Future Thinking! Part 1-Trend report writing reflection

Introduction

During my study of Fashion Marketing and Branding at Nottingham Trent University, I was tasked with a “Future Thinking” annotated bibliography. The bibliography tasked us to create a 3000 word essay based on a macro trend which had taken our interest, using literature to reinforce our findings. Whilst further making it visually and creatively appealing through the use of InDesign and Photoshop. For this report, I decided to focus on the macro trend of “Luxury with a Conscience”, which focuses on sustainability within the luxury market. My report covered the following topics:

- The Conscious Consumer

- Environmental and Ethical Sustainability within the Luxury Market

- Wellness within Luxury

We were tasked this report with the objective to think creatively and challenge our findings within the literature, to further discover a gap in the market for our Stage 1 report.

Description

For my Future Thinking annotated bibliography, I had chosen the macro trend of “Luxury with a Conscience”. To begin my bibliography, I researched different literature around the topic. This including peer reviewed articles, book and journals; I then chose 9 pieces of literature which stood out to me and had interesting information for me to analyse. Further reading was undertook to support or challenge the literature I was analysing, which created an in-depth, rounded bibliography, which had thought provoking elements.

Feelings

My initial feelings when we were first briefed with the task was mainly worry, as I had not attempted a piece of writing in an annotated bibliography format. Therefore this assessment was one that I thought would be academically challenging to me, which was the main cause of my apprehension.

During the process, I was feeling more confident about the work, as I had ensured to go through what I was writing consistently with my peers and my tutors, as from previous reports, I found that my writing was confused or messy; therefore I ensured that my work read well to my peers. Moreover I was gaining reassurance that what I wrote was relevant, succinct and academically sound.

After I had submitted my work, I was assertive in the written segment of the bibliography. This being due to the approach and extra support I had utilised to ensure it was at the best standard it could be. However, I was then disappointed to find that I had received a mid-2.2 despite my hard efforts. Whilst this created an initial feeling of dismay, I read through the feedback and tried to put a positive mindset on my grade.

Evaluation

What I felt was good about the situation was that I had taken the time to read relevant literature which was thought provoking for myself and the reader. As I have found from previous reports, I am too decisive in the first choice I make without giving clear thought behind it. Therefore this gave my work more clarity, as I had fully researched the macro trend and the areas I was going to cover. This was then reflected in my work, as my written strength was that my bibliography had a “clear focus and structure”.

Another area that I thought was a positive, as that I had never done an annotated bibliography before, I booked a 1-1 session with a library mentor to go through my work with me. This ensured my work was coherent and was easy to read when it was getting marked. This was reflected in my mark, as my strengths were said to have made “well connections and good focus to individual sections”. This was a highlight of my future thinking experience.

A negative of the situation was the fact that my work was limited in regards to challenging the literature in front of me. Whilst the work was coherent, it was factual rather than inquisitive, this being the main limitation restricting me to a 2.2 rather than a 2.1. Albeit there were elements in my work where I had challenged theory, my reflection indicated for me to critique this further to ensure my work was interesting.

Analysis

From analysing the situation, I realise that while it is a strength to be cohesive in my work, I must not shy away from questioning existing theory by using existing literature. Whilst I am looking at the experience positively, as it was good practice before my stage 1 report, I need to focus on my areas of improvement to ensure my work is as strong as possible.

Conclusion

Whilst there was positives and negatives to the written segment, I am overall proud of my work, as this was my first attempt of this style of writing. I have understood that my areas of weakness lie in the analysis of my work, and I need to be more critical in the literature that I am reading and referring to.

Action Plan

Moving on in the future, I will explore beyond the obvious in future reports to challenge existing knowledge. Further referring back to the learning objectives to ensure that I am hitting all of the marks and moreover making my work as strong and interesting as possible.

That is it for this reflection! Hope you enjoyed the read.

Treat of the week: Mini Egg Cookies

Recipe:

Mini Egg Cookies! - Jane's Patisserie (janespatisserie.com)