Week Twelve

Sampling

This final week before Christmas I’ve really pushed the sampling for my first collection, printing some of the simpler designs on top of one another to create new compositions has worked well. Some of my designs were very plain on their own but combining two not only pulls the collection together as a whole but also makes them more interesting. I especially like the contrasting variation of scale when the stripe and all over repeat have been layered.

Two Designs Layered

As the majority of my fabrics in this collection are translucent I’ve experimented off-setting designs and printing them again on the reverse, it’s worked particular well with the devore providing more depth to an understated print.

Printing on the Back and Front 

I have sampled with all over pearl prints in this collection before but never layered another process on it. One of my most inspiring samples is a pearl pigment ground with aquaspand detail, the contrast between the textures and colours really complement each other.

Pearl and Aquaspand 

After a tutorial Theresa has referred back to the surface print commission I did at the beginning of term and suggested doing a complimenting range of surface pattern designs alongside the fabric prints. It’s something I think will work really well alongside my fabric/wallpaper designs.

 If you look at designer Mathew Williamson and his Butterfly Home Range for example he designs corresponding bedding, soft accessories, jewellery boxes, ceramics etc.

Matthew Williamson Butterfly Home

Having a variety of surfaces in corresponding patterns that work together within a particular room of a home has always been something I’ve admired, looking at the designs I’ve create so far they should translate well onto ceramics / glass. I enjoy testing pattern placement and think sampling these new complimentary surfaces is what I need to complete my fabric collections. 

Week Eleven

This week further sampling has taken place in both the print room and digitally, I wanted to make sure my compositions for my screens designs worked well together as a collection; complimenting one another whilst showing variation but also test that the processes I wanted to use were well suited to my designs.

Original Sample

Aside from this I’ve reused one of my initial print samples from very early on, at the time I thought the fabric and colours used were more suited to a fashion context so I thought why not go with this… I have taken part in the Bradford live project designing a fashion print, Mary Katrantzou inspired me particularity with her Topshop range of bold busy prints, I was interested how she adjusts such bold designs so they are ready to wear. 

Mary Katrantzou

I digitally manipulated my fabric print and considered it suited to a garment that is almost used as an accessory (a Kimono) where people who wouldn’t necessarily wear prints would be more likely to consider being more daring making it appeal to a wider audience than say a brightly patterned pair of trousers. 

I found it really helped me working digitally, seeing how quickly different colourway’s can be tested is a method I can carry across into my screen designs saving much more time than if I was to screen print every colourway experiment. 

Bradford Live Project

Although my particular design is in repeat I found the different requirements of when designing a fashion print interesting, the width of fabrics vary to interior designs and the repeat only needs to happen at the top and bottom of a print not necessarily along the seam too. 

I think it’s important I understand these different requirements for when I’m working in the design industry, considering everything I’ve learnt from this live project shows designing to a different context and working in a different method has proved very valuable. 

Week Nine and Ten

These past two weeks I’ve focused purely on my Dissertation and Professional & Employability Presentation meaning sampling and developing has been put on hold.  However, when making my presentation it gave me the opportunity to thoroughly look through all my work so far and define and improve my collections. 

Before I had mentioned having the one collection including textures, dying and devore processes all together, now after seeing how much variation you can achieve individually with each of the print processes I’ve decided to split the collection up into two smaller ones. 

Sheer Fabrics Collection 1

Collection one will consist of more sheer voiles, silks and satins in a delicate colour palette of whites focusing on texture & pattern alone to represent the bleaching and destruction of the coral reefs.

Velvet & Cotton Collection 2

Collection two will focus on dying and devore to demonstrate the colour transition aspect of my concept, I want to use the velvets and cotton I’ve been sampling on within this to compliment the rich colour palette.

Textured Linen Collection 3

Evaluating my prints so far has also inspired me for thought on a third collection, this one will demonstrate multiple colours per design, I’ll use the split screen method to produce these and the linens I've sampled on for added texure. 

Collection three is to represent the colour and pattern found before the coral reefs started dying out but correspond with my high end fabrics for interior context as intended with collection one and two. 

Week Eight

Thinking about my interior fabric collection I have developed my screen designs further thinking about varying scale and different types of repeat including a half drop repeat, mirrored repeat, side to side repeat alongside simpler spot and stripe compositions. I wanted to include a range of repeats within this initial collection to build on my repeat skills.

Mirrored Repeat

Mirrored Repeat Inverse

All Over Repeat

Stripe Design

As I want to use dip dying and gradient techniques as a way of presenting the narrative of my concept I thought it was important to gather some measurements into standard curtain lengths and bedding measurements where one off panel designs and these particular dying processes would be appropriate. Using Montgomery’s and Next’s websites I was able to easily get my hands on these measurements.

Split Screen Design

Next week I hope to test my new designs in the print room to scale combining everything I’ve tested so far including experimenting with one of my split screen designs as it’s an important printing method I haven’t yet tested technically (only digitally). 

Week Seven

This week consisted of researching into colours well suited to an interior with the help of the book ‘the colour design source book’, I adjusted the tone of my previous colour pallet making it deeper and richer rather than bright and summery. Now I feel it not only complements the luxury fabrics I have been sampling on that have been inspired by high end fabric & wallpaper company Zoffany but would also work well within a home as it’s not as bold but warmer and more inviting.

New Colour Pallet

In the print room I introduced a new range of fabrics including velvet cotton, linen and silk, as I had little time to spare this week as I was writing my essay I had to work very efficiently when testing them for the processes I had planned based on previous sampling. Each fabric was tested with pearl, foil, aqua spand and a different way of tonal dying so I can later asses what processes worked best on each allowing me to use this to my advantage when I need to start decision making for my collection.

Process Testing on New Fabrics

Week Six

Day 1 Print Room

Zoffany

I spent the majority of this week in the print room, creating textures and testing fabrics was my first focus. This bottom right hand print is one of my most experimental coating the fabric directly with pearl to create a contrasting texture to the sheer fabrics I'd been printing on. Initially I was prepping the fabric to be dyed at a later date however I find the subtle changes it produced well suited to my interior context and feel they would be overpowered with vibrant colour. I can visualise a collection in sheer and luxurious fabrics using only pearl and texture at a high end company such as Zoffany or Romo.

Mono Printing

Nikki Strange

When it came to the adding colour to the samples I found the more layers I had of things going on the more visually pleasing they become although applying the bright colours for me shifted the appropriate context, I felt they become more suitable for a children’s interior fabric or a fashion print. I envisage them similar of that to Nikki Strange, bold and making a statement however it isn't the effect I was hoping for in this particular collection. For me it’s too much of a contrast to the delicate prints and fabrics I am using, careful reconsideration needs to be done to find a colour palette well-matched to my context.

Devore Dyed

However when experimenting I did find certain qualities to be successful such as this dip dye effect I hand painted on devore I think demonstrates the colour transition aspect I want to show within my collection as a means of communicating my concept really well... perhaps I’ll do a combination of processes? Not only a way of demonstrating my concept but also making my fabrics suitable for the high end market by using multiple print processes.  

Initial Photoshop in Two Colourways

After testing some flat colour designs in Photoshop I’m not 100% mono print is right for this collection, it does quickly provide interesting texture but I feel if I had more complex interesting designs on screen I wouldn’t need this. When I was testing new compositions in Photoshop I considered a new colour pallet and tried to stick to no more than 5 in each design allowing me to easily separate the layers and transfer the designs to screen.

Natalie Alexander

Certain characteristics such as the texture and combination of line quality reminded me of designer Natalie Alexander. Aside from the fact I am inspired by Natalie’s use of layering, thoughtful colour palettes and composition in her designs I thought she was a great inspiration in terms of how she works. Reading little entries into her blog help you understand a life style I wish to take on board myself, ‘By day I work as a graphic designer for a design firm in Toronto, by night I work on my own line of invitations and surface patterns.’ Regular income in a preferably design based job role and plenty of spare time to work on my own prints and establish/promote myself into the designer, maker world. 

Week Five

With the new idea in mind looking at colour transition I began the week doing research into techniques I could possibly use… ombre, tie-dye, dip-dye, layering and devore are just a few initial ideas I come across that I want to test out whilst combining my patterns from the coral and sea life.

Paper Sampling

I wanted to spend some time making sure my screens for the print room were what I wanted/in repeat etc. rather than just jumping in with any design so I did some paper samples of my ideas. My favourite in terms of what worked best technically, aesthetically whilst providing me with numerous new inspirations was when I used lace as a representation of my pattern and combined with the ombre effect.

The more I worked into them and layered the acrylic on the more textured they become, the textured characteristic is a really dominant feature of coral reefs themselves and using aquaspand & flock could create some interesting surfaces well suited to interior fabrics relating my concept and context well. 

Lisa Levis (Stickley)

Going back to my designs for screen I carried out some contextual research into contemporary designer Lisa Levis (Stickley) who’s compositions I personally like, they always work well together and showing variation within her collections helping me to stay focused on the different types of repeat / motif patterns. 

Week Four

Zoe Lower

Initially my development started by layering and mirroring my ink drawings inspired by Zoe Lower to pull all my mark making and drawing together in a hope to create abstract print designs.

Digital Experiments Inspired by Zoe Lower

What I found most intriguing about Zoe’s work was the blurred almost watery effect they create and how relevant it is to the affects I am trying to create within my work at the moment. Although they are fashion prints and full colour the proportions she has used I think also makes them well suited to an interior fabric context and personally can see them as contemporary bedding/soft accessory prints.

Kaleidoscope Collage

However, unlike Zoe's work the designs I created I found to be too plain and boring or at the other extreme, far too bold and complex to visualise in a homely interior context, especially my Kaleidoscope experiments where i added in some elements of my photographs. My designs were everywhere and I felt I needed much more focus to pull them together for them to be able to work a collection at a later date.

I took a step back and thought about researching into the decline in coral reefs a narrative that had first intrigued me when I began watching documentaries on coral reefs over the summer. One of the major problems I found was the bleaching of coral reefs due to global warming and pollution etc. I thought about the patterns and textures I’ve spent the last couple of weeks drawing from and using considering a more sophisticated colour palette using the creams and whites demonstrating the bleaching narrative, it would tone them down and enable them to be more suited to a contemporary interior context.

Coral Reef Bleaching

After tutorial and some trend research into colours resourcing from websites ‘trendbible’, ‘allaboutinteriors’ and ‘laurabielecki’s’ blog I am now considering how I can pull the two together, the very bright vivid colours the reefs once contrasting with the frosty white due to the destruction. At the moment I’m thinking this could be an exciting abstract way to tell the narrative focusing on the colour transition whilst allowing me to use the bright inky colours in a more selective / controlled way to suit my context. 

Samantha Robinson

At the moment my initial idea in mind is something similar to that of Samantha Robinsons porcelain… I love the simplicity of vessels but more relevantly the use of bold colour on each piece. The white ground is a favourite of mine and the way she applies complete pattern in just one tone is a really nice idea, it allows each item to be bold yet elegant, they all work well together as a collection yet would be well suited to an interior as the consumer has the option to buy just one or multiple but selective colour way’s to match their home. 

Week Three

Using New Media 

To start with I continued exploring mark making and investigating new lines textures that can’t be created with ink; this has proved to be very valuable and given my work much more variation that I’ll be able to work with at a later date.

In relationship to the ink drawings I have been working on I’ve discovering photographing them before they dry is the perfect way to capture the wetness/movement feature I’ve been trying to create, the way the light hits the wet page all helps to create the effect I’ve been after. In this particular image I’ve have also been experimenting adding salt, the texture you can see in the photo I think represents a lot of those you’d find under the sea but also has shown to be an interesting way to draw the water itself and capture the reflection quality. 

Adding Salt and Photographing Wet 

I have also been continuing drawing patterns using silhouettes of the coral and forms of the marine life, I have scaled up to a3 and I’m still in the process of combining the large shapes with the small. The fact I’ve worked on tracing paper has allowed me to quickly and easily make numerous compositions combining different scales and lines, perhaps transferring my ink drawings onto acetates is an idea that would allow me to play around adding colour and quickly gain new inspiration for designs?

Silhouette Drawings

Aside from the positive side of the week discovering new ways that work for my drawing in connection to my inspiration and concept I’ve got to the point where I think to see what is missing so far I need to start sampling designs, baring that in mind initial development is going to be my focus over the next few days. 

Week Two

Commission

Alongside getting my head around the new briefing and continuing drawing I spent this week doing a commission for an individual after seeing a piece of my Level 5 Unit X work.

Besides working for a design company I would also like to be able create collections of my own work (designing and making) when I leave MMU I thought it would be a great opportunity to begin to start understanding costing, timing, profits and how to get my work seen when working for yourself.

Although my first commission (applying my surface print designs onto a ceramic collection) was a success it has made me aware of exactly how many you commissions you would need to do to make a living; doing individual handmade pieces of art adds up cost wise and to make a profit you need to charge more than you could buy a similar yet mass produced item/set for from the high street.

This commission was generated though a collection of samples, the imagery the client was interested in occupied a quarter of a tea cup, from this I drew up a selection of compositions and made a 12 piece ceramic collection to their requirements. It has opened my eyes to how important getting your name/unique style known is.

Week One

Being a print designer and being inspired by colour, texture and pattern I decided to use coral reefs as the inspiration for this project, a subject matter plentiful of all three. After spending a week drawing there are some techniques I’ve found to be better than others in terms of being suited to my chosen theme of coral reefs. Mark making using different line textures has been the most successful to date helping me capture the different patterns and surfaces.

Initial Drawings

To begin with my drawings have been very literal, I have quickly moved on from this after spotting designers Prabal Gurung's 2012 Spring collection. The flowing lines and movement in his prints encouraged me to draw more loosely, I tested blowing up patterns taken from the wild life that live within the coral reefs along with reefs themselves and tracing them. This has proved to be positive giving my drawings more fluidity and something I want to continue experimenting with.

Prabal Gurung Collection

Drawing Inspired by Gurung 

I’ve discovered working with inks to be the best way to achieve the bright vivid colours I’ve initially been inspired by from photographs and in books. Another area I want to continue to investigate is mark making, using the inks and ‘home-made’ tools rather than conventional paint brushes to see what different textures I can create and to try and continue with the movement characteristic.

Inspiration 

Ink Drawings