And finally...

The final debriefing took place this week. So this is the end of O15W.

Overall I think it was a great success! It came together nicely in the end. The exhibition looked great, we had a pretty good turn out, we got some local coverage plus - most importantly I enjoyed myself.

It was really interesting to see how much effort has to be put in to so many different areas for an exhibition, a great experience to be part of.

TV Display

This is my TV promotion display for the O15W exhibition in St George's Shopping Centre.

I'm pretty pleased with it. Hope it draws people in, time will tell.

Shambling our way through

Bit of a nightmare, everyone came together last week - and we all realised how much there is to do. Just 2 weeks to go now, and lots to do and arrange. I think the whole thing has gone on too long - people have got complacent about a lot of things, including myself i expect, although I feel like I've contributed a lot more than some people. And going to design the invites and TV screen ad for the shopping centre too.

I think Beth should get a prize - she seems to be putting her all into it, so well done Beth!

A venue, a ve-new

I felt bad about missing the presentations last week, however the team said it all seemed to go well. And I did do my part to contribute; by writing up the 800 word summary of the Design Team and our proposal.

The session this week, just gone by, was mainly a discussion about a new venue. Which apparently we urgently need.

A while back Julie said my suggestion of Bambers furniture shop looked good - one to check out. But by the sounds of it none of the original ideas for the locations came through.

She came and presented several other options to us - some looked fantastic. An empty shop in St George's shopping centre, a room at the continental hotel/pub, the function room at Tino's restaurant and a possibility of an old bank too.

Then there was a huge space, the basement/ground floor of a hotel currently being built. I personally think this would have been the most spectacular. There is loads of space to hang the pictures - me and my boyfriend are in total agreement that there is nothing worse than an art/ photography exhibition that is badly hung, too crowded and too fussy. And it looks like there is a huge glass front to the space - which we could hang a photo from each photo shoot in to entice the public in afterwards. However, i don't think it is right for our exhibition. If we had nothing else to do - i think we could easily pull it off to be a super, really well talked about exhibition, but alas we all have final campaigns to be getting on with, so in this situation i think the less extra added stress the better. Plus there is no toilet, no lighting and no heating, which causes all number of problems for catering and (i'm guessing) health and safety, not to mention the discomfort of the guests at the private view.

So I believe the vote went to the empty space in St George's shopping mall and to look round the old bank as an option too (apparently it has a beautiful floor). I think they would be my second choices. So I'm happy with the decision.

Pluses for the shopping centre is that the space is quite near to the entrance - so easy for people to find for the private view. There are toilets, electricity, heating, and i believe there isn't a problem with the catering side of things if we were to use this place. The owner of the mall says he can provide body guards/door staff. And the space opens out nicely into the shopping centre - so during the following week the public and anyone who wants to see the work can wander in as they wish and we shouldn't have to worry about security. - So in terms of ticking as many boxes as possible, with the least amount of stress and eliminating problems that might otherwise need to be overcome - i think this one has it!

What's in a name?

I was doing a little more research into Preston's location today. And came up with another idea for a name for the exhibition

Going along the number theme, Preston is situated 15 miles West of the geographic centre of Britain. Promotion could play on the idea of being the centre of everything and the place where things happen, the place to be. Or we could joke that Preston isn’t quite the centre, but is close enough.

The name could simply be 15W. Or when we decide a location we could do a more exact figure e.g. 15.76W.

As a group we are still keen on this cryptic and edgy number and letter combination that would be adaptable to any location.

Location Location Location....

I was wandering into town the other day and almost

walked straight past Bambers of Preston.

They used to be a furniture store - and I think would fit the theme of promoting a local business in the sense they used to be one - so in a way shows the importance of promoting local independent businesses or this happens...

It has been abandoned for a while now I think. Looks like it would need a lot of cleaning up too

However i think it is certainly big enough - in fact perhaps too big. But there are a lot of us in our year - and probably could fill it. And lots of space to display the images, I hate it when exhibitions don't display the work with enough space to be able to take the work in - if it's too crowded it doesn't show the work to the best advantage.

I like the stable - esque room too - I think it would be an interesting area, for food and drink perhaps, or the work - each business with it's own section.

The brief has been set...

Our task: To put on an exhibition in Preston in February 2011, displaying our fashion photoshoots from the first project of the year.

The photo shoots were aimed at promoting local Preston businesses. My group were given the Golf Store on Marsh Lane. We played on the idea of golf terminology - green jackets, foursomes, teeing off, the dance floor, the sweet spot, and eagle. I managed to get a real life, fully grown eagle called Stella from Turbury Woods bird sanctuary on the day! She was the star of the day!

So... I will keep this updated with how things are coming along... thoughts, opinions, photos, the struggles and the successes, the tears and the laughter.

I think if we can pull it off it's going to be amazing. The photos look capital ACE!