Day of submission

I must ensure that everything is correctly working and submitted to a high standard.

Referencing

Today I went through the entire review, printed off, and ensured that the referencing was perfect. This meant that I must ensure all references which appear within the text also appeared in the reference list at the end of the document, and also that there were not unreferenced quotations etc.

With this in hand I went back to the formatting of my review. I went to a tutorial today where my course leader instructed me on how to create the links between pages. I then could format my pages as if this was an Illustrator document, as both software's had similar features and functions.

I began to consider how I would wisely use my time. From tomorrow I have about five days left to complete the formatting of my review. I consider this completely acceptable, as I have already created the CD packaging and the roundel sticker.

Therefore I can spend these days completely focussing on format. Within the next hour I should have completely finished perfecting my written content and should be able to transfer it into the In design file.

Comparison Chart Format 2

I have just finished creatively formatting the comparison chart. This worked well in the form of an abacus. The only difficult I have at present is that the writing is very small due to the condensed form, yet this is only because I have covered so many forms of promotion, therefore I should not worry about this too much, aslong as the writing is legible.

I will experiment with ways of incorporating this into my review format, ensuring that it is in keeping with the theme, whilst also ensuring that it is distinctive as part of the conclusion of the review.

Tomorrow I will update the blog with news on how exactly I intend to format the review (which creative package I will use). I also aim to have printed off all of the blog pages to date. I will experiment with creatively formatting a cover for this time blog.

Tomorrow I also wish to have created the CD roundel, and to have started considering ways in which I will format the CD cover.

Comparison Chart Format

Yesterday I completed the comparison chart which I produced using Microsoft Excel. Today I have been considering ways in which I can format this which relate to the subject of the report.

Once again I found it particularly difficult to think of a format which would be relevant and representative of all of the target audience categories, I therefore decided to focus on the ‘youth-orientated’ focus of animated characters. I considered that I could use an abacus to represent the ‘dos and don’ts’ of promotional tools. This is a great way of addressing the preschool aspect of the review, where the Bratz dolls successfully relate to the 'tween' category.

I must think of ways of incorporating colour into this in a way in which is not confusing for the viewer. I will update the blog once I have achieved the desired look.

Wiser Tutorial

Today I had organised my third wiser tutorial. This time I was presenting the entire review to Tania to read through. When I arrived and stated my word count to Tania it became apparent that she was not allowed to read through the whole document.

The maximum word count they are allowed to read is 3000. I therefore took out the sections I had previously submitted to her and left her with the ones she had not yet seen in order to get a fresh take on them.

Tania stated that she would read as much of the remaining document as possible and get it back to me on a fourth tutorial I have organised for Thursday. This is very convenient for me as it means I am able to continue with formatting my report whilst I am waiting for the written content to be looked over. It is important to note that Wiser do not make ‘changes’ to the document, instead they highlight areas which could be improved, using symbols and abbreviations. For example ‘pp’ refers to paragraph, ‘g’ refers to grammar.

I will update the blog after my tutorial on Thursday once I understand how I can further improve the report to read more ‘smoothly’.

Review Format

Within the tutorial today I also expressed my concern regarding how I was going to format my report. I have spent a lot of time watching YouTube tutorials and tutorials from other online sources, yet I am still none the wiser as to whether I would like to use Wix.com or to use In Design and create an interactive PDF document.

One idea brought up in the tutorial was that I could use Illustrator to format my report and then save this as a PDF – the only interactivity here would be the scroll down function of the website. For me this was a concern as I would really like to push my boundaries of learning and go outside of my comfort zone as this could open up potential for creating something really outstanding in a future project which I would be limited in if I did not experiment further now.

I therefore decided that I would like to use InDesign. I sent over print screens of my layout ideas to my course leader and stated exactly it was that I would like to achieve.

I have also arranged a second tutorial for tomorrow whereby I will learn how to make this interactive myself, having missed the previous tutorial session.
I will update the blog tomorrow with news of my progress in the aspect of formatting.

Written Content

Today has been a very productive day for me. I have a tutorial at 10am this morning. Within this tutorial I spoke to my course leader about the written aspect of my report, and also about how to communicate my report through format.

The conclusion drawn from this tutorial was that my written aspect was well considered and that the use of bullet points was successful in helping to convey short chunks of information, which were easy to digest.

This considered, I went through my report and turned more of the ‘chunks’ of text into bullet points – prior to the tutorial a concern of mine was that the information i.e. in the sentences was not ‘full’ enough, yet I soon understood that there was a lot of information to communicate and that this was an effective way of including as much of my research as possible in a very comprehendible way.

The next post will address issues related to formatting which I dealt with today

Comparison Chart

I have finished typing up my comparisoon chart. At present this is created in a generic format on Excel. In order to integrate this into my review I am required to creatively format this, in keeping with my chosen theme. This will be my task for tomorrow.

Tomorrow I also aim to have created my CD roundel, and have started considering ideas/working out dimensions for the CD cover. I will also take it upon myself to purchase the CD and CD case tomorrow. Tomorrow will be my organisational day, for example purchasing A4 paper to print off my time log, and workingo on a front cover for this time log.

Also by the end of the day tomorrow, my review should be within the word count, with the sections/figures numbered and with a conclusion set in mind to write the following day.

This will allow me the rest of this week and the following week to really move forwards with regards to formatting the report.

Review Comparison Chart

Today I will create a comparision chart to be placed within the conclusion of my review. This will show which brands use which promotional tools - this ensures that I cover all areas of promotion roughly, whilst providing much more depth to other areas of significance - e.g. Twitter could be acknowledged by a tally in a chart, and then Facebook, for example, could be elaborated on within the review discussion section.

I will refer back to the sheets provided with the brief ensuring that I have covered all areas of above the line and below the line marketing. Once I have typed out this chart, I will draw the report to a solid conclusion, pinpointing one brand as a market leader, and suggesting why other brands may fail to attract their desired audience, or even attract an alternative audience.

The post will be updated at the end of the day, stating whether I have suceeded or not.

End of Night Reflection

I have come to the end of the working day.
My word count is currently 6,200 - I will continue to work on this tomorrow, incorporating my conclusion into this, and seeing if there are any other ways in which I can reduce this word count.

By the end of tomorrow I would like to have finished the report (within the word count), typed up the comparison chart, and printed my essay to show to Wiser on Monday.

I will also work on my CD roundel in order to present my work effectively.

I will post tomorrow with progress updates!

Review Writing

Today I decided that I would look back at the report with a fresh mind. I needed to get the word count down by 3000 odd words. In order to achieve this I printed off the review and then went through it, initially taking out uneccesary words and statments. After I had done this, I went back to the typed up document and made these ammendments.

I then recalculated the word count and once again went through my document in printed off form. As it stands I am 1,500 words over the maximum word count and yet to conclude. I have now resorted to taking out sections which do not "tell" much about my understanding of the brand. I am also prioritising primary research over secondary research as this is a better indicator of the effort I have put into the project.

I aim to have the word count down to 6000 by the end of the night. I will update a blog post tomorrow stating whether I have achieved this or not.

Photoshoot

Yesterday I held the photoshoot with Emily, Yasamin, and Hayley. This ran very smoothly and there were few glitches. Unfortunately Emily had tutorial sessions throughout the shoot, yet this was easily overcome as we worked through the poses with the other models whilst she was away.

My job today is to see what I can do with these photographs with regards to editing and manipulation. I have experimented with the plastic wrap effect on photoshop and am wondering if I would make the models look very doll-like and artificial.

The above is just one idea at this stage. I will experiment with how to format my work, coming to conclusions as to how/where I can place text.

I have purchased a few children's magazines today, and will look at the games and competitions to see if there is any way I can incorporate these into my work.