cultures: week 3

I think I produced a solid body of work to be proud of. I redid my final collection using the feedback from my teacher adding my patterns to them. To improve I need to widen my influences and look at other designers like Comme de Garcon just to inform my design work. Overall I understand my biggest problem is thinking outside of the box. I play it safe and in the long run it will hinder me. I will learn from the feedback and strengths of this project to make my final major project amazing.

cultures: week 2

By the end of week two I was very pleased with the amount of work I completed. I even had time to sit with a tutor and get her feedback before the big crit.

I ran into problem when designing due to lack of fresh ideas so I decided to find another picture and use that to inspire me. It did it's jobs and I found new ideas to push my designs forwards. After speaking to my tutor I realised that the way I drew my initial designs was way more interesting and modern. we also came to the conclusion that the outfits I draw are not high fashion. you wouldn't see them coming down a cat walk but you would see them on the Highstreet. I also need to think out of the box and change the silhouette up instead of clinging to the waist all of the time.

For the next week I need to look at Style.com and see what is coming down the runway in 2014. I also need the age group and designs to correlate, so I need to modernise my influences. Also for next week I need to start using my drawings of the natural history museum to create interesting prints.

cultures: week 1

I really like the project so far, I am trying to focus on my weaknesses and design at every stage of the project. Week one was about researching and collecting images. I picked Savile Row meets Bugslife as a title. I tired to use the scanner to create new interesting images, but this did not work at all so I went straight into designing based on the photo's found. I liked the fact that my initial drawing are very intuitive and great response. I thought the drawings were very childish so I drew a template starting drawing my designs on top of this. I thought it would look more sophisticated and I thought my tutor would hate the child-like drawings.

I was surprised by the amount of work produced, I worked pretty fast during the first week and had many designs to refine and add to at a later stage. I was also surprised by the ideas I came up with. My next step is to think about how to move the initial designs on.

sportswear: week 2

By the second week I found out that I was going in the complete wrong direction. We had a group talk and I realised I was thinking too conceptual but the whole point was simply detailing. Taking the fundamentals of sportswear and using them to create new garments. This was a straight forward exercise to explore the way most people work in industry. This confusion was felt by many other people so the tutors put on a series of 3 workshop, collecting images, design development and working on the stand. I felt the design development workshop was the most useful, I understood the aim very well, to use one detail in as many different places e.g pocket, cuff, skirt, top and trousers. It got me to work in a faster way which is my downfall. I was surprised at how fast I could work and how much work I could get done.

By the end of the project I think I grasped the aim. This may or may not be evident in my book but it will show in future projects.

sportswear: week 1

Our brief was to use sportswear detailing as inspiration to create a collection of 6 outfits. We had to include something quintessentially British but use sportswear as starting point. our first point of call was to go into stores taking photos sportswear. This was my my first mistake, instead of me to look at the detailing I looked at each garment as a whole. Due to portfolio commitments I was very disconnected from this project. I assumed that interviews were more important and that projects should take a back seat.

Even with all of this I spent the first week collecting images as I had many ideas. I wanted to create a conceptual piece taking inspiration from swimwear. I began to look at conceptual swimwear and subtract elements that that I liked. 

In hindsight I didn't get nearly enough work done, completing 3 pages and mood board was atrocious. 

De-construct/ Reconstruct: week 2

I don't think I produced enough work for a two week project. There was a disconnect with this project even though I did end up enjoying it. After hearing the feedback from the crit I realised I could have taken the idea's much further. I used denim so I should have re-worked it so it's unrecognisable. This was valid feedback, I am very safe with my drawings and techniques I need to work towards thinking more out of the box.

De-construct/ Reconstruct: week 1

I spent week 1 completing 3 workshops: 1. A styling workshop where we had to restyle old clothes to create new ways of wearing, 2. Another styling workshop where we had to cut up the clothes creating new complete garments and 3. To create abstract collages inspired by de-constructing and reconstructing. I did not take to the project too well, I never engaged with the title like I should have. I found working with the existing seam lines and shapes to be challenging. I also found I was using the clothes to create 'pretty dresses' which defeats the purpose. By the end of the week I started to understand the idea a bit more and began working towards my final piece.

I thought that it would be a good idea to collaborate with a Promotions student as we both needed photo shoots. I said I would complete the piece by the following Wednesday which will give her time to plan and shoot it. This tuned out to be a disaster and I didn't like how she resolved the shoot. In future I will take full control of everything, and not let my fears intrude on getting results.

3 Words: week 2

By the end of the 2 week I had completed an okay body work. Nothing to scream and shout about but I do like certain works. I spent the last week focused on designing so I began with collage work and working on the stands. I came to a resolution of 6 designs and 4 prints. Designing this way meant that I had 2 stand workshops to look to for help with shape. Overall I liked the freedom, I think this is evident through out my sketchbook. I feel I have developed a style and a way to work which I find comfortable.

However throughout the project I never quite established a solid colour scheme so rendering the prints on the designs proved to be very difficult. The colours and the density of the patterns clashed and made it hard for the prints to sit with the garments harmoniously.

If I could re-do the project I would focus more on the design side and just keep drawing. I find that this sketchbook lacks basic fashion drawings and illustrations. I need to be designing and refining at every stage. But I find that I enjoy making prints and using Photoshop. I also think they make the illustrations look more real and finalised without making each and every garment. next time I would also not just focus on jackets and make sure I have a complete collection of tops, trousers and dresses with outerwear and knitwear.