One camera one lens one year
One camera one lens one year
One camera one lens one year
Lets talk politics..
With the election looming on us, everyone has is just begging to form opinions on different parties and their ‘promises’. I put it in brackets because probably like most I take what they say very lightly because when was the last time you remember any leader following through on their promises? In my opinion, they’re all to ambitious. It seems as though things are said just to gain votes, but yet they don’t know how exactly they’ll even have the money to do things or where the right places to make cuts are.
So here comes the most ridiculous far fetched idea i’ve read. Labour wants to abolish tuition fees. They’ve stated it could come in as early as autumn 17, thats soon, and maybe there if a few students out there that will give their vote to Labour happily because of that promise. But in reality how on earth will it be done? Currently I pay £9,000 a year, that a whole lot of money, and considering the university gets that from every student i can’t imagine how much they receive a year. But obviously it’s going to good use to ensure that we have good lecturers, buildings, computers, library books and any other resources we need. If you take away us never having to pay fees, I very much doubt the universities would still receive that £9,000 per person to keep the university running as before.
I imagine the Labour party thought they were being clever but targeting such a mass group as uni students, sure there’s a whole lot of us around the country and if there plea for votes worked then yes they’d sure be in for a win. But I think one thing they’re forgetting is, we’re at university for a reason. We actually think about things, analyse information, the majority of us won’t be swayed easily without having considered all aspects first. By the time your at university level education, you’ve been trained to naturally do that within your studies, therefore there’s no doubt that shapes you as a person and goes into every other aspect of life.
So say in hindsight they do win, do I want to turn up to university next year not being about to accsess the books in the library that were there before, not being able to receive online help from library staff, spending less time in lectures and seminars and have more self directed work all because of cuts? No of course I don’t, and i’m sure most students would agree with that. We came to university to better ourselves, not have a half hearted education because of a promise that isn’t looking realistic. While I believe that £9,000 is way to much in tuition fees, students at or coming to university will be ok with gaining the debt because of the resourceful, considered way you end up paying it back.
So Labour, maybe cutting down tuition fees might be a start before you start saying you can abolish them altogether, because realistically, you’re not fooling anyone..
Fragrance Project- a post of secondary consumer statistic (just so I know they’re here and easy to come back to).
- The initial breastfeeding rate in 2010 was highest in England at 83% (compared with 74% in Scotland, 71% in Wales, and 64% in Northern Ireland). Exclusive breastfeeding at six weeks was 24% in England and 22% in Scotland, compared to 17% in Wales and 13% in Northern Ireland.
- Breastfeeding was most common among mothers who were: aged 30 or over, from minority ethnic groups, left education aged over 18, in managerial and professional occupations and living in the least deprived areas.
From: https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/what-is-baby-friendly/breastfeeding-in-the-uk/breastfeeding-rates-in-the-uk/ (10/5/17)
More new mums are opting to breastfeed but very few stick at it for long enough, latest UK figures reveal.
nd only one in every 100 manage the full recommended six months, the NHS Information Centre found.
This rate has remained static for years, despite repeated public health messages about the importance of exclusive breastfeeding for six months for infant health.
Common reasons for stopping breastfeeding were problems with the baby rejecting the breast or not latching on properly, having painful breasts or nipples and feeling that they had ‘insufficient milk’.
Women were also less likely to try or persevere with breastfeeding if they themselves had been given formula as a baby and if none of their mum friends were breastfeeding.
From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20406743 (10/5/17)
Q: Breastfeeding advocates have been fighting to counteract what they dub a “formula feeding culture.” If bottle-feeding is so prevalent, why do you think mothers who don’t breastfeed feel alienated or guilty?
It all depends on your definition of “culture”. There’s no doubt that bottles are still used as representative imagery for all things baby (although I would argue that this is because so many of us are working mothers, for whom bottles are a necessary tool – they get filled with pumped breastmilk as well as formula), and a visit to most shopping malls in America will provide plenty of opportunity to see formula feeding in action. But cultural influences also include the smaller subcultures we live in. For example, in many urban, upper-middle-class parenting circles, breastfeeding is not only accepted, it is assumed. So if a mother is formula feeding, she will feel like the odd woman out. It’s actually quite similar to being a breastfeeding mom in a predominately bottle-feeding area of the country – whenever you’re doing something that is challenging moral or social norms, you’re going to feel a sense of judgment.
Pop culture informs our social norms in the aspirational sense, and nearly every celebrity who has given birth in the past year has spoken openly about breastfeeding (usually as an excuse for why they lost baby weight at such an astronomical rate – never mentioning the team of personal trainers and private chefs who may have assisted in the process). You might not have seen your mother breastfeed, or your older sisters, but if Alannis, Pink, and the Kardashians are doing it, it at least has a coolness factor that bottle feeding doesn’t.
And then, of course, you have the three horsemen of the parenting apocalypse: physicians, parenting experts, and the Internet. Parents are heavily influenced by these forces, and when organizations like the AAP and the federal government are telling us that breastfeeding saves millions of dollars and hundreds of innocent lives every year, I think that has greater impact on a new parent’s psyche than seeing a baby doll that happens to come with a bottle.
Why has the breast versus bottle debate become so polarizing?
I asked myself this question while writing the book, and I still don’t have a good answer. I think a lot plays into this debate –cultural factors, socioeconomic prejudices, racism, sexism; sometimes I think it’s a direct result of what liberal feminism achieved in the past few decades, and at other times, I’m tempted to blame a few select parenting experts for fueling the fire. But I think the breast/bottle issue is in many ways more complex than the stay-at-home versus working mother battle, because it revolves around breasts. Breasts serve a dual purpose in our society – they are functional, but they are also sexual. Some have argued that we need to de-sexualize the breast, and while I agree that might solve the very real problem of women being harassed for breastfeeding in public, I don’t think it’s fair or realistic. It is not our place to tell a woman what a body part should mean to her, and some women may have extremely powerful associations with their breasts as sexual objects (and some may have had the ability to choose in this regard ripped away from them; even if a woman wants to see her breasts as functional, past sexual abuse might make that an impossibility). Further, breastfeeding is a physical act, meaning that we are reliant on our bodies to cooperate with our desire to nurse. This can be difficult in a world where we’ve become increasingly disconnected from our physical selves, and where environmental threats affect how our bodies operate. There are just so many factors that complicate the discourse, and unfortunately it gets oversimplified into “good mommy/bad mommy”.
From: http://www.pnmag.com/baby-buzz/fighting-the-formula-feeding-stigma/ (10/5/17)
Sorry for the rather boring post!
Natalie x
Brand logo experiments- in relation to the last post!
After speaking about how my brand logo was changed in the last post, I thought it was only right to show what designs came in between. With about two days fiddling about on photoshop making every combination that could come to mind, these are just some of the ones that I favoured most. Although obviously not favouring any of them that much as I ended up going on to create a completely different design with just a single letter for the logo. This idea came from Joe Malone’s logo, as she always has the initials for ‘Jo Malone London’ within a square as her logo on all of her products, and it’s always kept black and white to remain classic and timeless. And the same was done for Blooms final logo choice, besides with Jo Malone’s brand being so successful, who wouldn’t take inspiration from her design choices?
A fairly short post today, but thought it was only right to explain where inspiration came from!
Thanks for reading,
Natalie x
From Traces, to Bloom- Change of brand name and logo
Since finishing task 3 of the Fragrance project, I’ve had the urge to change both the brand name and logo. I felt as though the logo wasn’t clear enough, although fitted in well with the brand, but what goods a logo that you have to stand right in front of to read? Exactly it isn’t. I also felt the name could have done with some improving, although having a relevant back story, when hearing the name ‘Traces’ you don’t really think of anything to do with scent in the slightest, which isn’t always a bad thing, as mystery can enhance curiosity. But in this instance our rushed group name choice wasn’t what I wanted to carry on with.
The before logo, as created in our group
The new logo created by me
On the left is the logo as created within our group. On the right is the one I recently created. The basis of the new logo is a letter, signifying the brand name ‘Bloom’ consequently being clearer from all distances. It is also more simple in colouring, as the intention was for it to be universal for all seasons, so there would be no colour attached to the brand logo. This is also so it would sit well on any future product range by the brand, no matter how diverse in colour or packaging style.
Thanks for reading,
Natalie x
Fcp Tuesday again!
As our photo-shoot for our brand is coming up, during our seminar today we got sent around the building in order to try and get some interesting photos, but only within a couple of minutes. The idea was that by doing so we would get used to looking at normal things from different angles which we wouldn’t usually do. As usual, we then uploaded them to instagram an hash tagged them so we would be able to look at each other’s.
Here are a few of mine..
Maybe have a go at walking around your house, can you get any interesting views and angles on every day objects?
How do different scent notes make you feel?
When doing fragrance research recently for our current favourite idea (a long lasting female sports fragrance to be put on before the gym to exhilarate and give confidence to acheieve the best results), I was scouring the net for information on what particular scents give you what particular emotions and food. Then I found a great post on refinery29.com. It explains 7 common scents and the effects they have on your mind. I’m imagining i’ll need this for future reference, if we take the sport idea forward, or any other for that matter. It’s important the scents you use link to what your brand and fragrance are trying to communicate within their product, otherwise what’s the point!
As it’s so useful to refer back to, i’m going to post it on here so you can have a read for yourself. Even for someone who’s not all about fragrance currently, it’s just an interesting read if you like to know about how people think and why.
Jasmine
It can be tough (if not impossible) to sit back and unwind — and the needy pings from your phone aren’t doing you any favors either. So turn off your phone and breathe in some jasmine. “It’s deeply sedating to the central nervous system,” says Galper. “Jasmine can take you out of that nervous, urban exhaustion.” It also has a sexy side to it, thanks to its earthy qualities, so it’s perfect for a date night out or me-time in.
Bergamot
We’ve all been there: You skipped lunch. You missed an important email. The subway was delayed. No matter what put you in a bad mood, bergamot is the answer. This citrus note is basically happiness in a bottle. “Bergamot is one of the most mood-balancing, uplifting aromas,” says Galper. “It can even take the edge off when you’re angry.” Instead of that age-old advice to take a deep breath and count to 10 when you’re pissed, just douse yourself in this. Your roommates will thank you.
Sandalwood
Wearing a smoky eye tonight? You’ll need a sultry fragrance to match. Meet sandalwood, a woody note that has an animalistic quality, meaning it can tap into a more sensual part of the brain, says Ryan. But it’s as far as you can get from fresh and flirty. “Sandalwood is smoky and dark,” says Galper. If you’re going for a mysterious vibe, this is for you.
Grapefruit
If the gloomy season has you feeling down, look for fragrances with grapefruit notes. The zesty scent bumps up your energy and can clear the mind. It also has the power to de-stress, says Ryan. Think of it as the scent version of a long, cathartic run (but better because it doesn’t involve strenuous activity).
Hibiscus Flower
If you’re not confident enough to walk into a party like you own the place, a fragrance with this tropical floral note could give you that desired vibe. “Hibiscus is known to act as a mood refresher, and some even go so far as to say it’s a confidence booster,” says Ryan. We love the note in the new Jimmy Choo L’Eau fragrance because it comes across as soft and delicate, never overpowering.
Vanilla
There’s a reason why even a hint of vanilla makes you feel warm, fuzzy, and nostalgic AF. “There’s a familiar sweetness to it that gives us a sense of contentment,” explains Galper. “It’s both nurturing and comforting.” An unintended side effect: You may end up booking a trip home after a good whiff.
Lily Of The Valley
Think of this white floral as a self-care hack in scent form. “Lily of the valley tends to be associated with helping with sadness and giving a sense of security,” says Ryan. Many floral notes like this can relieve stress or promote well-being, which is something all of us could use right now.
Thanks for reading!
Natter of Fact. 