Critical Appraisal

According to my final major project, I have learned more than I expected. This project gives me a various skills to develop my research. I have a chance to think and discuss with my classmate and my tutor who try to open new perspective view for improve and make my project clearer. I have gained a lot of experiences to challenge with myself and find my own graphic language. This essay will analyse and reflect what I have done for this semester. It will explain my knowledge and my experiences through this project. Evermore, I will do an analysis of advantages and disadvantages from my point of view and finally give my own opinion.

First of all, at the beginning of this term I try to find the topic of my project. I starts to look at various sources such as books, website, magazines, blogs and also Pinterest. I found myself interested in a design that can give people more playfulness in their life. I have researched about paper, clothing, materials and colour, which show many aspects of ideas. However, I came up with many ideas but it is too complex to explain and not clear. Then, my tutor suggested me to write all ideas and do mind-mapping to see all the ideas and make prominent to the significant one. After that, I got the main idea that focus on “Colour and playfulness”, so I did an analysis about it to find the right direction. I have to said that, it was very hard at the first step to collects all information and combines them together. By the same token, various data and load of inspiration is driven me to reach more far as the beginning.

According to the primary research of colour, I found many interesting ideas such as how colour can affect to our life and how colour can enhance people to develop personality. It is quite an interesting research question because it can adapt to use in our daily life. Although colour is significant function that most of designers use to develop their design, it is not easy to understand colour in term of psychology. I’m happy with the way that I have seen many articles, which inspired an idea how colour is going to work with people. There are advantages of colour, which helps to heal our mood and physical. It can create the image and personal appearance for people. On the other hand, there are some disadvantages of colour. For instance, if people have depression and weakness some colour can make the mood more down and seriousness. Consequently, I need to focus on the right point, which I try to inspire people to use more colour in life.

In addition, the secondary research is more complex task. I have to find the keys about colour such as meaning, colour and personality, colour and culture and colour in marketing. As this step, the keys point are given me the facts about colour which based on psychology. I analysed all data by writing the text that I collected from many source of book in library and I also read some article that have a case study about colour as well. Even more, I had a chance to talk with Kate Scully who has worked as the colour and fabric editor of several forecast publications. She suggested me to see more website and book that related to colour such as WSGN. Nevertheless, I scoped my area by doing concept board to see the various ways that people play with colour. According to my research, I found people familiar with colour but sometime they don’t know how to combine the colour and they don’t have strong confidence to make themselves look different. At this point, I found out the way to connect the colour with personal branding by using colour of clothing to clarify why you are different and unique and what you stand for as a person. The benefits of this process is helped me to see the problems of the topic. It’s the main key that I have to solve.

Furthermore, the tertiary research is based on secondary sources. I am still working on this process. I think, I have to research more about how do I educate people by using and idea of colour and personal branding. I need to focus on the lesson that I try to teach people about colour but also add some interactive part. Eventually, I need to find the correct graphic language to produce my work. I want to use this project as apart of my experiment to represent my graphic style and create my own way to talk with the audience.

In conclusion, the project is going on developing process. I think it still needs to do a lot of things. Next semester, it will be my tough time. I have to create the look of my educational package and the tasks of lessons that will increase in complexity as reader moves through the book. Each task supposes to have lesson to study about colour and fun elements that relate to clothing for personal branding. However, the project is gained my new perspective on the roles of colour and personal branding which very challenge for me. I enjoy developing and trying my best to complete it in the nearly future. This is going to be my new knowledge and experience, which will increase an opportunity to evolve my skill as a designer.

FMP: Report and Layout

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

❤ Pear

Report: Theoretical Writing

Report
By Chavisa Piankit 1210750

Title:
Colour: an Inspirational Way to Express Personal branding

Research question:

• How the perception of shape and colour inspire every aspect of our everyday lives?
• How to understand and interpret the colours that surround us?
• How colour affects health and well-being?
• How colour can be used to influence people?
• How you can use colour to enhance your personality?

Objective: Using the colours we wear to represent our own personal branding

“Without play, there would be no Picasso.
Without play there is no experimentation.
Experimentation is the quest for answers” Paul Rand, 1998

Colour is an experimentation. People have learned about colour since they were a little child. Colour is directly impact to everybody’s eyes. It signifies different meaning that effect to our emotional. In the eastern countries, people believes about the meanings of various colours has an affect to our life. Colour affects to our health and enhance our personality. Everything in our life is influenced by colour, for instance, buying a new car and choosing a new clothes are required the choice of colour and personal taste to make a decision. Colour is become a part of our life, which it make more emotional and create some inspiration to improve the new innovation to the world.

As children, people naturally play with colour. Children will prefer to play with the colourful toys and enjoy to dress with the contrast colour. They are uninhibited about their choices and enjoy mixing and wearing colourful items. Children enjoy choosing their clothes and know what they want to wear. They represents themselves as they want without shy and uncomfortable. By the same token, psychological research explained that adults usually most attract to the beautiful sheets of colour as children. Most of elderly people prefers light over dark colour. In contrast, the most brightest colour; yellow is still the least favourite colour for people.

Furthermore, colours has influence to every aged of life. It gives a feeling that reflect to emotional expression. People who certain mental illness prefer a non-chromatic shade of white, grey, brown, black while normal people generally prefer chromatic hues and bright. According to the book The complete of Book Colour said, “The colour of cloth has a strong relationship with our energy effect. The colour we wear can offer protection against many physical ailments and also give us emotional support and provide mental inspiration.” At this point, colour is not influence only our emotion but also has an affect to our health and well-being of life. Nevertheless, colour can also tell a personality of person, for example an introvert people likes cool hues, while an extrovert people likes warm hues. (Zalanski and Fisher, 1989:40) Accordingly, colours can express our personality which hide behind a personal preferences. Colour is become other factor of human life. Each colour has a specific symbolic language, which impact directly to people and environment. It has an affect to the sense of perception that communicate with our body and mind.

Nowadays, some eastern cultures have many beliefs in linking colour with luck, which has an effect on the clothes that are worn and the ability to be playful and experimental. On the other hand, in the west, the norm for the working woman’s wardrobe is black, brown, navy and grey – dull colours which can be worn with plain contrasting shirts, making the working wardrobe easy to maintain and choose, not like the traditional male equivalent of shirt and suit. Consequently, colour will become a various choice that people can make themselves to look different and get rid off tedious thing in life. People are more attending to make an identity to express themselves as a brand. Personal branding are become more known in society and the way to challenge with the self improvement are increased. The demand of buyer are rised stronger than the past so many industries try to produce a various choice to attract more customer. To dressing up with the colour is an alternative choice to represent themselves and make some impression with people. The clothing that we wear are represent an image which show self authentic of person.

However, colour is a direct message without time-consuming use of word or complex image. It attract people attention and give message that more quick and answer perception of a product. (Scully and Cobb, 2012:18) According to the International Colour Authority, “Colour comes before style and price, and it is the first factor to which the consumer response.” From this point, it represents the human habit that following the way people has a response of colour in their life. In the present, many industries produce the products by following many factor such as cost, profit and target group and including the areas about design and colour, which impact to marketing and service. If products are available in just one colour, why people want to purchase the same colour over again. By the same token, if people don’t have the purpose to buy, the company will lose their sales and products. Thus, colour is the main factor that supports sale and marketing. It build more demand to the industries. Colour becomes an important factor to produce products. From the chart below (Fig.1), it show most of 93% of people look at visual colour and make a decision to buy. Colour is become a primary reason that attract a particular product. People receive directly message by just seeing the colours. Colours stimulate the sense of recognize and push out the desire in mind to buy something new. They are not only give ideas of creativity but can inspire new attitude and the new way to show personality of person. Colour of clothing that people wear can create a personal branding, which uniquely , impression and memorable.

Fig.1 – Analysis of Colour and Product

      Furthermore, the psychology colour research, showed Colour can influence people mood such as the warm colour tend to stimulate, whereas cool colours have calming influence. (Zalanski and Fisher, 1989:155) The designer Kevin Grady explains, “Yellow and orange are intentionally used at fast food restaurant because they’re seen both as hungry colour and jarring colours, so that you get people in, give them their food and get them out” From that case study, it shows how colour has affected to the way of our live. Colour can impact to people mood and change the behaviour in different environment. Evidently, colour can build environment that give a direct effect to our physiological and emotional response. Moreover, the case study about colour of the flavour of foods showed that people are impressed by colour. For instance, people avoid blue and purple food because blue fruit and some berries are poisonous. Our body and mind can remember and recognize the danger. Apparently, colour influences thinking process and change reaction of people. Active colours are used to upgrade aggressive quality of product, while passive colours are more associated with harmony and achievement. (Fehrman, 2004) For instance, red package of detergent give the meaning of fighting dirt, while blue package give the meaning of harmony cleansing. It is clearly that colour is in everywhere and every part of life. Colour give people some benefits for life while people have to learn more about the advantage way to control the colour in their life.

In eastern countries colours is significant in life. Some countries have a strong believe in the colour fortune for luck. People trust without quest or grievance. They don’t expect about result but have faith to believe it good for themselves. For instance some Thai people has believe in colour of the day, which is an astrological rule that influence from Hindu mythology for a weekly colour. (Fig.2) Some people will follow the chart of colour to wear in each day of the week. Some people believe that colour in clothing will bring some power, help and luck to them. It is very common that people consider colour of the day by following the day of their birth. Nevertheless, in China, there also have the similar culture about auspicious colours and inauspicious colours (Fig.3), which has effect to life in every year. Chinese people will avoid to wear unlucky colour that match with their year of birth. Accordingly, the colours that people wear can reveal an effect to their mind and balance in life. Clothing is the colours filters for our body, which allow people to express themselves through the choice of various colours. The colour that people choose can affect a whole being, health, self-esteem and energy. Colour in cloth is helped to concern about decorative effect, which bring the energy of colour into our body. In positive way, bringing colour into life is the easy way because people change their clothes everyday. In this manner, colour is the simply appearance that deliver a personal branding. People can make an impression to individual, group and organization. “Everyone wants to be special” is a sentence that we always heard it all the time. Dressing is a personal. It is not to following somebody attitude. From the book matter of style, it said people should be brave and don’t afraid to show real personality, as one day you will become special.” On the face of it, everyone has their own brand which have to simplify by themselves.

Fig.2 – Thai Daily Colour Weekly Chart

Fig.3 – Chinese lucky and unlucky colour 2014

      Overall, according to research at the Pantone website, it shows a forecasting for colour of the year in every year, which each year will have different shade of colour palette that influence to global zeitgeist such as fashion, art, technology, jewelry and industry design etc. Accordingly, we can’t denied that colour is belonging in every part of our life. It is powerful influence by eyes and it is stimulate a sense of humanity It is significant factor that colour is nearest thing we have to communicate with everyday. Clothing is a requisite thing that linking colour with everyday wear. Cloth is expressed personal image and show personality of person. As Coco Chanel said “The best colour in the whole world is the one that look good, on you”. Colour can make people look better and build a beautifully physical appearance.

According to the research proposition, the project will research the visual perception of colour. Colour affects our lifestyle and personality, which is based on our beliefs and the psychology of colours. The project aims to bring back the playfulness of childhood into adult fashion and give people the knowledge and confidence to use colour in their lives. It will invite people to play and have fun with colour by creating their own personal branding and expressing their personality through colour. People can create a new colour look everyday. This project are including to produce a small collection of adornments to help women to be more creative and brave with colours and shapes.