Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Very early on into the process of creating both the video and the ancillary tasks, we established the importance of relevant feedback, from our target audience as they were the ones that would have to like it. We used this throughout the creative and development processes in order to make our products the best we could do. 

The pitch

This was the first point at which we received feedback, as this was our idea and what would ultimately influence our final products. Responses to the pitch we found where crucial to the success of bot the video and the ancillary tasks. The feedback was largely positive for the pitch and people really warmed to the name of the band and the creative ideas behind the video, the feedback we received expressed positive reactions towards the style of video we planned to create and how it matched the genre of the song well, a further positive comment was the monochrome/colour contrast as it was said that this would create an interesting visual effect for the viewer. Concerns that where raised included, where it was going to be set, this was the most prolific concern, along with wether it was going to be performance or narrative based.

The result of the feedback was that we really narrowed down the choices for locations and looked into different options and what they offered. We learned that it is hugely important to know the location as without that not much can be planned as it becomes location dependant, this lesson came form the feedback we received, highlighting its importance in our creative process. We also researched the meaning of our song and came to a decision on the narrative of the video.

Separate from the group the feedback highlighted, the successfulness of the brand image we had priced together, given that the most common positive comment was based around it, this gave me the idea to make that a key consideration in the design of my digipak and magazine advert, as I felt that if the audience liked it in the pitch that same success could be represented in those print elements.

Digipak

Given that we had now learned the value in obtaining feedback throughout the process, it was a primary concern form me in that I knew I needed feedback every step of the way form the people that matter (my target audience), this was an idea that helped me create a successful digipak and advert. Early comments on the very first drafts I made were that I needed to de clutter the front panel of my digipak down even further, something that I had not thought of given that I was already conforming to a minimalistic look and feel for the product. The second stage at which I obtained feedback, and the first formal feedback collection was on my first published draft. Feedback on this was very positive and gave me confidence in my idea. People liked the brand consistency throughout the panels on the digipak. Another area that people praised was the cover design, people commented that it represented the band successfully and matched with the design brief we presented in the pitch of 'simple but memorable'. Some areas for improvement were the addition of a record label logo, a catalog number and some other small tweaks. The feedback I received at this stage was invaluable in making my final version as good as it could be. 

Comments on that final version were nearly all completely positive with many people commenting on the professionalism of the design and how all the aspects fit together in a linked manner.

Advert

For this part of the task, which I started after the digipak feedback for the early drafts had been received. I used a similar philosophy in that I took on board the criticise that had been given to me by my target audience and implemented a range of changes that I had carried out on my digipak, this meant that the feedback for the first published draft of my advert was largely positive with similar comments being made as those for the digipak. a new issue did however arise, due to the fact that the advert is bigger than the digipak the level of text separation and font size was commented on in much of the feedback I received. I then resolved this, meaning that the feedback on my final version was largely good.

Video

As with the other aspects, we relied on feedback from the beginning of the process. This feedback was largely collected via face to face conversations with our target audience, finding out what they liked and disliked about our video every step of the way, the feedback we were receiving was based around the fact that they liked the framing and miss en scene as well as the shot styles, they also commented on the fact that some shots were to long. We worked to resolve this and gradually moved closer to what the audience were wanting from our product, by the time that the 1st draft was ready to be shown, we had already built up an idea of what people were likely to say. Some of the predictions proved true, and were subsequently worked on others weren't expected and gave us new ideas on how to go about improving the video. 

Overall, I have learned a lot form the feedback I have received, it has enabled me to make the best products I can and gave us an insight into what people want for our video. However, perhaps the biggest thing you learn from feedback is that when it is positive it gives confidence in you product and has allowed me to carry that forward onto the next one, meaning that I started each product from a position where I had an idea what worked and what didn't