I was assigned to create a spread on the Great Exhibition of 1851, with an artifact. As the Exhibition was a celebration of grandeur, I wanted to follow suit. The idea for this started with a handmade model of the Great Exhibition, with the text integrated into the scene to create an immersive and multi-layered image.

I ended up resorting to an image and text page due to difficulties during artifact construction. For the text page, I used red paint and gold ink, due to the excess of drapery and elegance portrayed in illustrations of the exhibition. It also fit well with the colour theme that was running on the other side of the page. For the image, it does not look as I wish it did. I wanted the elephant to be the primary piece, as all of the images from my research seemed to have it as the centre of focus, or at least somewhere in the background, suggesting that the illustrators who attended the exhibition were enamoured with its ornate details and large size. I included other pieces of the exhibition that were common themes throughout all of the illustrations as well, such as massive greenery, greek statues, and flags, as well as the fountain that was a centrepiece of the entire show.

For the backgrounds I printed some of the illustrations from the exhibition and tacked them up behind my artifact. It appears very busy but I wanted that to come across as I imagine it must have been immensely overwhelming for the average citizen who was lucky enough to attend such a grand showcase.

In the building process I struggled a lot. In terms of time:product ratio, the product does not adequately reflect the effort put into the artifact created. I did not have an adhesive that worked well for what I was trying to achieve, and many of the things I made continued to crumble or collapse. When I was trying to capture the image, I struggled with composition and the square format, as it left a lot of space on the top and bottom, while being squished on the sides. If I were to do it again I would go out and buy a hot glue gun, and alter my design to fit better to the format.

I put blood, sweat and tears into this, despite it not showing in the final product, and would like to give myself a higher grade based on effort but I am overall unhappy with the product so my self grade is 8/10.