Evaluation of Origins Unit

Throughout this project, drawing was the key aspect. Although during the first two weeks or so of the project I was feeling really uninspired and unmotivated, I did not feel as though this was the right world for me and that I was slightly out of my depth. This lead to my work becoming quite slowly produced and if I had gotten into uni more on my days off I feel that maybe this could have changed, or possibly I just had not done enough research. I will not let this be a factor within this next project. However from following out a number of drawings from different galleries and day to day objects I was able to come up with the concept of 'Multiples'. This concept immediately inspired me and I began to draw a lot, experimentation was key within this project as we had to eventually design a print that would then go towards a collection.

My inspirations firstly came from the mood boards that we were asked to create. We had to carry out this activity twice as we had misunderstood the brief the first time around. Personally I was glad that we had to do this again as I was not inspired at all my the first mood board we had created relating to 'Opposites Mixed Up'. The drawings which I produced throughout this week were quite expressive, which is exactly the type of drawing that I wanted to produce. Looking back I wish I had created a lot more drawings that were more relevant to the course and the brief over all. The reason that I feel this is that some of my drawings were not relevant and were not used, I could not develop them further, which I should be able to do with each and every one of my drawings.

From the above images it is clear to see how my illustrations have developed from the 'Fashion Illustration for Dummies' tutorial to my final piece. Personally I am rather proud about how these have developed, as I was going to just settle for the first drawing but this was not an option, I knew that my first drawing was not good enough so I sat for hours trying to draw something I was happy with. Finally I produced the second image which I felt just clicked. The digital aspect of TD4F has really inspired and motivated me within this project as I find Photoshop and Illustrator extremely user friendly and some what easy to use and feel that this was definitely one of my strong points throughout the project. Although I already had experience using Photoshop, this was my first time using Illustrator, I was also able to learn lots of new things in Photoshop which allowed me to produce work faster and I am really glad that I had attended the CAD workshops as they are so useful. This definitely allowed me to develop and explore my skills within this area.

These skills have allowed me to produce this final design board, which is one of 6 final boards that I eventually created for the end of the project. I feel that my fashion flats could be more technical as at the moment they look more free hand, I will work on this when I next revisit this world, I feel that more time using illustrator could also give me an advantage within this area. The scale of the garments could also do with being slightly reduced. The one this that I am certain worked out well in this board is the garment on the illustrations. They are graphic, bold and contemporary which is fundamentally what I was aiming to do. I feel that my independent study time would be better used in the studio space rather than in my flat. Although I have enjoyed working at my own pace and with my own surroundings, it is essential that I use the space that has been provided in order to allow me to become inspired and to ask for guidance when and if I need to do so.

Overall I feel that this TD4F project has been successful which also reflects in the grade that I was given, I have enjoyed it but feel that there are still things that I need to improve upon in the future. Points that I would like to improve upon are my allocation of time and space, spend more time surrounded by other practitioners in the studio space. Visit more galleries and exhibitions to absorb inspiration and widen my knowledge of media. Finally to act upon my ideas immediately and to produce work not only faster but that is also more relevant in order to not get stuck and to power through.

Inspiration

Throughout this project I have learnt the importance of research and inspiration. Looking through websites such as Vogue.com has helped me to stay on track and to develop and challenge myself in my work. I have put together some images that I feel relate well to my work.

 Stella McCartney has used a similar colour story here, using a bold orange as a statement colour were as I have tried to keep my bold colour as more of an accent colour within the collection.

 As soon as I saw this piece from the SS13 collection from Fendi I immediately saw a connection between that and my own work, the graphic print on top with a more simplistic basic colour below. The print is so graphic it almost feels like it is coming off the fabric which is something that I feel I have achieved within my own work.

Fashion Illustrations

After doing drawing after drawing after drawing I have finally done some fashion illustrations that I am happy with. At first my face were horrible but I found a way round it and feel like the final outcome has really worked and that my illustrations suite my designs. Things that could have been done better are the eyes on the faces on the illustrations, also I need to work on drawing hands and feet. I can get the basic outlines right just on the details which is a bit of a let down for me.

I had a tutorial this morning and showed my tutor my illustrations that were different to these examples here.

I wasn't really happy with my work after the tutorial and this gave me motivation to improve my work and to really put all my effort into my designs so I have spent my full day drawing and redrawing my illustrations and redesigning my prints.

Final 6 Designs

since developing my colour palette I have been able to progress with my designs and develop them using this chosen colour palette. I feel that the orange and blue combination give the prints a modern twist as well as the bold geometric shapes. I feel that my favourite design is the second one down as its interesting and bold, I feel that I would wear it myself. The design which I feel has not worked the best is the design with the hexagons, although it is in keeping with my theme it does not fit in with the rest as well as it possibly could and I feel that in the future I will improve upon this. The one thing I have been struggling with is who my customer is. I feel that she is bold and edgy and not afraid to be centre of attention. She can afford to buy one off pieces that can be warn once to make a statement.

Colour Concepts

I have been asked to create a Mood Board, Colour Board and a Customer Profile Board. I am still really unsure of who my customer is at the moment so I am currently searching for a muse, someone who isn't afraid of graphic prints or colour, but still keeps their modern and sleek style. Here are a few examples of my boards so far.

Experimentation

Basically I found an image that I loved and tried to draw it.. unsuccessfully!!! So I took the image into Illustrator so that I could get the lines right and add colour into the image.. I love it! Although the design is quite graphic which is not usually my style I really like it. I'm still unsure of the colour but I feel that the orange gives the image a modern aesthetic.

Messing with Multiples

Photoshop has became my best friend over these past few days as I received quite a bad tutorial the other day. But it was exactly what I needed to jump start my motivation levels again! I feel like I was stuck in a rut a little, not getting out of my flat to become inspired and just browsing blogs for secondary sources rather than getting out there and creating my own.

However I have began using my drawings and developing them into prints using a range of colour-ways. I think I may have came up with a definite colour scheme but I am still a little unsure. As part of this project is to come up with a Customer Profile, Mood Board and a Colour Board I feel it is important to develop my drawings to have a greater understanding of who would wear them.

Throughout my experimentation with this drawing I felt that the bright colours were not me and did not represent my aesthetic. My tutor suggested adding an accent colour of ed but when I have tried this I really do not feel like it works very well and dates the geometric, modern shape. I also tried having the background in red to make it more vibrant but that did not work either. In the future I plan to experiment with different colour ways to give the pattern a much more modern feel to match the modern shape. Although I do like the grey scale and feel that a accent colour would compliment it really well, its just a matter of experimentation. I also feel that this print works better as a placement print than a repeat pattern.