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

Camouflage

When I went to the Imperial War Museum today, they had a small section on camouflage, this caught my eye as I had previously spoke to Alex about including camouflage within my project. We came to the decision that this was not the best way forward for my project however. I have still been thinking about how to include an 'idea of camouflage' in my project. As we decided not to use the phrase 'industrial' in the project either, I have been thinking of more creative ways to describe my trend.

I thought of something along the lines of using my more 'urban' images as 'blending into our surroundings' and bringing in the sportswear theme to make us 'stand out in the crowd'. These two phrases juxtapose one another, and could be interesting. Although I don't think it will go down well in the tutorial as I have been quite inconsistent with my thought process. A name for the trend could be something like 'Hide & Seek' but maybe more poetic…….

Nike / Puma

Firstly Nike is one of my main inspirations throughout my research into Sportwear, they have a diverse range of sportswear that include print. This is important as this will be the main feature when designing in my trend book. All of the products in these following images are ranged between £50 - £100, although Nike are still seen as quite high street, their product however does not lack in quality. They are always ahead of the game when it comes to fabric technology and provide of the moment garments for sportswear. I have chosen the following images as some contain simple placement prints, selective branding and 'all over' prints, showing Nike is not a one trick pony.

Puma do not have as much diversity as Nike or Adidas but there are not afraid to use colour, which is something I plan on using a lot of within this project. Puma's print are also very graphic and eclectic. They also provide sportswear for a wider range of sports and more 'wearable' technical sportswear. The products here range between £15 - £50 putting Puma at the lower end of the marker but maintaing an expensive look. Their use of fabrics are a lot less technical or advanced as those used in Nike products so I would like to bring that into consideration when selecting my fabrics.

Sports Wear

After making the decision to create the trend book for sportswear, I thought it would be best to start researching into who the clientele for the trend book would be. I still want it to be quite high street instead of high end so over the next few days I am going to look at a range of different brands, not just brands who supply gym wear but swimwear and other sports wear too, such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, Lululemon, Speedo and Fred Perry. Also some high streets brands such as H&M and Primark have started to bring in their own sportswear, so I will also be looking into these brands too.

Frank Gehry

Frank Gehry is one of the most important contemporary architect of our time. He has designed a number of buildings including the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Guggenheim - Bilboa. It has been joked that he scrumples up a piece of paper, see's what shape it lands in and uses that as his design idea. As in some of his designs it does look like they could fall down at any moment, however also looking extremely well built at the same time. I have chosen to look into Frank Gehry for his forward thinking way of design. His buildings are like nothing I have ever seen, and as I have just recently visited Salford Quays it seemed only right to look further into the architect. He uses metal to reflect the sky, which everyday creates a different shade and shadow so it feels like you are never seeing the same building twice. It looks different from every angle and is in no way symmetrical. I want to take on board some of these theories and incorporate them into my own work.

Salford Quay

So after discussing looking for more 'futuristic' and 'architectural' influences in my tutorial, I took a trip to Salford Quays and Media City. I have been there a few times but never really took much time to appreciate it. The area has some great pieces of architecture, particularly the Imperial War Museum and The Lowry. My earlier research has been mainly looking at small little things so it was good to get a wider perspective. The shapes and shadows that the buildings create are something I will use to influence my own design.

The time of day that I have taken these images is perfect. I have really been inspired by the colours and think I may have found my colour scheme. I am going to take these images into photoshop and create a more concrete colour theme for the project.

Fashion Unfolding

Alex suggested I look at this book. To be honest at first glance I was quite confused as to why he suggested this to me. However it does have some good visual sources of how sportswear is advertised, and how graphics is used in fashion. If anything I have learnt different ways in which I can present the 'translating trend' pages in my trend book. It also has some great examples of placement prints.