Personal Logo - Contextual Studies

Below is the logo I've created for a company I'd like to pioneer in the future; "Forget the Youth". At this point it's just the name of a magazine I create/produce and distribute independently that features my photography. In the future I'd like to start a clothing line under the same name and produce videos as the company, be it skate videos, commissioned music videos for artists or freelance random videos, not to mention becoming a well known youth culture magazine similar to 'Dazed' or 'iD'.

Representation

I chose the name 'Forget the Youth' mainly because I find the name ironic/satirical. This is as lots of adults and businesses are constantly trying to appeal to young people and fit in with youth culture but overlook this and don't achieve it very well.
Furthermore, lots of individuals forget that young people are going to grow up into adults and become the new modern society (Young people are our future etc etc..) and the planet which they are going to live in becomes impacted terribly due to the past societies actions (House pricing, pollution, the education system, economy and brexit to name a few).
Additionally the company will focus on youth culture topics such as fashion/style, music, skateboarding, filmmaking/photography, art and more.
To conclude, I guess that the brand name can be interpreted in a range of ways, and the audience may interpret it how they please.

Design Choices

Looking at the design aspect of the logo, I chose the bold font paired with a stroke (outline) and shadow to give it a vintage and retro feel, as I felt this design choice is the most aesthetically pleasing and appealing to my target audience (12-24 year olds) whilst looking professional enough for potential clients. I chose the colours dark red and gold because they're bold and compliment each other well, making the logo stand out but also look visually enticing.

MacGuffins

Definition

A 'MacGuffin' is a plot device which acts as a goal or motivating object/person in a film. Sometimes it can be the most vital part of a film's storyline but it is the effect of the McGuffin on the characters and motivation which is what makes it important. It leads a film from one part to the next and helps the story keep moving.

Commonly the MacGuffin is focused on in  a film in the first act, and after this becomes less important. A lot of the time they reappear towards the end of the film (or in the third act) and help the problems which have arisen in the film become resolved.

Example

For example in "The Shawshank Redemption" the central MacGuffin could be seen as the pick. This is because early on in the film it's introduced and helps Andy and Red become familiar with one another, developing the characters relationship. Although the pick is prominent throughout the film, it declines in importance because the viewer assumes Andy is just using it to carve small rocks. It regains importance towards the end of the film however when we discover that Andy has actually been using it to escape prison - a big twist on the film which is unexpected and resolves the main issue (Andy's innocent).

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Good eye for design - I have a sound knowledge of colour theory and text placement etc, which is effective for the creative aspect of a project. I'm also interested in mise en scene which is helpful when setting up a scene and editing footage.

Analytical in my work - I have the ability to be thorough and analytical with my work so that I can achieve the best grades for research and written work.

Writing skills - With an A in GCSE English I can safely say that my writing is at a high standard that makes my work look professional, clear and easy to read.

Ability to follow brief effectively - When following a brief I make sure to read it in full and check that I have accomplished all tasks listed to achieve the highest mark possible.

Weaknesses

Not asking for feedback on work - When doing my work I get fairly engrossed with it. I also feel self conscious about it and this means that I don't ask my peers or lecturers for feedback, which I will try to change this year. To improve on this, when I have done a first draft for my work I'll ask a lecturer to look at it and give me some feedback. Hopefully it will help me view my work from another perspective so I can improve it further.

Leaving work to the last minute - A lot of the time I'm not motivated to do the work set which means I leave it to the last minute and have to rush it so I can't put as much effort into it as I like to. This can be improved by me creating a schedule so I know the due dates for all of the different production targets, and becoming more organised so I have a motivated mindset allowing me to do the work. After the October half term I'll put a schedule into action so for the next set of work I'll have a clear understanding of deadlines. This leads me on to my last point:

Bad organisation - With Google Drive and files on my computer I allow things to get very jumbled and disorganised which can lead towards me losing work or making it harder to complete work. This can be solved by me allocating some time in the half term to tidy up files on my laptop and google drive making everything more clear and organised.

Opportunities

Work experience - In the summer holiday I had a weeks work experience with the crew of Doc Martin filming for ITV. This helped me gain a lot of knowledge on what its like working in the industry and was a great opportunity.

Client/Industry placements - During this year of college we will be given client work and maybe industry placements which will be a helpful opportunity for me.

Access to equipment - The cameras and other new equipment at college mean that I can produce an excellent standard of work effectively.

Out of school projects - The hobbies I have outside of college like my YouTube channel and Independent magazine business are a big help in giving me opportunities in the media field.

Threats

Distraction from work/Time management - When doing work I'm easily distracted by social media and other distractions so I hope to cut down on this. One way this could be achieved is by giving myself a set time to do work with small 5 minute breaks in between. This way I would be less distracted and allow myself to focus on doing the work.

Only doing bare minimum of work - Sometimes I find myself only doing the bare minimum of work so I need to try and make an effort to go the extra mile. This links back to my weaknesses of me not being motivated enough so to solve this problem I will have to again try not to rush the work (leave myself a good amount of time to complete it) and make sure that everything is organised well.

Lack of motivation - I find it hard to be motivated to do work sometimes. In order to solve this I'm going to try getting motivated by watching videos or setting myself achievable targets to do with the work, as a lot of the time I'm not motivated because there seems so much to do.