, but I haven’t even done that much” I was constantly being given reasons and advice surrounding what felt like was ‘always being drained’. I have not ‘found the cure’ for fatigue, as there are so many factors at play. Mental health, finding stability and routine in a completely new environment, making friends, joining societies, uni work, and just generally doing the things your parents have done for you all your life, all played a part in the overall energy dip I experienced. This year I still experience this feeling, but a lot less. So much   has changed and I feel a lot more settled, however one of the key aspects of my life that I have changed, and that was admittingly always being given as advice (and ignored) is regular exercise. The main reasons I didn’t start exercising straight away where that I was intimidated by the overall gym vibe, an...

In a recent Uni project, we were faced with asking ourselves some questions… ‘As young females, what do we care about most?’ We were encouraged to think about what us personally think, but also what our friends, and any other young female in our kind of lifestyle would think. Whenever I hear these kinds of serious, open ended questions, I must admit to default, the default of Brexit, starvation, wars and equal rights. Using these issues as my answer is not untrue, I do care about all of these, and spend time worrying about them, and discussing them. However, perhaps not for the best, these are not the things I ‘care’ about most. These are not usually the first thing I discuss with close friends or spend the most time and energy worrying and thinking about. We care about relationships, and more recently, toxic ones. We analyse, and worry, and listen about toxic relationships constantly. It is something that everyone, weather personally or through others, has experienced....

Il bel far niente (the beauty of doing nothing) a traditional and romantic, Italian ideal. The value of taking a minute, and doing nothing, is something I have heard multiple times, form multiple people, in multiple ways. And recently, all be it in very small amounts, going against all my natural instincts, it’s something I have started to try out. It no secret to any one who knows me, or probably anyone who has ever met me, I can sometimes be quite ‘tightly wound’. I often struggle with managing stress, and finds that my highly organised default setting, can very much be a curse as well as a blessing. I have always felt the need to write lists, pre plan, and be efficient, however this can sometimes lead me into a bit of a panic over small things, and sometimes over doing it trying to achieve the unattainable, never ending list of goals and tasks. It wasn’t until recently that I realised how years of this kind of mindset has left me practically unable to just do nothing....

Since the rise of consumption due to the industrial revolution, types of retail, visual merchandising and experiential retail has exploded into our stores. Reflecting on a recent lecture that we had to support our visual merchandising project, I was inspired to delve deeper into just some of the many forms of retail that where mentioned. Personally, I have always been one for detail and visuals, the two key components retail experience, and as a result the visual merchandising. In a world where the highest spending consumers yearn for more than just ‘bog standard’, ‘in your face’ advertising, these new types of retail offering more, are not only useful, but essential. I loved this quote from the lecturer, and felt it perfectly summed up visual merchandising … “an elaborately staged spectacle of seduction, upon the consumer” Reclusive retail – My understanding of reclusive retail is retail experiences that feel like they are a secret. Types of stores that purposely make...

End of last year me… First year is over! To say I feel relieved would be an understatement, it is unfortunately in my nature to always feel as though I could have done more. I have however, concluded that I have done my best, and narrowly avoided a complete breakdown in the process, so overall, I’m pleased with my summative work. I felt that I pushed myself with InDesign, a programme I was unfamiliar with prior to university, and was struggling to get my head around. Taking inspiration from the visuals of my chosen brand ‘La Bouche Rouge’, I aimed to create a cohesive visual report. My Time management is an area I need to improve on, however I feel that most of this was due to my lack of InDesign experience, and being too much of a perfectionist with my sketchbook. Hopefully after the summer I will be a lot faster, and waste less time on creating the report, and more on the final concepts. To take a look at my final visual report click the link bellow/paste it i...

Hypermasculinity   =   is a psychological term for the exaggeration of male stereotypical behavior, such as an emphasis on physical strength, aggression, and sexuality. Before our recent fragrance project, I had never been aware of the lack of diversity and amount of hyper masculinity seen in male advertising. I felt ignorant at first for not realising this, but I suppose I am not the target market, and am not exposed to as much of the same media as men. Researching into girl power and female empowerment revealed that most brands are aware of the dangers of projecting unrealistic/unattainable body images on woman. There seemed to be no end to the number of body positive campaigns, ‘girl power’ heavy music influences and empowering and diverse campaigns. This is all very important and positive, and although the issues have not disappeared completely, the promotion of these kind of campaigns is definitely a big success and moving in the right direction. It was wh...

     There is no denying that the ‘girl power’ phrases and attitude is a current trend. The Highstreet has embraced this completely, and an endless supply of t shirts, notepads and accessories adorning these ‘empowering’ phrases are being released. However, after recently looking into the trend and the feminist beliefs I started to wonder if this trend is actually helping or hindering gender equality. The definition of feminism is ‘ the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes ’ in other words the belief that men and woman should be equal. These trending girl power products can be seen as an empowering way for woman to confidently be part of the feminist movement. However, on the other hand pushing specifically girl power, with phrases such as ‘girl gang’ and ‘girls run the world’, can also be seen as trying to rise above men and rather than be qual, being superior, a notion that contradicts feminists’ core beliefs and purpose. ...

As someone very interested in the beauty industry, I felt that it was only right to become more informed about the southeast Asia beauty market expansion.  Southeast Asia is the worlds biggest beauty and personal care market at the moment. There are several reasons for this spike in interest and growth in the market. First and foremost, the reason for most market growth in these regions was the delayed economic growth. Unlike other western regions these areas have taken longer to develop economically and are just now seeing the increase in middle class citizens with more disposable income. the ability to be able to spend more, and the growing economy is still a novelty and is therefore in its Hight of success and interest. Beauty and personal care is usually classed as non-essential, and a market that is built on people spending disposable income on things they don’t really need, therefore the industry is particularly benefiting from this growth. One of the ma...

In a recent lecture we were learning about the three main themes used in the perfume industry. Their are many more potential themes however i have decided to look at some current examples of advertising and promotion using each of the themes, as i find it really interesting how obvious and repetitive the industry is. The first identifiable theme is 'sensuality and indulgence' . This usually encompasses a sense of passion, seduction or danger/forbidden. As with most of the themes there is a big focus on sex and romance because as we know sex sells. this is especially relevant  when advertising a product that is quite intimate and close to the skin, only smelt up close by others, and has a history of being used to attract. This recent paco rabanne fragrance campaign is a classic example of the sensuality and indulgence theme. The obvious features such as the naked model, and the look directly to the camera obviously implying sex and seduction, and the snake around t...