#DoItForTheGram

I updated the profile for my Etsy shop's instagram today and posted it's first 2 posts. I updated the "profile picture" with my updated Etsy logo and really like how it looks.

My bio is a brief summary (emphasis on brief. The 150 character limit was challenging, but I'm glad that it is short so that it doesn't push the photos down far on the page or hide them altogether.) of my shop, what I sell and why. I ran our of room so I put a list of the things that I sell as my 'name'.

My first post was just an introduction, including some of the things that I left out of my bio due to length.

My next post is of my "Girl Power" button, and after that one I plan to post a photo of one of my vintage listings so that things even out. Posting now, I'm even more glad that I used props in my listing photos to make them more cohesive. I think that it really pays off on instagram.

My Beautiful Etsy Shop With 9 Whole Listings

I have all of the buttons and stickers from my feminist merchandise line up for sale on my etsy store (inkanddustshop). Iron-on patches are on the way and will be up for sale soon. 

I photographed all of the items over the weekend, with the help of my younger brother Brayden as a model for the buttons. I used my dad's vintage denim jacket as a prop to tie in the vintage theme of my shop, since some of the designs are quite modern. I also used a mustard yellow knit blanket and vintage inspired pillow as props since I have mustard in my shop logo and I think it is a nice vintage-looking colour as well. I kept those things in mind while photographing my products because my shop has a variety of items in a variety of styles, and I want them to look cohesive and still look nice beside the vintage listings rather than out of place. 

I am not happy with how the photos of my stickers turned out and feel that even though they are simple and straight forward, they lack interest when compared to the rest of the thumbnails. I may photograph these ones again with the denim jacket or mustard blanket behind them to add some more texture and interest to the thumbnail that buyers will click on, and add a more cohesive and professional look to my store front. 

I am really happy with how the rest of the photos turned out. I used natural lighting on a cloudy day, and couldn't find my camera so took the photos with my iPhone 6s. I think they turned out really well, not only because they focused and look crisp and appealing to potential customers, but I think that the lighting made the colours in my designs and props pop and ended up making really nice thumbnail photos.

I will likely re-do the photos of the stickers, but in general I am really happy with how my listings look and am excited to see how well these products do on etsy:)

The Fruits Of My Labour

MY PRODUCTS ARE STARTING TO ARRIVE AND ITS ACTUALLY REALLY EXCITING.

I designed 3 different stickers, 3 different buttons, and one iron-on patch and they are starting to arrive. Seeing my designs and ideas turned into tangible items is really rewarding, and I'm super happy with how they turned out;

I ended up using different manufacturers than I had originally planned, which I plan on writing a report about once my patches arrive. 

My friends who have seen the finished products have really liked them which makes me excited. I am really happy that the finished products turned out the way I had envisioned them, and I can honestly say that I would be buying these products if I had not designed them because I think they're really cute. This is the point in my project where things really get going, and I'm excited to see how sales go (which I think will start after winter break).

Research Process

       This (last) week my group almost completed our research stage of our CBL project. The different research methods we used were polling people on the street and surveys for students and teachers at school. We are waiting on an email back from the OSPCA with questions about puppy mills, and I am going to set up a phone interview with a woman in the community with information about puppy mills sometime this week (fingers crossed).

       Our research process went pretty well, the surveys gave us a good idea of what our school knows about puppy mills and how many pets of fellow students and teachers came from puppy mills. I think that the surveys were the most valuable form of research that we did, because we got to hear from the students and teachers directly. I was surprised to find that 4 people in the school claimed to know of puppy mills in the area, and that there were equal amounts of people aware and unaware of the conditions of puppy mills. However, if we were to do this again, I think that it would be more effective to make a survey that focuses more on dogs, since our pet survey is about all pets not just dogs, which are our main concern since our project is about puppy mills. This would give us a better idea of how our community gets their pet dogs, how they behave, and if the two are related. 

Marketing Strategies

Here is a link to my marketing strategies report with the announcements and posters I will be using to market in-school:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AgJFJAhPQZwxyiGqCxo12M2fWhoaN0L1jVaMBOLpUto/edit?usp=sharing

(2 combined deliverables)

Monday's Goal: Continued

I did achieve Monday's goal, with the exception of the format for my button designs which I was having trouble with. I emailed the company for assistance so that goal will be accomplished soon, and then all of my products will have been ordered.

I find it really helpful to set goals for myself at the beginning of class, so I can stay on track and complete tasks with efficiency. When I don't set goals for myself, I kind of get lost in a task and spend the whole period working on it, but at the same time not getting much done. By setting a goal for myself on Monday, I increased my productivity and was able to monitor how quickly I completed my tasks.

Monday's Goal

My goal for today’s class is to finish converting my files to CMYK and place them into the templates for the manufacturers. This is a good goal for me because I am still really new to adobe illustrator and need to learn how to place files into templates. Learning how to do this will be beneficial to me because I will be able to use this skill in the future when I am ordering more products.

Once the files are converted and placed into the templates, I will be able to order the products. I am ordering 50 patches, 300 buttons, and 90 stickers. I will be dividing these in half, one half to sell on my etsy shop and the other half to sell at school for a Fearlessly Girl fundraiser.

I am excited to see the finished product, and see my designs brought to life. I think that my favourite design is my “Girl Power” design. I think that it has a clear style, and it is a classic phrase that I personally really like, and think that potential customers will also like.

Feminism, Veganism, and Puppy Mills.

This week we changed our Action Project topic. We were doing our project on deforestation, but nobody in our group was very interested in the project and just wanted to work on our independent ones. We are now doing our project on pet mills and finding out their impact and presence in our community.

I think that this is a topic that interests our group more than our previous topic, and is also something that will allow us to make a change in our community.

Since doing research on this topic, we have found out that puppy mills are very present in southern ontario. I was surprised to hear this, I thought that they were a big issue in Asia but I never would have thought that animals so close to my home are crammed into dark, windowless sheds and used as slaves to breed as many litters as they can. They have never seen a human hand do anything but evil, and cringe and cower whenever humans are present. 

They suffer this reality until can they barely stand on their own legs, or cannot produce as many pups per litter as their owners require of them. When this day comes, the dog is taken out back and shot. 

Current animal rights laws can do nothing to save these dogs, only requiring that they have access to food, water, and shelter. No current laws are regulating the condition, sanitization, or treatment of these animals.

I have seen this harsh reality in the dairy industry, animals artificially inseminated (a nice term for raped) just to have their babies taken away soon after birth.

All so that people can eat the milk that belongs to that mother and her baby. 

This happens repeatedly, until the mother cow is so damaged and distraught from years of being exploited by the dairy industry, that she too cannot stand on her own legs and is sent away for slaughter. 

Or in other cases, she just can’t produce as much milk as she is expected to, and in the end suffers the same fate.

A "downed" dairy cow being dragged to slaughter.

Unlike the dogs in puppy mills, dairy cows have absolutely no laws looking out for them. The most exploited creature to walk the earth, only roaming free in a few remote villages in India, cows are not protected under ANY animal rights laws.

I see a big connection in the feminist aspect of this project and my independent project. I stand up for the mothers trapped on dairy farms every day, and this project is showing me that there are other animals whose cries are falling silent very close to my home. This project is tying the feminism and veganism in my life together, and showing me new connections that I never would have thought of before.

Team Work: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly?

     My group has been working really well on our Deforestation Action Project. Here's how I feel about our teamwork thus-far: 

     What I Have Learned: This week I have learned that I am definitely a visual learner, I not only take the lead for organizing charts to help our group see what we have done and have not done, our roles, etc. but I kind of enjoy doing it? I have assigned colours to each person in the group to help differentiate tasks and keep track of progress as we fill in our group chart, and have noticed that I, personally, am a lot more productive when I do this than when I do not. 

     The Good: This is a pretty big project, and the "action" part of it is something new to me, that I have never had to do for a project before. I am really glad that this is a group project and that there is a group of 4 to share the tasks. In past projects when it came to assigning roles, all of the roles were always so similar that roles were chosen without much thought. I think that this project is teaching me, and my group members, the importance of assigning roles that connect to your interests to ensure that the project is enjoyable and well done. I think that we did a pretty good job at this, giving each group member a role that best suits them. I think this because our group has been productive and efficient. For example, since my interest was animal rights/veganism I am looking into the school's diet, and since Rikki Lee is passionate about art she is making a visual display for the school to see. Since we took the time to learn more about each group member and find roles that best suit us, we learnt a lot about our group which makes working together really easy. 

     The Bad: My group's interests and passions are very different from one another (Animal extinction, animal rights/veganism, the environment, art, reading/literature), so we chose deforestation as a way to combine them. I do think that deforestation is the topic that best combines our interests, but at the same time I feel like it is distant enough from those interests that the project overall doesn't interest us as much. I feel it was really difficult to get into a group and find something that we all happen to be passionate about. If this project was in a different course I could see it being more interesting but when I compare it to my independent project in this course, I don't feel as motivated, and I don't feel that my group does either.

     The Ugly? Rikki Lee is in charge of the display for our project and it's going to be beautiful soooo.....

     

A Week in the Life of a Fancy Feminist Designer

       Just kidding. But kind of not?..... Read on to see a week's worth of my design work for my logo/business cards and upcoming line of feminist merch. 

      Monday:
On Monday I designed my business cards, playing around with various layouts and colours. Here are some of my favourite designs that I came up with:

Business Card Front Option #1

Business Card Front Option #2

Business Card Front Option #3

Business Card Back

       Tuesday:
On Tuesday I decided on my business card design, but encountered a design flaw. Here are the designs I chose:

Front

Back

The line running through the leaves on the front is thicker and more uneven than the line running through my logo on the back of the business card. This also means that the lines on my shop banner match the text on my banner and logo, but the lines on my logo match neither. On my online store this isn't as noticeable, but on a business card it becomes a lot more obvious. 

       Wednesday:
On Wednesday I worked on thickening the lines in my logo, and later did some research for my "Less Catcalls More Cats" design to see what I wanted my cat to look like, as well as the arrangement of flowers in the design.

Cat inspiration photo.

Cat inspiration photo, wondering if the cat in my design should be pink?

Flower inspiration photo.

       Thursday:
On Thursday I took a break from my logo to work on the "Less Catcalls More Cats" design for my line. 

A thumbnail sketch, to get an idea of what layout I wanted.

I transferred that into photoshop with the font I want to get a better visual.

I started out sketching some cats, and ended up really liking the one in the middle.

I traced the sketch onto a new page so it wouldn't be so cluttered.

I swatched some markers to get an idea of what colour palette I want to go with for the cat and for the flowers in the design.

Swatches of what colours I will be using for the cat.

Swatches of what colours I will be using for the flowers.

       Friday:
On Friday I finished up my logo:

       Saturday: 
On Saturday I practiced blending my markers and did some practice pieces:

Used some of the colours that I will be using in my "Less Catcalls More Cats" design to get a feel for the colour palette.

Practiced blending with my topic markers.

       Sunday: 
On Sunday I picked up a few more copic and prismacolour markers to fill in any gaps I would have had with blending.

       There it is! A week's worth of my design work. Fun.

     

Marketing Plan

Hello! 

     Here is a link to my marketing plan for the in-school fundraiser portion of my IDC Project.

     Here is a link to my marketing plan for the online sales portion of my IDC Project.

Gender Roles Were Made to be Broken

Q; What is something that changed my thinking this week?

I can remember when my brother was younger and wanted to paint his nails pink like I was, and my dad got upset with him for not “doing what boys do.” Whether or not that was just a phase or even a one-time thing, I know that my brother would never ask me to paint his nails ever again, let alone let me paint them if I was the one to ask.

About a year ago I decided that I would stop shaving and wearing a bra just to please others, and would just shave when I felt like it and wear a bra when I felt that it wouldn’t be incredibly uncomfortable. There were people in my life close to me that were really upset by this, and were worried for me because I was not “doing what girls do.”

Today I was at school I overheard some of my peers using homophobic terms to describe something they saw as feminine. Over, and over, and over again. I wanted to say something so badly but couldn’t get myself to.

It was then that I really noticed the presence of gender roles placed on my peers, how everything that we do is put into such black and white terms, and how we are expected to fit into a category that outlines our entire personality, a category based solely on gender.

How girls are expected to look pretty and proper and wear makeup, but not too much, look nice but not like we are trying to look nice. If we don’t wear a bra we are gross or strange, but if you can actually see the bra we are expected to wear then we are scandalous and slutty? (fyi “slut” is probably my least favourite word in the entire world ever.) We are supposed to be smooth and hairless, despite shaving being expensive and time consuming.

Almost every time one of my peers speaks up about something they feel is wrong, it’s a boy. I have tried before and been called “bossy” and “scary”, as have the other girls that I have heard speak their mind. What we say is often chalked up to be directly related to our menstrual cycle; a fit of PMS and attitude that is paid no respect.

I’ve been thinking, if I had received the same response as my male peers when speaking my mind about something I feel is wrong, would I have hesitated like I did today in class? Or would I have told my peers today that what they were saying was degrading, derogatory, demeaning, and ignorant. That there are millions of men and women fighting to gain their respect and fundamental human rights back from those who have stolen them, and that using their sexual identity as an insult is not acceptable. That there could have been a student in the room that identifies as LGBTQ+ but is too scared to come out to friends or family for fear of their sexuality being seen as negative, and that their fears were just affirmed by those derogatory comments.

I have spent every minute since the bell rang wishing I had confronted those students and told them my perspective on what they were saying, but I didn’t, because I tried in the past and had a bully claim to be scared of me for telling them that bullying is “not okay” and that they should stop bullying one of my peers. I feel that if a boy had stood up and said the exact same things I said he would have been respected, but I appeared bossy. All because I am a girl.

I do realize that there are gender roles placed on my male peers as well. They are supposed to appear tough and manly but still be sensitive. If they are too sensitive then they are considered feminine and therefore gay, as if sexuality is in any way related to sensitivity, but if they appear too tough or manly they are a considered a “tool” and do not get any emotional recognition. They are expected to excel in sports, and not care about school, I have even heard boys getting positive praise and attention from peers for getting the lowest mark on a test. My knowledge on male gender roles is obviously limited, but this is what I have observed.

This week I have been thinking a lot about the gender roles that have an impact on my peers and I, and how that connects to my IDC project. There seems to be a big disconnect between my peers and the social standards that they face, and I really want to draw more attention to that with my IDC project. I have been wondering if the rest of my peers are used to the pressures put on them because of their gender and don’t notice them any more, if they prefer to have those gender roles in place, or are completely unaware of them.

I have been thinking about the marketing aspect of my project and how I want to draw more attention to gender roles through the marketing of my products. I want to bring more awareness to gender roles, consent, and body positivity, and think that the posters I design to market my girl positive/body positive line of merchandise will be a good way to get the attention of my peers. I want to get them thinking about the gender roles placed on them, and hopefully get them to break those gender roles. I am expecting only a fraction of the school to stop to look at my products and designs, but the posters will reach almost everybody. Hallways, classrooms, the cafeteria, entrances, and more.

This was my accumulation of thoughts this week on gender roles, which was something that changed my thinking and I then applied to the plans for my IDC project.

Products and Manufacturers

Here is a link to what products I am ordering and where I am ordering them from for my IDC project.

My Design Process So-Far.

Hello, Brooke here.

For my IDC Project, I am designing a line of feminist merchandise which I will have manufactured. I will also market and sell these items online on my etsy store, as well as in school as a fundraiser for the Fearlessly Girl club.

I am currently working on the designs for the products in my line. I knew from the start that I would like to include 3 button designs, 3 sticker designs, and 1 or 2 textile designs, which I am thinking will be iron-on patches.

When designing, I first did some research. I have done research on feminism and women’s rights in the past, but wanted to know more about not only famous pioneering feminists and modern day feminism icons, as well as current and classic feminist catchphrases and slogans.

I then looked at designs on buttons, stickers, and shirts that I like and think will appeal to my audience/client group of teenagers and young adults. I want to include well-known elements of the feminist movement in my designs to make them relevant, but design them in a way that is current and will attract people. I want these designs to make feminism fun and familiar and approachable to those who are new to the concept or title of feminism.

After I did some research I then had a visual of what direction I wanted this to go in. I got design inspiration from tumblr, from art pictured below: (as well as art that is similar to it)

From there, I pulled colour combinations, slogans/catchphrases, and other design elements (such as floral accents or the female gender symbol) and sketched away in my sketchbook. Several pages of rough work later, I have now narrowed down my ideas to 8 or so designs. 3 buttons, 3 stickers, and 2 patches. I am now working on refining the designs.

I will need to sketch and ink the designs that I want to hand draw, scan them into my computer and open them with photoshop to clean them up. Others, I will be making entirely in photoshop or illustrator. From there, I will send the jpeg versions of my designs to manufacturers and have them put onto products! I am so excited to see how they will turn out. Tune in next week to see my progress <3

The Proposal.

Here is a link to my 20Time project proposal:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yMZE6uRTlwhy99KWXQ5MrQB0w0yAeqPdx2kQNdk1Z8s/edit?usp=sharing 

***EDIT:
Here is a link to my updated 20Time project proposal:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ikWDOH3HtdNCvbDZ0JioT_Riwng2Cy2IQFRrCJ9Fi3Y/edit?usp=sharing

Enjoy!

My Mind is like a Cactus.

Hello, it's me again. Today we are talking about minds and their mindsets and how my mind is kind of like a cactus.

Growth Mindset v. Fixed Mindset

A "Growth Mindset" is a way of thinking that promotes learning and trying new things. People with a growth mindset know that people's minds and capabilities are constantly changing, as well as their learning skills.

A "Fixed Mindset" is a way of thinking that does not change and does not promote learning. People with a fixed mindset believe that one's learning capabilities are set in stone and cannot develop or grow.

My Mindset is like a cactus. A cactus needs little water and still manages to grow throughout periods of drought. I love to learn, and even when I go through periods of creative block or have trouble with my studies, I still never lose my curiosity or willingness to learn. Sometimes I go through drought, periods of time lacking creativity, inspiration, and motivation, and often filled with self doubt. These droughts are a common occurrence in my math class. 

For example, in class when we had an arithmetic related puzzle to solve, I froze. I sat staring at 7 toothpicks filled with self doubt. My behaviour and self talk in that moment closely resembled that of somebody with a fixed mindset. However, I didn't believe that I could not solve the puzzle or that I could not learn to be successful at arithmetic problems in the future. Instead, I was eager to find out the answer and discover how the puzzle could be solved so that I could put that information to use when I am in similar situations in the future. With the linguistic puzzle, instead of freeze, I really started to think. I only solved one of the riddles, but I was eager to find out the rest of the answers and  fascinated by the puzzles. My mind is like a cactus because I maintained the mindset of wanting to grow my learning skills, instead of believing that my learning skills would never develop past what they are today.

Ways to promote healthy cactus growth:

Maintaining a growth mindset in the classroom is important, I would even argue necessary, for the development of the learning skills as well as social skills of students.

1. It's okay to forget to water your cactus. They don't need that much water anyway.
      -It's normal to make mistakes, you can learn a lot from them. Cherish the lesson you learned, it might be of a lot of help later down the road.

2. Don't throw your cactus away if you forget to water it.
      -Don't let a mistake stop you from pursuing your goal. Keep going, don't give up on yourself for not being perfect.

3. Droughts will come, don't let them stop you.
       -You will go through periods of time where it seems like all inspiration has dried up. Don't fret. Inspiration will come, wait this through and the rain will be here soon.

3. Just because your cactus looks the same does not mean it has stopped growing.
       -Try not to get discouraged when it takes you longer than expected to master a new skill or complete a project. Your learning skills are not fixed, they develop and grow every day. You will get there.

VARK Learning Styles Reflection

Hello, Brooke again. I am here today to share my VARK learning Styles test results, which are pictured below:

    These results mean that I have a multimodal learning preference, or that I identify with each of the learning styles in different situations, which I agree with.

There are not many similarities between my VARK test results and Multiple Intelligences test results, although my top strength from the Multiple Intelligence test was “intrapersonal” which could be an aspect of my multimodal learning style that the VARK results suggest.

On the VARK test, I had a high score for kinesthetic. On the Multiple Intelligence test kinesthetic was one of my lowest scores. Also, visual was my highest score on the VARK test, and was an average score on my Multiple Intelligence test.

Although the results from these tests varied, I can see how their results can help me to improve my learning. I identify with the high visual score from my VARK test, and found the study tips provided at the end of the test to be useful (such as underlining and using highlighters to help me organize notes and remember information).

Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences.

Greetings! I am here today to share my Multiple Intelligences Test results.

My top strength is “intrapersonal.” I enjoy working on my own and find that I am the most productive when I work independently. My next top strength is “naturalistic.” I am concerned for the environment and make daily efforts to lessen my impact on the environment. I also find that I am more productive when I work near an open window.

My bottom intelligence is “musical.” I do not know how to play an instrument, and memorizing definitions or acronyms to the beat of a song does not help me remember them. My next lowest intelligence is kinesthetic. I learn best when I can sit down in a quiet environment and focus on what needs to be done, rather than doing hands on projects to help me learn.

My next lowest intelligence after “kinesthetic” is “interpersonal.” I don’t learn as much in a group than I would if I was working independently, but I would like to improve this intelligence because group work and collaboration is an important skill and may be very useful for future projects or in my future career.