Laura Tutorial - Week 4

As we were told last week to 'make things' and to have more visual outcomes, this is exactly what we brought to this tutorial. As a group we were really happy with the pace our work was gathering and how inspiring we were finding our project. Laura seemed to really like our idea but again wanted us to push it further and explore every avenue possible. Time stop imagery will be included in our trend book as well as creating work in response to reactions and contamination. We need to look further into the use of fabrics and how technology can be incorporated within fabric. Laura also suggested we explore UV reactions.

Alex & Laura Tutorial - Week 3

Alice, Grace and myself went to this tutorial with a few ideas but not completely prepared as we usually are, this left the tutorial quite open for discussion for new ideas. We discussed the idea that 'things' needed to be made; we needed more of our own work to respond to, which we all agreed upon. Also Alex and Laura wanted our ideas to be even bigger, even if they were not possible we still needed to explore bigger ideas. I agree with this, as our research seems to have gone a bit flat, this meeting was the push we needed to get the ball rolling again. We spoke about having more visual research of our own work, this is something that I constantly improve upon through each project, and however this still needs some attention. Throughout the rest of the project I plan to create new inspiring imagery every week to keep myself and the rest of the group inspired.

Tutorial #1: 11/03/2014

The group presented the 'over populated' idea to Alex and he seemed to really like it. I think the fact that we are really enthusiastic about it was a great start, as we are already working very well as a group. We spoke about a lot of different things in the tutorial but everything was positive. There are a lot of ideas so we need to work on condensing these. Some of the key things we discussed;

- Over-population seems to balance itself out with natural disaster/ disease

- How does this influence design?

- Smaller living areas as there is less space due to over crowding

- Life expectancy is higher 

- Design for older people - Could watch 'Fabulous Fashionistas' Channel 4, for research

- Causes - Contraception unavailable in certain countries

- Growth in population in China, India

- More people in China - they get better at design, not just manufacturing

- Liked the 'Multiples' idea, needs to be more abstract

- Even though there are more people, people are still individual

- Selfies - Sharing what you're wearing

- Evidence where 'multiples' have spread

- Virus kills people OR Viral marketing?

Tutorial 17/02/2014

In this tutorial we covered any last worries and everything that we need to present/submit on deadline day. Some of the things Alex had to say - 

- Add 'Foil' labels to any flats

- Only use the front of the garment flats

- 'Foil' could be more of a digital resource due to lack of fabric

- Add photos of fabric rather than actual fabric

- Not to worry about quality of print (for now) just simply bind the trend book

- Layout more important

- Reference any secondary sources

I didn't really have much to ask in this final tutorial as I pretty much knew what needed to be done, it was just a question of actually doing it. It was good to hear everyone else's questions though, and to see at what point everyone else was at so I didn't worry too much.

Tutorial 10/02/2014

I felt really confident going into this tutorial as my vision for this project has really came together. I have a solid layout for my trend book, a name, and a name for the trend. Which is a lot more than I have had for a while. Alex really liked my ideas for the cover, to use tracing paper and acetate to divide the trend book to make it more visual for the audience. However he did discuss with me that he felt I have been putting off drawing and that I use my digital work as a comfort blanket. I do have to agree with this statement. I know that digital work is my strength and I love doing it. Sometimes this can distract me from what truly needs to be done. In the next project I will take this on board.

Next Week
- Have plan for presentation boards
- Have the majority of the project complete
- Visit Leons in Chorlton for a wider fabric selection.

Submission
- Have 2/3 boards that show development through the course
- Bring final brief
- Board for live projects
- Memory stick submission is possible

Tutorial 03/02/2014

I felt a lot more confident with this weeks tutorial, I did not have much visual work to show however all my ideas were kind of floating around in my head and I needed a little reassurance that this was the right direction for me. Here are some of the things I written down during todays session.

- Respond more to Market Research, take on board pricing, placement of prints etc..
- Trend book in magazine format?
- Create a mind map of words that link to my project to try 'fluff up' an introduction
- Start making 'Test Spreads' for the final outcome to get a feel for the layout
- Look at Pantone colours for fashion & home TPX = paper
- Only put new techniques into a technical file
- Come up with a name for the trend book be more 'pretentious' with the wording

For next week

- Have a colour palette (use pantone to make it look more professional)
- Have fabric swatches as not printing on fabric
- Have vague illustration of 'layout & illustrations'
- Start thinking about presentation of table top submission

Tutorial 27/01/2014

Todays tutorial was more of a one on one due to unforeseen circumstances. I tried to use the to my advantage. Here are the points that Alex made today..

• Have more futuristic influences
• Change the name from 'industrial', it reads too hard. Needs to be more poetic
• Read 'Fashion Unfolding'
• Look into Nike / Adidas / other sports brands and how they illustrate their designs
• Search for a sportswear Live Project
• Look into lulu lemon.com
• Try gather more architectural influences, such as Frank Gehry
• Visit the Imperial War Museum in Salford Quays

I feel a lot more clear headed after the tutorial. I have a mental list, and just need to go through it and tick everything off. I feel that if I work flat out from now till the deadline I will have a project I can be proud of.

Concept Page

I have started to develop my Trend Book,(although I still do not have a name for the book or the trend!). I have interpreted the 'Distilled' trend in my own way and incorporated it into the styling of the book. Aesthetically I am pleased with the direction the book is going but I feel that I can push myself further and make it more exciting.

I'm still undecided on whether to make the trend book portrait or landscape, these are a few things I want to discuss with Alex in my tutorial tomorrow. I have written a list of topics I want to cover in the tutorial to fully use the small amount of time that we get to my advantage (hopefully). 

Live Trace with Adobe Illustrator

On thursday I went to one of Alex's Digital Workshops as I feel it is important to learn as many skills as possible throughout my time on this course (and I said I would do so in my brief). Especially with my project at the moment being very intensively digital based. I feel quite confident on Photoshop however Illustrator is my weakness so this is my main reason for attending.

Here is a screen shot of part of the process. The effect it has on photographs rather than hand drawn imagery really intrigues me, I think it looks quite similar to the effect I was trying to create through my Intentions unit.

Tutorial #3 13/01/14

I went into this tutorial quite nervous as over the holidays I had been second guessing my decision to create a trend book and was quite over whelmed with the idea of 'trend forecasting'. Heres what was noted.

- Find Promostyl journal - Summer 15
- Blog about research over christmas

- What can the trend book be about?
- Opposites - Industrials VS Botanical?/ Soft?/ Butterflies?/ Traditional?/ Natural?/ Organic
- Explain why people would be interested in the trend of opposites

-Use mainly my own imagery
- Few pages of 'general inspiration' is allowed
- prototype design
- Add suggestions of how the trend could be applied to design
- Fabric swatches

Next Week
- Bring a pile of responces
- Respond
- Use a range of media
- Colour concepts
- MIX IT UP
- Digital collage
- Revisit brief and bring updated copy

Tutorial 11/11/2013

Today I had my penultimate tutorial with Alex before my deadline today, I was quite worried as I have been concentrating a lot more on placements, cv's and getting things ready for the print room so did not have much physical work to show this week. However everything seems to be coming together and I agreed with everything that Alex had to say today. Here are a few points he made for me.

• Experiment with placement prints.
• Aim to have around 10/12 colours in my colour palette.
• Add some accent colours.
• Print using bubble wrap, mesh and other textures.
• Do not repeat motifs in final designs.
• Experiment with colour blocking.
• Include fabric swatches within my final work.
• Tone my colour palette down, keep the 'sheer' effect.
• Use own photographs to place prints on, not others.
• Generate more prints for next week.

This list seems extensive but I feel that the above where all things I had in mind to do over the next two weeks anyway, and Alex has just reinforced my own ideas. This tutorial has given me a clearer head about the deadline and I feel confident in the work I will have for the deadline.

Taking Advice

After the tutorial on monday I took on board everything that had been suggested to me. So I started to put my prints onto existing designs rather than onto illustrations as I still want to spend a lot of time developing my illustration skills and also experiment with the context of my illustrations.

Something Alex also asked me to think about was my target market. When he asked me who it was I could not give him an answer. We looked at the different types of inspiration I had gathered and decided that I was interested in a more high end market, which I agree with. Also another thing we were asked to think about was what was our final outcome going to be? I have decided that I want to create a collection of prints, presented through illustrations and fabric swatches. I want to use natural, sheer fabrics with an expensive quality to appeal to my target market.

Group Tutorial

This weeks tutorial was probably the best one so far. It had the most attendees and personally I felt it was a lot more constructive than any of the other tutorials that I have had this term. Alex said that he really liked the colour palette I had been using and said that I need to be more decisive with my work as I had told him I was still unsure with the colours I had chosen. However after leaving the tutorial I am fully decided on this colour story.

Other areas of my work that we touched upon where the actual prints that I had put together. Alex said that I need to experiment more with scale, and think more about how the design could be communicated into a garment. Which I agree with, so I am going to start putting my prints into garment flats and illustrations using Photoshop, this will be to experiment with scale, composition and to work on the styling of my work, which is another thing that Alex touched upon.

I showed the group an illustration I had put together just before the tutorial, which was a very basic drawing to help visualise my work. The group all thought that I should make my illustrations more abstract and detailed, adding things like hair or collage to the illustrations to make them more aesthetically pleasing.

Group Tutorial

This week I attended my first group tutorial, although there were only three of us who turned up to the tutorial it worked to our advantage as we had a little more time for Alex to advise us. I was a bit hesitant to go to the tutorial as I feel like the amount of work that I have done is not sufficient.  However we did discus the work that I had done so far and Alex thought it would be a good idea to start looking into more ornate structures within architecture. He also said it would be best if I started looking into more colours. Although I will start looking deeper into ornate architecture I must make sure there is a strong element of originality and a contemporary feel still within the work.

Personally I am still feeling very uninspired by the project and the work I have done. However whenever I am feeling uninspired I feel that the best thing for me to do is to do a bit more research! So for the past 2 hours I have been sat in the library looking for a book that Alex suggested 'The Grammar of Ornament', unfortunately I was unable to find this book but still took time to look through other books around the same subject on the shelves where it should have been.

So the main points that I have taken from this tutorial are:

• Research further
• Add more colour
• Experiment more with drawing
• DO MORE WORK
• Make a detailed plan for the week ahead and stick to it

Tutorial with Alex

This year I wanted to focus on Textiles Design for Fashion, however on my return to uni, the outlay of the course has changed slightly. This is now not offered as a pathway to follow and is instead more integrated within each other pathway that is available to study. Therefore I have been put into a Print orientated group. However I feel that this is a positive thing as it allows me to explore other areas of textiles and gives me some freedom within the course. So this year my tutor is Alex. Today I had my first one on one tutorial with him about the work that I had done over the summer, he seems really nice and he has gave me some great advice from the tutorial. He agrees that I should look into the Urban Influences brief and has suggested joining the Urban Sketchers Group to help me get out sketching in the city and seeing the other styles of the other artists that go out and draw also.

As I visited Egypt over the summer I have used this as my main focus in my sketchbook so far and I love the colours that I have captured here. The images bring out a sense of warmth and truly reflect the research too. Something I have learnt from this brief is to not dive straight into digital work. I need to develop my drawings further first and explore where these can take me. I have a bad habit of just repeating a motif and being satisfied, but this year I need to push myself as far as possible and really create something that I can be proud of.

Tutorial with Eleanor

So... the tutorial with Eleanor was interesting...

This message came to a complete shock to our group and caused a lot of panic. Personally as I was already home and could not do anything about this it was really annoying and distressing as I obviously do not want to let anyone down and want to get a good grade for this unit. So I caught an earlier train home and pulled an all nighter to get all of my work complete.

In a way I am glad Eleanor said all of those things as it gave us the kick that we needed. The amount of work we produced was amazing and when laid out all together was pretty impressive!

Meeting with Adriano

On friday we had a clash of two meetings. One was a meeting with Adriano at Fred Aldous at 3pm, and the other with Eleanor for a tutorial at 3pm. We decided it was best to split the group so that we did not miss anything and we could later let each other know what was happening via our Facebook group. Unfortunately I couldn't make either of these meetings as I had an important family arrangement that I could not miss. Thankfully, however the girls are really good with communication so I was kept in the loop.

Lizzie and Gabriella went to meet with Adriano, it was a very brief meeting as Fred Aldous was not available (as we have said plenty of times!). However Adriano introduced us to a man named Joe, who took us to a shop over the road called Incognito which has a basement available for us to exhibit our work. This was great news and a huge weight lifted off all of our shoulders.

Tutorial with Susan

Topic for Discussion: Presentation & promoting Unit x Festival

So today we met with Susan again. We originally wanted to go over our ideas and how Susan thought we could progress with our exhibition over the weekend. Also we wanted to discuss the final presentation of our work. Unfortunately this was over shadowed by some major concerns about communication within this unit. We have been quite stressed and confused by the emails we have received from some of the tutors.

So firstly, we did go to the meeting at Fred Aldous but the manager had already told us that we could not have the window space, as I explained in my last post. We didn't even know who Adriano was until we received these emails. We told Susan how we felt about the lac of organisation and communication between staff and students. She assured us that our work was heading in a great direction and that we should carry on with what we have been doing. We then discussed that we needed more collaboration within the work that we had produced, we decided to share more of our own images through Facebook, allowing us to se one-anothers images. This put a positive note to the end of a stressful tutorial.

Tutorial

Topic for discussion: Where are you now? Where to next? 

Today has been quite a successful and productive day. Firstly the FULL group (apart from the film students) all made it to the tutorial, which is a first and really set everyone in good stead and we are now all on the same page which is really good. Our tutorial was with Robin, one of the tutors from Fashion. He was really excited by our idea and helped us decide on where to have our exhibition. We had all been thinking about a hairdressers as Susan had suggested in our previous tutorial. Although some of us were quite apprehensive about this idea. Although it went with our concept at the time, for our final outcome it would just not have worked.

We came to the conclusion that a window display would be best for our concept, as we are still planning on going forward with defaced photography, the work will be textured and 3D but as we have decided that it will only be one piece, a smaller window display will suite us down to the ground, Robin as well as the rest of the group completely agreed with this. We need to get this organised ASAP as time is quickly running low, so tomorrow the full group are going to meet in the Northern Quarter and look at some of the venues that have been suggested to us. Ideally this should be boxed off no later than the weekend.

Another topic of discussion came back to the use of colour within our work. Lizzie had used some very bold and vibrant colours within her pattern work, which I thought gave her work a much more contemporary feel. We decided that our photography should be in black and white and the 'embellishments' will be in colour. However we are yet to decide on these colours. I may take my inspiration for this from Lizzie's colour work, in order to incorporate her work into my own.

Lastly we came to the most important thing. What is our final piece? Are we going to collaborate? The rest of the group and I all strongly agreed that it would be great to collaborate our work, as we have worked so well in a grow thus far. Gabby had the primary idea of having say 5 faces each to work with, and embellishing, distorting and defacing these photographs in the ways in which we have been looking into ourselves. Then bringing these pieces together as one and collaging them together. I am really interested in this idea and think it could work amazingly if done well. We now just have to get on with it!