For Assessment task 1, I explored the undying issue of beauty VS pain, where people are constantly questioning whether or not suffering through pain is worth reaching a state classified as ‘beautiful’ to that specific being. In my community, a high heels store, every single customer enters the store with the standards for the shoe. It must make them feel beautiful, and it must make them feel comfortable. Unfortunately, if the shoe can only provide one of those standards, most customer will only purchase them if the beauty factor is higher than the comfort one. This standard of beauty that consumers are striving to reach might be satisfying to them, however it is very clear to see that these shoes that lengthen the legs and arch the wearer’s spine, will indefinitely cause long term spinal problems. I attempted to communicate this through my pull-tab book, where the book encompasses the experience of a shopper from beginning to end, and all of their emotions inside as well. I chose the specific feature of the pull-tabs, because they harmoniously convey my idea of how these feelings of discomfort and pain all begin subtly or hidden, but in the end reveal the effects of what the wear of these shoes really mean.
Initially, I found the development of my idea difficult as the storyline was difficult to plan and I was indecisive with how I would make it as I really wanted to incorporate sketches, but felt like it would clash with the photographs and its realism. However, this was solved when I learned how to turn photographs into an illustrative appearance using Photoshop. I felt like this really blended the two different art styles together nicely. The pull tabs were difficult to understand at first, particularly figuring out which edges and shapes to cut out or leave, but once I started practicing more on fake prototypes, it was easier to understand.
